Our New Place

One of the things I was very excited for with moving was having a chance to start from scratch decorating our apartment and create a new home for us. You know when you pick out an outfit for school pictures, engagements, etc. and then later regret it and wish you had picked something else (clearly this has been an issue for me before), the nice thing about decorating is you can re-do it! Once we finally got everything unpacked I took time to figure out where I wanted everything. We don't have the means to buy expensive decorations, drapes, etc., but I wanted to make a nice, comfortable home with what we have. We used all the pictures, frames, etc. we already owned, and then added in some of the prints from designs I've made, as well as some new pillows I bought using some birthday money.

When we got married our sealer said that after our marriage we'd be given (though he said he'd give it to my mom since we were giddy newlyweds who would probably lose it) our marriage license, as well as a copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and a picture of the Provo temple where we were married. He told us to keep all three in our room, to remind of the promises and covenants we made that day in the temple. We put two of the documents over our bed and the third on our dresser.

I made this display of our wedding invitation (s). It's a little crowded given the different events (dinners, sealing, reception, etc.) we had, but we love seeing it and remembering our wedding. 

The temple picture on the right is the one our sealer gave us. The K&T were from our wedding. The handmade frame in the middle on the dresser is something I made for Taylor when we were dating. 

This is the little hallway that connects to our bathroom (the bathroom has two entrances), and our walk-in (yes, it's my dream come true!) closet. Tay bought this cute Audrey Hepburn quote decoration so we put it where I can see it when I get dressed and ready for the day. 

Here's the display that we finally came up with.

We brought my sewing machine and table so we created a small little sewing/crafting area for me that I love: 

 

 I had some miscellaneous pictures I wanted to display but ran out of wall space and frames, so I spray-painted some clothes pins gold and hung it by some craft string held up by some gold-painted thumb-tacks. I felt like it fit the little craft area, but still tied into some of the gold accents on our collage wall.

The decor on top of our bookshelf: 

I love, love, love that we have a little dining room to eat in. We barely had any room for our table at our old apartment, so it's nice to have this space. I wanted to have our "fancier" stuff put there since it's our dining room, even if it's not really a fancy place. 

This is one of my favorite things that we own. It is a personalized, hand-written calligraphic copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Christmas of 2011 I was a dancer in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert, and I met Steve, the head of security there for the dancers and performers. His wife makes these calligraphy heirlooms, and they gave it to me and Taylor as a gift (I couldn't believe their generosity), and it was one of the most meaningful gifts we received for our wedding. In today's world where the definition of marriage is attempted to be re-defined. This document is very important to me and I want to always have it displayed to remind my family of the importance of marriage. 

Our little apartment isn't perfect, but it's full of pictures and memories that make us feel at home when we're miles from both of our homes.