Friday, February 21, 2014

Progress

A few glimpses of the progress around the new place. 

homesteads
{homesteads}

hallway art
{hallway art}

bathroom shelves
{bathroom shelves}

hooks
{hooks}

niche
{niche}

We wanted to tackle the big projects first. D put shelves in all the closets (they are huge, but shelf-less, which meant we got to choose between installing shelves ourselves and just cramming things in there) and he built a storage compartment in our parking space, so we'd have somewhere to stash our tools, holiday decorations and other stuff that didn't need to be in the apartment all the time. The next big project is our kitchen but I decided we could distract ourselves long enough to take care of a few aesthetic issues that would make our place feel more homey. These were all very small projects but I'm so glad we have them done.

We are being super cautious about hanging anything on the walls. We've managed to accumulate quite a bit of art that we love over the years, partly because our old apartment had a lot of wall space. I hate not having it all out, but I think with a place this size everything will end up looking cluttered if we put too much on the walls. We'll probably slowly hang a little more, but we're taking the time to live with the bare walls and really consider our options. I'm thinking a rotating display might be best, where we switch out the art every few months (will we ever do this, though? that remains to be seen). In the meantime, most of our art is propped up in a corner but we did hang our beloved homesteads from Lily in the living room and a trio of our favorite LA pieces from Self Help Graphics are in the hallway.  It feels good to have them up, like seeing old friends. 

I wanted to make use of our relatively large bathroom, so we cut a couple of Ikea shelves we already had down to size and installed them (over the toilet, if you must know - at least it draws the eye up, right?). The high shelf holds towels, which frees up space in the linen closet and the lower shelf has some trinkets and a few photographs that we weren't worried about damaging with humidity because we can always get new prints. 

D treated himself to a couple of anchor hooks he'd been eyeing from West Elm. We try to keep them pretty clear so they're available for guests. I miss our entryway set up from our old place but it would just be too much visual clutter here, even if we had the space for it, which we don't. We moved our old hook rails into our bedroom, so we just have to get ourselves in the habit of walking in there to hang everything up as soon as we get home. 

One of my favorite features in our new place are the display niches built into the walls. I have a little box of tiny things we love and it's fun to arrange them in there. 

We're gradually getting the kitchen set up and knocking out other small tasks on our list. I don't even want to talk about our bedroom because we haven't done anything in there and I'm still using a cardboard box as a bedside table. There's just only so much we can do given our schedules, so prioritizing is key. It makes sense to tackle the rest of the apartment first, given that we're only in the bedroom at night, but man, I am itching to get started. 

14 comments:

  1. We finally hung a few things last weekend (have lived in our place 13 months), but damn if it doesn't feel real good. Also, getting those small tasks off your proverbial apartment to do list is so satisfying for some reason. Love those paintings by Lily.

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  2. I think it looks adorable so far—and not cluttered at all! These photos have inspired me to tackle some little projects in my apartment this weekend... I tend to let stuff pile up until it drives me crazy!

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  3. Amazing! Everything looks so neat and carefully curated. How do you do it? Teach me please. :P

    ps. I love those anchor hooks!

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  4. Really love the special areas of your home. Looks so welcoming and homey :)

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  5. i love the black frames against the white walls. lovely!

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  6. I love it. Looks very charming. Where did you get that brass pineapple from? I recently purchased one for $100 for a friend. Would love to know where you got it and how much you paid for it... If you're willing to share of course! :)

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    1. We picked it up at a vintage store in Palm Springs a while back. I think we paid $35 (crazy how prices vary on vintage!). We use it to hold our laundry quarters and I love it!

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    2. Wow, interesting to know! Thanks for sharing. I bought it at a rather high-end store in Tampa Florida that collects vintage items from all over. Holding your laundry quarters is a smart use for it!

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  7. Your new apartment is really looking nice, looks like it has a lot of beautiful light (and/or you are good at catching it on camera)
    Despite having a smaller space (feel your pain regarding a smaller kitchen, I moved last year, got a really big lovely living room, but the tiniest kitchen with minimal counter+cabinet space, making baking especially difficult at times) but it must be so great to have your sweet Circe with you now :)

    hugs from a long time reader in Denmark,
    Heiðdís

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  8. I don't know what's going on with your comments, but I hit publish and then my comments never show up - only on certain computers I think. trying again.

    Kudos to D for being handy enough to build cabinets, which is something I've wished I had the ability to do in several apartments. We also put shelves in our closets and it helps a lot.

    Chairs also make good bedside tables. That's what we're doing now, since we have an excess of chairs that are only needed for parties.

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    1. I *think* it's the blogger comment platform and it's been an issue for at least a month. As with all things blogger related lately, I just kind of cross my fingers and hope someone gets around to fixing it, which is a super effective system!

      Chairs! We have an excess as well, for exactly the same reason. I may have to follow your lead.

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  9. it is so satisfying to watch you put the new place together - like amanda's, your home is such a marvelous reflection of your personality and aesthetic. those three prints in the hallway are new to me; love 'em!

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  10. Hi! Love reading your blog, and your house is coming along nicely! A question about your bathroom shelves - how did y'all hang/install them without having to use brackets? I've been wanting to accomplish the same floating shelf look in my guest bath also. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

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    1. The magic of Ikea! The deep shelf is their Lack shelf and the narrow one below is the Ribba picture ledge .

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