Nesting.

I am a nester.

I have lived in so many homes and even more residence halls. I have had many opportunities to learn how to make my space feel special and personal in a very short period of time.

As someone who works in Residence Life, I am very aware that my home is only temporary. The time, energy and money that go into projects that will have to be left behind or painted over in a few months may not feel worth it to some people. I, however, always choose to nest. The money and energy always seems worth it to me in the end.

I am so eager to share my favorite spaces. I am so proud of the collections I have curated and the quirky spaces I have created.

These are pictures of my first ever apartment! I lived in this residence hall apartment for only one year and truly loved it. It was the first year I had ever had more than just a bedroom to myself. The extra living space and little kitchen felt so wonderful and so adult. I am so proud of how all of the things that I had obsessively collected made sense together.

It was indescribably fun collecting all of the furniture and accessories that I brought to this apartment. Living in a residence hall also means working with university furniture (yikes!) but I’d like to think that they blended in nicely. The only two pieces of furniture that I did not bring to the space were the couch and coffee table from the first picture! I eventually found a tinier one that made more sense but some of these pictures still feature that super bulky table that came with the apartment. The tulip table, vintage chairs, midcentury desk and hutch were all hauled in by my family. My people are the best.

The summer before I started my graduate program and moved to New Brunswick, I lived at home and worked as a waitress. A lot of my free time was spent obsessing over how I would decorate my apartment. I spent hours browsing thrift shops, garage sales and craigslist ads that summer. It was so silly and SO fun.

I will certainly share pictures of my new apartment once I finish up some projects and get my new phone (that will take much nicer photos!) My new apartment is wonderful.

It is so important that I feel happy and comfortable in my space. As a Hall Director, I work where I live and therefore spend a whole lot of time in my apartment. It feels so wonderful that my apartment is my favorite place to be (besides my parent’s house!).

I wish I had pictures of my teeny kitchen and bathroom! I’m really surprised that I never documented those.

There are so many DIY projects and other tips and tricks from my apartment nesting that I hope to share on this blog. Stay tuned friends!