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:

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 surrounded by familiar images when you are in an unfamiliar place. I have no regard for symmetry and truly hate when everything matches, so my little collection of pictures and frames fit in just right no matter where I live.

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).

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 entertaining joys that come with an organized bar setup, but don't have the cart?

My friends, you look to Craigslist and search "cart." It's amazing the solutions that will populate before your very eyes. After thorough Craigslist research, I finally settled on a tea cart that doubles as a side table to save space. It worked perfectly! I bought the antique brass cart from a little old lady who was downsizing and very happy to help me load it into my Honda Civic. To keep the "bar cart feel", I decided to style my tea cart with old bamboo tray from Target and filled it with assorted Homegoods tumblers, shot glasses, and a fantastic stainless ice bucket. I ordered a matching stainless bar shaker set on eBay for $0.99. I used the top of this cart to display an antique camera and long lens, Restoration Hardware sterling silver candlesticks (that I found at a consignment shop for $1 apiece) and an orchid that died almost immediately due to my black thumb.

In my research, I found a few other ideas for bar-but-no-cart designs, and one of my favorites was this antique buffet-turned-bar. I love the bright green tray and think the bar tray idea works perfectly here! (The giant gold mirror, symmetrical lamps, and ceramic Turkish end tables tucked underneath the credenza are all amazing.)

Photo via Appollinas

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

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:

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 den and it turned out to be the best idea ever.)

Anyway, our living room is really bright with an exposed brick wall that I love, and decided to let it go au natural with the only statement-making decor choice being a large red wool Moroccan rug.

We didn't have room for large furniture, so I let the couch and rug take center stage, and added some extra seating and modern side tables to bring it all together. (I found the clear acrylic nesting tables on Amazon for $165 and it was the best buy ever. They are the PERFECT modern touch to balance my random collection of assorted vintage furnishings.

Raw silk drapes in a dark gray added some texture to the room, and also block out the light when I am trying to read my Kindle! The old drapery rods from our other apartment fit perfectly, as did a hand-me-down brass lamp that never quite worked in our other places.

These mismatched side tables (from Target, can you believe it!?) are the right height and work together because of the round shape and metallic tones. They also help to balance out the old, dinged-up vintage furniture in the room!

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

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 the dog her flea medicine) and also balancing my travel schedule with my husband's so we can give the dog walker and the cleaning lady advance notice (not to mention knowing when we'll be home to receive our freaky-fast Amazon Prime deliveries).

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 in our living room - and stand up to my acrylic paints and eyeliner faux pas - was challenging. 

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 frame with white matting and a serene vintage photograph to do that! This print is 24"x 24" vintage photograph from the 1940's called Weeki Wachi Springs that I purchased from art.com and framed myself by replacing the original print in a frame my dad's office was discarding.

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.