Home Sweet Home

 

 I think you'd be surprised how much your front door, entry, or back room can effect your feeling of home. It is the first thing you experience when you walk in and the last thing you touch as you leave. Pending the nasty winter Chicago was supposed to be having, I decided to be prepared and purchase a door mat to catch all the slush and snow from the city. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet but I did realize how much my entry needed one. It was the missing piece that I didn't know I needed until I bought it. Now it feels like home. I bought mine from Target and I love the pattern - proves that you can add personality anywhere in your home - even the doorway! Here are a few others I love via Etsy and Pinterest:

Lazy Day Finds

Yesterday I did absolutely nothing but lay around, browse online and watch You've Got Mail. (I'm a sucker for rom-coms of the 90's). Truth is, it's been an exhausting two weeks and I needed a day to clear my mind. The holidays are just around the corner and I've only just begun my Christmas shopping. I found some crazy cute gift ideas on Etsy, each under $50!

magnet | tote | necklace | cellars
ring | pencils | art | flats
candle | forks | hat | owls

The best things come with time

The move is done and I'm in officially in Chicago. I get to wake up every morning to a beautiful sunrise against the city skyline. My classes have begun and I'm a becoming a pro at city transit. Though I'll admit I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for Wisconsin. I'm watching the first Packer game of the season and drinking Goose Island 312 because I can't find Spotted Cow anywhere. I've also realized I still have yet to post my final Madison apartment DIY's. And I lied a little last time, I'm not going to show you those IKEA hack tables quite yet. They are the perfect pieces in my new apartment so you'll just have to wait a bit more.The best things come with time.

Here's a look in my old bedroom....

[Bright, floral and comfortable was the goal for my bedroom here. I found this wonderful and inspiring duvet on clearance at BB&B that set the whole tone for the room. I love Audrey Hepburn so she comes with me wherever I go. The picture was a gift from my parents. The floral stool in the bottom left was a gift my boss at Eco-Friendly and it happened to blend beautifully in my bedroom. The textile you see on the wall behind my bed is my great DIY idea for any apartment. If you can't paint, add textiles! Since I don't have a headboard and wanted some more drama in the room, this fabric I found at IKEA was the perfect solution. For temporary attachment - use push pins or nails. For a more permanent fix, I hear that you can use cornstarch paste like this blogger here.)

[When you're designing on a budget like myself, it's also cost effective and FUN to make your own artwork. Since I was so inspired by the prints at Anthology, I used this green paper from here for this piece of art. The canvas I got on sale from Michael's and wrapped the canvas like a present using Glossy Mod Podge as the glue/finishing texture. Mod Podge is an indie girls best friend, if you didn't know that already!]

[For my desk space, I re-invented the conventional bulletin board. Four years ago, I had bought 12" cork squares and places them in a grid pattern. In my last apartment, I just used three in row. It's time for something new. Cork is a very bendable/breakable material by itself and was starting to fall apart after so many years of use. Instead of going to waste, I wanted to use them. All it took was 3 pieces of basswood and super-glued. For the simple look, I offset the boards and nailed them to the wall. The indie birdhouse lamp was another gift my boss from Confectionique.]

[My design style consists of mixing the old and new. It's what makes great design possible. I love antiques and browsing antiques stores. While, I don't always love the price of items at the antique store, if it's a piece that I love, I can't pass it up. I found this old drafting stool at Odana Antiques in Madison for under $30 and knew I had to have it for my night table. It's vintage chic.

Living Room Creations

Well, only two more post left to go of my apartment design. Can I tell you a secret? I'm already moved out! I of course thought I would have the time to get all the posts done before move day but time got the best of me and things had to get packed. So, here's a little look at my living room. All that is left now is the bare hardwood floors..did I mention I love hardwoods?

[The living room. A mix of furnishings from here and there to create a modern mod-theme using curvilinear shapes and patterns. The whole room came together quite nice with our Madison poster and our recovered coffee tables]

[We used a picture collage to break up the huge wall in the living room. Most of the frames we already had and I choose to do all black/white with one color in the middle. The mod looking chairs on the right were taken from a hospital clear-out sale. I love the look of them even though the fabric isn't my favorite. Someday I hope to recover them and add more cushion.]

[Local Madison artist Tom Morrison is the creator of these awesome posters that I had seen around town for years now. I knew I just had to get one for this apartment. I loved the coloration and vintage feel to the lake one and it fit perfectly with the our curtain fabric. And once again we have more furnishings from IKEA. And what would the living room be without a guitar?]

Watch for a post later this week for my FAVORITE DIY of the apartment. The best is yet to come.

Pop-Up Video

Just kidding, no videos here BUT I thought this would be a great way to start sharing my apartment DIYs before I leave in two weeks! Yes, I'm finally moving to Chicago (my dream city!) and starting grad school in the fall (working on my Masters in Interior Design.) Any one remember VH1's Pop-Up Videos from back in the day? Well, this is my DIY version, Pop-Up Design.

Let's start with my kitchen.

[Saving old posters/prints/artwork is always a good option if you have the space. Most can be rolled up in mailing tubes for storage. I purchased these French reprints with my college dorm roommate and have found a spot for them in just about every apartment since. Most people are creeped out by the green goblin, I find him to be a very interesting piece of art. As far as the placemats go, occasionally browsing the clearance items at Target is a great way to find those missing pieces for your home that you don't want to pay full price for. These IKEA chairs came unfinished. Instead of finishing them with a nasty varnish stain, I used a Carnauba wax to protect the wood and give it a natural finish]

[How many times can you re-use a dry erase board- the answer-- many many times! Although I think this board has seen its days..off to Vinnie's it goes. My always-filled flower jar from this post. Once again, this IKEA shelving unit is from my dorm days. For this apartment, it was the perfect size to fit our garbage/recycling bins and I purchased IKEA unfinished plywood boards and cut to fit for proper stable shelving. They are also finished with Carnauba wax.]

[This IKEA kitchen shelving unit was easy to install and can create the perfect storage for small spaces. The kitchen backsplash panel I had fallen in love with the idea before I purchased the discontinued item. When renting, this was the ideal solution for easy-to-clean kitchen backsplash. The panel itself originally was sold with a interlocking hanging system but I had to improvise with nails. Those holes will be fun to spackle! Method brand of cleaners are one of my favorite home cleaning products to use. The bottles are biodegradable are the products are non-toxic. If you don't know them already, check out their website.

Go put your record on.

Some of the best pieces of furniture I have ever gotten have been from my Nana. I appreciate design from different decades and I love finding new ways to make them work in my designs today. When I left for college, both my parents and my Nana moved and built houses next to each other near Milwaukee. This meant two things: I still got to have/design my own room and I also helped my Nana sort through all of the things that had been in her basement at her old house. And so, her old records surfaced and I practically took them all. Now I can't say that I ended up using all of them or that I didn't go rummaging at the local St. Vinnie's for more, but I found the design inspiration for my new (now old) room.

[This is a great way to show-off your favorite rock bands from the 80's, your vinyl Beatle's collection or, in my case, musicals! The frames I purchased on sale from Michael's and I mounted them above my bed to imitate a headboard.]