to look at

Mom says the West End catalogue cover is in blue and brown. I'll check it out when I get back.

Newest stick of furniture.

Some decent design in a nice wood went by on Craigslist so I jumped on it. It actually fit in my car, and I am now the owner of this little guy:

It's from the late 50s, by Kent-Coffey.

Kitchen?

Blue and Brown?
Or just nuke the blue trim and pretend it isn't there?

When it rains it pours...

O Craigslist! In the past you have given me nothing but floral and wicker. A random selection from a recent day to illustrate how completely demoralizing hartford.craigslist.org/fur is:





But now that I've decided on a color scheme that uses dark wood and light neutralish upholstery, I get lots of good stuff. However, it's either way out of my budget ($1450 for a table and chairs?) or plays to my paralyzing fear of bedbugs. Some of the temptations:








I think I need to do some thinking about furniture styles before I get to carried away. Good thing I don't have a truck.

more colour resources

A list of all the color schemes using pink on colorschemer.com.

Some more pink color schemes from colourlovers.com. These seem less helpful for interior design because they use few if any neutrals.

Perfect

I just found a photo of exactly what I'd had in mind....before I saw the pink carpet.

Color inspiration

I've been doing two things to figure out what color scheme to go with. Look through lots of magazines and websites and pull images and color combinations that appeal to me without judgment. This process of creating a Style Tray is one I picked up from AT. It works because even thought I don't know what I like in theory, I know whether or not I like what's in front of my face. After looking at my Tray after weeks of blindly collecting images, I can really see my own style. And I like it. (I'm going to put it on Flickr if I have time tonight).

I've also been combing through apartmenttherapy.com, particularly sites like their Fall Colors Contest and Small Cool Contest to get a sense of what techniques I like and don't like. Useful beyond belief.

I'm absolutely agonizing over what paint colors to choose for the walls. The reason this is even a difficult decision is because the carpeting in the apartment, which the landlord will not get replaced for a year, is pink in the living room and peach in the bedroom. Pink! Peach! Doesn't exactly fit with the organic modern look I was going for. Since all my current furniture was dirt cheap or entirely free I have freedom but I'm at a loss as to where to even start.

Cleaning the bones

Heading off for a cleaning supply run to scrub down every surface of the apartment. The last occupant was ridiculously clean, but this is more of a psychic cleaning to make the apartment mine. It is also a good way to get to know the bones of the apartment, a la Apartment Therapy (AT).

I have no idea what I'm going to paint the walls and I'm upgrading most of my furniture, so I'm just going to keep carting boxes over and stacking them artfully in the middle of my (vacuumed) living room, and scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing. Wish I could finish the bathroom but inexplicably, there's a disconnected washer/dryer set that isn't mine taking up most of the space.

What this is about.

I am 23 years old, and currently living in my 13th living space of the last five years. I am completely sick of temporary living. For the last year I have been in a modest one-bedroom apartment whose linoleum flooring, fluorescent fixtures, strange layout, and isolated location have not inspired me to put any thought or money into it. I don't like coming back to my apartment. I avoid cleaning or organizing until I have to, and I go out instead of having friends over.

Offered a chance at a different apartment with a nicer layout in an apartment building with a community (and my own porch) I pounced. After reading Apartment Therapy, I know that I need to put in the time, money and care to make this a place I love to come home to and want to show off to my friends. I have a lot to learn: how to buy good furniture and lighting, how to paint walls, how to learn what I even like to look at, how to clean lots of new surfaces, and how to have a garden of potted plants.

I'm really excited about the next few weeks. The process will be hard but new and interesting, and the finished product something that enriches my life on many levels. And maybe this will even help you with your nest too.