I must admit that after what seemed like endless planning, searching, packing, unpacking, shopping, hanging, and organizing it all, I am so excited to finally reach the moment when I open my home to you!

To be honest, I didn’t expect the process would take as long as it did… I was sure we’d step into our new place and ‘poof!” with a swing of a magic wand everything would be set up exactly according to my vision. Turns out that is not exactly how things work 🙂

This is the very first time in my adult life that I have actually moved into an empty apartment and need to entirely furnish, design, and decorate it from A to Z. My last move, to Eilat, was totally different. Daniel had moved into the apartment we were about to share about a month before I did {I was busy finishing up finals} and so you can basically say by the time I joined him the apartment was, well, ready to be lived in. Every once in awhile we would spruce up a corner, here or there, but it was never in such scale or concentration. 

Anyway, it did take longer than I’d expected, but I absolutely adore the final result and our rented apartment has become our home!

For my second post in the series on home decor {find the full series here} I am taking you on a tour of my living room, the heart of our home. I did some living room teasers on Insta and got like a gazillion replies and questions on where I got everything – so, as promised, I will share that information with you here, in this post. 

The large furniture pieces are brand new, so you won’t have trouble finding them, but considering the fact that not everything we own is brand new, some of the things we own might no longer be available.

Before I get into talking about the space and the furniture, I have to say what stole my heart in this apartment was the huge windows overlooking the boulevard! We look out to a view made up of tall green trees, it’s like a painting! And not to mention the natural light that shines through…. Wow! After five years in a not very well lit apartment {in my opinion} this was a MUST criterion in our search for a new place. After all, I take so many photos, and natural light is the most important when taking pictures, so luckily, we got what we were looking for, big time!

Ok, now that I got the windows out of my system, we can go on to talking about design, and as you’ll immediately notice, there’s lots to talk about!

The living room in our previous apartment was way smaller, so everything we had every purchased for it was small, and didn’t fit in the space very well. We also knew our stay in Eilat was going to be temporary, and that in the next couple of years we’d be moving out, so we didn’t really make any significant purchases, to say the least. That’s why, a week after moving to Tel Aviv, once we figured out the size and shape of the apartments, we started a serious furniture hunt. {Did I mention only seeing the apartment one time before signing? And that Daniel only saw it after the signing? ? Yep, that’s what it’s like when you live in Eilat and are looking for a place in the center of Tel Aviv}.

A pretty long and intense search led us to ‘Rehitey Coral’, where we found the perfect couch! Grand enough to fall into, yet still very chic. After doing some “sitting tests” on all of the sofas in their store, and taking advice from Coral about fabric color and style, we decided to go for a wide, grey couch with a chez long, the kind that detaches from the sofa. I was really unsure whether to get the couch in a stone, milky hue, or in the grey we eventually chose, but decided that as tempting as a white couch maybe, it is not the most practical choice – especially when you live with a cat whose tears are the color of copper {true story! ?}, Going grey was the right choice for our living space, also practical as it is a neutral color that matches almost everything and allows you to play around with you collection of throw pillows. What I liked most about Coral is that not only can you choose the fabric and color, but you can also order a personalized sofa, down to the little details like choosing the cushions’ layout and legs. We finally got the perfect couch in style and size.

Our throw pillows we got at H&M Home, as usual. Definitely my go-to when I’m looking for new pillow covers. We may have not been deeply impressed by the current collection , but we did find something that works perfectly with our new couch and our new rug from ‘The Red Carpet’.

The table duo in the center is from ‘Kuala’. We chose them because they’re super classy and chic, but also because they’re perfect as backdrops for my photography {which you know I do a lot of ?}. SInce ‘Kuala’ is an online store, we were nervous not being able to see the pieces before getting them, but we were happy to discover that everything we ordered is of really good quality, and that the tables are especially light and easy to move around. We didn’t want to over decorate the beautiful tables, so we only added little touches – a scented candle, a small vase, a golden plate  in the shape of a turtle, and a succulent plant made by Modern Clay TLV, a gift from our talented friends.

If you’ve been following my stories, you know how badly I wanted to find a rattan chair. We finally found the perfect one at ‘Kuala’, and we loved it so much we got two! ?

Above the sofa we hung various frames {already owned} to form a gallery wall and to spice it up we figured it doesn’t have to be made up of only frames, and so we added an eye-shaped straw basket and little white crates that were previously used to store my accessories. 

This beauty with a vintage touch was also found at Coral. Like the sofa, we also personalized our design for this piece, so we chose the perfect height and width for our space {we’ve got very high ceilings so the standard height just wouldn’t do it}. I love the clean cut lines, and especially the natural wooden tone, which is exactly what we were looking for!

In the area next to the big window, we hung another cute little gallery wall, and opposite it we set up a bar, which is actually my legendary Singer chest, which has lived a number of lives, and in it we arranged all of our favorite bottles, and collection of glasses and saucers. Above the chest hangs a paper rhinoceros head, which we had bought a long time in a design shop in Amsterdam, and which took us five hours to construct when we lived in the previous apartment, so we decided that it should have a place of honor in our new apartment as well.

Since the living space is pretty big, we decided to set up the dining area at the entrance to the space, and chose an oval white table from Ikea that blends right in with our previously owned st of chairs, and with the rest of the space, in a non-dominating way. Of course, we couldn't leave the walls in the dining area untouched… On the smaller of the two walls we hung a picture we had which goes perfectly well, and on the bigger wall, we hung 2 large shelves that we bought from Ikea and arranged pots of different greenery types and sizes next to ornamental pieces.

Facing the dining table, we set up a music corner, also a must have according to my vision for this new space. After a tireless and unsuccessful search for a commode, we turned to Coral and asked them if they could design the commode of our dreams – their answer was of course yes! {have I mentioned they’re happy to personalize furniture?}. Atop of the commode is where we placed our Marshall speaker, a place of honor, right next to the Crosley record player. Right above the commode we hung our favorite records, inspired by an image I came across on Instagram during the days while I was still formulating my vision.

As you can see, although I am quite the plant killer, it was really very important for me to integrate plants into our living room. I believe it adds a pleasant atmosphere, so I decided to take a chance and go for it. Luckily, I was given the perfect guidance and help in choosing the best greenery for our home from the gorgeous Vlada, owner of Vladis Flowers, which not only chose plants that best fit our home and lifestyle, but also guided us exactly how to care for them to keep them alive over time ?In the meantime it works! lol

Phew… That was long! Hope you enjoyed the tour of our new living room. Soon up: the third post in the home decor series where you’ll get a glimpse of our bedroom 🙂 {find the complete series here}.

How do you like the newly designed space? What furniture are you thinking of combining in your own space?

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The post was written in collaboration with 'Coral Furniture' and 'Koala'. All opinions in the post are mine.