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Boxwood walls are such a popular trend in events and wedding decor! I really wanted to have a boxwood wall with a custom neon sign at our wedding but I wasn’t finding what I wanted from rental companies (although many rental places in KY offered something along those lines some were just out of our budget or a different size). Believe it or not, this artificial boxwood snaps together! It’s lightweight and its actually just tacked to the wall in our “dining room” area in the apartment right now with thumb tacks!

Wedding Backdrop

Since this greenery doesn’t stand up on its own, my brother-in-law and brother built a wall to support the greenery and the neon sign. They used a sheet of plywood that they painted green and additional wood to create supports for the back. They weighted it down on the backside with bags of sand. The neon sign came with its own chains and method of hanging so they secured it to the board in a non-permanent way. The greenery snapped together to go beyond the width of the plywood (we were in a hurry to put it together and paint it before the wedding with like a 1.5 day turn around and to get a wider piece meant needing to cut it shorter and it was just going to take longer than we could allow for). I found the DIY boxwood wall squares on Amazon.

The backdrop was originally supposed to be just that - our “photo booth” backdrop for the wedding reception and what we’d stand in front of to cut the cake. When our wedding was moved up, I decided it was the perfect element to transform my sister and brother-in-law’s living room into our little chapel. We decided to use the neon sign and candle light to light the reception and I love that it’s featured in so many of our photos from that day!

One might say our neon sign was an “investment” in our wedding decor, haha. It was a bit costly but it was something we really wanted, beyond the wedding day. It’s added such a personal touch to our apartment as one of the only wall “art” pieces we’ve picked out so far. I love that this will be something special we’ll have in our home for years to come.

LED Neon Wedding Signs vs Neon Wedding Signs

I had seen this custom neon sign trend on Instagram and Etsy but I was having trouble finding exactly what I wanted. Many Etsy shops offered a similar look to what I had in mind but most were LED neon signs and were coming from China. This was a project I researched for months and honestly waited pretty late to finally order. I ordered our sign in either late January or early February. The problem I kept running into on Etsy was that I was getting messages back from shops that they were going on vacation for the Chinese New Year and with the delay + the time it takes to ship something like that from overseas, it was going to be cutting it very close to make it here in time. And then to think about COVID-19 slowing things down on top of that, it just seemed too risky.

LED neon signs are nice because (from what I’ve understood) they don’t contain mercury, they seem to have simpler backing, and they’re easier to handle. They also seemed to be cheaper than a true neon sign, I imagine this is because fewer companies make neon signs now.

What about other online retailers? Well, I looked into several and they all quoted me astronomically high prices, I think one was in the $800 range…

So I started researching local sign shops. One day while running errands in Lexington, I stopped by Signarama on Nicholasville Road. I had done business with them when I worked in Frankfort so I know they do exceptional work and they’re great people to help you figure out what you’re wanting. I wasn’t sure if they’d do a neon sign but I was hoping they’d at least point me in the direction of somewhere that could make this sign! I talked to Dan and he walked me through what contributed to the price, how I would need to take care of a true neon sign, what to consider for font, color and size, and mocked up something for me to review. The sign itself was made in California and was shipped to the Lexington store in early March (if I remember correctly, gosh 2020 has been such a blur!!) The neon I chose is actually aqua, although it looks kind of green on the boxwood wall.

NYC Apartment “Dining Room”

Since the main area of our apartment here is open, we tried to make the different areas feel separated by using rugs and re-purposing our boxwood wall. When we signed the lease and came back to Kentucky to begin the process of moving, Darrell mapped out the apartment on the computer based on the unit’s dimensions listed online. We made a plan for furniture to keep and what we’d need to purchase. As we found furniture we liked online, Darrell added it to scale to the floor plan so we could try to envision what the space would look like.

Well it was a really great plan in our minds. And it did help. But when Darrell arrived, we realized the rooms weren’t exactly like the dimensions listed online… there’s these areas in almost every wall where a small portion sticks out. It makes the space visually kind of attractive I guess, it’s different lol but it’s a PAIN for arranging the furniture. So our space looks completely different than what we had initially “mapped out.” The boxwood wall is exactly where we thought it would go, but we actually wanted to put our TV stand where the dining table went! The couch just wasn’t working out where we first thought it should go.

This dining table set was found by D on Wayfair. It’s great for NYC tiny apartment life because it gives us the space to “host” a couple of guests but it doesn’t require a ton of space. The shelves on the side are excellent storage space - however I’m still on the hunt for some baskets that will fit these oddly sized shelves if you have any suggestions!! Wayfair has lots of great sales, so watch for deals if you’re eyeing this table and chairs. (Linked again in case anyone is interested in buying them separately instead of a set!)

As for the rug - I waited until I moved here to find rugs for the living “room” and dining “room” because I was unsure what I really envisioned for decor and how the two spaces would flow together. I’m still nowhere near done with decor but it’s come a long way in a short period of time! Rugs can be SOOO expensive so I was really excited when I came across this rug from Rugs USA! This is the second rug I’ve purchased from Rugs USA (the other is in our bedroom) and I was skeptical at first (given the low prices) but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the quality and the quick shipping! After going with a more decorative rug in the living room area, I wanted something neutral and loved that this braided jute rug offered a little flair through its texture! Plus it gave a bit of an outdoor feel that I thought complimented the boxwood wall so well! P.S. They’ve got a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend sale going on (like up to 70% off) so if you’re in the market for a rug, I’d highly recommend checking out their selection!

On the subject of rugs, rug mats are super helpful but I have found you can get them cheaper on Amazon!

But seriously - do you have any recommendations for baskets for those shelves? I currently have some gloves and Clorox wipes stored there (I decluttered for the sake of the photos) but I want something that will hide the clutter because we really need that shelf space and I can’t stand looking at the Clorox label any longer!!

The beautiful hydrangeas are from Trader Joe’s - one of the BEST places to pick up lovely flowers!!