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 of walls begging to be adorned, but I had no idea where to begin and couldn't bear to cover it with run-of-the-mill, mass produced faux canvases from IKEA or Target. 

I remember wishing that there was a one-stop shop where I could discover up-and-coming artists and afford to buy their work. A few months ago, I finally found it: it's called Art Crate, a genius concept founded by veteran insiders of the art world to help connect potential budget-conscious (and overwhelmed) art buyers like me with premium quality print works of individual artists that we might otherwise not discover on our own.

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 wanted to take off their hands but couldn't carry home on a plane.

Enter this chair, which has sat in my dad's basement workshop for most of my life and (literally) collected dust. According to my mom, it's a patio chair from the 1950s that used to belong to her grandmother. I love the midcentury design and that it's astonishingly comfortable for a hard shell!

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, unusual assortment of decor you'll ever find.

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 room of my own:

#1 Mix rich colors, textures and tones

Like deep navy walls combined with warm camel faux ostrich leather and dark brown velvet chairs, plus touches of crisp white in the tablecloths. Think how different (and boring!) this room would be if the walls were white. 

#2 Play with proportions

The oversize sketches on the walls are hung in enormous silver frames and make an extremely bold statement. I love that they're offset with delicate, antique picture lights and ornate chandeliers. The bold look of the colors and textures is balanced with subtle touches like small, understated succulent centerpieces and minimalist place settings.

#3 Combine decor styles

It's traditional, luxurious and modern all at once, thanks to a handful of well-positioned abstract paintings on unfinished canvases. The lack of an overall theme makes it feel pulled together but not overthought, and reads masculine when combined with the bold choices in paint colors and artwork.

If you're not ready to commit to navy blue walls, get the color combination by using rich rugs, fresh white drapes, and oversize sketches sourced from Etsy and hung in silver frames.

Meanwhile, I'll get started on re-creating this look by hunting for a vintage chandelier, trying to convince my landlord to let me paint, and attempting to recover a distressed pair of studded leather office chairs that my dad pulled out of the garage and hand-delivered to our home along with other Kelly family castoffs (including at least six different types of cacti that have been flourishing* in the Chicago climate).

*They arrived drooping and nearly dead, handed off by my guilty parents who didn't want the blame for killing them off (aloe is on their hands).

Did you love this post? If yes, please follow me on Bloglovin' or join the email list for updates.

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 my husband and I were getting married, I desperately need help with this topic and sought some expertise from a professional organizer. Kim Clark, an expert at whipping cluttered messes into crisp, calm homes, helped me prepare for some of the biggest challenges to organizing our new place by suggesting some strategies and product recommendations to keep the soon-to-be Chateau Bordeaux organized.

Here are her top five tricks, in no particular order:

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 ugly laminate counters for what they were, and work with them by adding other quirky accents to liven the place up a little (and focus the eye on the white space of the pantry door).

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 that makes vintage furniture such an amazing addition to a room. Here are just a few reasons to consider:

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, thought-provoking tactics that I learned earlier this summer and have completely changed my perspective on how I thought about my life. 

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 to hunt vintage shops, Craigslist and specialty stores for additional seating, tables, and eccentric accessories. The challenge is knowing what to look for, and how to tie it all together.

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 extra time to hunt for a pre-scuffed, solid wood credenza with dovetail drawers and brass fixtures (for the same price as a Malm dresser). 

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 thoughts: "Did we remember to pay the dog walker? Was I supposed to mail the rent check, or did Wes already do that? Does our parking permit expire this week? What day did I ask the cleaner to come?"