Hannah's colorful, eclectic and modern space

Hannah's colorful, eclectic and modern space

Posted by Colleen Bordeaux|On December 30, 2015

A couple of months ago, I came across Hannah Hagler's blog and fell in love with her eclectic and bold sense of interior style built on her mantra that you can live a fabulous life without spending a ton of money. Hannah agreed to let me interview her and virtually tour her home, and I found...

The foolproof way to collect unique and affordable art

The foolproof way to collect unique and affordable art

Posted by Colleen Bordeaux|On December 04, 2015

Finding a painting or photograph that just speaks to your soul is something that is equally amazing as it is rare. Although I'm a creative at heart and have always loved art, the hunt for meaningful and affordable pieces is extremely difficult for me. My first real apartment offered a blank slate...

How to style a vintage piece in a modern room

How to style a vintage piece in a modern room

Posted by Unknown|On November 06, 2015

When Wes and I first got married, my parents drove from Chicago to Charlotte with all of my grandmother's china in tow (service for 16, no less). Since they were going to be loading up the old Kelly family van anyway, I seized the opportunity to have them transport a few things that I've always...

A vintage + modern guru's top tips for styling your house

A vintage + modern guru's top tips for styling your house

Posted by Colleen Bordeaux|On October 26, 2015

One of my favorite sources for vintage inspiration in Chicago is an amazing vintage-modern shop called Humboldt House. It's one of those places where you walk in and want to live there. It's filled with amazing Chesterfield sofas, leather butterfly chairs, patina-ed credenzas and the most beautiful,...

How to create a masculine dining room

How to create a masculine dining room

Posted by Unknown|On October 21, 2015

These photos are of Spruce, an amazing restaurant in San Francisco that I visited last summer: it's been the inspiration for the first dining room or study I have when I move into a place where I'm allowed to paint the walls! Here's how I would copy this look to recreate a moody and masculine...

A professional organizer's top five tricks for maximizing your space

A professional organizer's top five tricks for maximizing your space

Posted by Unknown|On October 19, 2015

This post could have also been titled "How to not freak out about moving in to a little house of limited closet space with your big wardrobe and all of your soon-to-be husband's stuff that he can clearly live without but won't let go (see light-up beer signs and other bachelor pad horrors)." When...

10 easy steps to create a perfect gallery wall

10 easy steps to create a perfect gallery wall

Posted by Unknown|On October 14, 2015

My collection of pictures and frames have followed me from my childhood bedroom to college dorms and every single one of my apartments. Whenever I move in to a new place, the first thing I do is start hanging frames on the walls - there's something comforting about being...

How to make a bad rental kitchen (sort of) nice

How to make a bad rental kitchen (sort of) nice

Posted by Unknown|On October 11, 2015

For all the charm of this little old 1930s bungalow that my husband and I rented when we first got married, the turquoise countertops were almost a deal-breaker. The kitchen was in a sad, disorganized state for months and I had no idea how to fix it. So I decided to stop fighting it, accept those...

How to create a bar cart when you don't have a cart

How to create a bar cart when you don't have a cart

Posted by Unknown|On October 07, 2015

There was awhile there at the beginning of the bar cart craze that took the world by a storm when I didn't have room for an actual cart. (I was living in a 400 square foot studio, and had to keep furnishings to a minimum for obvious reasons.) However, what do you do when you want all of the...

5 reasons you should fill your home with vintage furniture

5 reasons you should fill your home with vintage furniture

Posted by Unknown|On October 04, 2015

Vintage is just a fancy way of saying really old, and very used - both qualities that I prioritize when hunting for furniture. I am anti-Ikea. For some reason, it is important to me that my furniture has character. This dresser has plenty. But there's more than just character...

How to arrange your living room furniture

How to arrange your living room furniture

Posted by Unknown|On October 02, 2015

Our new apartment is amazing, but posed some serious challenges for the living room layout. There literally was not a place for the TV unless we sacrificed the windows and I just wasn't willing to do that. So, we got rid of the TV. (Ok, really we turned a 3rd bedroom on the first floor into a...

One simple way to have the most organized year ever

One simple way to have the most organized year ever

Posted by Unknown|On September 30, 2015

Outside of work, organization is not one of my strong skills (am I alone in this, or do other people find it shockingly difficult to be an adult?!) - I'm always looking for ideas to help me keep track of all the little to-do's that pile up at home (getting oil changes, reordering contacts, giving...

A perfect (and really affordable) writing desk

A perfect (and really affordable) writing desk

Posted by Unknown|On September 27, 2015

This is my creative workspace where I write, paint, craft, put on my makeup, and drink my coffee while daydreaming in the morning. Having a dedicated space in our apartment to do all of those things was really important to me, and finding a stylish modern desk that would fit a little nook...

How to decorate a brick wall

How to decorate a brick wall

Posted by Unknown|On September 09, 2015

When we first moved into our new apartment, I loved the exposed brick walls in our living room but quickly realized that it was going to take some extra effort to decorate them. Although the original brick is amazing, it needed something to lighten up the space. There's nothing quite like a huge...

One easy way to make every day of your life count

One easy way to make every day of your life count

Posted by Unknown|On August 24, 2015

Really, it's as easy as posting a black-and-white reminder in your living room so you see it every day. I just made this $30 investment at RowensCo on Etsy and am so excited for it to arrive! Although posting a reminder is one effective way to live in the present, there are some other amazing,...

How to create a beautiful, eclectic living room

How to create a beautiful, eclectic living room

Posted by Unknown|On June 17, 2015

Moving every year has really demonstrated how the basic, functional pieces like my oatmeal linen Crate and Barrel sofa are a great blank canvas for the unique, vintage items I've found over the years. If you start with one basic, contemporary-yet-timeless piece to center the room, it's an easy...

How to shop for vintage furniture

How to shop for vintage furniture

Posted by Unknown|On June 08, 2015

Obviously, this is a topic close to my heart - so many things in my home are older than me. I love strolling flea markets and discovering something that I'll never find again. In a world filled with low quality, build-it-yourself Scandinavian furniture, it's so worth it to take a little...

The most beautiful wall calendar you've ever seen

The most beautiful wall calendar you've ever seen

Posted by Unknown|On June 05, 2015

This might just be the case for me and Wes, but we have an extremely hard time coordinating our schedules. There have been times when I'm about to board a Monday morning flight to Philadelphia with Wes already in the air to the opposite side of the country when I've had the following...

How to recover dining room chairs

How to recover dining room chairs

Posted by Unknown|On June 05, 2015

There's something about moving into a new place that makes you look at all your old things in a new way. I spent a good part of this weekend hanging, unhanging, and re-hanging pictures and art and rearranging furniture. I have aaaaaalmost got it right except for two chairs that just did't quite...

A seriously amazing backyard

A seriously amazing backyard

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

With my new place, I also inherited a small backyard in need of a makeover. It has a few great features - specifically, a firepit and an old stone slab patio. However, up until a few days ago, I had no interest in stepping foot out there - I am allergic to yard work thanks...

How to style an antique bedroom set

How to style an antique bedroom set

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

This bedroom set was a gift from my mother-in-law (and by gift, I mean that I may have coerced her into parting with it by explaining how it would get much more face time in my house than hers... and the rest is history). She bought it for $25 in the 1970s and I'm so glad she hung on to it for...

Five easy ways to update your bedroom

Five easy ways to update your bedroom

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

So, I've been on a roll designing rooms in our new (old) house and wanted to share some ideas that I picked up about creating a cool bedroom and applied to my new space. Read below for five easy tips that I've learned! ...

The many uses for Turkish towels

The many uses for Turkish towels

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

This post could also be titled 'how to make over a chair in 10 seconds' which is exactly how I use a big chunk of my collection of Turkish towels: at this very moment, I am sitting on a worn out Ikea Poang chair covered in a gray Turkish towel in my bedroom. It covers...

What to do with a weird nook in your hallway

What to do with a weird nook in your hallway

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

We moved into a rental house that was built in the '30s and has all the charm that money can buy (think arched doorways, worn-in hardwoods, antique moldings) and included a whole set of strange nooks and crannies that took up valuable square footage. Exhibit A above is a 3'...

How to make a small kitchen stylish

How to make a small kitchen stylish

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

After I moved into my tiny studio, I started paying a lot more attention to interior design because the place needed some personality to make up for the lack of square footage (although the small space has turned out to be an advantage - I can Swiffer the entire place in about 45...

An art-filled condo in D.C.

An art-filled condo in D.C.

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

 Kira Neal has the coolest home ever - plus a great eye for design and art. She inspires me to use more color, and her place has made me want to start collecting modern and pop art to add to the walls of my apartment. I interviewed her for a Refinery29 article about buying a place and...

A simple, serene student apartment at Northwestern

A simple, serene student apartment at Northwestern

Posted by Unknown|On June 02, 2015

My friend Gill rented a simple student apartment on Northwestern's campus and transformed it with restraint and thoughtful accessories. I love how it is serene, filled with light, and decorated with vibrant green plants - not just flowers, but living, air-cleaning trees, shrubs and other...