My daughter Allyson graduated from Louisiana Tech over a year ago, and has been living in her same college apartment since then. Recently she decided it was time for new place, and found the cutest house to rent in town. As a bonus, the owners are someone we know, which made the decision even easier. And since I absolutely love decorating, this blank canvas was a dream for me!

Since this is a rent house, most things cannot be changed, but the owners picked an awesome neutral paint color for the walls and beautiful flooring, so it was a perfect starting point! Let’s start with the living room…

The living area has lots of natural light from two large windows, a built-in gas fireplace, and a tv mount already installed above fireplace, so all it needed was some furniture and cozy touches! Allyson wanted to start fresh in this new place, so she sold most of her furniture and area rugs before moving, but she did keep the area rug we used in here from her old apartment. Allyson bought herself a new sectional from Ashley Furniture, and I bought the coffee table and end table from Amazon.

There was a large wall leading into the hallway that needed something big, and I happened to find a painting at Kirkland’s on major sale that matched her throw pillows exactly…

And now that you can see a sneak peak of her dining area in this picture, let’s move on to that room!

In her old apartment there was no separate dining area, only some barstools at the counter, so we had fun decorating this little nook! Again, there was already lots of natural light from the big window behind the sitting area, so all she needed was somewhere to actually sit…

This little area is right off the kitchen, and close to the front and side doors leading outside, so we didn’t want to make it feel too cluttered or block the natural pathways to the kitchen and living room. I found the perfect smaller-sized table and chair set on Amazon, and while I was adding that to my cart, I figured I needed to go ahead and add a cute round rug to go underneath it and an adorable little hutch for the back wall! (Can you tell I love Amazon?!?)

The table is small and only seats four, but it’s the perfect size for this dining area, and I was surprised at the quality since I ordered it from Amazon! It’s very sturdy, solid wood, and easy to clean! You would never guess it came from Amazon! The rug has blues and tans in it to tie into the living room colors, and the cute little arched hutch has cabinets at the bottom for extra storage.

Moving into the kitchen, it looked very small at first since it’s a galley kitchen, but once we started filling up the cabinets it is actually larger than it looks!

There is a pocket door that slides closed at the end of the kitchen to hide the laundry area, and the kitchen came with all appliances and under-cabinet lighting. Again, since this is a rent house, we couldn’t change out countertops, cabinet color, etc… But with some personal touches it turned out very cute in here!

The scalloped trim above the sink is so cute, and we hung a couple of prints she had in her old apartment above the sink to break up all the white. A few things on the counters with woods and metals also broke up all the white and gave a little more character to the room. We used trays and caddies in some spots to keep the counters uncluttered and organized, so she would have plenty of counter space still open.

Another thing I love about this house is how you can see down the hall into her bedroom…

Looking from the cozy living room down the hall, you can peep a warm and inviting place to sleep!

This room was larger than I expected it to be, and again, lots of natural light come in from two windows and a door leading onto a cute little back patio…

This was another blank canvas, and since it was a new place, Allyson decided to ditch her bed she’d had since high school, and bought herself a new bed with headboard attached and two large nightstands from guess where… Amazon!

These nightstands are so much prettier in person too! What we thought were a rattan front to the drawers in the online picture is actually a gold overlay! Allyson found the area rug at Lowe’s and also got all new bedding from Amazon, including the brown velvet throw pillow covers.

The dresser is an antique that I found years ago at a local antique store, and we added the mirror on top from WalMart…

The bathrooms are both the same size, and again, since it’s a rent house, not much we could change. Just some new shower curtains made a huge difference though.

Also peep the bathroom print that ChatGPT made me of her two cats, ha ha!

There is another bathroom and two extra bedrooms, but I’ll end it on maybe my favorite room of the house. We call it her “glam room” since it’s the room she gets ready in. With smaller closets and smaller bathrooms, it helped to have an extra room devoted to just clothes, hair, and makeup. A vanity with built-in plugs for hair appliances and plenty of storage for all of her makeup, a comfy oversized chair to get ready in, a full length mirror, and a fun rug that came from her old apartment bedroom…

The little cabinet under the window is actually the cat’s litter box! It literally amazed me when I saw it, because growing up we kept our litter box on the floor in the laundry room with some old newspapers underneath it. With this cabinet, the cat walks into the opening on the right, then goes through a little door into the litter box behind the cabinet doors. You just open the cabinet doors to empty it, and it looks like a piece of furniture instead of a litter box! Keeps everything hidden, including any smells!

I hope you enjoyed this little tour as much as we enjoyed decorating the place. Allyson said she always wants to stay at home now after work and on weekends since it’s so cozy in there! And Allyson, I am SO proud of you and your accomplishments! It is so great to be your mom!

Thanks y’all!

– Nikki