Apartment Tour Take 2

Ah, the power of home decor/interior design. I was doing my cruise through my usual home sites and blogs and this entry from Centsational Girl really struck a cord with me. To quote her:

"One thing strikes me quite often whenever I swoon over fabulous designer spaces. Yes, they’re gorgeous. Yes, they’re mesmerizing. Yes, they make me long for a cleaner, more pulled together design in my own home.

Yet one thing is absent from all of those images, regardless of how perfect they are on the pages of a glossy magazine. Those images, those spaces, and those houses are just not home. A house is just four walls and a roof, but a home is made up of everything else inside."

So I thought to myself how true that is. Often I feel bad about my own sense of style. I do, however, take a step back and think that while my sense of decor is unique, it is uniquely me and that folks is what makes my apartment my home, for now.

I welcome you to take a tour of my home as seen this morning:


This is as you walk in the door. One of the challenges of living in an apartment and one that you haven't planned to stay very long is to make it your own. My biggest challenge has been the windows and patio doors. Out of necessity I have put up the old tab tops for heat and privacy issues. Being on a tight budget also plays into this as well; sometimes function wins out over form or design.

Also the budget constrains you to resorting to things you normally wouldn't do in your long-term home (I was only going to be here three months but I've been here since the beginning of June) like the lovely humidifier on a Rubbermaid container with a towel on it. The dresser was pulled out of my second bedroom/storage room (which wont be shown here) for an open house I had at Christmas as a place to put food on but with a bum wrist/arm shoulder I just haven't put it back. It really messes with your feng shui, not that I practice it but you know...




Challenges other than finances are using what you have. Most of my furniture is from my 20s (I am in my early 40s) or family heirlooms

Also, I'm in the process of finding another part-time job so I can fund the move to a house again. Living in a 1400 sq ft house, landlord/friend wanting to sell said house that was about $30,000 more than I could afford. So the futon stays (the big one is in the second bedroom being stored) and the 90s (maroon/forest green/dark blue) decor was taken to Goodwill and the thrifty, frugal and creative side is having fun. A lot of my updates have been from Hobby Lobby (most at 66% off or more), Goodwill, Ross, Tuesday Morning, Target, Dollar Tree and such. Some things came from Wal*Mart from just before I moved in but the bones and classics are mine from before.





Perhaps one of my design faux pas (make that plural) is that I see something and I don't really think "This item will go on _______ (insert location in home)." I generally do have a thought process but some things meant for one place end up somewhere else not intended. I swap things around (often called shopping the house) as I see fit though as I like to shake things up often. Or I pick out things that have a specific use but I use them in other ways. Metal "garden bowls" purchased at Hobby Lobby were painted black and hung on walls. Placemats ended up on shelves as a backdrop because I had them and didn't want to put them away. Trivets meant to put your hot dishes/pots on end up on walls or leaned in a shelf. It's much more fun to use things in ways you may not have thought of.















One thing I am not thrilled with is this kitchen. The stove burners are tilted so if you try to fry eggs, the oil pools. There is no prep space. But I am making do. I am a luckier one than many in that most of the apartments in my complex have full size washer and dryers in our units. A time saver, money saver and of course you put your stuff in where your dirt was and not someone else's.

Only a few things were "found" like three antique looking chairs I found near the dumpsters. I had never really been much of a "used furniture" person and certainly not near a dumpster but living in an apartment complex of over 200 residents opens up that opportunity quite often. I am now addicted to CraigsList though I haven't purchased anything off it. That will wait until I have a home that will be my own again.







Tiny hallways make for challenging decorating. Also, another humidifier (the other one bit the dust a while back) needed a spot so I grabbed the little antique desk I bought in the early 90s and while it's a bit wide, it hosts my other humidifier just fine.

Then you have the tiny bathroom. This I am so not thrilled with but what are you going to do? Decorate with what you have, a cheap shower curtain from Wal*Mart and call it done. One really doesn't spend that much time in there anyway so it hasn't seen much of a change since the first month I moved in.





My bedroom is still a work in progress but I think everyone's home is always a work in progress, this just happens to be in constant progress. But after having been having just a blanket on my bed while using quilts for warmth and putting them away in the morning, I finally found something to have on my bed so it looks finished. Not bad for $20 and it's not my real vision; it's better than the plain blanket that was there previously.

Hehe, sometimes you also buy things you normally wouldn't. A leapord print (or any animal print) is not something I would normally buy. I needed a small lampshade for the $1 lamp base I got at Hobby Lobby and this one was right at $5 from Ross. I had found an all black shade (again at Ross for $4) that looked okay but when I put the gold curtain panel up, I just wasn't enjoying it. I liked that the background had gold in it so back it went.

But yeah, this is my home for now and I am proud of it. I definitely have a unique sense of style but, my friends, that's what makes our homes our home. Show off your home with pride. What may or may not be your taste may or may not be mine. Take some inspiration perhaps or learn what it is you don't want from other people's homes. But make your home a place of sanctuary that makes you proud when you walk in the door.

Thank you for stopping by and I can't wait to see more of your homes with your unique sense of style.

Valance/Pelmet Box Concept

Napkins that were going to be covering the pillows...that came with the duvet cover...that were going to be returned because I didn't like them on the bed...one of the pillow shams that has no place to be:





Right now I just put them up there to see if I still want to return the napkins (only $5) and actually use the material from the shams to tie it together. Hmmm.

The three don't go together per se but the gold/tan colors are similar, with some creativity Paint Shop Pro gave me this thought (because it's simply easier than drawing in Photoshop):



Wish I could get another curtain panel (they don't have one) or the valance they had (not going to spend the money anyway) so it is more coordinated instead of the napkins but I think I am on to something here. It doesn't have to be perfect, just better and best of all, inexpensive. Right there we are talking $15.50 which includes the cheap curtain rod...not bad.

EDIT:

Perhaps outline the top as well:



Hmmm.

EDIT x2: Check out A Soft Place to Land for DIY Day!. (One of many link-o-ramas that I come across. So much to see. So little time!)

Only $10 but needs a pelmet box

Still working on the bedroom. Yesterday I was going to go to Hobby Lobby to see if they had any major discounted stuff to start some kind of project on but knowing me a little $3 item here and a little $4 item there ends up being $30 of crap I don't need in the house. Yes, a project would be very nice right now but I have other priorities at the moment.

I scooted down to Tuesday Morning because I hadn't been there in a while and took one of the shams with me to look for two things. One would be a throw pillow or two so I can get rid of the matchy-matchy pillows and/or a curtain to cover the tacky maroon tab top I have on the window. I found a panel for $10:



Close up of the pattern (need daylight pics but it was cloudy today):


It's horribly plain as is though but I LOVE the fabric and it's close enough to the tan/gold on the bed that it works. What it needs now is a pelmet box (much more casual than that as I am not a curvy person, haha) since a valance just isn't my thing.

So, after I got that hung up with a super cheap ($3) rod from Target, I started to look at the bed a bit more. Who needs all those stupid pillows? Three matchy-matchy pillows I don't like so off they went:



I do, however, need some pillows on my futon so I may find some fabric to cover them with and use them there.

So, this last weekend I did a major cleaning of the apartment. I had to stop working where I was because of the physical aspects of it were making it very difficult on my already bum wrist, elbow and shoulder (back through my trapezius muscle). Long story short, I ended up at urgent care because of the sinus infection, my arm and a badly infected finger and she told me to lay off the use of the arm for a minimum of two weeks and consume massive amounts of ibuprofen. I did some of that. I couldn't stand it anymore so I got to cleaning. The dust was bugging me so I did what closely resembles spring cleaning...it took me two days and three times the amount of time so as not to mess with the arm but it's done! YAY!

One of my projects was cleaning, with Murphy Oil Soap, my big dresser:


(Sept. 16, 2009)


(Jan. 19, 2010 - and yes I have left out some of the Christmas stuff elsewhere)

Back story: My mom bought that at an auction house back in the early to earlier of the mid 70s. (Refresher of the mirror.) I have no idea how old it is and in the years I have had it (since 1986 or 1987) I have only dusted and oiled it.

So, I attacked it with a white cloth, Murphy's and as much elbow grease my arm could muster. The entire left side of that dresser turned the cloth black! The top was just typical dirt and the right side was dirty and had some black on the cloth too. The left side of the front also turned the cloth black but the black grime faded as I went to the right side. I can't for the life of me think that it was something I ever did. So, deducing where it's been over the course of close to 40 years, the black is most likely soot from a coal fueled heat source back in the day. It is an antique so that only makes sense. I used to be a slob but that could not have happened under my watch!

So Murphy Oil Soap, I love you. Perhaps you can see how much better the grain stands out now. I really need to get it professionally refinished as that's not a project I can tackle nor would I on such a fabulous piece of furniture.

Next up is to make a pelmet box and that's a project I think can be done inexpensively and it has a good purpose. Funny how when you add something to your house it somehow can mean a new project. No matter, I like being busy!

Addition to last post

I had forgotten I had this picture of the $2 vase:



Isn't she sexy? Nice curves and she's so graceful. Haha...but yeah, I meant to post it in the previous entry and I didn't feel like editing that post.

Has it really been two months since my last post?

Good gracious. Time flies even when not having fun. HAHA.

Anyhow, with the holidays, the new job and such I just hadn't really found the time to do much blogging nor keep up much on other blogs, though I did go through them once in a while. That has changed temporarily for reasons I desire to not discuss here.

The last few days I have cruised through my usual haunts and I must say, I am glad the holiday season is over. So many Christmas oriented photos and such it became overload so seeing some blogs come back to normal is refreshing.

Oh, finally I did an upgrade to my bedroom:

Before - Sept 2009:


After - Jan 2010:


I happened upon that set for $20 at Ross! Sweet, I thought to myself. But not really investigating the contents until I got home I opened up the package and it was just a duvet cover with pillows and two shams. Whoops. I was so taken with the price I didn't even think to check it.

No matter. I finally had something pretty to cover the bed and buying an inexpensive comforter or preferably a thick quilt for the innerds can wait. I have left the two quilts (both are for twin beds) underneath to keep me warm at night. I pull the duvet cover down at night to keep it nice. The thing is, some might be really disappointed in discovering that their cheap find really wasn't what they thought it was but I now have a bedroom I can walk in and be proud of even if it is lacking a key component.

I think for $20 that's a good deal really. I really did want something that wasn't poofy like a comforter anyway and I had been eyeing a black quilt at Target but it was beyond my frugal nature and of course the budget. Also, this has a bit of the gold tones that are in my regular cotton sheets so it worked out. I did get some black pillow cases (on sale for $7!) and now it looks better. It's a bit matchy-matchy for my tastes right now but I am in no hurry to make it "perfect". It's far better than before so I am not complaining.

One holdover from the holidays are the gold, beaded twigs I got from Michael's craft store for 50% off before Christmas. I decided I liked how they pull out the gold tones in the vase I got for $4 from Ross back in August, they are staying out for now and I moved it to my computer desk:



Close-up for a better color comparison:


I've only added a few other things since November and all have been pretty darn cheap. I added a cord-wrapped vase for $2 on the top of my shelves:



An artsy closeup of the texture:


I also picked up its sister that is taller and not as bottom heavy and a bit more at $4.76 (both from Hobby Lobby deeply discounted):


If you notice the shorter vase, that came as triplets and who doesn't think triplets are cool? One of its siblings can be seen in the photo of my computer desk above, on the monitor stand and you can see the last one here next to the bronze and black vase (which was only $4) Though they were in a package together, they came out to only $1.83 each:



You may remember that yellow vase (with the flowers) I got at Goodwill a while back? I took someone's advice here and got a pack of northern white beans, on sale, from the grocery to fill it up. I dig it! What a great suggestion and it's kinda neat to shop the grocery for your home decor. Hehe.

The little gold votive holders I have also left out (one in the shelves and one on my computer desk) were also 50% off at Michael's before Christmas. Working next door to them can be kind of dangerous on the budget but I've been very careful about that.

Oh, and I have decided that mixing metals gold, bronze, silver and copper through your home is fun. In some cases you don't have much of a choice but if you don't get too anal about it, it's unexpected and doesn't have to look really odd. For example, my weather station has silver in it and I like it placed on my computer desk and then I have the vase with the gold, beaded twigs...I like them both so I am willing to overlook the idea they aren't the same. Given the nature of the weather station, spray painting it to be black, gold or whatever is not going to happen so they stay right where they are.

Enough of my ramblings for now. I hope everyone had a fine holiday season (whatever your beliefs) and that 2010 is a great year for everyone.

Oh, and I have to post a picture of my boys from this morning while they were soaking up the sun even though the temps outside are in the upper teens and lower 20s:



They are fast becoming buddies and as I type this, they are both licking their legs! Haha!