Category: Home

Since we moved into our new apartment, we’ve made a lot of progress. There’s certainly still huge projects to tackle, like our entire bedroom, and a small ‘office’ but generally speaking, I’d say we’ve been busy getting cozy.

• We painted the living room, and then hated it.
• We added a new area rug, and a ton of amazing white throw pillows.
•  After a few weeks of still hating the paint color, we repainted.
• We scored a huge piece of wall art from the town’s biggest yard sale.
• We also painted the bathroom the most gorgeous shade of blue
• And added an amazing almost shag but not really white, fluffy bath mat.
• We topped off the bathroom with a lobster boat print in a large, white matted frame.
• We even pieced together my favorite part of the apartment: our new entry way gallery wall!

What we didn’t tackle… was a dining ‘room.’ Our living room is pretty massive, so we’ve always had it in our heads that the space would serve as a living room, dining room and office. I’ve also had it in my head that there would be a round, pedestal table, painted white for our dining space.

Photos found on Pinterest here and here.

Well, turns out pedestal tables are really, really expensive. And since I don’t have the patience to look on Craigslist every day, I went ahead and visited my good friend Bob. I found this bad boy in the Pit for $79. A dining room table, made of solid wood (something you can’t say about most things at Bob’s), that seats 6 comfortably. It came in a gorgeous espresso finish so without really thinking I bought it. In the back of the car it went!

We set it up immediately and added two circular, woven place mats that (I think) I snagged at Ikea awhile back. I have a few different sets of 4 and 6 place mats, for when we actually have guests, but in the mean time I like a table for two. I’ll eventually find a great vase or bowl for a centerpiece, but for now I like my tray, also most likely from Ikea. It’s holding a few of my favorite coffee table books, but they go back to the bookshelf during dinner, when I use the tray to carry dishes and bowls from the kitchen to dining table. It all works out.

By far, my favorite part of our dining ‘room’ is the rectangular framed print that we hung on the small side wall behind the head of the table. I bought the print from HomeGoods 3 years ago. Yup, 3 years ago. I saw the old skiiers and literally could not not purchase it. This picture… is my family. My grandparents and aunt and uncle’s home is filled with pictures, just like this. So the print could practically pass as a real photo from the family. I love, love, love it. And the dark frame actually goes nicely with the espresso wood and ties in the dark framed art over the couch.  A welcome contrast to all the white in the living room.

So there you have it. Our new dining ‘room’, after it’s first few days. Noticeably missing are… well, chairs. And the old, wobbly tree in the back corner needs to be replaced by something new.  I also plan to swap out the centerpiece like I mentioned before, and I’m considering installing a floating shelf on the long wall behind the table. So, more work to be had, but it’s definitely nice to have that corner of the room start to look alive.

Long live amazing gallery walls in apartment or home entry ways! I fell in love with the idea of building my own personal gallery a long time ago. They are beautiful, personal, easy to update and of course, visually intriguing. So, I recently started pinning annoying amounts of gallery walls on Pinterest for inspiration. Then my favorite blogging family over at Young House Love made it all the more simple by sharing this how to make your own gallery wall tutorial. Too easy to say no. So, I got to work.

I intentionally started with the smallest wall in our entry way. Didn’t want to overwhelm my newbie-wannabe-but-totally-haphazard DIY skills. I used all white frames because I love the clean, crisp look, but changed it up a bit with the size, shape and width of mat. I included a cute I <3 Maine print to honor our roots, a map of the MBTA to honor, well, our current roots, and a few extras to keep a whimsical and nostalgia inducing vibe. Like a Quotable Card about finding inner peace, and a family favorite black and white portrait of my late Nana. A colorful floral water color and an amazing hand painted owl add just the the right colors: red and marigold.

Oh yea, and I also caved to the boyfriend’s one and only request for our new apartment. I granted permission for the… mounted deer antlers, to enter and live… permanently in the apartment.

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I know it’s just the beginning, but I’m pretty darn pleased with the outcome. Next I plan to tackle the opposite wall, which is rather large and in charge and equally intimidating. I have a lot of ideas for prints, photos and art to hang, but I’m short on white frames. So for now I’ll keep looking for inspiration, and hopefully soon I’ll stumble upon a wicked sale on frames!

After we painted our bathroom walls, it was time to accessorize and call it a day. We’re using my old white, quilted shower curtain that I just can’t get enough of, and hate it or love it, I wanted to go with the all white look.  I read somewhere once that using as much white as possible in a bathroom will make you feel like you’re living at a spa, and heck, who doesn’t want to live at the spa?

Photos found on Pinterest here and here.

So I wanted more white, white, white. The first fix was the swap out the old gun metal frame around our wall art with something… white. White mat, white frame.

Then it was bathmat time. In addition to white, I wanted texture. You can see down the hallway, into the bathroom from our front door way, so I didn’t want the whites to all blend together. Just like the white pillow cases, I thought texture would add dimension and contrast between the tub, shower curtain and bathmat. I had an image in my mind, but it was hard to find in the stores, so I shopped long and hard online. Despite everyone I know warning me against a white bathmat (all claiming it would get dirty, and be too hard to maintain), I ended up purchasing a few varieties online and waiting for them all to arrive.

My favorite ended up being the Simply Shabby Chic Cotton Ball bath rug. Weird name, amazing results. $25 and it’s far more fluffy than I imagined. It has also stayed surprisingly clean. It covers the area in front of both our shower and sink, so we both make an effort to drape it over the shower rod while we’re not showering, so our feet, and our visitors’ feet stay off the white when standing in front of the sink. It’s worked so far, and there’s always a washing machine, right?

Still to add include:

• a white vase with a bundle of white flowers and greens behind the towel next to our lonely cotton balls
• two white fluffy towels to the towel bar (just for show, since our towels hang in our bedroom)
• a white toilet seat cover (well, the jury is still out… something about this just skeeves me out)

Once those things are added, I’ll share an update. Hopefully with better pictures (took all of these late at night, boo).

I’ve always admired home owners and designers who can pull of festive and season appropriate decorations.  The photos are everywhere.  On everyone’s blog, on tumblr, on Pinterest.  I however, suck at this.  My parents brought me a pumpkin when they visited the apartment, and for a while it sat on my counter.  It’s ugly, and tacky, and orange, and doesn’t match anything else in the place.

So I threw it in the trash. I immediately regretted the decision when I saw Emily’s golden painted pumpkins.  Too bad.

I still wanted a way to bring something transitional into my apartment that just screamed fall.  So far, I’ve landed on two things: owls and fall foliage colored flowers. How original, right? Apparently white ceramic owls are everywhere right now. I didn’t know that when I stumbled across this cute little guy on the clearance shelf at HomeGoods.

But after situating him in the entry way, strategically near the awesome hand painted owl above, I started seeing white ceramic owls, everywhere.

1. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/786380/list/Easy-Ways-to-Dress-Up-Your-Home-for-Fall/
2. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/767823/list/An-Ode-to-Owls-Around-the-House
3. http://pinterest.com/pin/203038580/

Fortunately I don’t mind the fact that my white ceramic owl is following a trend.  I love him, and I love the trend.  So I win.  Now, for more fall decorations…

So apparently there is a lot to learn about keeping up a home.  Like washing the bathroom more than once every 6 months, and always keeping extra batteries on hand for when the fire alarm battery dies in the middle of the night and the beeping is so annoying you want to scream, and well, apparently, washing your windows.  Inside and outside.  I know that I’m just renting this apartment, so it’s not nearly as much work as owning a house, and no – this isn’t the first time I’ve lived on my own (7 years and counting folks). But something about living here, living with the boyfriend, something about this time feels like adulthood.

But no glimpse into adulthood would be complete without a ‘we’re here to lend a few extra hands’ visit from mom and dad. So… they spent a few days in Boston and helped around the apartment.  Dad built out two new custom closets for me, and mom – well mom told me that every single window in our apartment was absolutely, beyond words disgusting.  And that they needed to be cleaned. Immediately. Inside and out.

Okay, one quick look at the windows and I realized mom was right. As always. So while dad built out the new closets, mom and I popped out each window, one by one, and cleaned the heck out of them.  It quickly became apparent that this is not anything the landlord, his cleaners, or the previous tenants have done – for years.  While the pop out windows made the outside easy to access, this was a surprisingly long task.

Who knew being an adult meant cleaning the windows?  And who knew it took so damn long?

If you were to describe a broke-girl-who-just-moved-into-a-new-apartment’s dream, it may be something like, oh… I don’t know.  Driving by a yard sale on a Saturday morning and deciding to stop, only to find out it is actually being held by a professional staging company trying to empty our their warehouse.  After our lazy, cozy Saturday coffee and breakfast, the boyfriend and I left to run a few errands. On our way home from the dry cleaners, we drove by a yard sale.  I spotted two matching black leather chairs, so we pulled an immediate u-turn to go check it out.

Well, what we found was not your normal yard sale.  This yard sale was stacked. Not with random knick knacks and used crap, but with barely used, tags still attached pieces… by the dozens.  An entire drive way of wall art.  An entire backyard of pillows.  Lamps and lamp shades, tables filled with candle sticks, decorative bowls and baskets. Area rugs, smaller rugs, runners, door mats.

I’m not lying. Take a look:

Unfortunately, although we still have a long list of things to purchase for the new apartment, a huge shopping spree isn’t in our budgets this week.  So we picked strategically, and found a few things that we really, really needed.

Like a large framed, thick white matted print for above the living room. In case you forgot, this was the 3rd and final step to brightening the living room. We both wanted the print the second we laid eyes on it. It’s a great size (40 1/2″), the light greens mixed into the print match our couch perfectly. And did you know, that I’m kind of obsessed with birch trees?  The print reminds us both of our childhood, of being in Maine, the woods, the nature, the beauty. Score.

In addition to the large print, we picked up two matching chairs, two matching gold framed prints and two small striped pillows.

The framed bicycle pictures are perfect for our kitchen wall, but the chairs aren’t perfect. They’re pretty tacky with their black metal legs, but we thought for such a low price, we could try to work with them.  Maybe they’ll live as reading chairs next to our couch with a small table and lamp in between.  Maybe they’ll serve as two extra dining room chairs.  Maybe they’ll even be the matching chairs for our new work desk.  We’ll see.

And now for how these new pieces are settling into their new homes.  We still think the birch tree print is perfect. And how nice do those damn white throw pillows look? Sorry, sorry. I’ll stop. They just make me so happy.

And now for an up close look at the two darling bicycle prints in the kitchen! Don’t worry. I hate the butter yellow paint color just as much as you do. But repainting the kitchen will have to wait awhile. Probably a long while. Back to the bikes. Aren’t these prints awesome? I love the old wooden fence and the field of yellow flowers on the left. So bright, whimsical, and aah sweet. If only I owned a bike.

And there you have it. Once we find a more permanent home for the two chairs, I’ll snap some pics. Until then, just let out a squeal and do a little happy dance with me. Considering we left the house with absolutely no intention of buying things (that’s a lie, I was going to pick up some cork coasters), this random yard sale was a miracle. Crazy, humungo success.

For the past month I’ve been trying to figuring out how to brighten the living room in our new apartment, so I think it’s time I share a positive post about how it’s coming together so well. If you look back to when we shared photos of the new off white rug, you’ll notice the awful pillows on the couch.  These pillows were great for my old apartment, but they do not fit in here.  So I recently found inspiration for new white throw pillows online, and purchased a whole bunch from West Elm and Target. After the pillows arrived, I quickly realized most needed to go right back to the store. The stripes were awkward and the shag was too faux looking. Others were perfect.  Take a look.

Absolutely, freaking perfect. Bright, unique, comfortable.  I intentionally purchased different textured pillows, so the whites and off whites could stand apart a bit, and add extra dimension to the couch.  The white woven pillow is my favorite, the white circular patchwork pillow – just adorable. There’s also a large, super soft pillow and a soft, ribbed, micro-plush pillow, both comfortable, perfect for naps and sure not to leave a crazy pattern on your face.

The room is finally looking bright. The area rug, the pillows, and oh… did I mention? We repainted. I had complained about the new living room wall paint color for too long.  So we bit the bullet and repainted the entire living room (and hallway).  The walls went from Sherwin Williams Versatile Gray to Glidden’s Water Chestnut.  Took the cold, gray walls to a warmer, significantly brighter tan. You’re looking at one happy girl!

So, in case you’re wondering.  I still hate the living room walls paint color.  Hate it.  I cringe every time I come home, every time I turn the corner into the living room.  Every time. Fuck.

But as I mentioned before, I’m not rushing to the obviously solution of repainting.  Instead I’m trying to add some bright, clean accessories in white, cream and tans to tie in the couch color and lighten up the walls.  I recently painted the trim white, and then spent some time searching for new white throw pillows.  Well I’m still waiting for the pillows to arrive, but I know that won’t be enough.  So this past week we moved down the ‘quick ways to make the living room brighter and girlfriend happier list’ and decided it was time to buy a new rug.

Fortunately for us, we live in Brookline, MA and just steps from our apartment is a darling rug store.  I know.  It’s not normal to pair a rug store with the word darling, but Kolgian Oriental Rug Galleries is a small, friendly, mom and pop shop.  So I love it.  99% of their rugs are way out of my price range, but the owner pointed us towards a wall of remnant rugs – large, simple colors, and cheap. I’ve never understood why rugs cost so much money, but I was pleased with the range of choices we had under $100. Fortunately, given our situation, the majority were white, tan or some sort of beige.

After being torn on size, texture and color for our new living room rug, the own suggested we sleep on it. So we went home and taped off different size areas of our living room.  Using blue painters tape, this allowed us to ‘live’ with different size area rugs for the night, and see what it might be like when they were finally in place.

The next morning, we had our answer.  So we headed back to the rug store and purchased a great 8′ x 10′ off white remnant rug, for only $90.  As far as I can tell from my limited rug shopping experience – that, is a steal.

Please excuse the random tree in the corner, the need to replace coffee table and the just temporary TV stand. Clearly this room is still a work in progress.  But at least we have a rug. An off white rug. Now all we need is a vacuum.

Earlier this week I mentioned that one of my first steps to lightening the living room would be adding some bright, white throw pillows.  Below are a few shots that initially inspired me.

1. http://pinterest.com/pin/214832935/
2. http://pinterest.com/pin/185803300/
3. http://www.houzz.com/photos/46806/Dreamy-Whites-eclectic-family-room-other-metros
4. http://pinterest.com/pin/202054499/

I looked everywhere (online).  I looked at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Pottery Barn, CB2, West Elm, Overstock, Macy’s and honestly, probably 10 other stores.  I narrowed it down by (mostly) price, but also by color, and comfort.

Here’s what I landed on (to start):

Pictures to come as soon as my white throw pillows arrive!

Since every day that passes without us repainting the living room walls I get one step closer to a mental breakdown, I was desperate to do something.  Something small, fast and easy.  Everyone always talks about what a difference freshly painted trim can make, so I went at it.  Alone.

• One night while watching a football game, I repainted all of the baseboard trim tin the living room.
• In under two hours another night, I repainted all of our apartment’s doors.
• Tomorrow I’ll do the door frames and window frames

And finally, this weekend, the boyfriend will step in and help paint the top trim (which I can’t reach.. even on a ladder).  Then, our apartment will hopefully be one step closer to being bright.

What are your tips for brightening a room? Help!