It's taken a full five months for this apartment to start coming together (and there's still a long way to go). I've developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with Ikea (mostly love though, let's be honest) and came home the other day with this awesome Kallax shelving unit that I wanted to turn into a bar. I'm totally obsessed with it.

I'm always amazed at what a small investment can do to a space--just 65 bucks and a couple feet of empty space becomes a really nice place that starts to make an apartment feel like home. I also finally hung a vintage wine rack that my parents' neighbor gave me and I love the way it looks when it's filled with bottles (and it's become the perfect excuse to stock up on La Crema's Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, my new favorite).

I'm sharing some organization tips I've collected over the past few years of apartment living over here, so check them out and leave me your own tips and tricks while you're at it!

This post is brought to you in partnership with La Crema. Photos by Justin Smith for Freckled Italian.

If you're feeling the post-holiday blues, fear not! I have a little pick-me-up for you: Lavazza has given me a couple of $20 gift cards to give to two lucky readers. Entering is super easy, and you can unlock a few bonus entries while you're at it! I'll choose two winners next week and send you the gift cards myself. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is brought to you in partnership with Lavazza.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm seriously feeling the holidays this year. Last weekend, I spent the afternoon at my parents' house and made some really fun Christmas ornaments with my mom. She has a huge collection of wine corks that we've kept over the years, so we picked out all the La Crema ones and made a reindeer, some grape clusters, and a couple of angels to hang from the tree. They were super easy to put together and turned out so adorable! I think we may have a new holiday tradition on our hands.

This post is brought to you in partnership with La Crema. Make your own wine cork ornaments by following the tutorials I posted on their blog last week--happy holidays!

Photos by Sarah Gatrell of Photo + Love.