Blog Housekeeping

Now that this blog has been around for a while, and I've started posting more regularly, I decided to clean up my labels so that it is easier to reference older posts. If you scroll down the right hand column you will now be able to click on a variety of labels to pull up posts within a specific topic. This has been a reference on here for a while now, but I recently (aka, yesterday) went through and better catagorized these posts. I hope that this will help all of you to find things better. Some of the new catagories that may interest you are 'Real Parties' where you can view event photos of the some of the past events I have personally been apart of, 'Party Planning' to find my serious of blog posts from last spring that were an indepth resource to hosting an event or the 'Event Inspiration' and 'Home Inspiration' catagories that cover more non-specific topics that I post about.

Enjoy!

Small Space Organization Tips

In response from a (soon-to-be) small apartment dweller here are some great space (& sanity) saving tips to live by.


The following tips are taken from Apartment Therapy {www.apartmenttherapy.com} reader tips. I chose the ones that I thought were the most applicable (after living in a tiny apartment myself).

• If you have a small space use small pieces that fit the scale of the apartment. Your space will feel bigger.
• Dual purpose! Look for multiple uses in everything you buy. An ottoman is cozy, but an ottoman with hidden storage is even better.
• Go vertical and use the space up to the the ceiling whenever possible - shelves and storage that have a small footprint but are tall can really help in a small space.
• Arrange the space so it meets your needs for the way you truly use it, and put money into the areas where you spend the most time. If you always eat in the living room, maybe that means investing in a coffee or side table that's really comfortable to eat from and forgoing a separate dining area altogether.
• Edit, edit, edit. Look at everything with a critical eye. If you have a chair that you just don't love, get rid of it. If you notice you miss having a chair, find one that you love, is a better scale and a better investment of your space. Don't store anything that you don't need.
• Expandable dining table.
• Really invest in a closet organization system. You'd be surprised how on track that can keep you and you could always just shut the door.

The following are also from AT, but are more about making your small space 'feel' less cluttered than actually saving space. Good tips none the less.

• Furniture with legs feels less heavy in a space than pieces that sit directly on the floor.
• Large mirror to give the illusion of more space.
• A dark floor against light colored walls and furniture can really make a place feel more spacious. (Although this could be hard to achieve in a rental.)

Personally the best advice I can give to anyone living in a small space is, be smart. If you don't have alot of space then think through anything you bring into your home. Any object you bring in needs to have a defined space before you buy it and if possibly duel uses. Remember in a smallapartment/home/office there isn't room for 'good rooms', in a small space every space needs to be 'great'.

Lastly to finish off a very wordy post here are some photos of a great duel-funtioning small space:

This apartment from the AT Small Cool contest utilizes many of the tips from above; a unifying color pallate, a large mirror, smart storage solutions (under the bed drawers, utensils racks, shelving), and and still doesn't feel all that small or cluttered.

Stay tuned for more small space saving tips and inspiration!

Independence Square

Last Friday the man and I went over to Independence to what was supposedly the Third Friday Art Walk. The description we read online sounded like it was bound to be full of fun, however when we arrived we were 2 of about 20 people there. There wasn't a lot going on, but we did go into some really adorable shops, 2 of which I am including in this post.

Gilbert, Whitney, & Co {www.gilbertwhiney.net}

This specialty grocery & kitchenware store is ADORABLE! Housed in a historic building on the historic independence square it is simply TOO CUTE!

They carry several of Nigella Lawson's products in the store. If you can't make it to Independence you can check out her stuff online via her website: http://www.nigella.com/

The man and I.This was my absolute favorite of the evening, a home decor store named B Here Now. It was FABULOUS! The man didn't care for me to take photos inside the store so you'll have to make due with this outside shot and the website. {http://www.b-here-now.com/}