I’ve told myself “I’m never leaving this apartment” countless times yet here we are… moving week. Priorities can shift quickly and, while I believe we are about to be living in my favorite home yet, I will miss certain details about this apartment so dearly… the panoramic sunsets, the skyline views, the proximity to Central Park. We got so lucky finding this place at the right time. It’s a tough goodbye but I already have plenty of future city trips planned so it won’t be too long before I’m back!

Continue reading Paint Colors Used In Our Apartment at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

A few weeks ago we finally updated our Frame TV frame to something that matched the gallery wall a little better. When we first got our Frame TV 3 years ago we picked the standard white bevel that Samsung offered as an option. It worked well for the gallery wall we had at the time, but over the years my style has evolved a bit. The frame just didn’t match the look that we were going for anymore.

Continue reading Easiest Custom DIY Frame TV Tutorial at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

Although it doesn’t quite feel like spring in New York just yet, I’ve been experimenting with ways to make it feel more vibrant and warm indoors. I recently added floral fabric to our headboard and a tiny shelf for herbs in the kitchen window. Sharing all the details in the latest youtube video.

Happy Spring!

xo, Shelby

Continue reading Spring Home Updates at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

Talking all things faux fireplaces in today’s video! We have a couple of faux fireplaces in our apartment and we have tried to make them a seamless part of our apartment but also provide a seasonal statement. The fireplace surround in our bedroom was a really lucky Facebook Marketplace find – using the search term “fireplace surround”. The other fireplace in our living room is one we bought a few years ago online and had in our previous apartment as well.

Continue reading Faux Fireplace Project | Renter Friendly at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

We have tried EVERYTHING when it comes to putting up wallpaper in our apartment. Renting a space but still wanting to make it unique and your own is possible, especially with all the beautiful wallpaper that is out there right now. But the method in how to hang it is where we got stuck. We tried the peel and stick route, traditional pasting, and a couple different removable ways that don’t involve pasting. We finally found a way that (so far) seems to really work and leave no residue behind, making it potentially one of the best options for renters!

Continue reading Making Non-Removable Wallpaper Removable Hack at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

When we moved from North Carolina to New York back in February of 2020 (can’t believe it’s been almost two years), I was willing to give up many things in order to spend more time with TJ (at the time, he was traveling here weekly for work) and that included selling our house which also meant no longer living with walk-in closets. Walk-in closets in NYC are hard to come by… turns out a lot of things are hard to come by here BUT, thankfully, IKEA came through and I decided to put one of their PAX wardrobe systems along one of the bedroom walls to give me some extra closet space.

Continue reading How We Updated Our IKEA Closet at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

We’ve been slowly transitioning our second bedroom to a nursery and, while we would have loved to have completed it before the baby arrived, shipping delays combined with my 3rd trimester lack of energy and just overall timing with the busy holiday season shifted our plans a tad. But the extra time also gave me some clarity on the color palette and overall feel I want the room to have.

Misty Blue Wallpaper | French Gray | Green Smoke

The room started off as a clean white canvas but I knew I wanted some calming colors to compliment a fun wallpaper print.

Continue reading Paint Colors and Wallpaper We’re Using In The Nursery at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

Now that the days are getting more crisp and it’s truly beginning to feel like fall, we’ve been trying to spend as much time as possible outside. Despite the time we spend outdoors here exploring the park and everything the city has to offer this time of year, I like to keep our home a cozy retreat to come back to on a chilly day. After a trip to Pottery Barn, our bedroom is officially feeling equally as ready for the season now.

Continue reading 5 Timeless Items To Decorate a Bedroom for Fall at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

Back when we toured our current home in December, I was very hesitant about one specific part of the space… the refrigerator was not actually in the kitchen. The actual kitchen itself is very tiny and narrow but right outside of that room is another room where the refrigerator was just sitting by itself. In a way, I’m extremely thankful for it’s weirdness because I know it helped keep it on the market a bit longer (long enough for us to find it without it being super competitive) but I knew there had to be ways to maximize the functionality of this space.

Continue reading Selecting Our Kitchen Paint Color at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.

As soon as you walk into our apartment, you’re greeted by our “dining room” which probably isn’t supposed to technically be a dining room but, since the first day we walked in, I couldn’t stop envisioning our round dining table right in the center of it. It almost seemed to good to be true that all of our furniture fit perfectly in it so I decided that we’d start with this space. I filmed a full video of the makeover here and I’ll be sure to link as much as I can within this post!

Continue reading Dining Room Makeover at Pretty in the Pines, New York City Lifestyle Blog.