Home Sweet Home (taken with a camera stacked on books because we lost a part of our tripod) Whenever people ask us, "What's the best part of being married?" the simultaneous answer is "Having our own place." Having lived with many roommates over the years throughout college, we were so excited to finally have a place of our own. We had collected decor and furniture over the years, and quickly put them to use in our new apartment. As San Jose rent prices go, we had limited options with our budget. But we were so lucky to find a place that we fell in love with - which we didn't think was possible in the skyrocketing housing market. It was a 1-bedroom apartment near Japantown, with the sweetest, most awesome landlady we had ever met. She moved the monthly neighborhood party for us before we even decided to sign the lease, surprised us with a gift basket, and even picked up our packages and brought them inside our apartment when we were on our honeymoon. Not to mention our amazing maintenance guy, who picks up donuts and bagels for the complex every Friday morning, lets us use the basement for our woodworking projects, and helped us mount our TV to the wall. But the true highlight of our place was the concrete walls in the living room, bedroom, and closet. We immediately saw the potential for photoshoots and home decor - which served us well for the getting ready photos of our wedding. Succulents from Half Moon Bay Nursery ($10), Planters from Cost Plus World Market ($11), Chair from Amazon ($42) Before long, we were scouting for succulents and plants to liven up our home. We had Half Moon Bay Nursery on our to-go list for quite a while, and were so excited to find so many beautiful succulents there for amazing prices. Not wanting to get a succulent that was already popular on Pinterest, we found this treasure from their new collection and had to take it home. Finding a planter was even more of a challenge however, as we scouted HomeGoods, Target, Michaels, and Home Depot. We finally found this beautiful ceramic planter from Cost Plus World Market that fit the bill. DIY Hexagonal Wood Shelves from Michaels ($3) Artificial Greenery and Mini Clothespins from Michaels Mugs from Stripe ($10), Camera from Glass Key Photo ($5), Vase from Michaels ($5), Books from Half Price Books, Sheets from HomeGoods, Pillow from Nate Berkus by Target, Marble and Gold Table from Target ($10) As king and queen of finding deals, we found the table, vase, and mugs on clearance. We also discovered the awesome camera store Glass Key Photo when planning our wedding, which sells a variety of broken antique cameras that are great for decor. Not only did they have the most exquisite cameras, but they were also such a steal compared to even flea market prices. Another treasure was finding that Half Price Books sells books by the yard, which is a box of antique books that they collect based on your specifications of color and size. DIY BYGEL Marble & Gold Coffee Cart from IKEA ($30) As avid coffee lovers, we of course had to have a special place for our DIY coffee cart filled with a Chemex, Aeropress, Bonavita kettle, pourover stand, grinder, espresso maker, stovetop espresso maker...you get the point. RAVENEA Majesty Palm from IKEA ($12), Camera from Glass Key Photo ($5) RYDEBACK Table top from IKEA ($50), Hairpin Legs from Rockler ($60), Lamp from Mixed Nuts ($10), Macbook Keyboard Cover from Amazon ($7), Mug from notNeutral, DIY Gold Foil Concrete Planter from Renegade Craft Fair One of our most exciting purchases was making an easy DIY table. We knew we wanted a white table top for photos, but also loved the mid-century modern look of hairpin legs. So instead of spending hundreds of dollars to buy one, we just got the pieces separately (as a wonderful gift from the parents) and built our own table! Left: Marble and Wood Cheeseboard from HomeGoods ($10), Towel from Anthropologie ($3), Gold Flatware from Target. Right: Stemless Wine Glasses from IKEA and Crate and Barrel, Deer Pourer from Castello di Amorosa ($30) Fans of Anthropologie, not fans of Anthropologie prices. But one day we decided to stroll into the store - just because - and discovered that sometimes they have an amazing clearance section! We happened to stumble upon the store when they were having an extra 25% off clearance, so picked up a few sets of towels for cheaper prices than we had seen anywhere else. DIY Cake Stand from The Merry Thought, Marble Contact Paper from Amazon ($8) And with the marble contact paper looking so good on our coffee cart, we couldn't resist making this cake stand when we saw the tutorial one of our favorite blogs. With just a pencil stand from Target, a wood clock base from Michaels, we had an adorable cake stand made in under an hour! Perfectly paired with mini chocolate chip muffins to end the day.
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