Rustic Apartment Living Room Decor

I love love, love rustic decor. I always have. And it has always been my dream to use rustic decor in my home. And for a long time, I thought that you had to live in a house to decorate using rustic decor. Then I thought "Why?" Why would I need to live in a house to decorate that way?

The simple answer: I don't. You can live in an apartment, a townhouse, a trailer, a double wide, wherever and decorate however you would like. There are no rules! And why buy things to decorate this town home while we live here just to buy rustic decor when we buy a house of our own? That's silly. So I decided to decorate our townhouse/apartment in rustic!


 

It has taken me months. But I am finally about finished decorating the living room & kitchen. I know it might sound crazy to take months to decorate but I didn't want to settle with what I am decorating with. I wanted each piece to be special that I bring into our home. And I knew that we were going to have to build a couple pieces of our own to make that happen.

Rustic decor can be quite expensive, especially when it comes to wood tables, clocks, lamps, etc. But I have came across some great gems that I did not have to break bank for! And I thought I would share them today. 

 

This is to the left of our front door. I wanted to keep it very simple in this area with just a few pieces because that makes the space look so much bigger!

Here's a closer look. My fiance and I built this window table. It was the easiest table that we built out of the 3 pieces. My fiance also wrapped that glass vase (Which was a $1) in jute! (The Jute was $1.97) I looked around. On Etsy jute vases are running from $9.99 & up. We made ours for $2.97. 

We also made the Growth Chart Ruler that is hanging on the wall. It was really simple! All you need is a piece of wood. Some stencils. A permanent marker. And a measuring tape!

This is our entertainment center. It's the Vittsjo series from Ikea. We bought this before I decided to go rustic. But I've made it work! (We might even put in wooden shelves to replace the glass) 

Left Shelf.

Right Shelf.

When you walk right through the front door, this is what you see. It is my Travel Themed Shelf! I've got all kinds of neat things on it!

 I did the "Lets Get Lost" with simple scrabble letters. I found the globe at Ross.

 I made the "Love Makes The World Go Round" and printed it on a piece of burlap. Then I stressed the photo frame using petroleum jelly & white paint. I also made the map book covers using a giant map I found at Hobby Lobby. (I got all 3 books at the Dollar Tree) The camera is from Ross.

I framed the Untied States Map (Found at Hobby Lobby) The Eiffel Tower is also from Hobby Lobby. Big Ben is from Ross. And the Travel Suitcase I found at Michaels and got for $9.99 with a coupon!

Here's our "Office" area. It is located between the basement door and our mechanical closet. I used to hate this space. I could never get it right. But then, my fiance and I made this desk and it all just came together!

The must with this desk is that it had to have a built in space for that big, bulky printer. I love the printer, but it's huge. And I didn't want it cluttering up the top of the desk. So we thought of this! And I love it!

All of the wall decor came from TJMaxx (Excluding the clock in the top, right hand corner) All of the other wall pieces were purchased there. I made the 'family' printed on burlap in the photo frame on the right. The giant lamp was purchased at Walmart. I <3 "Our Little Office".

And last but not least (This might actually be my favorite part of the whole thing) My children's play area in our living room! Our townhouse is 3 floors. All of the bedrooms are on the top floor. I prefer the kids playing in the living room if I am down here. So we made them a play space of their own!

This is the 3rd piece that we made. It was the most detailed out of all 3 pieces but still very simple (Beginner level easy lol) I wanted it to be wide with shelves for their little goodies. The baskets (From Walmart) have some small toys. And the wooden boxes are from Ross.

Here is a closeup of their little lazy boy chair and the crate shelf that we made!

Here are the before & after crates. I stained them using Minwax Special Walnut.

Well that is all for today! I am going to do another blog with a closer look at the little details on my living room. I didn't want this post to become way too long! Just know that you can decorate your home however you like no matter where you live! 

And I leave you with my youngest playing (Or laying lol) in his play area!

-Ashli