'Cause wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin', planning and dreamin'
Please bear with me through new-apartment gushing :D All under a cut so you can skip if you would rather!
Bonus points if you can name the 80's kids movie that line is from - hint: it's part of a song. I suspect thewenchywiccan will know it...
So, I'm super-excited that I move in about 2 weeks. YAYAYAY! I feel like Kermit the Frog doing his spastic happy-dance. And it's still a fortnight away!!! So I'm entertaining myself by imagining how awesome it will be, and I'm actually trying to make it pretty different from the decor of the last 2 apartments.
The Front Room (none of the furniture is mine, and everything but perhaps the rugs will be going to make room for my stuff):
Currently looks like this - West-facing view
And looking FROM that corner, with my back to the window.
* Your eyes do not deceive, the fireplace isn't faced yet - the landlord needs to do some waterproofing on the front of the house, a concept apparently not considered by previous owners. Once that is done it will be properly faced with a hearth and everything. BUT YES, it is a working fireplace! I wonder if Brad (the landlord) will put up a mantlepiece...?
* Altar under the window, plants in the windowsill.
* Window treatments for both windows in this area will be my sheer burgundy drapey ones (they are currently down in storage)
* Currently, there is no cable hookup. I think I might go with Qwest - they will be about $50 cheaper than Comcast, and seem friendlier.
* Small bookshelf to slide under the bar
* New bar stools - I like these options:
Monaco
Kennedy
* As I mentioned in my other post, I want to do some oriental-rug-style layering. Not all over the place, because the floors ARE pretty, but I also like this inspiration, and rugs like this one from Macy's and Urban Outfitters has some neat rugs for not-too-much. Obviously, the couch will need a slipcover, and I want to have some sort of cohesive feel to the rugs, like green tones, otherwise it will be too hodge-podgy.
* Over the couch, instead of my usual old-lady-ish row of coordinated pictures in matching frames, I want to take some stuff that I have been meaning to get framed, combine them with stuff already owned, and do a framed picture wall collage. Between this setup and the rugs, I think the front room will have MUCH more visual interest! Another good example here. I have a personal opinion that framed pictures on the wall give a more permanent, home-like feel to a place, even a temporary one like an apartment.
Next to the front room, is the lovely Kitchen!
Not to much to say in the decorating department (I mean, it IS just a kitchen, heh), but I want to gush over a) the tiny dishwasher, and b)the ceramic-top stove. My current one, which was manufactured sometime in the Jurassic era, has heat coils that don't stay level. My saute's are always over in one corner of the pan. Plus cleanup is a bitch, the oven couldn't bake pastry if its life depended on it, and it overall really sucks. So the new one is much, much better. And the fridge is bigger too, I think. More Kermitish arm waving!
Oh, and bonus! If you look closely, you can see one of those magnetic strips for holding sharp knives on the wall, just to the left of the stove. No more rooting around in drawers and praying for the safety of my digits!
Moving on, to My Boudoir:
From the doorway
and another angle, taken from the other side of the bed
The second angle also gives glimpses of the bathroom (the door on the left) and the closet/laundry room is just past the bath.
* Bedroom decor will be pretty similar to what it is in my current place - sagey greens, black/white and sepia framed pictures of London, with my jewelry holders actually hung up on the wall for once.
* I will be a bit shorted on storage space in this new apartment, so I am thinking to get a large green canvas-y tote to hold my bed sheets.
I want to do the layered-rug look in here, too, but I think a lavender scheme would complement the green. Alternatively, I could go with dark browns or even black, but with a black bathroom, I think it would be toooo much.
* Please to be noting the built-in, granite-topped nightstand!!! A+++dorable!
The Water Closet (Bathrooms, for all ya'll Americans)
Tiny adorable bathroomness!
* Due to the tiny black diamonds on the floor, my mom got really, really excited with the idea of doing black in the bathroom. This is hysterical, because my mother is petrified of anything beyond the mildest of beige tones (she has a "contrast wall" - yeah, beige and ecru are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. It's like Blush and Bashful. STILL PINK, YO!). So she got all fired up about the black accents in the bathroom. No, no paint. Landlord won't let me paint, and it's a small enough bathroom that black paint would make it a cave.
* However, I did pick up this gorgeous shower curtain last night with a coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond. It had a close second in this super-girly, chic curtain that would have come with coordinating hooks with lipstick and high heels. However, I went with a more gender-neutral curtain.
* Planning on getting an over-the-toilet cabinet, probably in white, and possibly a canvas tote (like in the bedroom), but in black.
* Need new towels! The ones I moved to Seattle with are getting a little threadbare. Sad days. I don't want black towels, but I'm thinking either a deep grey (a little TOO monochromatic, though), but more likely an accent color like a deep garnet red, like this Port color, dark green (like the Forest option), deep purple (see Iris). We shall see! I'm definitely leaning towards the dark purple/Iris color, as I have a wooden bathroom-necessities that is lavender. And, well, you all know me and lavender...
* I have at least one, if not two things to hang up in here. Both are made from cherry-wood, handmade by my dad (who has quite a talent with woodworking, I must say!). One is a hair-dryer/curling-iron holder, and the other is a shelving unit (this one may not go in the bathroom, if the over-the-toilet thing is too much).
* Contemplating what, if anything, should be decorative on the walls in here. Hmmm...
And my coup de grâce, the closet with my very own Washer & Dryer!
looking into the closet from the bedroom
No, the W/D weren't hooked up when I took the pictures, but they will be by the time I move in! And, rarely for a mother-in-law, I won't have to share the laundry with ANYBODY, not even the landlord! THAT sold me on the apartment if nothing else had!
What you can't see is that behind the door to the closet is another place to hang clothes, and it's TWO, an upper and lower set of rods. Neato-frito!
And yes, it's totally yellow. I think that's hysterical!
Bonus random pic:
This is the coat "closet", and to the right is the set of stairs that will be my entrance/exit (13 steps).
I think I will get some fabric (maybe a shower curtain? heh) to hide the closets' holdings.
And for those helping me move, no, there will not be any steps at this place! Brad said I can come through the garage that day (which enters into my unit, but he doesn't use it except for storage, so it will be locked the rest of the time), which means we can back the U-haul right up to the garage and take stuff off and right into the apartment, easy-peasy! It's the 3 flights of stairs DOWN from my current place that will be... lots of fun. :\
Also planning on putting some artwork along the stairwell. A much prettier welcome into my home than my current residence - the buildings' dumpsters!
So, there you have it! I think I have decided to name it Kaeleer, after the Shadow Realm in the Black Jewels series.
This girl has some neat decorating ideas, but I think "Polishing the Turd a name I'd not have chosen.
Also, this blog, Cote de Texas is AWESOME. Check out the pearl/shell/cameo necklace by Karen Sugarman!!! OMG, WANT!
Bonus points if you can name the 80's kids movie that line is from - hint: it's part of a song. I suspect thewenchywiccan will know it...
So, I'm super-excited that I move in about 2 weeks. YAYAYAY! I feel like Kermit the Frog doing his spastic happy-dance. And it's still a fortnight away!!! So I'm entertaining myself by imagining how awesome it will be, and I'm actually trying to make it pretty different from the decor of the last 2 apartments.
The Front Room (none of the furniture is mine, and everything but perhaps the rugs will be going to make room for my stuff):
Currently looks like this - West-facing view
And looking FROM that corner, with my back to the window.
* Your eyes do not deceive, the fireplace isn't faced yet - the landlord needs to do some waterproofing on the front of the house, a concept apparently not considered by previous owners. Once that is done it will be properly faced with a hearth and everything. BUT YES, it is a working fireplace! I wonder if Brad (the landlord) will put up a mantlepiece...?
* Altar under the window, plants in the windowsill.
* Window treatments for both windows in this area will be my sheer burgundy drapey ones (they are currently down in storage)
* Currently, there is no cable hookup. I think I might go with Qwest - they will be about $50 cheaper than Comcast, and seem friendlier.
* Small bookshelf to slide under the bar
* New bar stools - I like these options:
Monaco
Kennedy
* As I mentioned in my other post, I want to do some oriental-rug-style layering. Not all over the place, because the floors ARE pretty, but I also like this inspiration, and rugs like this one from Macy's and Urban Outfitters has some neat rugs for not-too-much. Obviously, the couch will need a slipcover, and I want to have some sort of cohesive feel to the rugs, like green tones, otherwise it will be too hodge-podgy.
* Over the couch, instead of my usual old-lady-ish row of coordinated pictures in matching frames, I want to take some stuff that I have been meaning to get framed, combine them with stuff already owned, and do a framed picture wall collage. Between this setup and the rugs, I think the front room will have MUCH more visual interest! Another good example here. I have a personal opinion that framed pictures on the wall give a more permanent, home-like feel to a place, even a temporary one like an apartment.
Next to the front room, is the lovely Kitchen!
Not to much to say in the decorating department (I mean, it IS just a kitchen, heh), but I want to gush over a) the tiny dishwasher, and b)the ceramic-top stove. My current one, which was manufactured sometime in the Jurassic era, has heat coils that don't stay level. My saute's are always over in one corner of the pan. Plus cleanup is a bitch, the oven couldn't bake pastry if its life depended on it, and it overall really sucks. So the new one is much, much better. And the fridge is bigger too, I think. More Kermitish arm waving!
Oh, and bonus! If you look closely, you can see one of those magnetic strips for holding sharp knives on the wall, just to the left of the stove. No more rooting around in drawers and praying for the safety of my digits!
Moving on, to My Boudoir:
From the doorway
and another angle, taken from the other side of the bed
The second angle also gives glimpses of the bathroom (the door on the left) and the closet/laundry room is just past the bath.
* Bedroom decor will be pretty similar to what it is in my current place - sagey greens, black/white and sepia framed pictures of London, with my jewelry holders actually hung up on the wall for once.
* I will be a bit shorted on storage space in this new apartment, so I am thinking to get a large green canvas-y tote to hold my bed sheets.
I want to do the layered-rug look in here, too, but I think a lavender scheme would complement the green. Alternatively, I could go with dark browns or even black, but with a black bathroom, I think it would be toooo much.
* Please to be noting the built-in, granite-topped nightstand!!! A+++dorable!
The Water Closet (Bathrooms, for all ya'll Americans)
Tiny adorable bathroomness!
* Due to the tiny black diamonds on the floor, my mom got really, really excited with the idea of doing black in the bathroom. This is hysterical, because my mother is petrified of anything beyond the mildest of beige tones (she has a "contrast wall" - yeah, beige and ecru are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. It's like Blush and Bashful. STILL PINK, YO!). So she got all fired up about the black accents in the bathroom. No, no paint. Landlord won't let me paint, and it's a small enough bathroom that black paint would make it a cave.
* However, I did pick up this gorgeous shower curtain last night with a coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond. It had a close second in this super-girly, chic curtain that would have come with coordinating hooks with lipstick and high heels. However, I went with a more gender-neutral curtain.
* Planning on getting an over-the-toilet cabinet, probably in white, and possibly a canvas tote (like in the bedroom), but in black.
* Need new towels! The ones I moved to Seattle with are getting a little threadbare. Sad days. I don't want black towels, but I'm thinking either a deep grey (a little TOO monochromatic, though), but more likely an accent color like a deep garnet red, like this Port color, dark green (like the Forest option), deep purple (see Iris). We shall see! I'm definitely leaning towards the dark purple/Iris color, as I have a wooden bathroom-necessities that is lavender. And, well, you all know me and lavender...
* I have at least one, if not two things to hang up in here. Both are made from cherry-wood, handmade by my dad (who has quite a talent with woodworking, I must say!). One is a hair-dryer/curling-iron holder, and the other is a shelving unit (this one may not go in the bathroom, if the over-the-toilet thing is too much).
* Contemplating what, if anything, should be decorative on the walls in here. Hmmm...
And my coup de grâce, the closet with my very own Washer & Dryer!
looking into the closet from the bedroom
No, the W/D weren't hooked up when I took the pictures, but they will be by the time I move in! And, rarely for a mother-in-law, I won't have to share the laundry with ANYBODY, not even the landlord! THAT sold me on the apartment if nothing else had!
What you can't see is that behind the door to the closet is another place to hang clothes, and it's TWO, an upper and lower set of rods. Neato-frito!
And yes, it's totally yellow. I think that's hysterical!
Bonus random pic:
This is the coat "closet", and to the right is the set of stairs that will be my entrance/exit (13 steps).
I think I will get some fabric (maybe a shower curtain? heh) to hide the closets' holdings.
And for those helping me move, no, there will not be any steps at this place! Brad said I can come through the garage that day (which enters into my unit, but he doesn't use it except for storage, so it will be locked the rest of the time), which means we can back the U-haul right up to the garage and take stuff off and right into the apartment, easy-peasy! It's the 3 flights of stairs DOWN from my current place that will be... lots of fun. :\
Also planning on putting some artwork along the stairwell. A much prettier welcome into my home than my current residence - the buildings' dumpsters!
So, there you have it! I think I have decided to name it Kaeleer, after the Shadow Realm in the Black Jewels series.
This girl has some neat decorating ideas, but I think "Polishing the Turd a name I'd not have chosen.
Also, this blog, Cote de Texas is AWESOME. Check out the pearl/shell/cameo necklace by Karen Sugarman!!! OMG, WANT!