Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Come On In (Again)

I made a lot of noise about using Mondays in March for posts about blogging following my break and with help from your amazing responses to my survey, but I couldn't manage to get yesterday's draft into publishable form.  It worked well to focus just on that first question about what it means to be a blogger for last week's post; your thoughts on the other issues were actually all fascinatingly intertwined and so I wanted to guide them into one narrative post, but the draft felt too unwieldy and at a certain point I had to step away.  I'll keep working on it for next week, dear readers!

Anyway, for today's regularly scheduled post I wanted to welcome you (back) into my home!



A lot of the furniture in my apartment is temporary.  "Temporary" can have many definitions, as anyone who has ever set up a home on a budget knows, and I'm sure that we'll bring some of the pieces I have now - Craiglist finds, curbside scores, and hand-me-downs - to our next home, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming about more permanent possibilities!

At the moment, I'm fantasizing about upgrading our entry.  It might sound like a strange project, but you actually walk into a room that measures 7'x7' when you come through my front door - that's a lot of space to play with when the rest of the apartment is technically a studio!  The set up I have now works, definitely, but it won't really when Jon gets here.  Do you see that door just to the left of the front door?  Well, it's meant to be a walk-in closet, but we're going to turn those 36 sq ft into an office for Jon.  (The credit for that idea goes to Beth!)  Management has given us permission to remove the door to the closet, because the space would be way too claustrophobic otherwise, and that means we'll have to rearrange the contents of the entry a bit so Jon's not faced with a jumble of coats and leashes as he tries to work or read or whatever it is that men do in their studies when hiding from their wives and dogs.

My plan is to take down that panel of hooks, bought through Joss & Main back when I first moved into the apartment, and to use that wall to hang some of our art.  I imagine that the wide expanse of wall just opposite - currently empty - will be the new home for these pretty coat hooks and that gorgeous tufted metal bench.  (The front door is set far enough out from that wall so there's plenty of room.)  We'll replace the pine console, refinished by my mother about two decades ago, with a more angular one made of metal and glass and move the canvas bin into a closet.  Since we'll lose some storage in the process, we'll get a few attractive baskets to go under the table to hold Charlie's bags and things.  Since I first gave you a tour of my apartment back in May, I've acquired a big gorgeous mirror from Target that was, for reasons passing all understanding, on clearance for $35, and that will remain where it is, over the console; I'm not sure where the rubber mat will make its new home - maybe under the bench, so boots and shoes are still accessible and near the coats.  The picture frame will keep its place of honor on the console and will be joined by this handsome wooden tray, which will replace the key basket and mail sorter to serve as a catchall.  That's how it will all eventually look in my dreams, anyway!  What do you think?


COME ON IN

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14 comments:

  1. That's going to look great! I love the bench and bin idea. We have a little entryway too (probably about the same size), but our parking is by the side door, which has no entryway. This means that shoes/coats, etc get tossed on the kitchen floor, rather than hung up in the beautiful little entry way. I'm not sure how to remedy this.

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  2. If you've got $30 and a Home Depot, you could go midcentury modern with the table by adding stainless/chrome hardware, staining it a mid-level red oak, and topping it with a piece of acrylic. Or you could stain it dark and paint the top white and still go with the stainless/chrome!

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  3. haha the problem with actually USING the beautiful entry way is that it becomes less beautiful! I think I have to repaint the wall under the panel of cooks because it's yucky from 11 months of dirty leashes and wet coats (etc) wiping up against the wall :(

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  4. I have no idea what you just said. VISUAL LEARNER HERE. show me an example?

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  5. the other night, Jon spent 10 minutes telling me about how he wants to upgrade my TV in the living room to an "entertainment center." I think he hopes the whole apartment will be his mancave...

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  6. i love a good entry room, with places to put everything so you dont just have a big pile of stuff when you enter a home. xo jillian

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  7. Like so: http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/console-tables/swedish-mid-century-modern-jacaranda-console-table/id-f_274339/ Or so: http://www.alexanderandpearl.co.uk/retro-two-tone-mid-century-console-table-5908-p.asp

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  8. I absolutely love your entryway! I wish we had one but our apartment is laid out so oddly that we just have stairs when you walk in and not much room for more!

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  9. Love your flat! Much cuter than a lot of flats I had seen when I worked as a dog walker in DC. And that was in the Georgetown area too haha. Now you have me wanting to re-arrange/re-decorate my flat...too bad it comes with no storage space and is furnished with a lot of crap from the landlord. Boo. x

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  10. Great idea to turn the closet into an office! My mother did the same in her old office, it worked out really well :)

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  11. I like it. I love seeing what other people with their spaces, especially with links. :) I'm such a fan of that bench!

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  12. Love these ideas - and jealous that you have an entryway! Next place I live, I fantasize about having a real entry, rather than having the front door open directly into the living room (which then my husband turns into an "entryway" by dumping his coat on the armchair next to the door...)

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  13. STUNNING!! I love everything you picked out. The whole combo looks wonderful together!


    Know what's making me crazy about my apartment right now? I have no place to put down my purse/bag when I come in. I keep thinking I should get a hook, but then worry about the amount of weight in the bag (which should make me worry about my shoulder/back). I usually put it on the couch and then move it when I sit down... Silly, huh? I keep waiting for inspiration to strike and a solution to magically appear...

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I love reading your thoughts and suggestions! Please do leave a comment so we can get to know each other better.