COME ON IN!!!

It has been long enough, so I thought I would invited you into my apartment.  I have decorated and added to my furniture collection and think I have finally become comfortable and am ready for my sister to come and visit next weekend!!!  The only thing I have left is to get some mums and pumpkins for the back porch and my home will fill like a home.  

The first thing you will come to is my front door.  Now when it is not a holiday I have this cute Welcome Mat and Welcome Wreath!  So fun and happy!  However, right now my Welcome Owl is on the front door.  My cousin Janet will be happy about that Owl!  But every Game Day (whether it's Equestrian or Football) - my Game Day Gamecock is on the door!  Talk about Grassroots Marketing.  

Below are some Before and After pictures... let me know what you think!! When I first got to Columbia I was super frustrated.  In fact, when my mom was here I kind of went off on her because I was so frustrated.  I think all in all my home has turned out lovely.  I have decorated with roosters (or Gamecocks depending on where you are from).  I guess I am kind of like my mom in that regard.  If you have ever been in my mom's house she has rooster's everywhere!  Like mother like daughter, or so I've heard.  When I first got in the apartment the living room was so large.  It is a 16' by 20' room and so overwhelming to decorate when you first walk in.  I think the most intimidating part was that my living room and my kitchen are one area and there is no break.  As you can see from the picture (bottom left) I tried different rugs.  It was really hard to figure out which direction to go.  I ended up starting with my red couch and my brown pillows.  From there I decided to bring in some gold and off-white tones.  The lazy-boy was my mom's that I brought from her house and I have since added a buffet (that my tv stands on) and my two side-tables and my coffee table - both which I got from Ashley's.  The thing I like about Ashley's is that they deliver and it is put together!  YAY!

Boy my red couch sure does have a lot of memories.  From Oxford Park in Waco to Austin Avenue Flats and now to The Gates in Columbia SC!  Baylor hair is all over it - but I love this couch and many a night have we shared.  Many times I am so exhausted after a game, instead of being smart and going to bed, I lay on this couch with my little cuddle bunny and we fall asleep until I get too uncomfortable - man growing up really stinks!  (You can't sleep anywhere).  This, to the right, is my favorite piece - my buffet.  even though it is supposed to hold wine - it holds my TV!  It's the perfect piece for right there!  

This is my corner area in the living room (above it is where that ladder looking thing is).  It started out slow but thanks to Target, Big Lots, Lowe's, and Pier One I think it has come together nicely.  Please excuse the witches I have already begun to decorate for Halloween!!  My red chair is from Ashley's and I got that several years ago when I moved to Baylor.  If you can see the picture in the back on the wall.  That is a painting/collage that Molly Anne made me!  She is so talented and it says "Love the Person you are today." It is great!  

One of the reasons that I got a 2 bedroom apartment is so that if I needed I could host friends at my place.  I am hoping that in my time here in South Carolina I have several visitors.  My first visitor (besides mom and dad coming earlier) is Molly Anne!  She is bringing 3 of her friends and I have already sent her a gift box of goodies to get them ready for the ride here!  I am so thrilled they are coming.  It has also been a big motivator to decorate my home.  So here it is my guest bedroom before and after.  The bedroom is a blue/green/grey -ish color tone and the bed is a silver iron cast bed.  I like this room because I was able to use a lot of my shabby chic furniture from my apartment at Baylor in this room, including the white buffet which was home to my tv in my living room in Texas.  You can see that I have carried the rooster theme into this bedroom with the blue iron rooster.  Then I have a blue peacock type plate and candelabra on the other side of the TV.  If I had a boy I would mount the TV on the wall and put some books or a couple of boxes under it.  But for now I think it is okay.  Above the bed I have added 2 iron ceiling tiles that are blue.  I thought I would need 3 - but 2 seemed to work great!  There is more I would like to do with this room, but I don't have enough $$$ for that haha.

This is what is on one of the walls in the Guest Room. Over in the back corner is a picture of the Old Mill in North Little Rock. GrandMolly gave that to me when I graduated from Grad School.  I am so glad that I have a piece of history of my hometown in my apartment in South Carolina.  I am also shocked how much of this color scheme I had in my decorations box.  I guess deep down I like blues and browns?  Who knew?!?!

The next picture is the picture of the Guest Bathroom and the bathroom that is used by guests when they come over.  This is what my mom helped me on and I was so overwhelmed I could hardly stand it!  Mom was so patient with me though.  I love her so much.  Is the curtain not so cute!??!  That was all her idea and the cute brown and blue towel set above the toilet... ALL HER! Cute huh?  I get so many complements on it.  
Last but not least - my guest bathroom "Come Visit Me" closet!  I am ready for Molly Anne and anyone else that wants to come visit!

Next is my entry table.  I really like how it turned out!  A lot of the stuff is from Kirklands and Pier One.  I like how it is just enough to take up space but not bulky!  I hate bulky!  And do you spot it?  The Rooster in the back is a chalk rooster and I can write things on it - right now it says Welcome Friends!  And it's crowded on the table because of my Halloween stuff but usually it's quite simple.

Speaking of Halloween stuff - GrandMolly got my started with Witches a few years ago when I started living in my own place.  And I have added a few things this year... Including the candy tray!  My Candy Tray has bananas in it - yes I am trying to stay healthy :) I have named my witches and so those are the names next to my witches and what I call them!  

Last but not least is my bedroom!  My bedroom is massive so it doesn't look very complete but trust me I am only in there to sleep so it is fine with me.  I will show you my bathroom first.  I wasn't quite sure how I liked the his and hers sinks (kind of sad - and you all know how badly I want a his in my life) lol.

As you can see I was a mess when I first moved in.  And now I have stuck with my browns and reds and have decorated nicely.  The red beads on the sticks kind of get in the way in front of the sinks... but I like the center piece to much to care.  My favorite part of my bathroom is probably the decorative towels I got at World Market.  Are they not the cutest design?  I mean seriously I can use them with any tone - purples, reds, blues, greens, and especially brown!!!  I love the brown!  I am not super crazy about the shower/tub combo, the tub is really tall so it is always a slippery balancing act getting in and out.  Oh well!

This is my bedroom.  I haven't really done anything with my decorations besides the lamps - those are new.  But this is my same set up that I have had for the past several years and I am completely happy with it.  I guess the familiarity of it is comforting. The pillows, the colors, the side tables, I love all of it.  And so does Baylor :)  I am trying to show you how big my room is with all of the different angles.  My curtains are from Pier One and are a cute red/orange/yellow mix and so they match perfectly!  Over in the back corner is my mirror that holds my jewelry - or some of it.

This is my my desk/work area which never gets used because by the time I get home - I want to do nothing.  NOTHING.  I really sit and play with Baylor - there is no part of my that wants to work or even look at a computer.  Oh and I just added that chair from Target!  I found a 40% off coupon of one item - so I bought the $150 chair that matches my yellow pillows!  It just looks great and complements everything in the room.  This is my closet - Yes I know it is huge and I am even embarrassed to show you because, it is no where near organized.  I have added several shelving units.  I will say that it was so big I actually fit my chest in there!  WOW! So big.  

  

So there it is: my apartment.  DONT ASK ME ABOUT THAT TABLE!!! IT IS THE DEATH OF ME.  I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of the apartment and where I spend the few hours that I am not at the office or an athletic event!  If you want to come visit - just say the word!  

Oh and this is my favorite rooster:

And you can't have Halloween without Ghost Cookies.  And if you are single and live alone and like to host people - you need this miniature cake/cookie pan.  I got it for $15 at Pier One!  Its so cute and the PERFECT SIZE!!!!