How To Live Large In A Small Condo

Living in a small space can be tricky and sometimes hard. If you are living in a small apartment or downsizing, don’t go the typical small space decorating route. 

Instead, rely on this 10 small space decorating secrets that can help it to look bigger, better and brighter.

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1. Open Concept 

When living in a really small condo, it`s very important to try removing all the unnecessary walls. Having the open-concept floor plan will create great flow in the space, more light and therefore feeling of having more space in general.

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2. Go Big

Common misconception with small spaces is to use small furniture. That sound kind a logic, but, it`s totally wrong! Filling the space with a lot of small pieces of furniture will make it feel cluttered and messy. Instead of making a big mish-mash of smaller items, use less furniture, but choose bigger pieces. This will anchor the space and provide more seating/storage space and overall feeling of order and style.

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3. Be creative

Speaking of storage, this is one of the biggest issues with small spaces. So, think outside the box and be creative. For example, using a really inexpensive storage units from IKEA can be a great solution. You can customise them with a new knobs, paint or even wallpaper to stand out and reflect your style, or to blend with the walls and "disappear". Other great idea is to use IKEA (or some other) storage bench on one side of a dining table. Add two, three or as much as you can. It can function as a storage and the seating at the same time. Just change the knobs with some stylish ones and you will have a great space saver. 

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4. Make a Termination Point

By putting the piece or furniture, like beautiful credenza in front of the window in the living room, you can make a focal point and a terminational point in the space. This way you`ll have a beautiful vista when you come in.

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5. Keep everything open

To keep the space light and airy, use furniture with open back, furniture on a long, slim legs or glass/acrylic furniture. This way your eyes will travel through and furniture will not feel chunky. 

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6. Make statement with art and accessories

Accessorizing any space is a key to show of who you are. So, it is  very important to chose right pieces, since you`re dealing with a limited space and have to chose less items. Things like art, blankets, pillows, decorative pieces will round up your story and really show your style. My suggestion is to chose big art pieces that really mean something to you and cover the space on the wall above the sofa. For the dining room you can use big, statement mirror opposite the window to make space bigger and filed with light. Stay away from cluttering the open shelves with a bunch of small items, use few bigger instead and always leave a negative space around it to make it feel airy.

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7.Wisible bed as a focal point

Often in a small condo you can`t really hide the bed. So, why not make it a focal point. Dress it up with a nice decorative pillows and blankets and it will look almost like a daybed. And don`t be afraid to show it, we all have to sleep, right? Another good idea for the "bedroom" is to use a cute chairs instead of the nightstands. This way they will serve a double duty and you can pull them out for extra seating whenever you have guests. 

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8. Hiding stuff away is a way

Use storage bins, baskets, old suitcases or anything you have to hide away anything you don`t want to see. It`s perfectly ok to have stuff, but you don`t want things everywhere in the space. By using bins, baskets etc., you can stay organized even in a smallest space. 

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9. Change accessories

Living in a small space can make you feel squeezed and boring. Changing small details and accessories seasonally, are the breath of fresh air in a space and makes everything feels new and refreshed. After all, accessories are the cheapest way to make the change any time you want and they will make the space look different and put together.

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10. Leave space to evolve over time

Being a blogger and home decorator and living in a small condo for a long time, makes me realized that it is a task that is never done. As time goes by, our needs are changing and the space evolves with them. So I always move things around, add new or get rid of things we don`t use/need any more. There is no rule, so go with the flow and organize your space in the way to serve your needs and makes you happy.

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These are the tips I use in the space, and the result is a condo that has all the comforts of a house. Hope you`ll find them helpful!

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Easy Fall Ideas - DIY Fabric Pumpkins

Looking for an easy DIY #fall project? Look no further! Here’s a cute and easy way to make fabric pumpkins and decorate your home for the season. Best thing about this project: it can be made of new or old fabric or even a old clothing! 

As I said in this post, I use fabric pumpkins in my fall decor every year, but I just realized I never shared how to make them! And they are so fun to make!

Would you like to make some fabric pumpkins too? It’s so easy and you don’t even need a sewing machine!

P.S. If you want to see how I made this cute storage box you can find the tutorial here. 

Materials:

Fabric

Pillow stuffing

needle and thread

hot glue

scissors/ruler

Something for the stem (I used sticks I found outside)  and leaves (if you even want a leaf, I don`t...) 

Twine, string or yarn to wrap around the pumpkin.

Tutorial:

Cut your fabric into a rectangle, different dimensions will give different size.  A standard pumpkin shape would be width = 2 times the height. I wanted various shapes that would complement each other.

Fold your fabric in half, right sides together and hand sew, machine sew or even hot glue the side seam. (I used old pants for this one- perfect that I didn’t have to do an ounce of prep work to it!;D)

Next, sew a wide basting stitch along the bottom of the tube. Gather the bottom up so it is tightly closed and sew a few stitches to secure the bottom.

 It should look something like this.

Flip the fabric right side out and stuff your pumpkin. (Tip: to save stuffing, make a hole in the middle and use plastic bags, then put stuffing around, on top and bottom.)

Sew a basting stitch along the top and close it the same way as the bottom.

Pull the top closed and add a few stitches to secure it.

Thread the needle through the entire length of pumpkin (top to bottom) and wrap the twine/string around the pumpkin 4 to 8 times (whatever looks best to you.) Wrap it tightly and tie it off on the bottom. The tension gives the pumpkin the puffiness and better shape. 

Add a small amount of hot glue on top of your stem and attach it on the pumpkin.

If you want, add your leaves with a little more hot glue and voilà! A really cute pumpkin! Easy isn’t it?

Now go make a few! Even a no sewer can easily stitch up this pumpkin patch, made of linen, silk, or velvet. Set the sewn pumpkins in a cool autumnal scene and enjoy your good work! 

Do you have any fun fall projects on your list?

Thank you so much for stopping by, wishing you a wonderful day!

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DIY Midori Style Traveler's Notebook

Hello my beautiful friends! For those of you who are new to my blog, welcome and enjoy! Hope you are all well. I was sick last week, but I`m feeling a little better today, so I wanted to share my new baby. 

As I mentioned in my last post (find it here) I`m planning to organize my life better this year. A DIY Midori style traveler's notebook is a great project for organizing and it's simple to make. You can use whatever material you have on hand, leather, faux leather, fabric or even a placemat. I love the flexibility of this Midory system, and the fact that you can keep several different books within one cover. In this tutorial I'm going to go over making the cover. I already made my white leather one, so I`m going to show you how to make one using a simple, regular placemat.

You'll need:
Leather or material of your choice

Ruler
Cutter - Scissors
Small hole puncher
Elastic band
Marking pencils
Small ruler

Tutorial: 

Firs chose your material and lay it flat. Now, measure out and cut the leather - I made mine 21 cm x 15 cm. I'm using a scissors, bur you could also use a regular razor blade. Because my placemat have a scalloped design, I need to make a straight line on top.

Then measure 21 cm from the top and make another straight line on the bottom and cut.

I wanted to make a pockets on each side, so I didn`t cut the sides, but you can cut it to 30 (15x2) or 26 (13x2) cm, depending on size you like (A5 size is 15 x 21 cm or 6" x 8,25"; Full size is 13x21 or 5"x8,5"). Making pockets with this material is really easy, just measure your placemat, then subtract 30 or 26 (15x2 or 13x2), divide the rest in two and fold inside. I used just regular double sided tape to fix it in place. If you make it with leather, then you must sew it, but it was to much trouble to me, so I didn`t make pockets on my leather one.

Next, fold the material in half, and mark out places for the holes, right in the middle. In total I made five holes. 

Measure 1 cm (or 5 mm) from the top...

and 1 cm on the left and right from the center.

Using a hole punch will ensure the holes are cleaner.

Make one hole in the middle, fold your material in half and make a half punch. When you open it, it will make one hole - you need it to thread elastic band for the closure. 

First fold the band in half and insert elastic band in the middle of the book, leaving a loop on the other side long enough to close the book. 

If you like, you can add a little charm to make it more beautiful (before you insert elastic into a book, of course).

To secure the elastic inside (prevent it to slide thought the hole), make small piece of material with two holes. Insert elastic bands into a holes and make a knot. 

Then I pull the elastic through the holes like so. Then insert a book and tie it tight. Of course this is easy to adjust to make it tighter or looser.

And your DIY Midori Style Traveler's Notebook (Fauxdori) is finished! 

I`m currently using mine for budget tracking, meal planning, zone cleaning, grocery lists and notes, but it`s great for many other things like journaling, dairy, planning, drawing, doodling etc. I also made a laminated dashboard for my sticky notes ( I need them all the time).

You can find many inserts online for the Midori TN, but I used regular booklets, trim them to size and make cute covers (just glue scrapbook paper on existing covers) to go nicely with my theme. You can fit up to 7 or 8 inserts, but if you like them to fit nicely inside and not to overhang, then add about 3 to 4, depending of book thickness. I have only 2 right now, but I`m planning to make more for journaling and sketching. Maybe I will order Midori TN inserts later, but for now it`s just fine this way. I`m not going to use it as a planner, because I ordered my new planner already, along with some new pens, paper clips and washi (maybe I'll do a little haul when everything arrives). 

I`m really loving it so far, system is great, easy to use and you can customize it however you want. So, what do you think about my faux Midori?