I'm Finally Decorating Again . . . DD's New Apartment!
Decorating has been truly a lifelong passion for me. But, our home is done, and has been for a number of years now. Unlike some people, I have no desire to redo rooms anymore. I like them the way they are, and living in them makes me happy. But, I've been wanting a new project for a long time . . . and now I finally have one: DD's entire new apartment, and I'm loving every minute of it! As I mentioned a while back, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma (OU) this past December. She's been working there since then, but is headed to grad school in early-June at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS). We had to look for apartments online, but have found a really nice 1-bedroom in a fairly new complex close to UCCS. Top floor (3rd) , end apartment with a smallish balcony that faces north with a mountain view. The view was important to DD, as she was born and raised in our New Mexico mountains and has missed them a lot.
Anyhoo, she has most of what she needs for her bedroom and bathroom already, as she's been sharing a 4 bedroom house in Norman with 3 of her sorority sisters for the past three years. Now, though, she needs furniture for her living room, as well as a LOT of kitchen stuff. Up until now, pretty much all of her furniture, other than her mattress, box springs and desk chair have been garage sale or consignment shop finds that she and I have redone when needed. I can't handle buying upholstered furniture used unless I know the person, plus both my kids are very allergic to cats, so we're buying her this new sofa and chair. BTW, she wants to (wisely) go with neutrals, with accent colors of aqua and coral. Those are the colors already in her bedroom.
She'd been looking online for coffee tables, but a friend suggested we try consignment shops. Great advice because I found and bought this one last week at a local consignment shop. It's in perfect condition and I love the practicality of the two deep drawers that roll out, one from each side. I paid $160 for it, which I think was a fair price. It had just been reduced from $200.
She has 2 end tables, painted aqua, in her bedroom now, that she is going to move to her new living room. We're just going to have to redo the hardware from white to a bronze. I am totally NOT up to redoing the finish on the tables themselves at this point in time, though! And, because she's my daughter, she already has a great art collection (LOL). Nothing very valuable, but all make her very happy, which is most important IMO. The piece below is one of her birthday gifts from us last month. I think that it's going to work very well with the rest in there. I made a mock-up of that part of her living room for her to see, and she loves it so far:
To the right will be her chair and a floor lamp tray table. And then the door to her balcony. Directly across the room will be her credenza that will hold her TV, it's paraphernalia, and her DVD collection. With more art above it, and a nice lamp on it. Off to the far left is her eating bar and kitchen. No room for a kitchen table, but we're giving her these two bar stools of ours:
My friend and I are recovering the seats in this "faux crocodile" upholstery vinyl, which I've already ordered:
Anyhoo, thanks for letting me share my newest project with you all. It's fun creating this, but also fun sharing it, as well.
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OT...I'm Back...I'm Tired...But Happy My Decorating Is All Done!
Comments (9)Wow Jane, I am tired just reading about what all you did! Sounds like a wonderful time and lots of work and effort on your part. What a large group to entertain! So nice that your DH helps you with the decorating. Mine does not help with the inside at all. I carry everything up from the basement including the trees, all the boxes, ladders, etc. The only thing he does outside is put a blow mold Santa on our mailbox, although this year, he did run an extension cord from the backyard for some of the lights as they kept tripping the breaker this year! Again, getting everything down out of the rafters, off of the shelves, and put up is up to me! Sorry, I just needed to vent a little. I get a bit envious when I hear of other DH's that help with decorating. Anyway, looking forward to your pix. TFS, Candy...See MoreFinally redecorating DD's room - how to stay motivated?!
Comments (16)What a good mommy you are! The new bedroom sounds dreamy enough for any little princess. How to stay motivated? It helps me to have some excitement about the final outcome. Do you have any inspiration pics to put up on the fridge to keep your spirits up and your motor running? There are a number of them in the Gallery in the post on kids rooms. There are also some in the bedrooms post, and even more in the Cottage Decor post. Close this thread and you'll find a link to the Gallery at the bottom of the page that lists all the threads. Also another link at the top right just above the list of posts. I second Dian's brilliant suggestion about audio books. I get audio book CDs from the library and listen to them in the kitchen, or wherever I have mindless work to do. I love them. I'll bet if you snoop the web you can order a ready-made slipcover for that chair for not too much money. You might start with eBay and amazon.com. On the sewing, all you're talking about is sewing straight lines. That isn't difficult. Seems to me you must have a gf who would be happy to come over and supervise you until your "rust" is off. That would be a lot less daunting than a class, to me at least. Your mom or mom-in-law might like to help. When our kids are grown and gone, we suddenly feel unwanted, useless. We are thrilled if we're asked to help. We feel valued, and if we're retired we have the time. Well, most of us, anyway. If yours don't live close they could at least sew a pillow or something. Just a thought that could improve family relations and lighten your load. Make a family party out of it. You supply the steaks, hot dogs, the barbee, and the paint, and invite them all. They can bring salad, dessert, etc, and extra paint brushes or whatever. I'm looking forward to helping with my granddaughter's bedroom makeover somewhere in the next few months. I'm really excited about it and I'm collecting ideas. One idea I ran across is these giant tissue paper flowers. They would be so darling hung from a little girl's ceiling. Do you like those? This URL shows you how to make them -- very easily and cheaply. It would be a good project to do with kids, depending on the age of the child. Here is a link that might be useful: How Make Tissue Paper Pom-Poms (scroll down)...See MoreI'm Finally Getting There! (Pics)
Comments (23)Cooperbailey: I only bought two of the bowls, as they're so darn big! I'm planning on buying some smaller, plain colored ones in the green or red soon. But, I love your idea of using them for small serving bowls, for guac and such. Great idea! Jaybird, I found mine at a small local garden center that specializes in Talavara. They had a number of them in a all sizes and colors. You need to buzz on over here and pick one up . . . along with a nice margarita ;^P Amity, you have the same planter?!? How cool! I'm thinking that it could also work well as a big bottle (wine/beer/soda) cooler at parties, although I'd probably faint if someone chipped it! Or how about a magazine holder someplace? Hope you can find a use for yours. Thanks again for all your kind words here. I'm working on a new chandelier and rug next, but that (Phase 3) might have to wait quite a while longer!...See MoreI'm finally home!!
Comments (9)Well....I ended up going back to work. Didn't want to at all. My boss gave a deal I couldn't refuse. He's paying me for 8 hours and I only have to work 4, so I'm making twice as much for 1/2 the time, and he's letting me bring my new dog! Every excuse or reason I had, he had an offer. It's a good idea. My hospital bills came in, and my credit is at risk. So I haven't been able to mosaic, or do much of anything I planned. I have trouble sitting for long periods of time, and it still hurts to walk around, so I just can't win. I lay in bed with my dog too much. So at least it gets me out and about 1/2 the day. Thanks so much for all the caring comments. You guys are the best. I feel bad coming here these days. I don't have projects to share, and you still welcome me. After reading about Flagtrucks heart attack it really made me think. I need to get off my butt and get back to what I love! She is just too amaing. Makes me feel awful about how I have taken this accident. She is quite an inspiration! You are the best group around! I thank god for you all!...See MoreLynnNM
7 years agoThank you! It feels so good to be decorating something again!
I found 2 (new with tag) lamps at a local consignment shop that look very much like the ones in my mock-up pic. I'm hoping they'll work ok on either side of her sofa.
Dilemma: She has this black credenza in her bedroom (here) that she's wanting to use in her new living room, on the wall across from the sofa to hold her tv. It's 40" long by 31" H and 17" deep. I'm not crazy about it, and would prefer finding another one that would work better with the sofa and coffee table, although my DH is starting to balk at how much I'm spending with all of this stuff. Do you think that it would work ok as is . . . or paint it? Her flat screen tv will take up the majority of space on top, with perhaps a nice, skinny buffet lamp next to it, and more of her art hung above. I could look for a nice runner that would hang down some on each side in aqua or a print that has both aqua and coral. Something classy and not cute or froufrou. The shelves will hold her DVD player, maybe her many DVDs, etc. The clutter down there would drive me crazy, but she seems to be ok with it. And, yes, those are aqua glass knobs on there (did I mention that aqua is her favorite color? At least it looks good on her, as she's a natural light blond with green eyes-LOL!). So what do you think? Leave it black? Talk her into painting it? Replace the knobs with some "big girl" ones? She says the aqua will work great in her new living room. My vote is to replace them with larger metal ones. Some that echo the ornate metal work on her coffee table, perhaps. I honestly don't know if I'm up to stripping and staining it. We painted the black over it's original beat-up white paint, and heaven only knows what was under the white! What about adding some wood trim around the drawers and on both sides? I'd have to repaint it all then, as this was painted at least 8 years ago.
So, what do you think??????
just_terrilynn
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoCould you do a rub -n-buff bronze, teal or antique brass or other on it then spray a clear coat? That would be cheap, fast and easy.
Or, a bronze or brown rub and spray the drawers high gloss light lacquer. It wouldn't look like this but I'm using for inspiration.
Heres a before and after with metallic rub n buff.
Or mix me and add a high gloss spray.
I think a tone close to the coffee table on the body and a high gloss lacque spray close to the sofa color would look nice especially after a knob change. Micheal Gold was selling stuff like that for a lot of money.
LynnNM thanked just_terrilynnLynnNM
7 years agoSome good ideas, Terrilynn. I'm going to run down to my local Home Depot and look to see what they have as far as paint/glaze/antique options. Also to Hobby Lobby. Oh, and I just found these great drawer bin pulls there online for $5.99 each. By themselves, they might be too ornate for the credenza, but I'm also looking at wood trim for the drawer fronts and sides. Stripping just the top and staining it a medium brown, leaving the rest black might also help it.
LynnNM
7 years agoLynnNM
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoAnd, at World Market, one of these runners to top off the credenza. Both are 16" wide and 90" long, so they'd hang down 25" on each side. Doable, and would bring in a bit more of the exotic she likes, as well as the coral or aqua accent colors. I especially like the coral.
And then Mom won't have to paint this credenza again (LOL!)LynnNM
7 years agoLynnNM
7 years agoLynnNM
7 years agoYes, the lamps are oil rubbed bronze, but so are the bar stools, and, yes, they can be seen easily from the living room. Below is her apartment layout.
LynnNM
7 years ago
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