New Living Room Layout

From the start, I've been adamant that my bedroom be a 'for sleeping only' sanctuary but finding myself doing schoolwork there in the evenings and then studying in bed most mornings,  I finally caved and moved my desk there.  The room is still very much a work in progress but it is surprising how functional it is.  Because the kitchen door is my main entry, it's convenient to have my drop spot right there (as opposed to walking the length of the apartment).

Sorry about the crappy photos. My camera can't do anything but bright light.

This rearrangement really opened up my main room.  I pushed the loveseat against the wall, rearranged the chairs and brought out the bench that had lived in my desk's new home.  Looking at the photographs, I realize that I've actually done a ton of stuff since the last decorating post.

I framed the mirror squares with some molding from HD, took down the ribbon and added a 'sari-wainscoting' with an old Indian souvenir and painted the top of the table white.  The jungle has been culled (my watering time has halved!) and Sami, the sad lion lithograph that had watched over my great-grandma's house, now watches over mine.  The round Danish chair and the bar in the corner had also graced her home.
 

Overall, the apartment feels much larger and the space better utilized. An offering to the gods of procrastination well spent.

As Promised, Last Nesting Post: The Kitchen

Here y'all go:

The kitchen is little: about 5.5 x 11 ft with 28 inches of counter space. I tried to go with a casual french bistro inspiration.

I use the burlap bag as storage for coffee & bread and a couple of other reusable shopping bags.

This windowsill is the plant infirmary. Sick plants come here to recuperate.  The window coverings are just raw pieces of green burlap pinned to tension rods.

The red 'wine purse' (a gift from my brother) atop the fridge is my paper towel dispenser.

All of my non-refrigerated produce goes in the wire baskets or the wooden bowls.

I keep my lesser used dishware in the bins atop the cabinets (my great-grandma's wedding punch bowl, my huge pasta dish) and my bulk grains (rice, barley, quinoa, peas etc) in the wire picnic basket.

I placed the leftover mirror panels (from: the bedroom & living north wall) here to visually 'elongate the stubby counter space.

 The cheese slate board & serving plate stack here, pretty but out of the way until needed.

I use cherry tomatoes in everything: pasta, salads, stir fry, soup. Again, the cutting board is against the wall, pretty, out of the way and easily reached.

This is one of two 'herb gardens'.  Here grows Italian basil, mint & rosemary- the most commonly used herbs in the kitchen. The 'herb garden' in the sunroom grows red basil, cilantro & chives.

I keep my alarm clock next to the coffee for 2 reasons:
1. I'm a pathological snooze abuser so having to walk to another room to do so helps
2. coffee

I am really really lucky with this apartment. It's not huge (533ft) but the amount of light is amazing. I have 12 windows including one in the bathroom and one in my big closet.  Despite the landlord limitations (no painting) I've been able to really create a home here and I love it.

By Popular Demand.... of one.

Here's the long awaited, almost complete (kitchen tomorrow!) current state of apartment tour.  Most of these photos were posted previously on the blog; I've just gathered them up into a handy-dandy single feature. It has definitely come a long way.  Tomorrow'll be my last tour post until next year (maybe). Then, it's back to the medschool crap. 

My Little apartment summary: It was rented to me as a studio with a small dining nook between the kitchen  & entry-way.  I decided to make that small room my sleeping area.
Dimensions, in square feet:
Sunroom alcove: 63.6
Main room: 199.6
Hallway: 34.8
Bathroom: 40.5
Sleeping area:  97.4
Kitchen: 64.4

Total apartment (including closets): 532.8

I wish I had a camera; these were taken with my Ipad. Next year's photographs will be of better quality. Promise!

Please: if you have any ideas or suggestions to polish this place, gimmee! I'm not the most artistic/creative person & need help for next year's round of nesting.

If my inspiration for the apartment were to be defined it would be a trip around the world. I've tried to be cohesive by including the same elements in every room: plants, natural finds (stones, twigs) and materials, mirrors, personal artwork.


Starting here in the main room, I'm at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; a cross-roads & jumble of textures, fabrics, plants & books from Africa, Europe, the Middle East & South Asia.

  

 

As we head into the hall, we head east to Asia.






The hall finds us in India.


 

And the bathroom is Viet Nam. 

As we continue east into the bedroom, a beachy Playa Del Carmen emerges.

And for our last stop on our eastern journey, We enter a small and casual French bistro for a cup of coffee or glass of wine.

Here's are the links to the pictorial evolution this past year of my bedroom & living room:

north living room & sunroom
south living room
west living room
east living room
east bedroom
west bedroom

Fireplace

Regarding my DIY projects this past year I'm most proud of my mantel. A vestigial architectural detail (former murphy bed alcove) that most of my neighbors use as a closet, I turned into the focal point of my main room. The shelf was a cheap craigslist find and the rest evolved from there.

 I adored a filigree fireplace screen that I saw at Ten Thousand Villages but, alas, it was over $100 so I gathered and painted white some twigs to try to capture the general idea. As mentioned before in the blog, the swag lights were crafted from materials found at HD for less than $20.

 

The carved wooden snake was a Playa del Carmen souvenir, the sword a Viking replica harvested in Sweden, and the crystal was from a) parent's wedding gifts or b) a Czech Waterford 'outlet'.

The spider plants were reaped from my grandmother's 50 year old blossoming mother plant. 

In the mirror reflection are the 3 masks that collected from India (Ganesh), Italy (Carnival) and South Korea (burial), a (pretty lame) interpretation of Lascaux that I did in high school and the Civil War discharge certificates of a # great grand father.

The rug was painted courtly check ala Mackenzie Childs by a dear friend who shares my love of the whimsy.

Overview: 

 EDIT: after I posted these photographs, I added shelves & lowered the paintings.

Bathroom Update

I rearrange plants a lot. They're lighter than furniture and picky about their location. Sometimes the plant disagrees with the light, humidity or hungry cat where I originally placed it. This is why all of the spider plants are elevated out of kitty-reach. Toulouse loves the pretty yummy leaves.   Likewise, the dwarf palm planter that had been in the bathroom did NOT like the diffuse light there. So, a few weeks ago, out she came to the much more pleasant direct sun of the south windows.  She is much happier on the desk:

So to maintain the mini spa ambiance in the bathroom, I substituted what had been originally planned: lucky bamboo.  Several months ago, I had gone with the dwarf palm because I couldn't find any reasonably priced bamboo plants but a few weeks ago, I stumbled across these stalks for 99 cents/each at a small gardening shop and went crazy! (well.. $18 crazy....) I'm thrilled with the result. It seems much cleaner to me.

I also finished an ongoing de-uglify the medicine cabinet project.  Frustratingly, I didn't think to take any 'before' photos: it was a typical rusty beige blight in the room.  I used wood-flavored contact paper (it'll peel off pretty easily) and bright pink duct tape.  It took awhile to figure out how to apply the contact paper so that it didn't bubble and crease. I ended up cutting it in strips and applying it to mimic the wood floors in the rest of the unit. It gives me a thrill to open up the cabinet to see bright pink: my little secret.