Alli Home Tour Part 1: Living Room

Living on my own for the first time this year has been very fulfilling in many different ways. While I miss living with all of the different roommates that I had throughout college, living on my own has really thrown me into the "grown up" phase that I'm transitioning into. Throughout college, I've really only decorated my own personal space which was my bedroom. Now that I have an apartment to myself, I got to decorate all the spaces! We thought it would be fun to show how I decorated my space & the best part? I did it all with a tight budget! This home decor series will be broken up into a few different posts featuring different rooms & today we're starting with my living room. Keep scrolling to check it out!

I'll link to as many things as I can in case you're interested!

The rule I set for myself when shopping around was that I could ONLY buy things if they were on sale. This was hard because the majority of store's products aren't on sale, but since I knew I'd be needing to buy a lot of items, I set the rule for myself & almost every single item that I bought new was from clearance.

My apartment has a very open feel to it -- the living room flows directly into the kitchen & dining room, & my bathroom is also right in this area. Because of this open concept, I spend a lot of time in these areas.

While shopping around for different pieces to add to my living room, I noticed a few things about my style. I like wood -- different shades, different textures + patterns, rough & distressed, etc. My TV stand is a hand-me-down from my parents (#blessed). The TV is from a sale deal on Amazon. The black square ottoman on the left I've had for years. I think my siblings got it for me as a Christmas gift when I was a freshman in college? Storage space was a must back in those days. The blanket ladder on the right was made by my dad. He loves to build things so when he made one for my mom for the basement, I told him I was next in line. The cream pompom pillow & cream blanket are both from Target. The wall hanging & the black + white patterned blanket are both from Hobby Lobby.

(Please excuse the small pumpkins as decoration, these pics were taken in November)!

I'm really into grey tones so I knew from the start I'd want a grey couch. The thing that's super awesome about this couch from Ashley Furniture is that the chaise can be switched to either side of the couch because the cushions are interchangeable. I knew this would be a good purchase because I knew I'd probably be moving around a bit until I found a School Counseling position somewhere. I believe all three pillows + the blanket are from Target.

This simple collage is right above my couch. Everything is from Hobby Lobby except the quote in the frame on the bottom right which was a college graduation gift from my cousin. I love the greenery & the different wooden tones in this wall collage & I think it really pulls my living room all together.

This is my absolute favorite space in my living room! It's right next to the couch & just to the right takes you into my dining room table & kitchen. This past summer I rediscovered my love for reading & I really dove into it, reading books that I've had for years & put off reading + buying new ones to add to my collection. This bookshelf used to be at my parents' house but I brought it along to college for storage purposes. I thought it would be really cute to use it in my living room as a place to store some of my books, but also to decorate (click here to check out our most recent book reviews). All of the little knick knacks & succulents I found at various different stores in their clearance sections. A lot of items were found at Marshalls or (surprisingly) Pier 1! Pier 1 actually has some pretty fantastic sales (like over 50% off!) on their candles, succulents & other small decor items. The plant was a housewarming gift from my grandma from Target & the 'hi' sign is old from Hobby Lobby. This area of my house is the first thing you see when you walk in the door & I absolutely love it.

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