So, I have been the epitome of a bad blogger. I haven't posted one single thing since May and I am not proud of it- but I have had one of the best summers of my life! I would make a summer recap post, but oh my I don't want to torture you with about 5,000,001 pictures. However, it was one for the books (I love some clichés.)
I gave you all a peek of what my summer would look like in May and it was even better than I thought it would be! I began working two new jobs, a CIS Group Leader and a barista at my favorite coffee shop at home, they both turned out to be incredible. I can definitely tell that I learned so many different lessons about teaching through my CIS job and I know it will help me in the future with my degree! Working with three of my very best friends at the coffee shop was not something that I had expected to be doing at the beginning of summer, but I was so excited for the opportunity! It's so hard not seeing their faces everyday now that I am back at school. Summer went by so fast this year, as it does every year!
Speaking of school, I have officially started my Junior year of college at UNCC! I'm all moved in and settled. Last year, one of my most viewed posts was Dorm Room DIY's, this year, however, we were able to upgrade into a little better building so Laura (roomie) and I didn't have to put in as much effort to give the place a face-lift. We did do a few DIY projects that I will share with y'all and we decorated a ton!
I'll start with the living room. It's the room you first see when you walk into our apartment and I have to say that it makes the place feel so homey. We put a lot of effort into making it look nice this year and it paid off! One of our goals was to make everything flow together, mainly in the kitchen and living room.
Laura gets basically all of the credit for this space. She bought all of the decorations and I was just there to help put the space together. I think it turned out so beautifully! We were able to reuse the coffee table, side table, table lamp, and place mats from our apartment last year.
Laura scored this awesome chair at Habitat for $10! It fits so well in the space. The throw pillows, throw blanket, curtains, and standing lamp came from Target.
After I took the pictures above, we made initials of all the roommates to hang over the couch. They were created to match the place mats and one of the walls I will talk about below!
One of our first DIY projects in the new place was on the wall right as you come into the apartment. It was this plain white wall that was really drab and we turned it into something fabulous! Electrical tape is not just used for wires- it can also be used as faux paint stripes if you're really creative! This whole wall was done with 1 roll of tape for about $5.
We did a little decorating in the kitchen next. Our kitchen was not decorated in any special way last year, except for a rug that just collected crumbs mostly. This year, we wanted it to flow right into the living space. Laura found these precious prints on Pinterest and picked up a few frames. I think it creates almost a window-like area!
Naturally, my favorite print! All of them flow into the colors of the living room space. I love looking at these when I wash dishes. They're so fun!
Now, onto my favorite room (and that may be a biased statement.) Over the summer, I put a lot of thought into what I wanted my room to look like this year. I know that may sound silly because it's just a college dorm, but if you know me (and my mom) then you know we were both born to decorate. I feel like I need to be comfy in the place I'm staying or I won't be happy. Your environment reflects your personality and I think this room is a spitting image of me and all of my favorite things: gold decals, pictures, and navy blue. Okay, well maybe not all of my favorite things, but you get the point!
I reused my ruched bedspread from freshman year and my stool and a few decorations from last year. I saw these triangle wall decals online one day, but they were really expensive. I found the ones on this wall from Etsy for about $15 and there were 40 in a pack. I still have some leftover!
These throw pillow covers are from Groopdealz, if you haven't heard of the website, then you need to go there right now! I mean it, come back to this post later and finish it if you have to. Anyway, they were all about or under $10. The 'hello' pillow is from Hobby Lobby, my own tangible Pinterest.
I just love, love, love everything about this room! It is by far my best dorm room yet. Not that the others have been bad, I've just gotten better at decorating and planning! I couldn't have finished this room by myself, my mom was a HUGE help in the whole decorating process. I'm so thankful for her and her ideas!
Laura brought some wooden rectangles with her to do some DIYing with and we both made key hangers with them. They turned out so cute! I had some little picture loop hooks, I have no idea what they're actually called, that I twisted into the top to hang it on the wall with.
One of the last things we decorated was the sink area in the bathroom. We reused the blue 'wash' letters from the apartment last year. We added the loop hooks to the top of them this year for an extra touch. They turned out really cute in the space! We also reused the blue bathmats from last year as well.
Laura, Kirsten, and Dominique's rooms are all so cute as well! I'm so excited for this year and our little apartment. It really does feel like home away from home. I hope everyone's first day of class went well and I will post again soon(er rather than later)!
