So if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, I have alluded to the fact that I am about to get a new place – a very small, quaint studio apartment – but my own place. It took awhile to find something that was just right and dog friendly and in the west end and ‘me’. I have very specific ideas of what I can and cannot live in. Oh did I mention my budget? That was also a limiting factor. Frig rents are CRAZY pants in Toronto. I looked for weeks and weeks and finally a perfectly located studio came onto my radar. I saw it immediately. The landlord likes dogs, but not “small yappy ones” – phew! Although it was filled with someone else’s stuff and apparently is going to be painted, re-carpeted and professionally cleaned – I knew I liked it. The one downside is that I will have to get use to living in a very small space. I think it will actually be a great move for me as I do have a tendency to love too much stuff. I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder but I, well I like stuff. As soon as I handed over the deposit, I started dreaming about how I would decorate the space – maximize what I had and research how to make small spaces not feel so small. I haven’t been able to go back in to do measurements yet, but I plan to this upcoming week so I can start buying furniture and acquiring goods specifically for the space. Because of all my shifting around in the last few years, I really don’t have much ‘stuff’ anymore. Lots was sold, some was dispersed among family and the rest I have purged. Lots and lots of purging going on. My wardrobe? Half of what it was.

I already have a pretty good idea of the look/way that I want to head with the space so I thought I would share it here on the blog. Who knows if it will take this exact direction, but it will at least guide the space.

First up, PAINT. Am so excited to finally be able to fully utilize my Para Paints Blog Crew status!!!

So you might remember my original post that I did that won me my spot on the Blog Crew Team HERE.

This was the palette I wanted then:

I still really love all of these colours – although I think I might back off a little from the mustard-y colour – and use that sparingly. Was thinking in pillows and throws. Artwork. Little details like that. And I want to infuse a slightly darker, stormy colour rather than the bright blues I had picked – I love this Para colour that the company tweeted about last week:

I even love the name: Beyond the Sea.

I really love the idea of a super white apartment with dark doors – sort of like Daniel and Max did at the Manhattan Nest…

Source: Manhattan Nest

Regarding the type of white that I want to go with in the apartment – it is still sort of a question mark. Like white is white, right? Nope. Not at all. Lots of people have blogged about finding the RIGHT white… Jen at Rambling Renovators wrote a great post about her journey of finding the right white for her basement. Every space is different. I have a few things to consider – my new apartment has TONS of natural light (yeah!!!!) and will have new grey tone carpeting (I know for a fact this will really affect the walls). A white that might look very perfectly white could quickly become very dark on my new walls. So I have to find the perfect white for my space. I asked Jen and Garry at Para for help – apparently the ‘designer white’ is called Crysler Hall (P2118-00). I have gone ahead and ordered it based on the paint chip that was in my fandeck:

I know that this white will be perfect. I love this palette – the greys… oh la la.

I can’t wait to share the transformation of my very small, cozy place with you starting next week!