March 19th, 2014

Apartment Tour: Living Room

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

“I feel so intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one’s own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful.” — Virginia Woolf

This post has been a long time coming, and I greatly appreciate the patience you’ve all had with me. I’ve wanted to show you my new place for ages, but wanted to a) mostly finish decorating, and b) show my closest friends in person first. Keeping it off the blog until now has been a major exercise in restraint, believe me.

But now that both of those things have been accomplished, let me finally show you around my new apartment! (Those sneaky instagram snaps don’t count.)Since there’s just too much to show and tell in one post, I’m splitting it up into a few chapters. This first one is going to focus on my living room/dining room. In case you spot something you like, links to various items will be embedded throughout.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Come on in!

This is what you see standing in the kitchen, overlooking the kitchen pass-through. There’s the dining area, and behind it – the living room.

When I was apartment-hunting, two things that were high on my checklist were hardwood floors throughout, and lots of natural light. I was so lucky to find both of those with this place!

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Here, hang up your things. I found this neat little hook from Urban Outfitters, and it hangs right by the entrance doorway to hold onto my keys, phone pouch, and whatever bag I’m currently wearing.

Ignore that room in the background… we’ll get to the bedroom in a later post. I promise. :)

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

So here’s what the whole main room looks like. A dining table that seats six, a bookcase, couch, coffee table, a matching ottoman, and a chest of drawers. That door at the back leads onto a little Juliet balcony, which I will certainly enjoy more once the weather warms up.

(Right now, it’s where I befriend local pigeons.)

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

On the door to the balcony is a little poster I designed and framed.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Here’s what it looks like standing near the coffee table. There’s the entrance door, a peek into the kitchen, and the dining area.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Since I live high enough and don’t have any neighbours in buildings directly across from me, I don’t really need curtains for privacy – but I picked up these beautiful sheer gauze ones simply because I loved the ethereal way they looked.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Here’s a little glimpse at part of my book collection! So many good memories enclosed in those thousands of pages.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

This is the floral centrepiece I have on my dining table at the moment. I love real flowers to death (literally), but silk ones are great in terms of bang for your buck. Plus, they look gorgeous forever and you don’t have to do any work maintaining them.Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

I found this lovely ornate mirror at IKEA of all places, and hung it up above the couch.Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourI had to allow myself one fangirl decor purchase, and it was this one: a replica of the Union Jack pillow that lives at 221B Baker Street, in BBC’s Sherlock. (Pillow insert here, pillow case here.)Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourI wanted a white couch, but since I’m not the world’s neatest person, I wanted something that was wipeable in case of spillage. So: leather!

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

I love words, and I have beautiful quotes displayed all over my apartment. On mugs, framed on the walls – even on my throw pillows!

“Enjoy the little things” pillow here, “Paris is Always a Good Idea” pillow here.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour
Speaking of quotes on the walls, here are some more. I’ve decorated my walls with a selection of things I find beautiful, and words that inspire me. Here’s the view from sitting on the couch.
Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourSara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourThis one was an image I found on Pinterest, so I blew it up and had it printed and framed.
Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour
These are the flowers I have on my coffee table. A combination of roses, ranunculus, and peonies. It was hard to decide which angle to photograph them from – they’re stunning from any side!
Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour
I’ve dreamed about having this print on the wall of my own apartment way before I had an apartment at all. It was one of the first decor purchases I made after signing the lease.

Get this Rifle Paper Co. London illustration here. I also have a smaller sized Paris one beside it.Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourOn top of my cabinet I have a few decorative items, like a bouquet of flowers in a silver mint julep cup, a Bath & Body Works candle, Kate Spade notepad, and a few choice books.Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment TourBeautiful books by some of the world’s most talented authors are the perfect inspiration I need when I’m suffering from a bad case of writer’s block.

Because who can motivate better than Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Storage box and white roses are linked. Unfortunately the Kate Spade iPad case is no longer available, sorry!

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

I felt this was the most appropriate way to label a box full of various charging cables.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

I can’t even express how much I enjoy having my own place. I can’t seem to stop singing and dancing all the time, and it’s been so much fun getting to express myself through decorating my apartment.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

I wasn’t sure which direction I was going to go in when I first started, but I had a few vague ideas and the vision became more and more clear in my head as I went.

Though I may make a few more changes, and hang a few more things on the walls, I’m very pleased with the way it has turned out. It feels very “me”, and I think that’s important in a home.

Sara du Jour: Living Room Apartment Tour

Pride and Prejudice Darcy quote mug | Kate Spade coaster | Rifle Paper Co. iPhone case

Thanks for being on this journey with me, and stay tuned for a tour of my bedroom, kitchen, and washroom! xx

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