decorate my apartment

Well, it took me “a little” while but anyway. My apartment has been ready for months already, I just never got around taking pictures and I knew that had I marked this goal done when I was actually finished, I never would have gotten around photographing anything. These photos aren’t the best around and I got a bit carried away with an image editor (PhotoScape!) so the images are a bit random.

^{these are actually gift-wrappings but also useable as posters!}

^{okay, so I love Audrey Hepburn. And black and white postcards in general!}

^{poems in Finnish – not written by me, though}

^{this one has been shown before, but I’m very proud of what I’ve done!}

^{I can’t keep flowers alive (not even cacti, I’ve tried!), so plastic ones are my only option :D}

^{treasures of the jewellery box}

^{postcards of covers of pulp magazines, they’re on my bathroom door!}

^{shoes! ♥}

but it fits better here than any other goal.

My office closet is a mess. It’s my “I’ll just stick it here” place. Every other storage area in my apartment has a distinct purpose; the office closet is where everything else goes. Clothes that are rarely worn, are out of season, or are in the “maybe keep” pile. Christmas decorations. Craft supplies. My old synthesizer. A picnic basket. Archived files. Random electronic components, which may or may not go with anything I currently own. You get the idea.

It’s a mess. I’ve got stacks of plastic tubs, plastic drawers, baskets, lids, and everything in between stacked on top of each other. To access items in the lower bins, I have to pull everything out of the closet. I dread going in there.

So I’m questing for a better system. I’ve had my eye on these organizer cubes, but never knew the measurements of the floor space. Now I do.

I’m not sure they’d provide enough storage space, though. I have a two-door cabinet and 4 drawers from the same company in my closet; they provide a fair amount of space, but they’re hardly roomy. But I’m not sure what else would work.

My quest begins.

wow, this is going slooow. we’re still lacking like..lights(!) and bookcases and every picture on the wall and…yeah..
The pictures are the worst really, it’s so boring without anything on the walls, but they’re so expensive and we havent’t really found anything we like, so…
Hmm.

I’ve lived in my new apartment for a month now, but I have yet to really do anything to make it mine. Today though, I hung my curtains, hung 2 pictures, and this word thing above my curtains.
I still have a picture to hang up and these really cute letters from PBTeen to hang up. I also want to decorate the door. When I do all these things, I’ll mark this as done.

I want to redecorate my apartment. I have been living here for a year and 4 months but it still does not have that “lived in” feel. There is no coziness when I come home (except the fact that I am glad to be here). My first step was to come up with a plan. My apartment has 2 bedrooms and 2 full baths w/ a sunroom. I painted the entire sunroom red. I added a nice full size chair and a desk for a office/sitting space for myself (only one chair so my son won’t get the idea to come in and sit with me). I added a huge black and white picture that I purchased from Kirkland’s for $5 because the glass had been broken out of it. I then added a silver framed floor length mirror purchased from Target (the mirror’s actual worth was $45 but it was stored in the wrong bin so I got the price of the sign). I also added some othe black and white pictures given to me from my Mom from Home and Interior. The living room has a vualted ceiling so I am going to incorporate lots of color into that room. I found a theme in the home decorating book that shows a way to incorporate a peacock theme in a small space. I will be paiting one wall turquoise in the living and one wall in the dining room kelly green. I will then add golds, creams, aquas, and deep ocean blues throughout the living and the dining room. I will be purchasing either a gold, red, or aqua couch as soon as I find one to my liking. Then I need to purchase a new flat screen (the 44 inch went with the man during the breakup), buy new TV stand, add home entertainment theater, plenty of wall decor and a huge ottoman (that will be my coffee table).

After that has been completed, I will buy new dining room furniture and bar stools (maybe 2 or 3). I need to finish my son’s room as well but I ran out of ideas for his room. I think I’m goin to let him give me his input so that he can enjoy his room more (and maybe stay out of mine). My room just needs new sheets for color and I’m looking for a wicker chest of drawers for all of clothes.

I want to revamp my closet but first I’m going to revamp my wardrobe. That will be my next project…..........I can hardly wait.

I have completely done the living room….painted a taupe color on 1 wall, bought a carpet, plants, frames, decorative objects, cushions…
Almost done the dining room, changed the placing of furnitures, bought a lamp, cabinet, got rid of crap.
In progress with bedroom, put new blinds, bedside table, have to do the bed sky.

I wasn’t really thinking about this goal a week ago when I went to the supplies shop and bought two 6×11 canvas and some paint. To be honest, I was just looking for some stress relief and I had the brilliant idea of just painting using my favorite colors.

Anyway, I’m just really pleased that I did this, because I got to hang my finished artwork on my bare walls.

I’ll take a picture of it later, then post it here.

I thought I was getting a tax refund and had it all spent in my head. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and it turned out I owe! So no pretty Jonathan Adler light and Pottery Barn rug for me right now.

But I did manage to rearrange my closet this weekend. That was free.

And I’m spending $3 on ribbon for bulletin board decoration, but that’s allowable.

And hanging the photos I have: also free. Then I plan to fill in the holes on the wall o’ photos with black/white images I’ve found online: should be just the cost to print at Kinko’s. Also allowable.

Reupholstering and restuffing the couch: I’m afraid to get the quote. Won’t be allowable, I’m sure.

argh. I hate how life moves in small increments. I want instant makeovers—they’re so satisfying. I love makeover shows for that very reason.

But fine, budget demands little changes.

One thing I did this week which made a big difference, bigger than I expected, was try to fix one of the little vignettes I’d made in my apt. I have some halfheartedly attempted “vignettes” – gol, that sounds so pretentious and obnoxious. Can’t I find a better word? But obnoxious as they are in both name and idea, they really do bring a home together. And mine are sort of thrown together, almost like I didn’t want to work on them too hard because of my deep rooted disdain.

So I fixed my bar/table up a bit and it makes me very happy now when I look at it. Happy sigh of satisfaction.

Plus I bought tomatoes, catnip, and purple basil, and some dark purple pansies for my “garden”.

And I’m trying to keep my bathroom cleaner. And buy flowers every week.

So I bought a couch a couple months ago, and got rid of my old chair. Now, all the furniture in the living room is stuff I picked out for myself! Next I’m going to paint my kitchen and bedroom.