Hi everyone! Today’s post is three months in the making, well more like three years in the making – Darren and I moved in in mid-December and we are FINALLY feeling so settled. Moving in together has been a dream for years – one that we’re finally living and we’ve honestly just been soaking it in.

I’m so excited to share with all of you our home, can you tell I’m smiling as I type that – “our home.”

I feel a need to place just the smallest disclaimer on here, which is that Darren and I have been together for almost 6 years, we were talking about moving-in 6 months in, but things like college, and careers, and life got in the way. While we’re absolutely ecstatic to have so many lovely things in our first home, we’re totally aware of just how lucky we are and that most people don’t move in the way we moved in, but we had years to save and plan and watch for sales and nothing we bought was full price. I feel silly even mentioning it, but again, we’re so lucky and we absolutely know that.

What we loved most about this space from the first time we saw it was all the natural light. I love how bright and light and inviting these rooms look, which kind of inspired the style, here. We went for neutrals and natural wood, keeping things airy, but cozy.

If you’ve been following along, you know that all I wanted in the whole world was a blue velvet couch and we actually drove down to New Jersey, not once, but twice, to pick out the couch of our dreams, as much as I loved the blue – I’m SO glad that we went for something more neutral and did blue velvet pillows instead. Our couch is maybe, to this day, my favorite purchase we made – I love that it’s not bulky, or big, and I love that we fond something that felt like it matched our aesthetic, while still being so comfy and cozy. As for the details, we got this couch the week of Black Friday, when West Elm runs their biggest sale of the year.

We actually got so lucky that everything we picked out kind of naturally fit in the space, as we did some super rough measuring the days before we moved in. That being said the only thing that I struggled with was picking out an appropriately sized rug – the first rug I bought for our living room was a bit short, so my mom was kind enough to gift me this amazing rug for my birthday – I knew I wanted something black and white and geometric and this one is so perfect for the space – I’m obsessed!

We picked out our coffee table the same day we got our couch, on that same fateful visit to West Elm and while we had been window shopping for what felt like forever and had been down to the store a few weekends beforehand, this was kind of an impulse decision. We hadn’t completely settled on one and what we loved most about this one is that half of it pulls up, so it has storage, but also is the best place to set my laptop when I’m working from home, or working on homework while sat on the couch – I also love the industrial feel of it! We got such great service at West Elm, when I apprehensively asked, “Can I ask you? Do you think everything we’re buying, does it like all go together?” She told me that she loved our sense of style, so of course – we were, well, I was SOLD.

Our media stand isn’t pictured above, but I thought it was worth mentioning because I actually grabbed it at Target and really like it – it’s so simple, but I love all the space underneath because you can really style it in so many ways, during the holiday – we had our Christmas trees incorporated here, but now that the weather is nicer I love the idea of doing a blanket basket underneath, or a cool planter!

You can get a better look at our media stand here, please excuse the wire management, three months in and we’re still a work in progress, but this picture also shows our bookcase, which I wanted to mention – I love this bookcase so much, and it was such a good deal – we got it from Wayfair, but it was also maybe the hardest thing we had to put together…and we bought two dressers from IKEA – so that is REALLY saying something. Would 10/10 recommend, but we’ve got a small dent in our ceiling to prove that this was a struggle.

On to the dining room! It took us a while to decide on a dining table, mostly because as much as all the two of us needs is something small, we really liked the idea of being able to invite family over and a friend told me that I shouldn’t limit myself to this apartment – if I want to have a table that seats eight in my house one day, why buy a small table now to replace in two years? And he was so right! I’m so glad that we bought our “forever” table now. While admittedly it does seem a little big in our apartment – every time I look at it I picture greenery and candles and Thanksgivings and Christmases and a family in matching Christmas sweaters drinking mulled wine, and it makes me so excited to host and to celebrate and to live. As much as I’m a complete perfectionist – I can’t wait until someone spills wine on this table, until it has scratches from puppy paws, and chips from a life well lived.

We actually saw this table when we went to West Elm in November, but couldn’t commit, so we got it on sale after the new year. I love the mid-century vibe and I love that it’s expandable and I think it’s such a great idea that they make different seating options, we opted for two benches and two chairs.

Remember the too small rug I mentioned before – this is actually the one I was talking about. While it’s on our list to buy something bigger – I do love the design of this one and it kind of matches the one in the living room, AND it was under $100 at Target!

If you’re thinking wow – what a great space, you should see it all lit up…

Something that has made our apartment so cozy and homey are these twinkle lights and sheer curtains, we have them in the living room and dining room and they are just my favorite thing. I also love this gold curtain rod – we have one in every room! We decided on gold accents to compliment the neutral colors and wood, which is why I love this center piece and this shelf we didn’t hang yet!

I hope you enjoyed this first invitation into our home, if you want to be our first dinner guests – RSVP below!