Archive for Design and Shelter

The Big Move: Nest and Grow

By admin Published March 16, 2013

You know I wouldn’t really go over two weeks without posting.

No, I am once again MOVING blogs – but this time, I exported all the content so it’s not much of a change. I just don’t want to keep paying for web hosting, or whatever it is I pay for, because I take zero advantage of that. I just have a humble little blog using a humble little template, and I can do that for free at WordPress.com:

Nest and Grow

Come on over, you’ll be able to see some recent posts, like how my boyfriend’s place is coming along…:

…and recent trips to parks:

…and plenty of other stuff. Here.

Posted in Design and Shelter, Great Outdoors Tagged: come on over, home, I am not tech savvy, internet, new blog, park | Leave a comment

Minimalist’s Treasure Chest

By admin Published March 1, 2013

I’m going for minimalist for real, for now anyway. I am pulling out all the stops to get rid of stuff I don’t need and/or don’t want, especially things I won’t want to take with me wherever (and whenever) I move next. I listed some furniture and decor items on Craigslist today and plan to do a clothing listing too. I’m not in a huge rush, but whatever doesn’t sell in a few weeks will get donated somewhere. I’ve done this before, but I think I’m finally getting to point where, in the near future–fleeting though it may be–I will only own things I really like and really use, and just enough of them. My dream would be to achieve this type of bare minimum (I go back to that blog post repeatedly for inspiration!). I am interested in owning and acquiring more furniture and art that I love (same goes for clothing and any other category really–definitely could use some electronics upgrades), but I am over knickknacks, over having too much, over poor quality, over random clutter, over junk, and all that comes with it.

Tonight, for the first time in my life, I started approaching my collection of photographs with a critical eye. Even though I rarely get prints made anymore, I have an enormous amount of printed photos for several reasons. First, I’ve somehow become the guardian of old family photos, going back to my grandparents’ and parents’ youths. Second, I was extremely snap happy as a kid and in high school, using Polaroid and disposable cameras–come to think of it, I was even a yearbook photographer in sixth grade, something I’d forgotten until now! And then in college I got really into shooting film even as I was introduced to digital cameras and the magical world of taking a gazillion photos at a time. And I’m sentimental. And I love looking through pictures.

But when you have 1,000, they aren’t as special as when you have, say 100. Fifty photos from a single event or trip become less meaningful than 5 or 10 good ones. One great photo can outshine any number of inferior versions. And: When I have so many prints that they’ve formed an inaccessible mountain, what good are they? And: Do I really need boxes full of similar photos, or bad photos, or photos of people I don’t even care about? No one knows more than me how meaningful photographs can be, but just because someone was there to click a camera button doesn’t mean the result was worth keeping forever. So today I did an initial purge, getting rid of probably half-a-trashbag-full of totally meaningless pictures, and sorting the remainders into some basic categories. Next, I’m going to sort through each category more carefully and decide what should stay and what should go. I still plan to keep a lot of pictures, but ideally at the end they’ll fit into a few albums and maybe a photo box or two.

Which brings me to the fun stuff. Often when people go on organizing/decluttering kicks they’re inclined to purchase organizing tools–boxes, folders, canisters, etc. But all the pros will tell you not to do this until after you’ve purged your belongings, otherwise you’re just moving your clutter around. So I’ve been forcing myself to hold back on any organizing accessories until I know exactly what I’m keeping, because only then will I know what I actually need. And now I’m more than happy to say that in the near future I’ll choose a few select items to help me with the final touches. In the case of the photos, I’m very, very interested in this 12-case photo storage container (each case can hold 100 prints). It makes me giddy to imagine having a small box of neatly organized, accessible, visually appealling, and easy-to-transport photos, after lugging around pounds and pounds and boxes and boxes of pictures for years.

In the spirit of minimalism, I’ve set another goal. I’ve designated my beloved wooden trunk as my “sentimental” storage container. I am just not a person who can or should purge every last photo or love letter or journal or empty perfume bottle or childhood toy or high school essay. But I think if I can keep the sentimental “clutter” (anything I don’t want to display for all to see) limited to a single wooden trunk, I’ll be totally happy. It’s a reasonable amount and it’s not hard to transport, nor would it be hard to store somewhere like my parents’ house if I ever needed to. It almost becomes a treasure chest.

Here’s to a weekend of more cleaning and purging and organizing!

Posted in Design and Shelter, Motivation and Inspiration, Planning and Doing, Thinking and Writing Tagged: cleaning, clutter, decluttering, organizing, photographs, pictures, purging, sentimental | Leave a comment

There’s A Roach In My Boot

By admin Published February 25, 2013

I’m going to temporarily ignore my previous post about positivity and optimism. That will come, soon, but right now I am amped up on some anger-induced adrenaline and I can’t contain it anymore. The secret is out. My ongoing war is no longer a covert operation. My apartment (duplex, more accurately) has roaches. And. I. Have. Had. Enough.

Here’s the thing about living in a roach infested apartment. It makes you paranoid. Actually it makes you think you’re paranoid when you’re actually rational, which is worse. You see, you think you see them everywhere. I have wooden floors with lots of dark, oval spots in exactly the same size as the enormous roaches that dwell here, so I constantly think they’re roaches. And the thing is, most of the time they aren’t–but a lot of the time they are.

One morning when the weather was first cooling down in the fall, I pulled out a pair of boots I hadn’t worn in months. Something in me knew I was going to find a roach inside. I shook them upside-down. Nothing fell out. I told myself I was crazy. Put the boots on, felt a lump under my foot, took the foot out, and whadya know? My angry screams woke my boyfriend but I don’t think he could stay mad when he heard me yelling, “THERE’S A ROACH IN MY BOOT. THERE’S A ROACH IN MY MOTHER FUCKING BOOT JUST LIKE I KNEW THERE WAS GOING TO BE.”

Roaches. They make you THINK you’re crazy when you’re really not. And I hate them. The house never feels clean. It never feels solitary (who knows how many bajillions of them there are, hiding out of site?). And, dramatic though it sounds, it never feels safe. Roaches SURPRISE you, that’s why you’ve got to take the offensive with your paranoia. Better to find a roach where you suspect one than to step on one with your bare foot.

God bless my landlords. They’re nice people. They send out an exterminator regularly. And it works–you see, many of the roaches I find are on their backs, dying, I can only assume from the exterminator’s poison. But a dying roach is not the same thing as a dead one. It is definitely much worse. I don’t get them. I really don’t understand what happens. Like, I go to bed or leave for the night and they come out to play, but get poisoned and die there in the middle of the floor? The problem becomes much more serious when I spend a couple of nights away (all the more common now that my boyfriend moved). Doesn’t matter that I make sure to clean before I leave. I came home today to six enormous roaches lying there wiggling and writhing on their backs. Welcome home, honey.

(I also just spotted a seventh, in a corner, that looked like part of the wood floor until now.)

I took my dog on a walk immediately. I didn’t want to be inside. I called my boyfriend. “I need to go to a therapist, now, I can’t deal with these roaches.” I’m talking loudly in my neighborhood and I don’t care. I come home and realize I have to pick them up even though they are so big and still alive. I try to change my perspective. I try, I really try, not to be afraid. I think about people who tell stories of enormous bugs in other countries. I think about people who eat bugs. But none of that really helps. I yell at them as I squish and scoop them up. “You disgusting mother fuckers!” I hate them. Hate them. Hate them.

I’m currently living in my duplex on a month-to-month basis, meaning my yearlong lease expired and I’m not stuck here, I just have to give my landlord notice when I plan to leave. I moved here when I was working part-time and didn’t have a car. So it was super cheap rent in walking distance to my job, and kinda cute. Now I’m ready to leave. But things are complicated and I’m not ready to sign another year-long lease somewhere else. My boyfriend tonight threw out the idea that I could move back in with my parents for a little while. The commute to work would be longer but it’s doable. In fact, my dad’s even working out of town for 2 months. And my mom works an evening shift as a nurse. Normally I’d have scoffed at the idea but suddenly it appeals to me. It would get me away from the roaches.

I know I have phobic tendencies and I’ve allowed these things to become much bigger than I should. But the thing is, I can deal with some roaches. I saw them occasionally in the house growing up. Whatever. We get them in the warehouse where I work. But those aren’t in my home (and they aren’t nearly as big). My home is infested and it is a huge part of why I have given up on this place. And that’s a life-changer.

Maybe it’s because I’m already at the end of my rope after driving to and from Tallahassee in the pouring rain this weekend. If you know me, you know that driving hundreds of miles at high speeds, in the rain, is one of the most anxiety-inducing endeavors I can take on. But I did it. I made it home alive. Maybe I’m just freaking out. Maybe I feel stronger. Maybe I just wanted to come home to a home that actually felt like a retreat from the outside world instead of a grotesque shit hole. But I have had enough.

These don’t help -

Posted in Design and Shelter, Planning and Doing, Thinking and Writing Tagged: ashamed, bugs, disgusting, fear, home, phobia, pissed off, ready to move, roaches | 2 Comments

Four Years Later and the Chair Got Cushions!

By admin Published February 3, 2013

The vintage cushion-less chair has cushions!!

This is what it looked like when I got it for $45 through Craigslist in ’09. The cushions were rock hard and crumbling, while the retro fabric was very worn and sagging (and ugly).

So when I moved I got rid of the cushions but kept the chair. I wasn’t sure what to do then, so I draped a blanket over it–so sad.

Then I placed a folded blue quilt on it, which was less depressing to look at, but indeed, not a cushion.

And now it’s got real, comfy, custom gray cushions, to (somewhat) match its sister chair, another gray Craigslist find:

And I can actually SIT on it. Very exciting. It’s gotten a little scratched and dinged up along the way, but I’m going to give it a nice scrubbing/oiling/waxing to finish the whole thing off.

Meanwhile, I saw this on Urban Outfitters’ website today. Well…at least my cushions are thicker.

Next up: Frame my Scotland prints, which I’ve finally gotten developed–including several 8X12s and a 20X30!

These projects aren’t cheap by my standards, but they are the ones I’ve wanted to tackle for years, and I know I will appreciate them for years to come. My ultimate design advice, should anyone ever care to ask me, is to pay attention to the ideas and visions and images you are drawn to consistently throughout long periods of time. These days there is so much “inspiration” to be found day in and day out, and it’s easy to get sucked into a shallow consumerist mindset–ooh I want that! Now I like that better! Oh I wish my home looked like that! I want it all! But if there a few ideas or pictures you find yourself coming back to again and again and again, and your love for them stands the test of time, to me, that is your authentic taste. And what I like about both my recent projects (the chair cushions and the framed photos) is that they have a bit of a DIY element to them. I am not just purchasing the pieces but helping create them. Authentic and personal. What more could one want in a home?

Posted in Design and Shelter, Planning and Doing, Thinking and Writing Tagged: authentic, chair, cushions, DIY, home decor, personal, style, taste, vintage | Leave a comment

Weekend One

By admin Published February 3, 2013

Our goals for my boyfriend’s first weekend at his new place were simple and practical: Furniture-wise, we needed to make sure he had a place to sit, to eat, and to sleep. Obviously the kitchen and bathroom needed to be functional and stocked with the basic necessities. The apartment needed to be cleaned up by Sunday so that he could focus on starting his new job Monday. And we accomplished all that!

We (and by that I mean “he”) assembled the sofa, coffee table, bed, and tv stand (all just purchased from IKEA). I took care of the bathroom’s shower curtain, bath mat, and toiletries. Clothes were hung in the closets. The coffee maker was set up in the kitchen. And that’s about it! No need to focus on decorating or superfluous furniture for now. Although God KNOWS I am dying to paint–the walls look pretty bad right now and it’s very distracting for me, but ain’t it lucky that’s a fairly easy fix! As soon as the walls are painted (I envision multiple shades of light blue throughout) then curtains and art can be hung and it will really start to come together. I plan to contribute some of my vintage furniture to balance out the newness of all the IKEA stuff. My boyfriend has his priorities for the home–including, as you will see, having a huge leather sofa that we can both sprawl out on–and as long as those conditions are met, I pretty much have free reign with decorating. I really do appreciate his perspective because he is more concerned with comfort than I normally am. I pick items because they are cute, but his emphasis on the functional side of furnishing a home makes a lot of sense and has really made me take a closer look at my decisions.

Upcoming plans:

There’s a room that connects to the living room (the previous tenant called it a sun room, even though it’s more of an office); this will get a desk, bookshelves, and the two vintage chairs currently stored at my house.
The second (guest) bedroom will get a full-sized wrought-iron bed (already purchased, not yet assembled) and a vanity area for me so that I don’t take over his bathroom with my primping when I’m here.
The dining area still needs a dining table.
I’d really like to swap out the wicker mirror in the bathroom with a nice mirror and add a medicine cabinet. Also, some good towel bars.
I got a bunch of IKEA wall storage products for the kitchen (a spice rack, magnetic knife strip, that kind of thing).
The main bedroom is getting a dresser and tv.
Again, paint + art + curtains everywhere!
As for the huge coffee table you can see in the pictures below? It may get the boot. We didn’t realize how large it was and we’ve both talked about swapping it out with a smaller, maybe oval, wood coffee table to off-set all the white, angular furniture.
The overall vision is to keep it simple and organized. As has been the case for some time now, I’m inspired by vacation. Hotels and b&bs I’ve visited, my boyfriend’s family’s beach condo–spaces that are relaxing, uncluttered, and (that word again) functional.

Overall, I’m excited, and really appreciate my boyfriend letting me have so much fun with this new project. If it weren’t for me, I don’t think he’d be interested in decorating at all, but he has gotten into the spirit of it with me around. He made the following statement after we perused multiple furniture stores so he could get a sense for his options: “I want Scan Design style at Rooms To Go prices–I think that’s what IKEA’s supposed to be, right?” Touche.

Posted in Design and Shelter, Motivation and Inspiration, Planning and Doing Tagged: boyfriend's home, decorating, furniture, house, ideas, moving, new place, planning | Leave a comment

Ambitious Sunday

By admin Published January 13, 2013

Spray painting:

Rubbing, oiling, and waxing (still in progress):

This guy is having cushions made as we speak:

Breakfast, lunch, still need to make dinner:

Also got a bulb I’d needed for a lamp that burned out…over a year ago.

Posted in Cooking and Eating, Design and Shelter, Planning and Doing Tagged: ambitious, beautiful weather, busy, chair, decorating, furniture, goals, home, painting, refurbishing, Sunday, to do list, vintage | Leave a comment

Current Inspirations

By admin Published January 8, 2013

Life of Pi was visually stunning. The Indian zoo, the haunting sea life, the tropical island…these were extraordinary, and all the more so in 3D. But I was also very drawn to the comparatively ordinary scenes set in a Montreal kitchen and living room. For the home decor, obv.

It’s not especially exciting, but it’s cozy and soothing and warm. I love the wood, and the light blues and greens in the kitchen, the books, and…just everything. How normal it is. Lovely, but normal.

I couldn’t find better pictures! But it’s worth looking at the details behind this guy!

Side note: I just remembered today that one of my other favorite visual delights of a film, Eat Drink Man Woman, was also directed by Ang Lee.

Also, while mildly participating in an Apartment Therapy “Cure” right now, I’ve decided one project to tackle in the next month is to have cushions made for the retro chair I bought on Craigslist in, oh, September 2009. I am thinking something like these:

Because not only do I really like the look, but my bigger, comfier armchair, a more recent Craigslist find, is also gray and tufted.

My other goal is to semi-restore some of my vintage wood furniture, like my dresser, using this method.

Other current inspirations are health related:

My workout last night went really well, even chasing away a headache. And I heard (yet another) compelling piece on the perils of eating too much sugar on NPR: “It’s supposed to be a treat eaten once a week, not a diet staple, eaten once a meal”–paraphrasing some author. So I’m really trying to focus more on wellness. In addition to cutting back my excessive cheese intake, I am also trying to reduce my added sugar intake. And when faced with the horror of eating fewer of my favorite tasty things, I’m exploring new stuff at the grocery store. To keep things fun. Apple butter, cashew butter, loose leaf tea, fancy oats (rolled and steel cut), muesli (I also made some of my own without realizing it was a thing), pomegranate arils, Bragg liquid aminos. Fun, right?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still been eating plenty of “normal” food like pizza, but with a little preparation, I can do better. (Like tonight, I packed a bag full of stuff to choose from for snacks tomorrow – celery, carrots, all-natural hummus, apples, raw almond butter, and clementines–and that doesn’t include a fruit/nut/oat breakfast or hardy kale salad for lunch.) I look forward to returning to this vegan, sugar-free challenge I came across today for recipes.

It’s a good thing when I get into the spirit of healthier eating because on the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve been known to eat more than my fair share of pasta, butter, cheese, chips, and M&M ice cream cookie sandwiches. My number one driving factor in really shifting those items (and my daily creamy, sugary coffee) from staples to occasional treats is that I want to prevent preventable disease. Bear with me.

Posted in Cooking and Eating, Design and Shelter, Motivation and Inspiration, Planning and Doing Tagged: design, healthy eating, home, inspiration, Life of Pi, motivation, new year | Leave a comment

Sunday Insanity

By admin Published November 11, 2012

I went to see the studio downtown. It was even smaller than I’d imagined. But it was lovely. The room was bathed in gorgeous light and the windows had a cool city view–the unit is on the 17th floor! And although it’s a tiny apartment, there’s a huge walk-in closet, and a second closet with built-in shelves. I feel like the closets provide enough storage space to make it feasible. The kitchenette isn’t much; I would need to add some sort of free-standing shelving unit and counter space. But it’s all doable. I could also take advantage of building amenities that I think would keep me from getting claustrophobic. A lounge area, a fitness room. Not much, but still nice.

And while the cold hard fact is that moving is expensive, this place only requires a pet deposit–no security deposit. And they’ll hold the spot until my current lease is up. And the first month is discounted. All in all, a much less painful transition, financially, than I anticipated.

All of this is to say I like the place and that I’m daydreaming about it. I’ve started examining my furniture to think about what would stay and what would go, and even donated a few bags of items to a thrift store yesterday. What makes the cut for a 426 square foot apartment? I am still not sure this is the right move for me.

I spent *all day* cleaning every room in my house. Moving furniture to sweep and Swiffer, cleaning out my makeup and toiletries, organizing my pantry, all sorts of projects. I am getting rid of anything that feels “dingy,” that’s my word of the day. Like the white shag rug I’ve had professionally cleaned but that remained splotchy and discolored. Even though getting it cleaned probably cost more than the rug itself. And the cutesy vintage yellow and black curtains I’ve kept around out of some sense of obligation, even though I’ve outgrown them. Decorative kitchen items that just take up space.

I almost parted with an Ikea shelving unit that was only holding knick-knacks but realized it would be perfect tucked into a corner near the couch where my boyfriend sits and keeps a lot of his stuff. Now his printer, electronics, books, and other things are organized on the shelf instead of just on the floor. So the shelf became more utilitarian, and I’m happy with that. I don’t want to get rid of things if I can still find good use for them, especially if I would end up buying something else to serve the same purpose anyway.

So the house isn’t looking so photogenic as I remove pieces. But I don’t care. First, it’s only transitional changes and I expect to have a quite pretty home in the near future. Second, I’m freeing up space. To play fetch and tug of war with Herman. To follow along with exercise videos (soon enough…). Or just to breathe.

Yeah, expect much better cord management (or at least a piece of furniture that will hide the TV cords) soon.

Put a candle in a bowl? Why not?

So cozy <3 <3

This evening I made what was supposed to be a quick run to the grocery store to get some fruit for breakfast and a few other items, but all the Thanksgiving stuff was on display, and I was so hungry and…

This is what I just made. At 10:00 Sunday night. Oy.

Posted in Cooking and Eating, Design and Shelter, Love, Motivation and Inspiration, Planning and Doing Tagged: apartment hunting, cooking, cozy, dog, downsizing, Herman, moving, November, studio, Thanksgiving | Leave a comment

Sunday Planning

By admin Published November 4, 2012

Daydreaming about furniture, useful furniture, like a wardrobe and a bed. And this:

This is what I’ve been wanting to do with IKEA Expedit shelves. I do currently have mine (just one) laid horizontally in the kitchen, but I like the thought of putting multiple together for this effect. Maybe even with some floor cushions–I’ve been drawn to low spaces lately. Via.

I have been looking at websites like CB2 and realizing I will still never be able to afford new furniture, at least not the big pieces, anytime soon on my salary. Second-hand is really the way to go, with a mix of IKEA and Target and World Market thrown in when possible. No $600 credenzas, no $1000 beds, no $300 desks, no $300 bookcases. It ain’t happening. I do like the thought of getting one of those beds with built-in side tables so that I don’t have to purchase those separately.

To do today:
Attend plant-based cooking class
Buy groceries for food drive (and a few groceries for myself)
Primp – hair and nails badly need maintenance
Schedule work-out sessions for the week
Take good dog walk
Go for run on or near beach
Work for a few hours (from home–mainly data entry-type work, answering a few emails) and prepare for tomorrow’s talk (I’m the speaker at a university event!)

To do this week:
Pay hospital bill for chest x-ray, sigh
Follow up on student loan issue (keep waiting for them to fix an error)
Return library books (finish reading Smart Cookies first; almost done)
Pick up clothes from dry cleaner
Visit apartment I’m interested in moving into (not the studio I wrote about; a small one-bedroom apartment, upstairs in a brick 1920s building. Typical me-style: hardwood floors, fireplace, but with some improvements over my current place, I think–and the rent is a little less)
Schedule end-of-year doctors’ appointments–better hurry!

To do sometime:
Buy black flats for work
Keep selling household items I don’t want/need, start thinking about purchases I will want to make
Spend as little money as possible for now, as we are transitioning from bi-weekly to semi-monthly paychecks and our paychecks are all screwy for about 6 weeks

Posted in Design and Shelter, Planning and Doing Tagged: budget, decorating, frugal, home, planning, Sunday, to do | Leave a comment

Studio Dreams

By admin Published October 31, 2012

Am I being ridiculous? I’m so drawn to this studio apartment. I’ve seen several available apartments listed from this building and I always really like them.

I want to downsize. Growing up I always dreamed of life in the big city. Small spaces with downtown views. I recall a specific picture in a design book–or more likely a PB Teen catalog or something–of a kid’s room that featured a very long desk sitting against the window of a high-rise. God I longed to live there. There’s not a lot of big city livin’ in Jacksonville, but this studio brings those visions back to me.

I want to downsize, but it would be hard. Not so much the smaller space as the lack of a separate spaces. If I were single, this would be completely doable, no question. But what about all the time I spend with my boyfriend? And our very different sleep patterns? And very different media habits?

Maybe it doesn’t make sense for me, us. I hate to give up on my little studio dream though. And to be honest, when I showed my boyfriend his first reaction was to be impressed that I’m interested in a place that isn’t a quirky, historic, and filled with odd nooks and crannies and, you know, character. And that unlike my current duplex, this studio has central heat and air. (The building also has a small gym and large laundry room.)

This particular apartment does cost $75 more a month than what I pay now (my current rent really is quite cheap and not a bad bargain for what I get) plus I’d have to pay between $25-$50 monthly for parking. Do I want to pay more for less?

(Of course none of these questions really matter as the apartment is available now, and my current lease goes through the end of December. But even if this one is no longer available, other apartments in the building may be.)

I don’t know, in my craving for simplicity, there is something very appealing about moving into a basic box. With nice floors and a nice view. I do wish it had a balcony though. That would put it over the top, I think. Maybe I should hold out for a place with a balcony.

Posted in Design and Shelter, Motivation and Inspiration, Planning and Doing Tagged: apartment, downsizing, dreaming, moving, small space, studio | Leave a comment