Monday, April 25, 2011

Apartment Design

Life's been a little on the crazy side lately, so I'll do my best to get you caught up on all of the things I've been up to.

First big news, Alexander and I are moving into our new apartment! Goodbye dreadfully difficult house, hello affordable and fantastic living!! We signed the lease this weekend and I now have the keys!! I can't wait to get in there and start painting the walls! I'm so excited to not live in a beige world any longer.

Here is some of my research on colorful home design. I'm afraid I wasn't keeping track of where the images came from, but my favorite sites for interior design ideas are: http://www.home-designing.com/ , http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/index.html , http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/index.html , and http://www.interiordesign.net/.

HGTV has tons of great inspirational pics and DIY advice for everything from installing carpets to making your own headboard. BHG has the coolest application anywhere though: a pick your-own-color and create-a-groundplan program help take all of the guess work out of redesigning a space. I totally enjoyed the color-a-room app :) http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/colors/welcome-to-color-a-room/



 
Wall organizers are a must for visual folks like Alexander and I. If it's not out in the open, we're likely to forget about it. I've found different types of these all over. Target had some good prices, as did the potterybarn, this particular image I think came from PBteen.com.

I love the paint treatment on the wall in combination with the black accents.


I'm planning on doing murals all over the place, but another option is vinyl wall stickers. They are a great way to have a mural on the wall without putting in all of the time and energy one needs. Some of my favorite sites for vinyl wall stickers are: http://www.rightonthewalls.com/ ,  http://www.dezignwithaz.com/?gclid=CPikq531t6gCFQxvbAodPEsABQ , http://www.whatisblik.com/


They make this wonderful blackboard paint that you can write on with chalk, wipe with water and have magnets attach to. I'm not sure where I'm going to use it yet, but it seems like a great paper free way to keep chores and shopping lists organized.

I totally want my living room to be green :-) 

While looking for color I'm finding the line between colorful and loud an easy one to cross. So I've been looking at a lot of mellow colors, especially greens and rosy creams. Greens tend to have a calming and cheering effect. Which is really nice to have when you're trapped inside by the grey of winter for weeks at a time. 

Love the desk! So much storage space!


Please note all of the cubby-space under the couch. We all end up tucking things under our couches anyway, so why not get one that will help organize it all? couch is from PBteen.com




Again, love the green, although I'm more drawn to the branches in this pic than to anything else.

lamp!

Ask any interior designer and they will tell you a great way to make small rooms feel bigger and brighter is with strategic usage of mirrors. I'm definably taking that advice. Probably in the bathroom and kitchen, both are a little on the small side.

lamp!

Coasters made out of molding corner pieces? Yes please!

Boring lamp? Add wall paper to the inside. I think this pic came from Martha Stewart's website. She has a lot of great ideas on home design. There's a cool project on taking boring roll-blinds and adding wallpaper to spice them up, along with great painting tips and more :-)

So there are my apartment day-dreams that are soon to become realities. I'll certainly keep you posted as I venture into designing our new space on a modest budget. :-)

Also coming soon; Updates!!
 Behind the scenes info and reviews for the last two films shown through East Coast Indie at UCONN, "Fog Warning" and   "Other Side of the Tracks." This year's mini FIM, "Film Industry Mixer" which was held in Mystic, CT in a kick-a$$ castle. Pics from the "Walls of Remedy" fundraiser at the Shadow room, featuring original nail polish paintings by yours truly.

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