We had every intention when we moved out here of walking into a few furniture stores, placing orders and walking back out. And we so tried to do that when we got here. We visited several stores, and debated mightily on the virtues of the $600 couch versus the $2,000 couch. In the end though, we realized that we are just not the sort of people who buy brand new furniture. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing that, but it just isn't us. We'd rather buy good quality, used furniture on Craigslist, give a little spit and polish, and use our leftover hundreds towards something more fun like travel. So - the only brand new furniture that we have purchased so far are our mattress and bed frame from IKEA, and three Poang chairs, also from IKEA.
Ready to see our place with some stuff in it? :) First up is our bedroom, which so far contains a bed and a lamp. We're using a box and a tote as nightstands, and our clothes are all in the closets. I'm on the hunt for a little dresser for my side and a nightstand for Lover's side, and of course some curtains. But I think that will be it for furniture in here. We don't need more storage, and I'm loving the open, uncluttered feel of our room. We found the comforter set at Marshalls and I love it.
The kids' room is still a mishmash. We kept KK in her pack n play for the first month to keep there from being one more change in her life. She loves it so that hasn't been a problem. Plus, in the mornings when Javi wants to play with her, he just tips it over and lets her out. :) Crazy boy.
Javi sleeps on the blow up bed, or sometimes on the crib mattress under the changing table, or sometimes in the chair, or the floor, or in places like this or this. Someone called him an Adventure Sleeper and that couldn't be more true.
We haven't done much in the bathrooms, but the kids' bath is looking cute with their towels hung up, a bright bath mat and KK's headbands on one of the towel rods. Easy peasy.
The dining area is coming along nicely. We found these table and chairs on Craigslist for $125. The people lived almost 45 minutes away, out in the middle of no where, literally on a dirt road. The table and chairs are super sturdy and not too precious, and the round table fits really nicely in this little nook. We hung curtains just to soften things up a bit, and not have to deal with those ridiculous vertical blinds everyday. In fact, I took the ones on the little window there down and stored them under our bed. I think the rest will stay up in the apartment, but those one were driving me nuts. I left the brackets up and will just rehang them when we move out.
We put a fifteen dollar rug from IKEA under the kids' side of the table, since the whole place is carpeted. That was a good call. It requires cleaning/picking up/vacuuming every day, but it's keeping the carpet underneath relatively unscathed.
On the other side of that skinny wall you can see on the left hand side, we hung the kid's growth chart, one of the things we brought with us from New York. There's their basket of toys too, which is working out well in that spot. See how high the ceilings are here? I have some plans for that back wall, just waiting on a new shipment from Amazon since the last one arrived damaged.
The kitchen hasn't changed much, a few things on the fridge and a few decorations. I found that mirror at a thrift store, and you'll see another up on the mantel for now. I'm thinking once we buy a TV, that will go on the mantel, and the other mirror will join this one over the cabinets. It would be fun to have a collection of mirrors up there, right?
I found that big, awesome clock at Goodwill for $9. I love it and I am so happy that it works! I may end up tweaking it, because that is what I do, but for now it looks great and, I can read it from the couch which is awesome because I am blind. :)
Last up is the main area. The curtains are from IKEA, one of the few places that has curtains long enough for these tall walls that don't cost a fortune. I love the punch of color. How do you like our fancy schmancy coffee table? :) The Poang chairs fit perfectly on the side of the fireplace - someone asked about having white chairs and I mentioned they are washable. True, but we've discovered that fitting that foam back in the covers is a pain in the you-know-what. But - they're working out well.
And, our "new" leather couch. If I had to guess, it's fifteen to twenty years old, but in absolutely solid condition. We wanted to try some new things out here, and one of them was leather. We got this for $90. It had some severe fading which I have discovered was partly fading, and partly just a lack of care. I ordered some leather conditioner and I'm on coat three, and it is making such a difference. I'll do a whole separate post on the different products I am using to restore this couch, but suffice it to say, it's looking a lot better. And it is soooo comfy. Love it. That wall above the couch is screaming out for a big piece of art, wouldn't you say? :) By the way, I wasn't sure if I would like white walls (these are a warm cream) but I love it. It's light and bright and unifying in such a small space.
Here's the mantel today. There's the garland I told you about! Very high tech - felt leaves hot glued to raffia, but it makes me happy. :) I'm on the lookout for a bookshelf that will fit nicely in the apartment, so eventually all those books will move. All of the tech hookups are above the fireplace, so the big mirror does a good job covering up all the stuff and wires up there.
I'm so glad I brought the infinity light, it took up no room in our boxes and we desperately needed a light in this corner of the room. Who knows if it will stay there, but for now it's working great.
And lastly, one of the first things I hung up was this posterboard of good things that are happening to us here, along with two fun, colorful decorations. Hanging my guitar makes it both an art piece and keeps it mostly out of reach of the bambinos.
So that's it! A little tour of our place one month in. We've made a lot of progress and it's really feeling like home.
No comments:
Post a Comment