LOFT episodes

Pulled the trigger

2012-04-05T17:24:00.002-04:00

Today I bought something that I think will change my life forever....

Yes, yes, yes!!!

No more excuses from my "roommate" now, and I can at least abide by the firm belief that if you hire someone to do something, at least it'll get done. :)

mor tabl3s.

2012-03-26T17:29:00.001-04:00

As the search went on for a dining room table, my eyes started to wander and my fingers clicked over to the bedroom furniture sections of every website I visited. That's actually how I ended up buying my headboard, on a pure whim when I should have been researching tables instead. And the rest of that bedroom project is history.

I'm usually very good at making impulse buys and finding good deals so I didn't necessarily mind the headboard diversion, except for the fact that I started to fear I'd soon be settling for any old dining table out of exasperation (nevermind the underlying basic need for one).

With that, I entertained the following options:

Pratt Table from Room & Board.

Loved that there are over 10 color options for this table. I found that either a gray or light wood top with white legs fit my indecisive self the best. Why not have both? I was super close to pulling the trigger on this one but I wasn't a fan of the $$$. I just felt like I'd be a sucker for paying so much for a plain table.

The Axel Table from Room & Board.

Nearly identical to the one above, except for the legs. Again, I was a big fan of the two-toned possibility but even more unsure this time around because of the base. The reviews said it was stable but I didn't want to take the risk.

Avalon Extension Dining Table from Crate & Barrel.

Initially I didn't care much for this style, until I saw it in the store and it looked pretty solid. I thought there was more of a traditional look than I was going for, and that ended up being a good thing. I'd been putting too many mod, lacquer pieces in the kitchen & living room anyway, so a wooden table was definitely a lot more classic. Too bad I didn't want such a dark table...

Rubberwood Table from Crate & Barrel

Eureekers! Not very far from the Avalon table were the nice displays for these guys. I thought to myself, two-toned in color: check. Round tabletop: check. Classic legs and a stable base: check. Extension: check plus! Price: This was the only thing that held me back. I don't think the table cost more than $400 but for some reason I thought I could find an almost identical deal elsewhere...

Williams Sonoma Farmhouse Table

There's the table twin! Oh wait, I went the OTHER direction in price... to the tune of $1800.

Farmhouse Table from Overstock

Think we found a winner! At around $250, not even combined yet with my Overstock coupons, I probably couldn't go wrong. Well, almost. I grew skeptical because the word "farmhouse" started to sound really hickish to me. I knew couldn't complain about the price, that's for sure. But of course I wanted to doubt myself. I also was hesitant because, unlike the other options, I couldn't visit the store and see the item for myself. So I relied on the 5-star reviews instead, which told me this wouldn't be a problem, and I pulled the trigger.

Final results are forthcoming...

Dining Tables

2012-03-23T12:22:00.000-04:00

Up until the holidays last year we somehow dealt with using our adjustable-height coffee table as a dining table. It's wobbliness took a toll on me and I decided to start hunting around for a proper dining table.

Top of my hot list:

The Ursula dining room collection from Horchow.

Ultimate hotness. Costs a fortune. Moving on to the next one.

The real problem was, given our limited space, I couldn't get anywhere near a grand 8-seater table so I narrowed my criteria down to round tables. Here were the true contenders:

The Sabrina table from Chiasso:

I adored the simplicity of it but the concerns were 1) the base could either be really stable or really uneven again and 2) it's another piece of white furniture that would be done no justice in our already all-white kitchen.

The Round Dining Table with Cutout Legs from West Elm:

I loved the unique look of this design because it's not your typical espresso-colored table but as before, I was unsure about the base of this table being secure. I also didn't think there would be a lot of legroom so I went over to the store and lo & behold, there was NO legroom. I'm only 5'2 so needless to say, it was a bit of a problem.

The Walker II Slate round dining table from Crate & Barrel

I LOVE the gray. I'm all about the gray. (It's the new black!) But I struggled with buying this table because sometimes I would look at it and honestly found it a little on the plain side. The material also made it a little too modern so I probably couldn't picture using this as a table in, say, a more traditional house. When I visited this table in the store I ultimately decided it just wasn't worth the $500 price tag.

The Wine Barrel Table from the Wine Rack Superstore

I briefly became very very obsessed with the idea of having a table made out of a wine barrel. The coolness factor is just through the roof! However, the practical side of me took over and I couldn't imagine subjecting my visitors to sitting on stools, let alone receiving some judgmental glances from my parents. To be very frank though, this will stay on my must-have list for my future basement wetbar. :)

I'll get to the winner next entry. It ultimately came from Overstock and I could not be happier! I used a combination of old discount codes & my spend-$10-get-$20 LivingSocial deal for it. I know I'm so sneaky for placing in my referral code but it's a no-brainer.

Most organized home in America

2012-03-21T23:46:00.002-04:00

I could NOT resist watching this video when I saw the title. It's a bold claim, to say the least.

I'm admittedly no Betsy Homemaker nor do I aspire to be one but I was pretty impressed, pretty amused, and partially inspired. If you can stomach the 15 minutes you might learn a thing or two.

I will not be going all OCD with my non-existent crafts room, but I might purchase a couple lazy susans for those hard-to-reach kitchen cabinets.

"Perks" of condo living

2012-03-18T22:41:00.002-04:00

Earlier this week I took advantage of dry cleaning for the very first time:

It felt like a nice adult step to take, plus why not make use?

On the other hand, tonight we walked the dogs and decided to take the recycling down to the garage (instead of the bins down the hall). In the garage, some of the foam shipping parcels fell out and while attempting to clean up of course at that moment, Butters decided to get off-leash. I had to chase him down and did just in time when a car came from the other side and we had to get out of the way. Shortly after, a neighbor approached us and said, "Sorry but I saw you litter earlier. Are you going to clean up after yourself?"

Are you joking? It's like 6 pieces of foam popcorn. The dude was actually pretty passive-aggressive & apologetic in his approach; I think he was just an environmentally-concerned type (so are we, since we were recycling after all). Luckily Mike is the nice person he is and explained that a car was approaching and yes we weren't littering on purpose and would clean up, blah blah. But honestly, I just kept thinking, You're lame and you've ruined my life.

I'm sadly a very petty person bc A- I've blogged about this incident and B- I've already plotted out future disses should we cross paths again (which actually is very unlikely bc I avoid going to all social activities in the building due to the upheld -- and proven once again -- belief that our neighbors are lame old farts).

Draw Something: IKEA

2012-03-15T13:47:00.002-04:00

It was Mike's turn in Draw Something:

That would be our nice broken HELMES dresser.
All the drawers except the top one are busted.
I guessed it right away.

The Bedroom Pt II: Master of My Domain

2012-03-07T14:40:00.000-05:00

Before & After

But first, must start with....

SO many things I hated about this setup.

1: It screamed male's first post-grad apartment.
2. That blue "sausage" pillow was pointless.
3. You couldn't reach the nightstand because it was too tall.
4: We slept with our mattress on the floor, dammit. I'm sorry but that's just straight up jhetto.

Before

After!!

The true masters of this domain.

Closeup of the headboard.

Thank you Ms. Emily V. Tan for your wonderful photo from our engagement shoot.

Looking extra spiffy thanks to my parents' Christmas gift of a legit comforter/sheet set (no more mismatched pillow cases, woohoo!), and the awesome chevron bench I found on thefoundary.com (adds even more storage, which I adore).

One added touch I should mention, is the square piece of art above the bed that we call "the Von Vildervon painting." It's small in scale, relative to the rest of the wall, but it holds a special place in my heart. We found it in Vienna, shortly after we got engaged. Apparently it's an original by Mr./Ms? Von Vildervon. (The spelling of this poor artist's name is not entirely accurate, since it's scribbled in the corner and Von Vildervon is much easier to pronounce.) Anyway, I was not in any financial position to purchase said artwork but I liked it so much that it was the one and only souvenir I bought over there. And I promised myself I would hold onto it until I found a good home.

3 years and 3 apartments later, and here it is.

The Bedroom Pt. I: The Final Frontier

2012-03-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

After a half-year blogging hiatus (boo!), and a one-year anniversary of being condo owners (woo!), an important update is much needed. The bedroom is finally finished!

I know that the bedroom is supposed to be your place of rest, relaxation and solitude but for many, many months that simply was not the case and it was a place of neglect, haphazard sheets and strewn laundry. It's a pretty compact room to begin with. There's not enough space for a king bed and there's no walk-in closet. The clothes kept piling up in particular, and things like lack of storage/lack of walkable space really sent me over the edge. At one point I stopped clothes shopping for a few months because I was saddened by the reality that we actually had no space for them. (Note to self when future house hunting: Walk-in closets really are life changing.)

It was time for change...

I found my inspiration, in all places, from IKEA. =) I stumbled upon this video below, which shows you how to convert a bedroom into one large walk-in closet.

I paused it at and took a screenshot at 1:44. My a-ha moment, when she showed the bed, flanked by two kitchen cabinets. I thought, what a nifty idea to create some extra space without sacrificing precious floor space! See video here.

So it began....

Step 1: Buy a bed. (November 2011.) Husband assembly required.

Say hi to the West Elm simple bed frame in chocolate brown. A little too simple but I can live. A little too similar to our old, broken bed. What gives?

Step 2: Headboard! (November 2011 - January 2012.) I always knew I wanted a white tufted headboard, the taller the better. Just a matter of shopping for something within my budget. And waiting 12 weeks for it to arrive because I chose custom fabric, whoops.

Step 3: Cabinets. (December 2011.) So in the meantime... as you saw in the IKEA video, they used tall kitchen cabinets on either side of the bed to create extra storage, which I thought was genius. I wanted to take advantage of the bedroom's height, so enter the tall GODMORGON bathroom cabinets, as seen in IKEA's magazine bathroom section.

It's somewhat hard to tell but they are a cool glossy gray in the catalog, which I really loved; unfortunately at our nearest IKEA store they were out of stock. So with quick thinking the chocolate brown LILLANGEN bathroom cabinets were purchased instead.

Butters performs quality control over the monstrous box(es).

More husband assembly required.

Cabinet #1 is up!

Take note of my nifty clear shelf. (Thanks, Container Store!) Since we did away with nightstands, this shelf holds cell phones, books, that nighttime glass of water, etc., without compromising floor space.

Both cabinets are up! They're very tall. You easily need a step ladder to access the top shelves.

Step 4: Headboard arrives. (January 2012.) Accept delivery and installation.

Step 5: PAINT. (February 2012.) I can assure you, that the day spent painting this one part of the wall behind the bed was NOT anything like Google search images lead you to believe. Allow me to digress. "Couples painting" yields:

"Oh stop it, that acrylic polymer tickles me so."

"I don't care if we lean against this wall full of wet paint, as long as I have you to lean on."

Thank you, meetmyuglybaby.com, for exposing the truth.

This was, for reasons I hope to laugh at later on, a horrible and tension-filled day. We said despicable things to each other that naturally have nothing to do with the color purple, the color gray, and one's painting willingness and/or abilities. Anyway, I only took this one photo.

The before & after shots to come, in Part II...

FLAT episodes.

2011-08-01T12:46:00.000-04:00

While we're on the theme of past residences, I dug up photos of my first and only FLAT. For a semester in college, I studied abroad in London.

I'm so glad I documented all of these places throughout the years.

My half of the room. Aren't you sick of seeing those damn hibiscus stickers on the wall? I know I am.

First time any of my bathrooms had a shower that didn't require a curtain.

I didn't realize at the time that we had granite countertops and a stainless steel gas range. I'm impressed!

View from the kitchen looking out into the living area.

Oh gosh, this was probably the worst part of the place. THAT is meant to hold food for 5 girls! The top cupboard is the refrigerator, and the bottom cupboard is the freezer.

Combo washer/dryer on the left that didn't work. I stored my Oreos in there instead.

Our beloved living area with the infamous red sofas. What they lacked in cleanliness, they made up for in comfiness.

Considerably decluttered.

2011-07-28T14:14:00.000-04:00

In my last post I put up pics from my freshman year dorm. I have to say, I de-cluttered CONSIDERABLY during sophomore year! Still going for a taste of the tropics though.

Heck, I even added a faux surfboard AND a tiki bar lamp!

Desk where I did not do much studying. In fact, I probably staged that textbook being open for the sake of the photo.

The nice thing about about this dorm was the fact that it had a common area. Here, you can see that the theme is: PINK. I provided the bean bag and tablecloth in the corner. That rug really tied the room together.

It all started somewhere.

2011-07-26T10:51:00.000-04:00

And it did not start at home. HAhaha.

My childhood bedroom never had much of an identity. It was just sort of an ever-growing collection of my possessions from birth through teenage angst, displaying a mish-mash of the furniture I'd had since I was 2, my glow-in-the-dark stickers, my Keroppi phase, and my teenybopper days.

Circa 2003:

Like I said, this furniture is the same set I've had since I was a baby... and it's still there to this day whenever I visit. :) The bed sheets were once pink and frilly to match my canopy but I made the cool decision in the 90's to upgrade to some Lion King sheets.

Things of note here: the full Nancy Drew collection on my bookshelf, some stuffed animals I never bothered to get rid of, hmm.. yup that's about it. (But seriously, por que Ricky por que!?!)

THEN, I discovered IKEA the summer I left for college, and it was really the first time I got excited about decorating because I was able to personalize my dorm from scratch. At that point in my life, I was very colorful... in the most tropical of ways.

Freshman year dorm:

Spongebob?! Hibiscus patterns? Posters of islands and palm trees? Oh, that sounds so accurate.

Alternate duvet cover. I really went to town on that turquoise.

When I went home for winter break that year, I was rather inspired to give my room a facelift and I decided on an Arabian Nights theme. I remember my mom's concerned look when I was described I was going for a harem look, but I think I did rather well considering my limited college student budget.

Pretty much how it still stands today. And yes, I did say adios to my Ricky Martin poster.

Our Roommate

2011-07-24T10:56:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween, and part of why I like it so much is because I think haunted houses are really, REALLY cool. I always loved trick or treating at the few houses that go all out for Halloween -- you know the kind I'm talking about, the ones with the funny tombstones lining the walkway, ghosts hanging from the trees, fog machine, creepy music playing from rocks, maybe a dad dressed as Frankenstein cruelly jumping out from a bush to scare the kiddies, and of course the mom who gives out King Size Kit-Kats!

Needless to say, apartment living for the past 4+ years did not exactly make for an ideal haunted house setup, but last year, on or around November 1st, I decided to stock up on some sale Halloween items.

Favorite item was easily the skull head I found, but because the holiday was over, I actually just kept him in the back of the car (you know, in lieu of where people generally put stuffed animals), in hopes of warding off potential thieves. Seriously. But I guess one day there was some major pothole, and the skull fell and broke his head.

So we brought him inside and semi-glued him back together.

Not wanting to put him away for good, we found him a home atop our Crate & Barrel sideboard. Year-round creepiness FTW!

So as you can see, he's somewhat happy here guarding our wine along with our 2 fish.

But, sometimes... he gets bored and it's like we don't even know who this dude is.

The smart roommate who leaves the light on bc he's always studying.

The roommate who wears his sunglasses indoors. Douche.

The roommate who only talks about football, and had a rough season.

The roommate who didn't realize he was a Halloween prop and so decided to dress up for Halloween anyway.

The roommate starring Blair Waldorf.

The hipster roommate.

The hipster roommate who saw Harry Potter (current display).

The ultimate hipster roommate who moved out to Williamsburg anyway.

The Poor Man's Loft

2011-06-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

My updates have been far and few between recently because:
a) I was in Cali back to back weeks and didn't have much time to devote to decorating.
b) Said travels have made me poor.

So on that note, I've decided to dedicate an entry to IKEA, the humble furniture store I both hate and love (OK, more like hate).

I will admit, I used to love IKEA because the items were so trendy and so affordable! But with time I've only grown to hate them because the quality is so cheap and shoddy. IKEA is good for things like trash cans and minimalist lighting and basically anything I associate with a dorm. But it has not treated me kindly for more substantial objects like my dresser (2 busted drawers) and old futon.

Still, I occasionally frequent the IKEA Hackers blog because they've got some pretty outrageous ideas for ye standard Billy and Expedit bookcases and the like.

My personal favorites are the:

Bedroom Dress Boys

Because everyone is guilty of tossing their somewhat-used-but-not-quite-ready-to-be-washed clothes around.

Tromso Loft Bed Hack

For those who desire to sleep on top of their closets!

If only I had a really crafty bone in my body, I would attempt both of these.

The Foam Panel Project

2011-06-14T15:24:00.000-04:00

I realized that I never put up the step-by-step progress of our wall panel art, so here it is!

Opening up the box of 50 Auralex foam wedges (the kind they use in music recording studios). Mike said they were ugly and we should send them back.

Trying to come up with a configuration on the floor first. Did not prove easy with curious dog.

The first prototype.

The worst of it all, the measuring and taping of the panels.

Le painting.

Applying and glueing each foam wedge.

Progress...

And the finished product!

Taking Inspiration from The Office

2011-06-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

Not The Office as in Dunder Mifflin, but The Office as in the place where I've been spending 10-11 hours a day lately. For a 9-5 job in New York I don't think that's too bad. (I am jaded, I know.) At the end of the day I really dig this gig, and then I get to come home to le loft, so it's not a shabby deal.

We recently expanded in our building and acquired some space on the 5th floor. It's funky and modern like you'd expect from behemoth tech companies, but the designers have done a good job at throwing in some cool things, like converted bathtubs with glass tops on them as tables, phone rooms designed to look like apartments complete with peepholes and windows, and a floor-wide puzzle based on QR codes found in different conference rooms, kitchens, hallways, etc.

My favorite room though, is the library. If I could just pick it up and transport it to my own home office, I would be set, methinks.

The Mad Men-inspired lounge area.

If I was a feminist maybe I'd suspect they're trying to hint at something here, but I still like the feel of that old-school boardroom-- even if that means my place during that era would be restricted to fetching coffee and gossiping with the other gals by my typewriter.

Upholstered wingback chair, complete with pinstripes and a tie. Benefit: it's also comfy.

Homage to Star Wars on the walls. I particularly like this one of Boba Fett.

Secret hideaway!!! This one is my favorite. The bookcase, shown here swung open, rotates to reveal a mini phone room. I have always wanted a secret bookcase; who doesn't!!! The only downside here is that you can't actually tell if the room is occupied, so the only way to find out is to barge in. Awkward for both parties involved. But in theory, it's cool. And also, there are 3 of them which makes them triple in coolness.

Adventures with Astro-turf

2011-06-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

Shaggy throws and carpets seem to be pretty in right now. Some of them look pretty ugly, and scary to clean, but I recently overcame those fears, for free.

One night at CB2, my husband and I shamelessly went dumpster-diving at the back of the SoHo store. We got the idea because we had JUST witness an employee toss out what looked like a carpet, or part of it. (So you germaphobes don't worry, it was like the 5-second rule applied here.) I don't know what the rationale is for throwing out seemingly perfectly good rugs, but nonetheless since it was kind of dark at the time we didn't realize it was actually cut up into shoddy squares.

Not knowing how large the original rug was supposed to be, we only got about 4-5 patches of the fake grass stuff.

A quick visit to the website revealed it was actually much, much larger than we realized:

Anyway, we gave them all a good wash at the laundromat because you never really know about that 5-second rule... Patched them together, and voila -- ASTROTURF!

From left to right: Hive storage unit (CB2), Metropol floor lamp (Pier One), Torka twigs and vase (Ikea), Chunky wood floor mirror (West Elm)

Since all dogs love grass, I was a little hesitant to bring in what would seem like an indoor potty, but Waffle seems content to make it her hangout spot for chewing bones and napping.

But maybe I will test my luck and add this in for fun.

I Spoke Too Soon

2011-05-25T16:31:00.000-04:00

When I posted the entry about the round bed, I jinxed myself. Yes it was definitely a "want to have" but it was by no means a "need to have." Alas, we discovered in the middle of the week that our current bed is actually broken. And so now, we need to buy one.

The supports had always been pretty wobbly and we tried reinforcing them several times before, but now they just refused to nail back into place and stand upright. Cheapness.

Sadly, in the name of household practicality, I made Mike return his birthday gift to me, a MacBook Pro, so that we could now have the funds to purchase a new bed. Oh joy. LOL.

How this BED is BAD (and yes, I know that Waffle has managed to weave her way into yet another blog entry):

1) You can clearly see that the SLATS are SLANTED.

2) Waffle has decided that this is her new favorite sleeping spot. That is potentially quite deadly.

3) The horizontal wood frame part has also started to curve.

4) It's dusty under there.

Another view of the very sturdy supports. Nothing like knowing you're sleeping on angled wood, so angled in fact that it doesn't even touch the ground.

So we decided, eff this -- let's just remove the mattress.

Post-removal. Mike had a terrible headache that day. He'd also been having problems falling asleep, which in hindsight were probably due to our caved in bed.

I offered him aspirin, but then I realized it had expired in September 2005. Luckily we had Tylenol.

So for now, in true new homeowner style we just have the mattress on the floor. I have to say, it's quite incredibly comfortable (and by comfortable, I mostly mean not caved-in). The search is on for a new bed but I'm surprisingly not in a huge rush to buy one.

That being said, I have been doing a fair share of online searching and while I have yet to pull the trigger on any bed, I am really feeling this one (with storage!):

Then comes the wedding display..

2011-05-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

Being of a very digital era, I have literally no photos to display except my wedding proofs and pictures of my dogs, and I also have no desire to physically print out anything else.

However I really found these shadow-box photo frames from Crate & Barrel to be quite cool. I like that they're thick and pop out, ha ha.

I decided that the new place needed a bit of a newlywed touch to it. The only slight problem was that as soon as the wedding was over (meaning: once everything was paid off), I had filed away all wedding-related papers and stored all the extra materials like ribbons, craft glue (lolol), etc. into this aptly-named box:

Check out my awesome bubble writing! That's what 12 years of Catholic school will teach you. Anyways, I dug through the box's contents and sought out the good old wedding invitation. I briefly recalled the long meetings (plural!) we had with the designer, as well as my awesome idea to not just mail them out in regular envelopes, but to place them in BOXES, not just any boxes but boxes with said ribbons. A far craftier and lengthier endeavor than suited my not-so-crafty self. (I spent weeks researching square boxes online for goodness' sake.) The end result:

And the end result for the nifty placement in the frame:

Gotta love those purposeless wavy silver things too. But wait, there's more! I also framed the Save-the-Date.

Mike really liked these potted grass thangs from Crate and Barrel, and I really like green accents as you can tell, so we ended up with 3 of them.

The picture on the left frame needs no further explanation. With everything thrown on my beloved Lazzoni sideboard, a cheerful painting of modern-who-knows-what placed above it, and the most practical coat rack, I give you my final shot of the "Entryway of the Newly Wedded." Accent paint color, still TBD.

I was actually really trying to get Waffle out of the last photo, but she's such an attention hog.

Preppy Closet

2011-05-15T12:11:00.000-04:00

Well they say that art imitates life, so if that's the case, then we have successfully transformed the plain master bedroom closet into my husband's polo shirt.

The inspiration:


Meet old striped American Eagle shirt


Meet new striped closet

This required much more painter's tape than we anticipated.


Stripes on stripes, feeling right at home now

So not going to keep lying actually, the reason we went with the gray stripes was only because we had a lot of gray paint left over from the one dark gray accent wall we did. Hence the outer portion of the closet being darker. Then we mixed the rest of the gray with this white paint we also had lying around to make the lighter shade for the stripes.

Then it was only when laundry time came around that I realized my husband had a shirt with an uncanny similarity to the newly painted closets. (Let's face it, if you knew Mike's wardrobe you would hardly be inspired to draw artistic inspiration from there!) But that somehow doesn't seem as cool of a story to me.

In any event, I also came across these West Elm sheets, but I think that might be overkill.

The Super Bed

2011-05-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

Ever since I saw Shaquille O'Neals Superman bed on Cribs, I always thought it would be cool to have a round bed.

Today I clicked on some ads (damn you effective behavioral targeting!!) and because the advertising gods that be just know what I'm not in the market for but will probably end up buying, I was taken to Haverty's where I discovered THIS bed:

Now, mind you, we're not really in the market for a bed BUT you know, I could easily convince myself otherwise.

Cons:

- It comes as a queen or king, and we only have a full.

- We'd probably have to get rid of a dresser to make it fit in the bedroom.

Pros:

- Our dogs will no longer be able to hide under the bed when they've been caught doing something naughty, i.e. chewing up underwear.

- Now that I think about it, our current bed does have some broken slats underneath...

When I go home tonight I'll let the tape measure decide if this bed does indeed fit. Luckily I don't have to convince my husband too much as he is known for falling asleep just about anywhere.

The Home Alone house is for sale!

2011-05-06T17:26:00.000-04:00

This has to do not with my own place but I couldn't help but share the following WSJ article:

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/05/05/home-alone-house-hits-the-market-staircase-included/

The house from Home Alone is for sale!

I have always loved this house, and the movies of course. I mean, what's not to love about it? The really cool laundry chute where Kevin shot Buzz's toys into the hamper, the creepy furnace in the basement, the treehouse, the dog flap in the kitchen door, the STAIRS that must have inspired so many children to sled indoors (and caused several broken bones as a result but there's no way to quantify that statistic)! Those stairs, by the way, were not lined up straight at all... I was always puzzled how Kevin managed to zoom right through the door when that was clearly not the direct path...

Also, since the house is a brick center-hall colonial and has black shutters, and really 90's wallpaper, it reminds me of the house I grew up in, except this one is twice as big. Hah.

My parents' house, after they changed the shutters from black to... a butter color? Forgive my mom's Facebook for not providing me with a better picture.

Anyhoo, $2.4 mil sounds like a steal to me. You're literally buying a piece of entertainment history! Although I daresay, I personally might have to hold out until the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" house hits the market...

Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined

2011-05-02T11:14:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to reunite with college friends at this annual charity basketball tournament, which serves as a yearly reminder for all of us how OLD we're getting.

How does this relate to decorating, you ask? Well in several ways:

1- Since we are all adults now, the answer to the question, "What are you up to these days?" can most likely be answered by any of the following: Relationship Status (I'm engaged/newly married/still searching for The One), Location Status (I just moved), Career Status (I can't wait for grad school to be over, I got a new job, I'm looking for a job), or Baby Status (self explanatory-- you either have one or you don't, unless you're in between with something baking in the oven). Since nobody really wants to hear the true answer behind, "How's married life?" I like to say that I fall into the Location category.

2- People told me that they read my blog. (w00t!)

3- We didn't know where to go afterwards, and while I normally wouldn't mind throwing an impromptu get-together, the place isn't ready for visitors yet! So we settled on the traditional venue, Hooters.

This was our waitress:

OK not really, but I love Butters and just wanted to throw him in here.

And THIS is the lovely drinkware that came with our pina coladas. I think it's the perfect accessory that just ties our kitchen together.

So 3 of these classy glasses (say that 4x fast) belong to my friends who will pick them up when we finally have our housewarming. Let the good times spill! ;) Until then, maybe Mike and I will add a few more wine bottles to the RACK behind them. Just trying to get the full effect, you know?

Speaking of renovations..

2011-04-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine is selling her recently updated condo, and she's having an open house this Sunday May 1st, so come check it out!

My husband and I have put our 2 BR condo up for sale. It is located in Wellington Place which is a cute and quiet condominium complex in Aberdeen, NJ which is a 1 hour commute (give or take) by bus or train. The condo is roughly 1100 square feet completely brand new (renovated in 2009) including all new kitchen appliances. It also has a wood burning fireplace, basketball court and swimming pool. Check out the links below! It is VERY close to NYC transportation and centrally located near grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, etc.

http://mls.momls.com/MonmouthReports/ListitLib/report_builder.aspx?category=2&r1=kktwdEKEoLvtKuB0u%29Rv.T&m1=ClWJJHEE%28z&footer=5753495450&maillog_id=5954809442

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1403-Wellington-Pl_Matawan_NJ_07747_M50246-35606

We are selling the condo because we have recently purchased a house in the same town that is actually just a couple of mins away from the condo. Another great selling point because you know that you will have extra cool neighbors. ;) Wellington Place in Aberdeen is a safe and upscale neighborhood with many small families and young professionals.

More info on Aberdeen Township: http://www.aberdeennj.org/

If you have questions, please reach out to our realtor whose info can be found on either listing above. -Gina

It so happened that Gina was house-hunting at the same time that we found our loft so we've both had some pretty excited conversations at work about our new places. She's moving into a 4-bedroom house which I'm sure is something that I would go absolutely crazy decorating-- plus with a basement, backyard, etc. that's the REAL heart of home improvement projects. Don't tell my husband yet, though I think when we get to that stage in XX years he'll already have braced himself for the reality of my next blog, "The Real Houseblog of [Insert future city of residence here]."

Live by the floor sample, die by the floor sample (and other philosophies)

2011-04-27T00:43:00.002-04:00

I've been at amateur home-decorating status for over a month now, but I've been a bargain shopper since my first paycheck from the days when I worked at The Gap in high school (well over 10 years ago, but who's counting).

So I thought I'd share some things I've learned:

1) Live by the floor sample, die by the floor sample. I know I mentioned this earlier in my post about the entertainment unit, but this has been the best way I've been acquiring other pieces of furniture. Case in point:

Lazzoni sideboard. At a whopping 80" wide, the perfect entryway piece.

I had never heard of this Italian company but I randomly walked past their gallery after work one day (on my way to the Container Store!!) and I fell in love with their buffets and sideboards, mainly because they were so wide and modern. Most of the sideboards I had were either masquerading as dressers or just didn't have enough storage. I really liked this one floor model that was blonde wood but when I went to go buy it, my saleswoman discovered from her boss that someone else had already reserved it. So they felt bad and offered me the next most comparable unit, which I hadn't even considered bc it was actually more expensive. Thanks to a hairline scratch on the top of the glass during the website photoshoot, yours truly is the owner of this very model seen here. (And yes, they did the right thing and discounted it even below the price of the original one.)

2) CB2 in SoHo discounts random furniture every Tuesday. OK, well I guess this ties in with #1 but I only learned this because I've been to the store 3x in the past month. The second time around I was fortunate to find the Hive Storage Unit.

To be honest I couldn't tell what was wrong with it, but hey I had been eyeing it since I first saw their catalog last year (thank you person who used to live in our old apartment and subscribed to the best magazines). I just really like how the unit comes with three honeycomb spaces. I should probably get another one but I don't have that many magazines.

It also makes an appearance in every episode of "Better With You." I made Mike take a picture of The Hive last time we watched the show; not a bad one either might I add.

Anyway, I've seen some discounted dressers, sofas, rugs, and artwork on sale. In the times I've gone it really does change every week and the sales person said there's no rhyme or reason behind some pieces over other ones, since a lot of them don't have obvious scratches. It's just more to make room for new furniture.

3) Design Within Reach is only within reach if you want to buy a dining room table or chairs. I was soo excited to go here last weekend! My co-worker recommended the Secaucus outlet and based on the atrocious website prices, I had a feeling I'd get lucky here for a sofa. But alas, this seemed to be a day when they were only selling tables and chairs. An EXCELLENT deal, as most items were between $200 - $400 and as you can easily see here, there are tables that cost several thousand dollars. So although I'm not in the market for a kitchen table, it's definitely a place I'll keep in mind and probably just call ahead of time to find out what bulk of goods have hit the warehouse.

4) The USPS Moving Kit has some pretty good coupons. I've heard you can also pick up the packet at any post office but I haven't tested this out. In any event, mine came with 10% off Overstock, 10% off Lowe's, and 20% off Pier One to name a few. The last time I moved, the memorable coupons were 20% off Ikea and 10% off Home Depot. I never used to think 10% off anything amounted to all that much, until I started buying furniture. L-O-L. Now it pretty much covers shipping or tax.

5) If you set up any registry at Crate & Barrel, they'll send you a 10% Off completion card. There are wedding registries on their website, but they also have a section for "Other Events." I set one up, literally named it "Housewarming" and put 2 items on it. A few weeks later, I was sent a 10% off coupon meant for completing any remaining items. Bonus: the discount applies towards everything in the store, and it's good for 6 months.

6) Mom's free furniture offer is still a bad deal. I don't know why my parents, and many other parents judging on the homes I've visited, felt the need to decorate their living rooms straight out of Marie Antoinette's parlor.

Sofa found from Googling "Louis XVI furniture"

Sofa found in my childhood home, and the home my parents occupied before that, circa 1979

I just politely say that it's not really my taste.. I think Miss Waffle might feel the same way about her dress but it's alright because she can't talk.

Before & After

2011-04-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

CRAZY week at work. I didn't have any time to update this sooner although we completed the wall panels last weekend.

May I present you with...

BEFORE:

Chartreuse panels

AFTER:

Funky artsy chartreuse wall panels!