Top 10 Home Decor Stores
I felt the need to dedicate a post to my favorite home decor stores because I find these kinds of posts to be so helpful and they are some of my favorite posts to read.The following are in no particular order
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| Mid-Century Nightstand |
1. West Elm: No brainer, I can't get enough of this store. A lot of my furniture is from here and I absolutely love all of their decor pieces. Definitely the place to go for anything mid-century.2. Cb2: Every time I go on this website I have to literally stop myself from spending an arm and a leg on everything. Really love almost everything on there, such great designs no matter what you're looking for.3. Urban Outfitters: I love how unique the apartment section of urban outfitters online is. I purchased this day bed for my loft and I really love it. They have one of a kind pieces and the majority have such a vintage feel.
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| Lumbar pillow cover |
4. H&M Home: I've mentioned this store plenty of times already so of course it was going to make it to this list. If you're on a budget but you don't want to fill your house with cheap-looking decor check the home section of H&M online. They have the best decor and so, incredibly, affordable! I really love their pillow covers.5. World Market: You can find just about anything on world market. They have such beautiful unique furniture as well. Not to mention, I've had an amazing experience with their customer service.
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| Canisters |
6. Crate & Barrel: I mostly like crate and barrel for their kitchen section, which for me kind of falls under decor as well because since I have exposed shelves I want the things that I put on them to be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional and this store has such unique & beautiful kitchen accessories. I got my canisters from there and really love them, similarly to these canisters they have plenty of other very sleek decently priced canisters & believe me, I searched A LOT of stores for nice canisters.
7. Wayfair: When I have something in mind, especially lighting or furniture, one of the first places I check is wayfair. They have such amazing prices and dupes for pricier stores like West Elm. Most of my light fixtures are from here (not the one pictured) and I have had nothing but great experiences. I just advice, like with any purchase, to read the reviews before buying.My bed frame is also from here and even though I don't think it's the best quality at all for a heavy king bed (I have a king and the bottom of the bed frame broke, so I had to buy a replacement frame for under the bed).. I still think it's a ridiculously affordable purchase EVEN after having to fix it. Every other place I searched for metal bed frames were A LOT more expensive. Sure, if you have the money get yourself a good quality iron bed, by all means.. but if you're on a budget and are looking for a particular effect just get yourself this one and buy a sturdier frame for underneath the bed and you're good to go.8. Target: This wouldn't be a home decor post without mentioning target. I really love their Threshold collection and their room essentials collection.
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| Clear bottles are from Etsy |
9. Etsy: My go-to for pretty much all decor, this is another website that I always look at whenever I have something in particular in mid. I've purchased countless things from furniture to throw pillow covers to vintage amber bottles. If you like unique or antique pieces and haven't checked Etsy out I really don't know what you're waiting for! A lot of people are afraid of purchasing from websites likes this but I have NEVER had a bad experience with any of my purchases and believe me when I tell you I practically live on this website.
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| Accent Chair |
10. Overstock.com: The bomb for furniture at a discount! You definitely have to be looking for something specific and you do have to have patience and really scavenge through this site but you really do find some gems. I bought my living room accent chair there and you can find pretty much anything that you're looking for on this site.Special mentions:
- I know that this is a decor post but I just can't bring myself to exit this post without mentioning Ikea. I don't have a lot of decor from there but I really love their patio furniture, my couch is from there as well and they are my go-to for closet systems.
- Ebay has great vintage pieces, I usually check etsy first but eBay has some awesome options as well. I got my vanity chair from there.
Friday Five
1. Ever since I went to Greece last year I fell in love with the whole flatform trend, everyone over there was wearing them but I just never really found any that I loved that weren't too expensive and last year they were no where near as popular as they are now here in the states. Yesterday, I just passed by forever 21 to get to another store, I had no intentions of purchasing anything until I saw these and instantly knew I had to have them. They are so comfortable and I'm currently really loving espadrilles so these are the best of both worlds. At first I wasn't too keen on the buckles but they have really grown on me and the more I wear them the more I love them.
For some reason I can't find them on their site so I have linked some similar styles down below.
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2. How pretty is this poster from The poster club? They were nice enough to let me choose a print and I had a lot of trouble picking just one poster because they have such a beautiful collection, I will definitely purchase some in the future. Also, I will most likely change the frame that it's in but for now this is what we're working with.
3. This week I re-learned that being lazy and spraying your toner onto your face doesn't really do anything for your skin, or at least it doesn't for me. I use the Boscia balancing facial tonic and I LOVE this stuff, it clears my stubborn texture so incredibly well. However, lately I had been super lazy with it and I would just spray it on at night after cleansing my face as opposed to using a cotton pad.
My skin has been freaking out and as soon as I started using a cotton pad + the toner I woke up a lot better the next day. Point is, when you wipe your "clean" face with the cotton pad soaked with your toner it actually removes the residue on your skin. (Obviously this is just for those of us who use toners that have a spray.) No matter how clean you think your face is, chances are a good toner will lift some kind of residue off post-cleanse.
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4. I'm obsessing over linen lately, these overalls just came in the mail & it fits like a dream. So perfect for summer! Will be styling it soon (:
5. If you're into shrimp creole check out this extremely easy & relatively quick recipe. My first time making this dish myself & you would've thought I was a pro lol. I did make some substitutions though. Instead of white rice I used brown, instead of butter I used a little olive oil & instead of salt I used No-Salt sodium free salt and slightly less of it than the recipe suggests.
Also, wanted to thank you all for the overwhelmingly positive response I got on my kitchen tour video. So many sweet comments, I appreciate all of the kind words.
See you all next week! xx
Kitchen Reveal
I'm so excited to finally be able to share our kitchen with you all. It has been a long process but in the end it was all worth it. This is my first kitchen and I am so grateful I was able to make it my own. It is truly a magical thing to be able to envision something in your head and make it a reality.
Anyone who would've seen this kitchen before would've probably turned around and walked out. Actually, anyone who would've seen this entire house when we first bought it would've probably walked out... but not us. I knew the potential that this little place held and from the moment I walked in I was tearing down walls in my head.
The cabinets before were formica, which is totally fine, nothing a good primer, some paint & new pulls couldn't fix but they weren't exactly in the best shape. Plus, they smelled like death.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted open shelving. I like the idea of owning exactly what you need and not having clutter and I feel as though open shelves force you to maintain that mentality. This was the main reason we ended up getting lower cabinets made, we needed more space.
Since our space is small I didn't want thick/bulky shelves so we opted for 1x12 inch wood which our contractor cut to size & then sanded. I then stained them with wood finish's special walnut stain.
We also didn't want a dishwasher, I'm totally fine with washing dishes myself and we're only two people so it was definitely a waste of space in our small kitchen. So when it came down to designing I ended up closing up the kitchen to make an island... or in this case a peninsula. We also added drawers & a microwave where the dishwasher used to be. I really wanted a range hood so I knew I didn't want to put a microwave above the stove & it was most certainly not going to be taking up counter space so I wanted it to sit nice and flush within the lower cabinets.
We also removed the trees that were blocking the window, why would anyone want a huge tree blocking their window? I don't get it! So much more light comes in now.
We tore down that awkward shelve-type-things which separated the kitchen from the dining room and made that into a bar/island where we could sit and eat. We also made a larger opening into the kitchen in order to make the space appear bigger (space in front of refrigerator.) We've made a lot of changes to this house but this is by far my favorite, the aesthetic when you walk in from then to now is night and day. The kitchen is one of my favorite areas of any house so I really didn't want it to be boxed in, I like to see everything when I'm in it.
Subway tiles were a no-brainer. If you saw my old room tour video you would've probably seen that I had them in my bathroom, I love them. Since I decided to take them all the way up to the roof they really made the kitchen appear much bigger.
We ended up getting our cabinets done at Panda Kitchen & Bath and opted for real wood white shaker cabinets. This was our most expensive purchase but since we only had lower cabinets it wasn't THAT bad compared to quotes that I've heard for people who have upper+lower cabinets. We finished off the cabinets with these handles from amazon.
If you read this Friday Five you would've seen me gush about my new woven shade, if you look at the before pictures you'll notice that our window is different as well. This was actually an unexpected hit to our budget. In order to get a gas stove we needed to get a sealed window. I wasn't happy about it because I was totally fine with the window we had before but I had my heart set on gas over electric so we ended up switching out the window.
One of the first purchases I made for the house, before we even moved in or started fixing the place was this faucet. I had my heart set on a brass faucet and I am so happy with my decision. This is the most subtle color of brass, in some lights you can't even tell its brass. I really feel as though it pulls everything together and it goes well with stainless steal and oil-rubbed bronze.
I searched high and low for the perfect farm sink but LORDDD those things are expensive! So we opted for this one from good ol' IKEA and may I say I am in love with it. Looks so much more expensive than what it was and it is massive!
For our countertop I knew I wanted quartz and not marble because of the durability but I didn't know that the quartz that I wanted was going to be so damn expensive -.- I love this house and I do plan on living here for a while but I know that once kids start coming we're going to have to move so I was not about to spend 2k on countertops... I don't think that I ever will, but I won't say never.
I knew I could find something much, much cheaper so I starting looking into plain white quartz that was going to cost a fraction of the price but the place that was going to give me the best price didn't have it in stock and I would've had to wait a couple of weeks. I had already waited long enough at this point & didn't want to wait any longer... so I went to the warehouse and ended up going with this countertop which kind of looks white from a distance but it has speckles of taupe and beige which give it a little more warmth & it matched the grout we chose perfectly so I really ended up liking how it turned out. If we would've gone with plain white I feel as though it would've been too much white, I like the subtle contrast in this one.
Plus, I must add that for being a relatively cheap countertop it is SO forgiving. I have placed hot things, cold things, spilled everything and nothing has left a stain.
I wanted to give a quick shoutout to my parents because if it was not for them we honestly wouldn't have been able to do half the stuff we have done to our house. Sometimes they seem more excited than we are about this house and they have helped so much, I cannot even express how grateful I am for them. It's hard to take on a fixer upper when it's just two people so I appreciate their help so much.
Our appliances (besides the microwave and toaster) were their housewarming gift to us and again, GRATEFUL. Since they insisted on gifting us this I was not about to pick out the top-of-the-line appliances, I just wanted a certain look and wanted them to be comfortable. Our stove/oven is Samsung, refrigerator is Maytag and range hood is premium.
For lighting I switched out some old white track lights on the roof beam for some new matte black ones and for above the kitchen window I bought two of these and I'm very happy with how they look paired with the brass faucet. I never like too much of any color so even though all-brass or gold detailing in some kitchens look beautiful I wanted to mix it up, I feel as though this fits my style a bit better.
In my "home decor trends I'm loving" post I mentioned how I love vintage rugs in kitchens so this is my little vintage rug from this etsy shop. Not the loudest or most extravagant rug but I really like the subtleness of it.
We got these stools at a very random local shop, some Australian guy who was high as a kite when he sold us these actually makes them lol, I don't care how high you are, you can make a beautiful stool "I'll take two."Originally I wanted these from west elm which are very similar but they were too short for the height of my counter so we needed something taller, which was very hard to find so you can imagine how excited I was when I found that random Australian.I've mentioned my letter board before, which I still need to hang up and cover my breaker with by the way. I really love how letter boards look in a kitchen, whether you want to put a quote or a menu it just makes it feel so much cozier & adds more characters.
I'm most likely going to change the shelves around every now & then but I know that no matter how many times I change them I want them to be practical and not full of crap. For now, on the left side of our range hood I have a plant, my cheeseboard, a casserole dish & some cups all from bed bath and beyond. Crate & barrel canisters, and some bowls which we use every day from Ikea.
On the right side I have my wine glasses next to my cookbooks which sit underneath my small plates. Underneath that is the "coffee section" 😊 I have two large mugs, my espresso maker and these espresso cups that I can't get enough of. Ninety percent of the things on our shelves (including the toaster, drying rack & knife set on the counter) were gifts from family and friends in our house warming party so if any of you are reading this thank you all so much!!!
Soap + lotion are from Murshison Hume in "original fig." I'm absolutely obsessed with the way they smell. Dish towels are from home goods.
Round marble cutting board is from Pier 1 and wooden cutting board was a travel gift from my brother in law.
xx
Don't forget to check out my KITCHEN TOUR VIDEO
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Friday Five
1. New on the desk. How cute is this little guy? I've always wanted a little wooden manikin... not sure why, I just really like how they look lol. Plus you can move his arms and legs. He has already mastered a couple of ballet poses and dabbed here and there.
2. Natural gas was finally installed in my house yesterday. I moved in the beginning of April and have not been able to use my stove or oven because I had to re-new all of the gas piping in my house and put in a meter. Essentially, I had my stove sitting there looking pretty but I couldn't use it. I had been cooking out of a portable electric pan which worked well but really limited what I could cook.
It was a long, annoying process & I could've just stuck to using an electric stove but I really had my heart set on a gas stove/oven, plus it's more energy efficient.
I've already cooked on it (not just the coffee lol) and OH MY LORD where has this baby been my whole life? I never knew how much one could love an appliance until now. Let's see if this will inspire me to make some food posts.
3. Say hello to the newest member of the family. My brand new Fiddle Leaf Fig. My mom bought me this beauty yesterday and I'm already in love. This is my second fiddle leaf, the first one I had unfortunately caught a bug and despite many attempts to save it, it just wouldn't prosper. Let's hope everything goes smoothly this time around.
I already ordered a stand for it, now I just need to find a nice planter. I'm really trying to get out of my terra-cotta plant pot comfort-zone and venture out to a nice white ceramic pot but so far I haven't really found one that I like that isn't ridiculously overpriced, its a freaking plant pot for crying out loud!
Let's see what I end up with.
4. If you saw my May Favorites video you would've seen me talk about the halo top birthday cake flavored ice-cream. Well, I went grocery shopping this week and the publix by my new house is pretty much halotop heaven, I genuinely gasped when I opened the freezer. I tried the peanut butter cup flavor and If you guys like reeses's peanut butter cups... STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING & go try this stuff out. Thank me later, I'll wait right here.
5. This has been my quote of the week.. or a lifetime. #realism.
See you all next week. xx