Can you believe it? At long last, I am a house renter! Okay, so it isn't home ownership by far, but I am absolutely in love with my little cottage! On Sunday, April 17th, 2011, we trucked our stuff off to the peaceful neighborhood I've been longing to call home! I'm finally in my quaint sleepy town with friendly neighbors.
Since I haven't had a weekend off yet to go through anything, much of my life remains packed away in boxes. I spent my Wednesday off of work trying to get things closer to living order. Unfortunately, that left me today in a state of exhaustion. Currently my stuff is too overwhelming to overcome. I have to organize and put stuff away before I can even think about decorating. I do not believe I will make much progress today; it is too daunting a task for the evening. On the plus side, the moving is over, and the house is ready for me... yaaaaaay!
Now the work begins.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Longing for a Place to Grow
To say that finding an affordable home to rent in my ideal city is difficult is an understatement! I thought that by this point I would be writing about the toils of moving, not mulling over how renting a home from a private party in a small town is as tricky as a job interview.
My search was also put a bit on the wayside when my car was stolen on March 18 (a cruel reminder of my desire for a safe city to call home). These speed bumps have meant I haven't yet moved, decorated, or made any progress whatsoever towards decorating :(
On the plus side, this passed weekend has offered the first rays of sunshine after what turned out to be a very long winter. Now that the weather is suddenly pleasantly warm, I have the inspiration to garden. Granted, my flowers are confined to pots on the patio for the time being. That doesn't mean they won't get the chance to roam free and blossomif I ever when I get a place with a yard.
My search was also put a bit on the wayside when my car was stolen on March 18 (a cruel reminder of my desire for a safe city to call home). These speed bumps have meant I haven't yet moved, decorated, or made any progress whatsoever towards decorating :(
On the plus side, this passed weekend has offered the first rays of sunshine after what turned out to be a very long winter. Now that the weather is suddenly pleasantly warm, I have the inspiration to garden. Granted, my flowers are confined to pots on the patio for the time being. That doesn't mean they won't get the chance to roam free and blossom
So far, my meager collection consists of cream Rananculus, a purple Mona Lisa Anemone, some ivy, & a white hyacinth (smells wonderful!). I hope they can find the ground soon.
~*~ Happy Gardening. ~*~
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Catching the Bug!
The Decorating Bug is a little seed of inspiration that seems to bite when I'm just about to move to a brand new place. The men in my life have referred to this behavioral shift as "nesting", but I call it catching the decorating bug! Symptoms include (but are not limited to): Obsessively "window-shopping" online (i.e. patrolling eBay for hours for the perfect new dinner plates), loading up on decorating books (I officially love you "Domino: The Book of Decorating"), sketching your ideal bedroom, literally dreaming about the perfect house... (to name a few).
Tip #1: Starting from scratch can be overwhelming, so why not start with what you have?
I've even gone so far as as to start taking a visual inventory of just about everything in my apartment with snapshots (I know, crazy - but this is also useful for insurance purposes). I've already uploaded hundreds of pictures into my computer and have sorted my decorative pieces into 5 categories:
Seeing my furniture, vases, curtains, rugs, and so on isolated in individual snapshots has given me a whole new perspective on them. I can now print them out, cut them out, and mix and match my stuff. Isolating your stuff forces you to see it in a whole new light. Maybe this one lamp that keeps ending up in your bedroom over and over matches your living room motif better after all. You just never quite noticed it before. Humans are creatures of habit and they stick with safe choices that have worked for them in the past. Change can be good though too. It can add that little zest to your home style recipe.
Tip #2: Don't conform to a style just because it's trendy. What do you already love? That can be timeless.
My infatuation with cobalt blue:
Cobalt blue glass is something I've always had an affinity for. And one of the best places to find these pieces for a good deal? Thrift stores. My bubbly blue vase (with an inventive texture that has grown on me) was a Five Dollar Find & my lovely set of 4 coffee/juice glasses were $2.50. After photographing my cobalt blue collection, I filed it all under keep! and decided my new kitchen is to include cobalt blue in its palette (it currently has no real focus or color scheme).
Tip #3: Fuel your motivation with inspired rooms & designs that already exist!
I've also started an official Home Decorating Binder that I've filled with magazine clippings of inspirational rooms + an official Home Decorating Folder on my laptop which is now full of word documents covering the color schemes and themes I've envisioned on a room-by-room basis.
The tenant who lived in my apartment before me is still on the mailing list for West Elm and Pottery Barn, two catalogues I would have recently ignored in my top roman college days. Thumbing through the pages depicting those perfect unattainable rooms would have been cruel to my younger self. Now I see these perfect rooms as perfect pictures of hope for what could be mine.
Don't get me wrong: I am still cheap and on a tight budget (those student loans don't pay themselves); however, my fleeting disposable income can now be spent on curtains as opposed to the umpteen amounts of ink, paper, and supplies it took me to get through art school alive. No more cardboard night stands for me!
The problem?
I don't exactly have a new place lined up yet. This is the one huge obstacle holding me back right now. So for the next month or so, all I can do is imagine what my place will look like. At the moment, I am searching for a 2 bedroom 2 bath small home to rent, ideally with the semblance of a yard for the dog. My decorating visions are planning for such, but only once the place is stapled down can I really, truly fulfill my need to decorate! It seems I'm going to have this bug for a while.
Tip #1: Starting from scratch can be overwhelming, so why not start with what you have?
I've even gone so far as as to start taking a visual inventory of just about everything in my apartment with snapshots (I know, crazy - but this is also useful for insurance purposes). I've already uploaded hundreds of pictures into my computer and have sorted my decorative pieces into 5 categories:
- keep! - perfect as is
- change! - keep but with new paint, fabric, etc.
- upgrade - same exact idea, whole new piece!
- sell - item no longer needed, but could still potentially be worth $
- donate - item no longer needed and deserves a new home!
Seeing my furniture, vases, curtains, rugs, and so on isolated in individual snapshots has given me a whole new perspective on them. I can now print them out, cut them out, and mix and match my stuff. Isolating your stuff forces you to see it in a whole new light. Maybe this one lamp that keeps ending up in your bedroom over and over matches your living room motif better after all. You just never quite noticed it before. Humans are creatures of habit and they stick with safe choices that have worked for them in the past. Change can be good though too. It can add that little zest to your home style recipe.
Tip #2: Don't conform to a style just because it's trendy. What do you already love? That can be timeless.
My infatuation with cobalt blue:
Cobalt blue glass is something I've always had an affinity for. And one of the best places to find these pieces for a good deal? Thrift stores. My bubbly blue vase (with an inventive texture that has grown on me) was a Five Dollar Find & my lovely set of 4 coffee/juice glasses were $2.50. After photographing my cobalt blue collection, I filed it all under keep! and decided my new kitchen is to include cobalt blue in its palette (it currently has no real focus or color scheme).
Tip #3: Fuel your motivation with inspired rooms & designs that already exist!
I've also started an official Home Decorating Binder that I've filled with magazine clippings of inspirational rooms + an official Home Decorating Folder on my laptop which is now full of word documents covering the color schemes and themes I've envisioned on a room-by-room basis.
The tenant who lived in my apartment before me is still on the mailing list for West Elm and Pottery Barn, two catalogues I would have recently ignored in my top roman college days. Thumbing through the pages depicting those perfect unattainable rooms would have been cruel to my younger self. Now I see these perfect rooms as perfect pictures of hope for what could be mine.
Don't get me wrong: I am still cheap and on a tight budget (those student loans don't pay themselves); however, my fleeting disposable income can now be spent on curtains as opposed to the umpteen amounts of ink, paper, and supplies it took me to get through art school alive. No more cardboard night stands for me!
The problem?
I don't exactly have a new place lined up yet. This is the one huge obstacle holding me back right now. So for the next month or so, all I can do is imagine what my place will look like. At the moment, I am searching for a 2 bedroom 2 bath small home to rent, ideally with the semblance of a yard for the dog. My decorating visions are planning for such, but only once the place is stapled down can I really, truly fulfill my need to decorate! It seems I'm going to have this bug for a while.
------------------------- Disclaimer ------------------------
I am in no way affiliated with any of the products, publications, and resources I may mention. I name specific things as I deem them potentially useful but they are merely opinions and nothing more. You do not have to share in my opinions whatsoever and I respect your right to respectfully disagree.
I am in no way affiliated with any of the products, publications, and resources I may mention. I name specific things as I deem them potentially useful but they are merely opinions and nothing more. You do not have to share in my opinions whatsoever and I respect your right to respectfully disagree.
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