Author

Marisol Vega

Marisol has spent ten years making rented rooms feel like home — modest budgets, real timelines, and swaps that pack up when the lease ends. She started A Casa Decor to write the honest, un-aspirational decor advice she wishes she'd had in her first apartment: practical, packable, and warm.

Founding Editor · 6 posts

Journey

How I got here

2016

First rental, first reversible fix

My first apartment was a 400 sq ft walk-up with landlord-beige everything. I spent $120 on peel-and-stick tile for the kitchen backsplash and a secondhand rug, and learned the lesson that still runs the site: the best renter upgrades pack up when you do.
2018

Learned to work with what doesn't move

A bigger rental meant a dated bathroom I couldn't touch. I leaned on removable hardware, warm lighting, and textiles instead of demolition — Command hooks for art, a $40 vanity skirt, a single olive towel set. It taught me to style around the fixed, not fight it.
2021

Started documenting the makeovers

I began photographing my own rooms before-and-after, writing down exactly what each one cost and what I'd skip next time. Friends started asking for the lists, and the honest, no-fluff format — real budget, real timeline — became the thing people actually used.
2024

Wrote full-time about real homes

I moved from notebooks to writing decor guides for renters and first-time homeowners. The pieces that landed were never the aspirational ones — they were the $300 living-room refreshes and the no-drill swaps that anyone could copy on a weekend.
2026

Founded A Casa Decor

A Casa Decor is the site I wish I'd had at 22: one room at a time, what it cost, what worked, what I'd change. Warm, considered, and refreshingly un-aspirational — decor advice for the homes people actually live in.