Tuesday, May 28, 2013

New Apartment: Living Room and Bedroom

what my bed usually looks like after Charlie has gotten comfortable

Finally, dear readers, we're picking up the house tour again! I'm glad we waited because, in the two weeks since my last post from the tour, my mother brought over a chair from her house and I bought a vacuum. Charlie seems to produce a new dog in shed fur every week - which was the inspiration for Charlie Lives Here - so I feel like I'm in a brand new home all over again after this weekend's clean! (By the way, if you want an inexpensive but totally functional vacuum that deals well with pet hair, I recommend this one from Eureka that we got at Sears.) But, as I noted in part two of the tour, this apartment is still in progress. I've lived here for nearly six weeks now, and every detail still isn't in place; one drawer of the dresser is missing its knobs because of a problem with the drill, artwork isn't yet hung, I haven't figured out what to do the disguise/hide all of the wires under the TV stand... you get the idea. Obviously I'd like to have moved into a finished apartment, but that's just not how it happens in real life, even when you're working with a small space. So let's explore the way things really are, shall we? Welcome back to my home!

If you stand in my dining room with your back to the clock, you'll be facing into the living room with the wall of windows to your right.  The living room and bedroom are technically two halves of the same space, but I've put a real effort to making them feel distinct.  So let's start, shall we?

(By the way, this is the part where I apologize again for my photos. When I figure out how to do lighting and editing and other mad photography skillz, you'll be the first to know.)





As I go through these photos and identify each piece, I'm actually surprised by how few of them I bought.  I felt like I've been hemorrhaging money for the past two months, but it seems I owe my parents (ad my late grandmother) a bigger thank-you for their generosity than I realized!  The mission chair next to the couch came from my parents' house and used to be in their bedroom, the end table in the corner was in my father's study, and the standing lamp lived in the basement for years.  The ottoman came from my grandmother's apartment; the couch was a hand-me-down from Little B.  (Charlie and I appreciate it very much!)  You can see Charlie's bed to the left of the couch as you're facing it - his toys are never not scattered around the whole place, but I piled them together for these photos - and, if you come into the living room and turn around, you'll be facing the TV which, along with the cart it's on and the two chairs on either side, all came from Grandma's apartment.

The rug seems to have been your favorite piece in my apartment!  (No one told me that new rugs pill like crazy when you first get them, so heads up...)  It's the Keno Linked Trellis Slate Rug from RugsUSA and I bought it for $190.62 at 60% off.  The pillows on the couch are from Target and were $25 each on clearance; they're no longer available but I was also thinking about getting two of this style.  The tray is Threshold from Target, too, and was also on clearance and isn't on the website anymore.  Can you tell I have a serious crush on this new line?  I'd go trawl through the aisles every other weekend when I was getting ready to move, looking for rogue pieces on clearance.  (Fortunately for my wallet, I've stopped this habit.)

If you still have your back to the couch and you turn to the right, you'll find the bookcase in front of you and, beyond that, the bedroom.  My first instinct was to buy a 4x4 Expedit to serve as the divider, but I'm glad I found this one, which is actually two $39.89 ClosetMaid Cubeicals from Target, before I went to Ikea.  (The two cloth boxes in the Cubeicals, $5.99 each, are from the same line and come in lots of different colors.) I wanted the Expedit because I liked how you could see straight through the shelves, which would allow light into the bedroom from the living room windows and make everything seem much more open and airy while still partitioning off the bedroom, but I like the ClosetMaid bookshelves because they have the same effect while being much less bulky.

So, on to the bedroom!





You've probably seen a million Instagrams similar to that top photo but with a squishy dog demonstrating how comfortable the bed is!  It really is unbelievably comfortable, which was a gamble because I bought it all - the mattress, box spring, and frame - for $150 off Craigslist.  (Nana, it's fine.  The bed is safe.  It's the best bed I've ever slept in.)  The duvet and pillow cases are the Alvine Kvist set from Ikea that all the cool kids have, apparently, and cost $29.99 and my mom made the knitted blue pillow.  Both "nightstands" are from my parents' attic; the one next to my side of the bed, with the door, is perfect for hiding a trash can, which Charlie would get into if it weren't shut away.  I do plan on replacing them eventually but they're ideal for now!  The two bedside lamps are also from Ikea and cost $19.99 each; I like their simplicity anyway but I also chose them because they match the standing lamp in the ling room.  And that adorable blue rug next to the bed is the Raquel Rug from The New Preppy, $29.99 on Joss and Main back in April.  The paint color of the accent wall, if you're wondering, is Benjamin Moore Grand Rapids 835.

Now, with your back to the bed you have the closet door on the right and, directly in front of you on right hand side of the wall, a chest that had lived in my childhood bedroom but was relegated to the basement a few years ago.  The dresser, on the left hand side of the wall in front of you, was a $40 Craigslist find that I spray painted with two cans of Rust-Oleum in Stone Gray.  I also added knobs from World Market that cost $3 each, but I had to get new screws for them because the ones they came with weren't long enough for the depth of the front of the drawers, proving that the dresser is not from Ikea!  The mirror on top of the dresser was also from my childhood bedroom.  Finally, the rug at the foot of the bed was $34.99 from Bed Bath and Beyond and matches the long rug in the hallway.

And there we have it!  You've now been through my whole house; if you missed them before, you can see the first and second parts of the tour here.  I'll be asking you for some decor help in the next week or so, if you don't mind - start thinking about the walls above the couch and to the left of the bed as you're facing it, if you want a jumpstart, as well as the entire entry room - but for now, welcome.  I hope you feel at home!

(By the way, Eliza's giving us a tour of her living room today, too, over at Case Study, so go check it out!)

27 comments:

  1. Love your place! The rug is awesome. And Charlie looks very comfortable!

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  2. disqus_VtXnzziGBpMay 28, 2013 at 9:18 AM

    I really like your appartment! Congratulations! However, I do not understand how can you have Charlie lying in your bed...I mean, I'm sure he is clean, but...He is a dog, a wonderful one, but...

    Gracias,

    MarĂ­a

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  3. Love it! And you've gotta love Target. I've been really impressed with the Threshold pieces! I can't wait to start shopping for house furnishings again!

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  4. I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks, Betsy!


    I, too, quite like the rug in the living room but I also think the bookcase was a great way to create some separation between the rooms without totally closing it off!

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  5. I love your bedspread! It's so peaceful and calming. Question on the rug: how did you decide on an area rug. We're having big time issues over in our house and I've been looking at so many online. But, from past experience, it's such a pain to send back if it doesn't work. Did you mock up in Photoshop before? What's your trick? Love the apartment!

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  6. I love how you divided the living room from the bedroom. They are definitely distinctive. Also, I have so many of those fabric drawers/boxes, in light pink. They've been so convenient over the years!

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  7. I love all the lights around your bed! Makes it such an inviting space and full of warmth.

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  8. Lovely! Love that mission chair by the couch. My parents gave us a set of GORGEOUS Stickley dining room chairs as our wedding gift (not mission style, not sure what the style would be called). They're still at my parents' house waiting for us, but when we buy a home, they will be used and so loved!

    One idea for the TV stand--perhaps you could drape a small tablecloth or pretty piece of fabric over the whole table to hide those cords you mentioned? Just an idea :)

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  9. Love it, you have done a fab job!

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  10. I'm stressing out hardcore about moving into a new apt! I have my car here in dc (a Jetta--- so not a ton of space), but I'll be selling whatever doesn't fit it my car and starting over in NOLA! Thankfully my parents have promised to drive down from Little Rock with a couch and some odds and end pieces, but still... It's going to be SO expensive! eek. Hopefully mine will look as cute as yours when all is said and done!

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  11. It totally feels like your hemorrhaging money whenever you move to a new place. I love all you linen selections, the patterns are so fun and not too girly so they can mature with you. The framed print over your divider wall looks gorgeous too!

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  12. Looks so great!!! The closetmaid shelves look just like Expedit! I never would have known if you hadn't said. And the knit pillow on the bed-- your Mom should open an Etsy shop! It's gorgeous.

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  13. I love the fake Expedit! I didn't even realize there were 2 of them together until you mentioned it! Your couch looks so ridiculously comfy!

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  14. oh my God, the only thing that made me more nervous about picking paint colors (especially that coral in the dining room) was picking an area rug. IT'S A HUGE COMMITMENT. I didn't do any mock-ups (in large part because I have no idea how) but I did narrow my choices down by deciding on a color (blue/gray) and a style (geometric). There were still a million options, so the price of this one sold it for me! Keep your eye on the sales, I'd say :) thank you!

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  15. thank you! I'm really trying to keep the "bedroom" just for sleeping and non-computer activities - the bed may be 3 feet away from the couch, but I want it to be a sanctuary!

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  16. thank you! the apartment gets tons of light in the mornings because of how the windows face and then it's all cosy at night :)

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  17. confession: I didn't know what a mission chair was until I googled it just now - that's just what my mother always called it! I need to learn more about dec arts :)


    and BRILLIANT! that's a perfect solution - thank you

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  18. Well, I love the one that you chose! I'm looking at a bunch from Lulu & Georgia and just wish that they covered the return shipping! Oy! Thanks for the helpful hints. You're right about narrowing down. Right now I'm vacillating between a white and black print vs. dark but brilliant teals and blues. Decisions!

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  19. We have the same duvet/pillow case set. I am currently snuggled underneath it. I think this means we have to be best friends. I love you're apartment- so cute!

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  20. I'm seriously so in love with this! I love that you used the bookshelves as a divider. What a neat idea. That couch looks so comfy and I'm still in love with your rugs.

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  21. Dammit. Wrong your. Please excuse that moment of insanity.

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  22. I only know because the Stickley factory is a ten-minute drive from where I grew up, and my Dad worked as their marketing VP for a few years :)

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  23. They do so many cool things down at Grand Central! But I always miss them because I'm always sprinting through on the way to somewhere. I loved their Lego scale model of the terminal for the 100th anniversary.

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