Y'all, I have a vintage feast for your eyes! This amooooozing Capitol Hill rental vintage utopia belongs to one of my best friends, Blair. And my girl does not mess around when it comes to showing her love of vintage art and mid century treasures.  She is my most favorite partner in crime for all of my thrifting and flea market missions and you are about to see why. 

Vintage Capitol Hill Living Room

Where to even begin?

Let's start with her vintage artwork, shall we? I love that she has chosen a theme (seascapes) and grouped them all together to show off a collection by assembling a gallery wall.  As I say all the time, the easiest way to show off vintage art is in a common collection because it is easier on the eye.   She also does a great job of mixing frames.  A gallery wall could easily get overwhelmed if all of the art were in dark, heavy, wood vintage frames. 

Blair brings the seascape theme to the opposite side of her room by adding an oil panting to an easel.  How crazy amazing is this art-deco piece? I can't get enough of that beautiful wood. Note that the mirror is directly opposite the windows, which reflects the light and makes the room appear to be brighter and larger. 

And the colorful layers and patterns are to-die-for.

What a creative use of an odd corner nook! I think the natural tendency would have been to use the entire space for books.  But she uses the bottom shelf to display collections (again, with easels!) and then starts layering the books along with other collection pieces as you make your way to the top of nook.  She then changes the direction of the books on the highest shelf, extending the eye to make it all look longer and higher.  Also, kudos to not going the obvious route of making the nook into a bar.  I love a good bar as much as the next gal but I am sort of getting over the idea of it being the centerpiece of a room. 

This little mid century cart is the perfect piece tucked around a collection of plants and artwork.  (And, a shameless plug for those brass antelope bookends that were a Christmas present from her favorite vintage Etsy store owner).

The mantel houses more books and her TV.  Sigh....that woodwork makes me weak in the knees. One of the best parts of living in some of these old vintage Washington DC rowhouses are the fireplaces, regardless if they work. 

Also, don't you love her collection of glass flowers placed around the apartment instead of real flowers!?!? 

The shine of that brass lamp paired with the leather and the bright pops of color from the side table is perfect.  I also love the layering of the little ceramic elephant there in the corner. 

Vintage Capitol Hill Kitchen

Dead, right?

Like many of rentals....this bad boy is desperately in need of an update. What I love the most about what Blair did in her apartment is...she didn't fight it.  She didn't take off the cabinet doors or get some awful contact paper to cover the counters or walls....she just embraced it being a little out of date and added as much color as she could fit into the space.

And like many of rentals...this kitchen is tiny.  So, she used every square inch to make it functional. 

Blair turned me onto my love of magazine racks.  I have started using them in my closet to organize tote bags and other items.  Look how she uses them above to hold her paper towels! Genius!

The rug and the pillow in the room soften the space and make it feel like an extension of her living room. (And rugs sure come in handy in the cold Washington winters!)

Art, art, art! That image on the metal rack and the one of jars on the side make this space! (And so does that amazing card catalog).  Again, notice her use of an easel and taking her beautiful cutting board and showing it off as though it were a piece of art. (I mean, it is). 

This metal shelf is from Home Depot and was spray painted gold.  The shelves are covered in marble contact paper. 

See, I wasn't kidding.  She literally has art in every nook and corner possible.  It adds such a sense of cozy color. 

My favorite part of her entire kitchen is the use of this cute little school desk as extra storage and extra prep space!

Vintage Capitol Hill Bedroom 

Blair and I share in the same mentality - bright home and more subdue bedroom.  I want my bedroom to be calmer than the rest of my house.  It should be place of retreat....a place to relax. 

A great way to use a runner is to put it between a bed and a wall in a small room. (Or at the foot of the bed).  Runners are generally much cheaper than a full sized rug and most of a full sized rug is hidden under a bed.  Just make sure the space you are going to lay the runner is about the size of the actual runner.  Otherwise, it is going to look like an island if it isn't tucked up under the bed or a piece of furniture to anchor it. 

I love the bright pop the seascape and the yellow pillow gives this corner of her room. 

Don't you just want to move in? Her apartment has so much charm and character!!