How to Spice Up Your Apartment Without Spending Too Much (This One's For You, My Fellow Shopaholics)

Dear Readers,

Hi there! For those of you who are first-time visitors, my name is Mila Fox and I am an actor, model, singer, designer, artist, ivy league student, (etcetera). It's so nice to have you here on my re-launched blog, CHIC-ipedia.

I imagine you're here because you're looking to bring out your artistic side and add a little spice to your apartment (or home) without draining your bank account. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that home improvement + money smarts don't always go hand-in-hand if you're an obsessive shopper like me. The good news is that you've stumbled upon the perfect post! I came up with a couple cool ideas so you don't have to!

So, the million dollar question (lol): how do you spice up your apartment without spending too much? Let's find out! But first, a little background on how this matter came to be.

*flashback* *cue time warp effect*

Every year when Christmastime came around, I have a tendency to get a bit *too* excited... with my wallet. With all of the overbearing (yet extremely enticing) ads and endless commercialism, it can be easy to fall down the slippery slope of overspending.

Bigger does not always mean better - and that is something I recently learned from my mom. Now don't get me wrong, she IS the definition of a shopper. Absolutely terrible with navigating around without the assistance of a GPS but as soon as she sets foot into a mall, she becomes the most knowledgeable tour guide across all the lands.

After reading this exceptionally dramatic - yet absurdly accurate - debriefing on how much appreciation my mom has for the finer things, you might be a little bit confused as to why she isn't so enthused by grand gifts from me. It's actually pretty simple. She is very passionate about creativity and raised me to be just that. In my family, the value of a gift isn't determined by how much it costs, but rather, how much thought was put into it. From the moment I realized that, my ongoing gift "challenge" has been to to design one-of-a-kind gifts that couldn't be found in stores (yet, that is...).

*flash forward* *cue more time warp effects*

Christmas in 2020 happened to be less than two months after my family and I moved cross-country from Providence, Rhode Island to San Diego, CA, so we were still settling in and didn't have all of our furniture yet. My mom loves to go above-and-beyond to make every house a home, and last year I decided to create a few pieces that would help do just that!

The biggest - and I mean this quite literally - gift that I had given my mom was a knit blanket!

Here’s another brief backstory:

*quick flashback then flash forward again* *no time warp effects necessary* *lol*

During my time in the after-school program at Girls Incorporated of Orange County (2009), I was taught how to hand knit. Where I grew up, there were a lot of preconceived ideas about who "should" and "shouldn't" knit but quite frankly it was a hobby that I really came to enjoy - and not an easy one at that! Not only does it require extreme focus but also great hand strength and coordination. Much of the knit items that I've made throughout the past 11 years range from scarves, gloves, and headbands, etc... Smaller accessories & statement pieces that (eventually) weren't too time consuming. My school schedule in Junior High - High School was 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and I didn't allow myself much leisure time to embark on larger projects!

That being said, knitting a blanket felt like an entirely new arena because it required an unfamiliar needle, much thicker yarn, and a WHOLE lot more focus. About halfway through knitting the blanket in my first go at it, my worst nightmare came to be. What started off as one overlooked and unincorporated loop turned into the entire blanket changing into a deconstructed, misaligned shape. As I think back on it, I believe it could've actually been quite cute and cool if I,1) knew how it even came to look like that and 2) WANTED A DE-CONSTRUCTED, MISALIGNED LOOK!!! Which. I. Didn't. My goal was to achieve the traditional knit blanket with a little stylistic flair that I would (intentionally) add at the very end.

Due to this mistake, about a week and a half into knitting this blanket I found myself having to go back to square one. Now, for those of you who gasped at the words "week and a half," yes. That is correct. I did not know this before, but when you Google "How Long Does it Take to Knit a Blanket?" the average timeframe ranges from 2-4 weeks. Which makes sense because after one week I was about halfway through when the blanket decided to emerge down a pit of self-destruction... Oh yeah and did I mention that, by this time, Christmas was the next week ? Yeah... A bit of a time crunch there. Just a little one... Which would've been fine if I didn't have to START ALL OVER. *shriek*

The good news is that, as annoyed as I was to have to start over, I actually came up with some awesome design ideas along the way that made it even more beautiful than I even imagined it would be. Take a look!

*Blanket is folded in half in these installation shots for display purposes! The blanket is about 7 feet long.

I decided to design a throw for our living room sofa because my mom had been complaining quite often about how cold she was in the nighttime whilst lounging on the couch. Which, for my east-coasters, is probably hilarious because "Winter" in San Diego is basically non-existent... But yes we are a family that gets chilly at 74 degrees.

I felt that this blanket was the perfect item to make her feel more cozy at home while adding a really elegant accent to the atmosphere. If you're up for the challenge, I actually believe it's a fantastic way to amplify the comfort of your home.

To make this blanket, I purchased about eight rolls of Bernat Velvet Yarn: 7 in "Golden Moss" and 1 in "Burgundy Plum." I had to drive to a few different Michael's Stores to find all of them because they were selling out quite quick. The secondary color was purchased on a whim after I realized that I needed far more yarn and was also dissatisfied with how plain the blanket appeared for our home. The frills around the edges were the idea that I had whilst remaking the blanket and I am beyond proud of how it came out. I even knit a little message for her on the body of the blanket, which I loved creating.

*We ended up getting a secondary blanket from Anthropologie and moved the velvet blanket to the footrest because - little did I know - this fabric sheds A LOT and demands a lot of lint roller sheets... Not to worry though! This chic replacement throw from Anthropologie actually inspired my next gift.

*This was simply a test shot but I my dog was modeling for me so I had to post it!

Now, onto, the next gift! I'll keep this short and sweet: paintings! In all honesty, I don't know the last time my family has had a painting in their home. When I was young, we framed posters and portraits but that's all I can remember immediately. Now the idea of not having some form of painted artwork absolutely unsettles me! Who knew what a simple canvas could do to the entire atmosphere of your home... I guess I should have!

If you know me, you know that I haven't touched a paintbrush until recently. I am studying Multi-Disciplinary Arts at Rhode Island School of Design and it has opened up the visually artistic side of my mind more than I ever imagined possible! In looking at my peers' work, I fell in love with Mixed Media Painting. It was a concept so unfamiliar yet utterly fascinating. So, for my mom's birthday, I made two mixed media paintings.

Mixed Media Painting by Mila Fox

Mixed Media Painting by Mila Fox

Mixed Media Painting by Mila Fox

Mixed Media Painting by Mila Fox

The first painting was inspired by the new cheetah throw from Anthropologie alongside my mom's very well-known obsession with cheetah print. Despite using very playful colors, I made sure to tie it back into the "theme" of the room by adding the funky print. I'm also very big on affirmations, so I thought I'd incorporate some inspiring phrases that I found from my favorite resource - magazines!

Materials:

- Acrylic Paint

- Watercolor Paint

- Magazine Clippings

- Old Scraps

- Mod Podge

The second painting was inspired by a conversation that I had with my mom. She mentioned her favorite features are her eyes and her lips. The great thing about mixed media is that you can incorporate whatever you want in it! So, I cut out some old 35mm photos that I took of my mom and used Mod Podge to apply the "eyes" and "lips" to the canvas. For this second painting, I took a minimalist approach since the first painting is so overwhelmingly vibrant.

Materials:

- 35mm portrait cut outs

- Watercolor Paint

- Mod Podge

OKAY!!! You've made it to the end... Thank you SO much for stopping by and staying this long. Please feel free to let me know what you think! Do you have any questions? I'd love to answer them - or if you want me to create a "how-to" post, I'd be happy to do that as well.

Until next time my dear friend!

XOXO,

Mila Fox