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.

Only in Wisconsin...

...can you find a sidewalk chalk drawing of a cow-crossing sign. No lie. I came across it on a run Friday morning in my neighborhood and it made my day. You have to appreciate the creativity in that! Only in Wisconsin.

And I guess it's about time for next round of pop up design. Introducing: the bathroom.

[Okay, so I'm a little lacking in pop-ups this week. The truth is, most of the bathroom stuff is from either Target or IKEA. The records in the hall are from my Nana. Basically, the best way to brighten up a small space is with bold color. For one thing, it makes you wake up in the morning and it also makes the space a fun place to be..if the bathroom could be a fun place? But let's be real, isn't the bathroom the place that everyone wants to check out when they visit someones house?]

[My lone bathroom pop-up. My friend and I had purchased this frame for the living room but I ended up using it in the bathroom with some of the beautiful paper I bought from Anthology in this post. I love the irony of the kitchen print in the bathroom. And the colors were perfect.]

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.