Decorating an Apartment

Since last week's whirlwind of manual labor to pull the deck together before our houseguests arrived we have taken a bit of a break on that particular project.  We'll get back to it in a few weeks to finish the railing, create the back stairs and to stain everything, but in the meantime I have switched gears to an exciting new interior decorating project.  Vivian, a dear, fun, incredibly stylish friend of mine here in Louisville has decided to get a masters degree at a seminary about an hour and a half away, and she'll be living in a student apartment for a few days a week while she's in class.  I couldn't have been more excited when she asked me to help her decorate her new place, especially since she has the most beautiful home you've ever seen, so she clearly knows what she's doing:)  We have had THE best time already working on this, and I can't wait until everything is in place and I can show you the after photos!

The seminary included some upgrades that were a pleasant surprise, like the heavy kitchen cabinets and stainless steel appliances, and these student town homes are brand new, which means the place feels clean and fresh.  Vivian wants to be able to make the space comfortable without being fussy or too formal, and with every piece of furniture or look we consider we're trying to strike a balance of clean and refined (she is an adult, after all:)) with student living.

 The kitchen is open to the living room/dining area area, which makes the whole first floor feel open and spacious.  Because the apartment doesn't have a ton of square footage, we wanted to double check our dimensions and picture the layout before buying any furniture to be sure we could squeeze in both a dining room table and a comfortable seating arrangement.  Marking off the area with paper furniture helped us to picture the flow of the space and what all we could fit together in there-- for instance, we realized we weren't just limited to a love seat like we had first feared but could use a full couch as long as the dimensions were reasonable (less than 85").  When you're buying furniture from antique and second hand places and you can't return anything, taking the time to measure carefully and plan the layout is critical.  I didn't really want to be stuck unloading extra furniture on eBay at the end of this:)

 Stay tuned for more planning, shopping and the big reveal!

xo

Liza

A little green goes a LONG way....

Here at Casa Smith, we are in the midst of messiness. We have many small projects going on all while keeping our little ones occupied with art projects, etc..... I say, when you are in the midst of projects, it is always helpful to keep small spaces of sanity. So, while we were in the Union Sq Farmer's Market, S and I picked up some new greens to perk up our space. The right greens in a home as the effect of making your home feel calm and fresh. 

Currently we have many messy spaces. I am always amazed how much more organized and cleaner a space feels when plants are present. 

 With just a few adjustments this small nook came together nicely. The demilune table was given to us by Jonathan Hansen, along with the four Louie chairs. 

 P.S. I also couldn't resist picking up a few blooms for color. As you can see my pink and blue obsession continues.

I feel better about our messy space already.

Mil Besos,

M

It's a Party (Deck)!

We had the best, most fun weekend with three of my cousins in town to visit us and Kentucky for the first time, and we even got to use the deck!  Ok, so the railing isn't up yet, and the stairs are just temporary, but hoping that none of our friends would fall off the sides we inaugurated the new deck with a dinner party in the cousins' honor.  Here's how last week's progress went:  

Once the structure was built, we installed the posts for the future railing into the sides of the deck frame using enormous 1/2" galvanized bolts to hold them in place.  Then finally, the most exciting part-- we could start laying the decking!! 

Using a framing nail gun we borrowed from an even tool-crazier friend sped up the process of nailing in the decking boards by about a thousand percent, and it made it pretty fun, too!  Once some of the first boards were down we could begin walking on the surface of the deck more easily, too.  Most of the boards were pretty straight, but we had to be careful to keep them evenly spaced.  Using a nail as a spacer and a crowbar to manipulate the decking boards, we managed to maneuver them into place long enough to shoot 'em with the gun.  

We didn't worry about the extra length hanging off both sides of the deck, since we knew we would come back later with a circle saw and trim off the edges for a clean finish.

And then the day of the cousins' arrival: party ready in a hurry!

We are SO close!! I can't wait to show you the next round of photos!

xo

Liza