Hello everyone! This blog post is way overdue.  For those of you who don’t know, in March, I followed my dreams and heart and moved to New York City.  And for those who already knew that because you follow me on Instagram and keep up to date with all my city adventures, it has been a wonderful past couple of months as I make one of my favorite cities my new home.

I knew once I signed the lease for my studio apartment on the Upper West Side, I had the exciting chance to decorate my new space the way I wanted and of course when it was ready I would to document it here on LivForStyle.  After three months getting comfortable in my new space, I’m ready to show off my new spot, so keep on reading how I decorated my little New York City apartment and made my studio my home away from real home back in Connecticut.

My whole experience finding the perfect place in the city that offered great amenities, close to work, in a safe and fun neighborhood all while keeping within my budget was a positive experience thanks to a very helpful realtor.  I looked all over the city for the right place including the Murray Hill area, the Hell’s Kitchen area, the Midtown West area, and finally the Upper West Side, which obviously I fell in love with.

Side note, I’m trying to make this post all about my apartment tour, but couldn’t help to mention a few tidbits about my moving experience, but let me know if you want a dedicated post on my apartment hunt and my move.

Anyway, I’m in love with my apartment due to the fact I am close to bustling Lincoln center and beautiful Central Park.  In New York City, you certainly pay for location rather than space, but since I’m living alone, a studio space was perfect and quite frankly it’s the perfect size for me considering with my work life and social life I’m never home.

When you walk into my studio, this is the overview.  A studio is pretty much an open space, so your bedroom is in your kitchen, your kitchen is in your bedroom, your dining area is in your kitchen and bedroom, and your lounging area is in your kitchen, bedroom, and dining area, if that all made sense and then of course you have a separate, closed off bathroom.

When I was deciding on the motif for my new apartment, I wanted to focus on pastel colors to make my whole area feel airy, fresh, and light.  Plus, the light-colored hardwood floors and light gray colored cabinets also inspired me to follow a soft neutral color palette.

So, first my bed is a queen-sized bed which has been an adjustment because I’ve been sleeping in a twin bed all of my life LOL.  I decided to rent my furniture from CORT Furniture, which was an amazing experience.  CORT Furniture offers a vast amount of furniture options to rent, the delivery process was super easy, and I only pay a small monthly fee for the furniture, making it super affordable.  I decided to go down the rental route, so I wouldn’t be stuck with the furniture if I decide to move to a different apartment or city next year.  I picked out this gray headboard and queen-sized mattress from CORT Furniture.

I then accessorized my bed with this beautiful comforter from Walmart.  I’m still in awe that this comforter is from Walmart and was only $70 for the comforter, pillow shams, and throw pillows.  I love the beautiful blush and moss green colors that perfectly go with the color scheme for my apartment.  I also found this gray fleece blanket from Walmart that I drape over my bed for an extra pop of gray color and for warmth on those chillier nights.

Next to my bed you will find this small night stand with two compartments for storage. Both the night stand and lamp are from the Christmas Tree Store.

Since, I have such a small space, I didn’t want to overwhelm my walls with tons of art work, so I kept it simple with three small photos above my bed.  First, is a fun fashion themed calendar to keep track of my busy life.  Next, was the last piece I found for my apartment and in my opinion has tied together my whole space.  Yes, a small little photo can have that much of an impact because it features one of my favorite quotes, “Don’t let today be a waste of makeup.”  Then, placed off to the side is another great piece that includes all of the major streets and my personal favorite streets in New York City.  On the other wall by my bed is my beautiful, black and white elephant canvas I received as a gift from, the Founder and Creative Director of Boy Meets Girl, after I finished my fashion internship back in my junior year of college. This elephant has been in all my apartments back at school, so it only made sense to bring it with me on this next adventure.

Another piece of furniture I rented from CORT Furniture is this small, plush chair.  I decided to maximize as much space as possible and found that if I rented a love seat or couch it would take up too much space, so this little chair is perfect and super comfortable.  I call this corner my blogging nook because I find myself sitting on this chair with my laptop, looking out the window and feeling inspired to work on my blog and brainstorm new ideas.  To match the gray chair, I hung these three small canvas pictures above.  I always love a good black and white fashion sketch and an inspiring quote to get those creative ideas going.

One of the many things that sold me on this apartment was these two large windows.  Although, it was a little more pricey to have an apartment with two large windows looking out onto the street, it was worth it because I get so much sunlight and enjoy looking out the window and seeing all the people and cute doggies walking by.  I also love how the windows feature these large window sills which allows me extra storage for my jewelry, books, and little trinkets.

Naturally, being a fashion blogger in my new spot I wanted a floor length mirror to take some mirror outfit snaps and to make sure my outfit is always on point.  This beautiful mirror with a gold/silver finish is surprisingly from Walmart, which was also a great deal!

One of my biggest fears moving into the city was the closet space because I feel like I have more clothes than the average person and my wardrobe is always growing, but my place has this amazing closet that has enough space to fit all my clothes and shoes.  Plus, above my closet I have this extra storage option that is great for storing things I don’t use every day.  I always keep my closet door open because I’m like Carrie Bradshaw when she said…”‘I like my money where I can see it – hanging in my closet.’”

I lucked out with this newly renovated kitchen with all stainless steel appliances and these beautiful gray cabinets.  I really didn’t have to add too much to the kitchen except a colorful dish towel, a foot stool for those high cabinets, and of course my fruit basket to hang my bananas and store my avocados or whatever fruit I buy that week.

I‘ve been super proud of myself for cooking most of my dinners at home, which has saved tons of money and I wanted a little dining nook because the thought of eating on my bed every night grossed me out . I found this cute table and chair set from you guessed it Walmart.  It’s the perfect size.  Although, this dining set is super cute it was a pain to put together, the second chair was defective and instead of wasting hours trying to fix it or return the whole set, I decided to just keep the one chair, because after all it’s really just me sitting at the table and if I do any entertaining most likely we will be going out to dinner.  Also, since this is my “dining room” I decided to hang side by side these two fun wine themed photos and of course an arrangement of succulents for the center piece.

It can’t be a full apartment tour without a peek into my bathroom, so here we have a newly renovated bathroom with sleek and modern finishes and a good amount of space and cabinets for all my beauty and shower essentials.

So, I think that’s a wrap on my New York City studio tour.  I was so afraid because my space is small that I wouldn’t have anything to show and talk about, but looking at how much I wrote above, I guess I had more to share than I realized.  I hope everyone enjoyed reading this and taking a peek inside my new space in the city.  I couldn’t be more thankful of the fact that I have turned my dreams, since I was a little girl, to live in the city now my reality.  For more of my New York City adventure, make sure you follow me on Instagram (@livforstyle).  Talk to you all in my new post!