New (at least to me) condo
I finally took the plunge last summer and bought a condo. When I moved in, the whole place was freshly painted with white primer and the carpet was (ugh!) ivory. Biggest bonus: southern exposure with tons of light.
To be fair, the rooms are pretty spacious and my most difficult issue has been storage space - as in, there's practically none, so I've been trying to find creative solutions to that. I have two closets in the bedroom that put together is still less space than just one closet had in my old studio (and my old studio had three huge closets plus a walk-through closet/miniroom). Once I get the money to do so, there will be far more drastic changes in store (ie. tiling in the kitchen/entry hall; complete overhaul in the bathroom, etc).
So here are some before and after pictures (mostly afters). I admit Ikea practically owns my soul at this point, but I blame my Finnish heritage for being in love with birch wood and simplistic design. :)
The kitchen is galley-style, with almost no natural lighting. When I first moved in, it had been freshly peel-n-stick tiled, and freshly re-varnished. The original 1970s cabinetry was fortunately in fantastic shape, but the chestnut brown wood, hideous mustard-yellow countertops and lack of lighting made it some place that I wanted to spend very little time in. (Before pictures under the cut).
I painted the cabinets all with a white enamel (one coat of primer + one coat of enamel worked better than 3 coats of enamel); and replaced all the original dark brass hardware with pulls that are brushed nickel and have a small vine/leaves pattern. The two red throw carpets are from Ikea. My fridge is home to my magnet collection - I pick up magnets when I travel, or I buy something and put a magnet on it.
The walls are Freshaire's "Delightful daffodil". The change of colors impacted the room in a huge way - the kitchen suddenly feels twice as big, and even the strange mustard-yellow of the countertops (which WILL eventually be replaced, when I install a dishwasher) seems less in-your-eye. I'm really pleased with the Freshaire paint - it's eco-friendly, has a nice smell going on (sort of smells like pumpkin to me), dries super fast, and the colors are just so lovely.
Beyond you can see my dining area which includes my book collection (Billy bookcases, Ikea); green area throw rug from World Market; Jokkmokk table set (Ikea). More on that below.
Before # 1 & 2, kitchen: Since I used a flash, the pictures look brighter than the space was. I don't know why I took the pictures with the doors open (I took them while I was still in negotiations) ... I think I was trying to figure out how/where to fit all my kitchen stuff.
More after pictures:
The little blue guy is a simple art/drawing figurine (again, Ikea, about $4) that I painted blue and white; I use him to hold recipe cards while I cook. The wood dragon carving is from my trip to China; the white thing hanging down is a silicone potholder/trivet. I added a strip of LED lighting under the cabinet so I can actually see what I'm cooking.
Utility bar from Ikea. (seriously... I should own stock in those guys by now.) Over on the right you can see magnetic spice cans, which helps keep spices I use frequently in easy range of my cooking.
On to the rest of the place...
Before, dining area: No, the hallway is not bendy, it's just from patching two pics together. :) But you can see how small the dining area is, and the hideous old chandelier. And those swinging cowboy doors? When I bought the place, there were swinging doors on both ends of the kitchen; they were the first thing I removed, while I waited for the locksmith to show up and change my locks. The kitchen was already dark enough without putting doors on it.
My original plan for the chandelier was to paint it enamel white, and then cover the long central core with flat clear glass stones and then string some crystals underneath. However, one of the light sockets did not work, and upon careful inspection, we was decided that it was a fire hazard and needed to go.
Dining room now: Ikea's Jokkmokk dining set was very inexpensive and small enough for the space. I think that eventually when I get bored with the set, I will paint it cajan-style or something, but for now, it stays as-is. You can see the new chandelier - brushed nickel to match the kitchen hardware. Stuff that isn't books on the bookcases are things I've collected on my travels or just over the years. The pictures on the rear wall are from an issue of Budget Traveler that my photography appeared in.
Other side of dining area - half-sized bookshelf (I have a LOT of books - at least one whole shelf is cookbooks); more of my photography. Eventually, this wall will fill up with much more photography, I think.
Living room, after, left side: The GIANT wall map is from National Geographic. I didn't want to permanently affix it to the wall, so I bought a couple pieces of 1/8" foam board, nailed the foam board to the wall, and then mounted the map on the foam board. The maps were perfectly flat until it got warm, then a big air bubble appeared; it makes the map look more "aged", so I quit trying to re-smooth it into place. The accent wall is "ginger root" (Freshaire), end tables Ikea; couch and mission-style table I've had forever. I had a hard time finding exactly the lamps I wanted within budget - I really want some stained-glass/Mission-style lamps - and so I choose these lamps to give an overall "explorer's club" feel to the room.
The other side of the room: I'm indecisive about the other wall, whether or not I want to paint it anything other than white. I like how it shows off the painting (done by my friend Lea Grover). I am thinking a dark bone ivory would help tie the whole room together, what do you think?
The combination bookcase/desk (Ikea of course) serves two purposes: 1) The bottom two rows give me much-needed storage space, but the white boxes look nice and not simply functional. 2) The desk/workspace helps define the large living room into two distinct areas; the TV/sitting area and a work space. The top row of the bookcase holds collected items; the second row is filled with craft stuff (sewing, photography, beadwork); the photography on top is more of my own work. (My two cats are also posing....) They're not on so you probably don't notice them, but atop the bookcase are two small mounted lights so I can see what I'm working on at the desk.
The bedroom - no before picture here, but it was just an empty white room. I wanted my bedroom to be calming, relaxing. The right-hand wall (and the short wall on the right out of sight of the camera) are Freshaire's "Beckoning sea" blue. I love this color as it seems to change tones all day long. The lighter blue to the left is Freshaire's "Winding river" blue.
The headboard and end table are old family hand-me-downs that I just like quite a bit; the lamp, I've had since high school. The summer quilt I bought a few years ago from Sears and just love the colors in it - it's what inspired me to go blue on this bedroom. Curtains are by Ikea; it's hard to see in the picture, but they are white cotton/poly with translucent squiggy pattern on them. I am thinking about getting sky-blue sheers to put under them; I live on the lakefront with southern exposure, so I get tremendous amounts of light during the day - not conductive to lazy mornings in bed!
And the wall hanging is a yak's wool blanket that I got in either Tibet or Kathmandu. It is super-soft and I've been told quite durable, but I love the colors and decided to put it on the wall instead. I mounted a long strip of balsa wood (1.25" x 3/4") on the wall, and then used flat blue tacks to mount the shawl/throw. (As you can see, one of my cats followed me around the house as I took pictures.)
Thanks for looking and I appreciate any thoughts/feedback. :)
Edit --- added link to map on NGeo site since everybody wants to know where it's from. :)
To be fair, the rooms are pretty spacious and my most difficult issue has been storage space - as in, there's practically none, so I've been trying to find creative solutions to that. I have two closets in the bedroom that put together is still less space than just one closet had in my old studio (and my old studio had three huge closets plus a walk-through closet/miniroom). Once I get the money to do so, there will be far more drastic changes in store (ie. tiling in the kitchen/entry hall; complete overhaul in the bathroom, etc).
So here are some before and after pictures (mostly afters). I admit Ikea practically owns my soul at this point, but I blame my Finnish heritage for being in love with birch wood and simplistic design. :)
The kitchen is galley-style, with almost no natural lighting. When I first moved in, it had been freshly peel-n-stick tiled, and freshly re-varnished. The original 1970s cabinetry was fortunately in fantastic shape, but the chestnut brown wood, hideous mustard-yellow countertops and lack of lighting made it some place that I wanted to spend very little time in. (Before pictures under the cut).
I painted the cabinets all with a white enamel (one coat of primer + one coat of enamel worked better than 3 coats of enamel); and replaced all the original dark brass hardware with pulls that are brushed nickel and have a small vine/leaves pattern. The two red throw carpets are from Ikea. My fridge is home to my magnet collection - I pick up magnets when I travel, or I buy something and put a magnet on it.
The walls are Freshaire's "Delightful daffodil". The change of colors impacted the room in a huge way - the kitchen suddenly feels twice as big, and even the strange mustard-yellow of the countertops (which WILL eventually be replaced, when I install a dishwasher) seems less in-your-eye. I'm really pleased with the Freshaire paint - it's eco-friendly, has a nice smell going on (sort of smells like pumpkin to me), dries super fast, and the colors are just so lovely.
Beyond you can see my dining area which includes my book collection (Billy bookcases, Ikea); green area throw rug from World Market; Jokkmokk table set (Ikea). More on that below.
Before # 1 & 2, kitchen: Since I used a flash, the pictures look brighter than the space was. I don't know why I took the pictures with the doors open (I took them while I was still in negotiations) ... I think I was trying to figure out how/where to fit all my kitchen stuff.
More after pictures:
The little blue guy is a simple art/drawing figurine (again, Ikea, about $4) that I painted blue and white; I use him to hold recipe cards while I cook. The wood dragon carving is from my trip to China; the white thing hanging down is a silicone potholder/trivet. I added a strip of LED lighting under the cabinet so I can actually see what I'm cooking.
Utility bar from Ikea. (seriously... I should own stock in those guys by now.) Over on the right you can see magnetic spice cans, which helps keep spices I use frequently in easy range of my cooking.
On to the rest of the place...
Before, dining area: No, the hallway is not bendy, it's just from patching two pics together. :) But you can see how small the dining area is, and the hideous old chandelier. And those swinging cowboy doors? When I bought the place, there were swinging doors on both ends of the kitchen; they were the first thing I removed, while I waited for the locksmith to show up and change my locks. The kitchen was already dark enough without putting doors on it.
My original plan for the chandelier was to paint it enamel white, and then cover the long central core with flat clear glass stones and then string some crystals underneath. However, one of the light sockets did not work, and upon careful inspection, we was decided that it was a fire hazard and needed to go.
Dining room now: Ikea's Jokkmokk dining set was very inexpensive and small enough for the space. I think that eventually when I get bored with the set, I will paint it cajan-style or something, but for now, it stays as-is. You can see the new chandelier - brushed nickel to match the kitchen hardware. Stuff that isn't books on the bookcases are things I've collected on my travels or just over the years. The pictures on the rear wall are from an issue of Budget Traveler that my photography appeared in.
Other side of dining area - half-sized bookshelf (I have a LOT of books - at least one whole shelf is cookbooks); more of my photography. Eventually, this wall will fill up with much more photography, I think.
Living room, after, left side: The GIANT wall map is from National Geographic. I didn't want to permanently affix it to the wall, so I bought a couple pieces of 1/8" foam board, nailed the foam board to the wall, and then mounted the map on the foam board. The maps were perfectly flat until it got warm, then a big air bubble appeared; it makes the map look more "aged", so I quit trying to re-smooth it into place. The accent wall is "ginger root" (Freshaire), end tables Ikea; couch and mission-style table I've had forever. I had a hard time finding exactly the lamps I wanted within budget - I really want some stained-glass/Mission-style lamps - and so I choose these lamps to give an overall "explorer's club" feel to the room.
The other side of the room: I'm indecisive about the other wall, whether or not I want to paint it anything other than white. I like how it shows off the painting (done by my friend Lea Grover). I am thinking a dark bone ivory would help tie the whole room together, what do you think?
The combination bookcase/desk (Ikea of course) serves two purposes: 1) The bottom two rows give me much-needed storage space, but the white boxes look nice and not simply functional. 2) The desk/workspace helps define the large living room into two distinct areas; the TV/sitting area and a work space. The top row of the bookcase holds collected items; the second row is filled with craft stuff (sewing, photography, beadwork); the photography on top is more of my own work. (My two cats are also posing....) They're not on so you probably don't notice them, but atop the bookcase are two small mounted lights so I can see what I'm working on at the desk.
The bedroom - no before picture here, but it was just an empty white room. I wanted my bedroom to be calming, relaxing. The right-hand wall (and the short wall on the right out of sight of the camera) are Freshaire's "Beckoning sea" blue. I love this color as it seems to change tones all day long. The lighter blue to the left is Freshaire's "Winding river" blue.
The headboard and end table are old family hand-me-downs that I just like quite a bit; the lamp, I've had since high school. The summer quilt I bought a few years ago from Sears and just love the colors in it - it's what inspired me to go blue on this bedroom. Curtains are by Ikea; it's hard to see in the picture, but they are white cotton/poly with translucent squiggy pattern on them. I am thinking about getting sky-blue sheers to put under them; I live on the lakefront with southern exposure, so I get tremendous amounts of light during the day - not conductive to lazy mornings in bed!
And the wall hanging is a yak's wool blanket that I got in either Tibet or Kathmandu. It is super-soft and I've been told quite durable, but I love the colors and decided to put it on the wall instead. I mounted a long strip of balsa wood (1.25" x 3/4") on the wall, and then used flat blue tacks to mount the shawl/throw. (As you can see, one of my cats followed me around the house as I took pictures.)
Thanks for looking and I appreciate any thoughts/feedback. :)
Edit --- added link to map on NGeo site since everybody wants to know where it's from. :)