decor

in the closet

by Lara on June 19, 2011

in decor

I just got a request to do a closet post but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. As feeble as my current closet situation is… it’s all I’ve got.

Before the bf and I moved into an old Victorian apartment in the Fan, I had about 15′ of closet space and a giant dresser (that I didn’t take with me). It wasn’t walk-in but it was glorious compared to the tiny space I’ve been living with for 2 years. There are two identical clothes closets in my apartment – one in the bedroom and one in the living room. I took the one in the living room. It’s as deep as a hanger is wide. I can barely see what isn’t in the doorway. I pretty much hate it.

So this is how I have all my things stored.

First off – my closet can’t handle all of my shoes so we have 3 racks in the hallway as you walk in. 2 are mine and they’re loaded.

Here’s the dreaded closet. I have 2 shelves but need a chair to reach the top one. There’s just a bunch of blankets up there, an overnight bag, and a storage box of clutches. My coats are on the far left hanging in a garment bag. Switching out seasons is an ordeal.

The bottom shelf looks like this. I just cleaned out and redid all this last week.

Here are my hanging shelves. If you get these, get the ones with wood inside the canvas. The plastic shelves sag terribly. Oh, and I use those 4 tier skirt hangers (the metal ones you see). I love them.

The rest of my bags are in a big hatbox in the bedroom. My makeup and other junk rests on top.

Everything else fits into this drawer unit I got from IKEA. It sits in a corner in the bedroom. Jewelry is on top in these clear divided things I got at Target a while back, and in random boxes. (Oh, I also have all my winter scarves in one of my bf’s drawers. His are different and against the wall, to the left.)

Some are clearance sale scores from last winter and I haven’t even worn yet. That top right pair, I’ve had for 20 years. No lie.

color!!!

 

So, that’s how I’ve dealt with a small closet space – just spread everything out everywhere else! :)

What are your secrets to dealing with a small closet?

 

 

{ 12 comments }

mini ikea trip

by Lara on June 5, 2011

in decor

We made it out of Herndon Fest alive and on our way back to Richmond, bf wanted to visit a friend who lives off the IKEA exit so, he dropped me off to shop and I let him know when I was done.

I didn’t NEED anything but when has that stopped anyone?

Oh, I did need pillow inserts for the pillow(s) I want to make. Do you know how crazy expensive they are at fabric stores? Those things plus the fabric and effort into measuring, cutting, pinning and sewing can discourage a lot of people from even bothering. I ended up grabbing two 20″ x 20″ pillows for $1.99 each when I could’ve spent $15 each at Hancock Fabrics.

I checked out the fabrics and they had some crazy stuff. Did you know you have to cut your own and write down all the info? No biggie. I’ve done it before at Wal-Mart (and figured out the hand held scanner/printer thing after waiting for 10 minutes for some help, and cut another lady’s stuff too). I got a yard ($7.99) of this nutso Annamoa fabric. I want the squirrel on one side and the fox (with his tongue sticking out and a party hat?) on the other. I mean, c’mon! It’s fantastic!

Cork coasters. 4 for $1 and we actually did need these.

3 melamine serving bowls. I have their mixing bowls in the same color. $4.99.

36 tea lights in fruity scents – $2.99 & Lingonberry preserves!

The bf has a twin down comforter that we used to keep on top of the queen mattress (the surface area is the same size) until his sis got us a Tempur-Pedic topper. The old comforter needed a duvet cover so we can use it as a blanket. I grabbed this silly Seuss-esque  cover for $19.99.

Lastly, I’ve always wanted a table in the bathroom. The bf has a collection of bathroom books (sorry but I get my business over with asap and get the heck outta there). They’ve been all over the floor and when I saw this silly little Jetsons bedside table for $14, I had to grab it. I think they’re discontinuing it.

So that’s that! Get anything good at IKEA lately?

 

{ 12 comments }

fabric

by Lara on June 1, 2011

in crafty,decor

How could I have not gone to Quilting Adventures before? Holy hell their fabric selection is amazing! I could’ve taken pics of a hundred awesome fabrics but these jumped out at me in the few minutes I breezed through the store in a rush.

Now I need to make up my mind and make a big square pillow for my bed! Help me decide!

{ 14 comments }

pinwheels

by Lara on May 23, 2011

in decor

Ever since I did that painting for my living room, I’ve been seeing the same design all over the web.

my painting

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LaDiff

by Lara on April 30, 2011

in decor

In my town, when you want modern furniture, the only large selection in Richmond is LaDifference. EQ3 used to be here but closed. IKEA is over an hour away although I hear rumors of one coming closer to Richmond in the next year.

We’re still on a sofa hunt. I don’t think the friend at the furniture store is going to be able to find something in our style where she works. We went to LaDiff today and sat on everything. There’s always that problem of form over comfort. We want something streamlined but today, in our butt testing, they weren’t all that comfy.

We fell in love with this sectional but it’s too large and they don’t make it in just a sofa without the chaise. It’s exactly what we want if only…

I adore this sofa. Super expensive and not something you want to curl up and watch a movie on:

Sofa hunting was a big disappointment so, we browsed around and I took some pics.

plastic but a great diy idea for any old chair

so many colorful chairs

fell in love with this acrylic side table!

always a goofball

 

{ 12 comments }

living room overhaul

by Lara on April 27, 2011

in decor

The living room has been getting a bit of a boost this past week with that orange chair and painting.

We really haven’t done anything to the room in 2 years.

When the bf and I moved in together he had 1/2 the living room covered (electronics and neat boxy Korean chests that they sit on). My mom let us have her old glass top coffee table from her ultra mod apartment in the 70s. She also gave us the dark green sofa she got for the computer room at her house since it never really got used.

The coffee table is too small and has no storage. It’s constantly cluttered.

The sofa just isn’t our style. I tried a chocolate microsuede slipcover but it was a major pain in the ass.

A friend of ours who just got a job at a nice furniture store came by last night. She has access to tons of catalogs and took some measurements. We talked about what we’re looking for and learned about durable easy-clean leather and all sorts of furniture biz stuff.

We want something in this style (this one’s from LaDiff) without the LaDiff price and hopefully in a cream leather. Honestly, this may take a while to save up for if she can’t hook us up with a killer deal.

We also ordered a coffee table from Overstock last night:

The coffee table we have will end up being the side table to the orange chair I got, until we find something fantastic.

This little table is killing me:

I’m also digging this for a cheap fix:

So that’s how I spent my evening last night, agonizing over the living room.

Oh! I also got to take a pit bull for a run around the neighborhood. I lived with one for a year and a ton of my friends have had them and still rescue them. They’re wonderful and get such a bum rap. If I had I dog, I would be in the best shape ever. There’s something  magical about running with one, keeping up so the leash is slack. Sigh.

Such a good dog. There’s a small corner of our current coffee table!

 

{ 8 comments }

copycat

by Lara on April 25, 2011

in art

 

It’s been a while since I’ve painted anything for the apartment. I got pretty burnt out this time last year, doing 3 paintings in a row. (here and here)

This design by Matt Moore has been in my inspiration folder for forever. I had a huge empty wall in my living room that needed something big and bold.

Every time I went to a craft store, I hoped to score a deal on a big square canvas but nothing was panning out. Squares are kinda hard to come by. I finally ordered a 30″ x 30″ canvas from Dick Blick and after shipping, it came out around $24. I would’ve liked one even bigger but this will do just fine.

Just placing the order was intimidating. It means you. have. to. do. this.

I had about a week of waiting to get psyched up. It finally arrived on April 18th and I immediately mapped out the lines. No measurements. Just found the burst point and eyed it.

I really like the color scheme of the original so, I stuck with that and wrote down in each section what color to use. I wasn’t planning on buying any additional paint (but did end up getting 3 extras) so, I got it as close as possible with what I already had.

Here are some crappy progress pics. Of course, it would’ve been great to use my real camera and make a lil gif but that never happened.

day 2

day 5

day 6

day 7 (7 stripes to go!)

I really kicked it into high gear over Easter weekend while the bf was out of town. I don’t use an easel and instead hunch over the painting, canvas in lap on my bed or sofa, getting paint out of the bottle cap, turning it around as needed. My back was pretty much killing me.

The entire painting was done with a 1/4″ Loew Cornell angle shader and random craft acrylics and enamel paints I had.

Here it is all done!!!    $27 and a week of my free time!

Oh yeah, I got that chair at Goodwill for $10 last week!

Being a perfectionist, I can see some tiny things I want to clean up but, I’ll take care of that in a day or two. I’ve had it and I’m DONE!

Here’s a post I did a while back to help you on your own painting!

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more color

by Lara on April 21, 2011

in decor

I need more splashes of bright color in my life:

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Marie Olsson Nylander

Maria Grossman

My 30″ x 30″ canvas finally arrived!!! I’m recreating this Matt Moore painting for an empty wall in my living room! From  just using the paint I have, it’s coming out pretty close . I also plan on doing some of the grey stripes in metallic silver.

 

 

{ 2 comments }

pale

by Lara on March 27, 2011

in decor,fashion

Kaufmanfranco

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ACNE

Atoll daybed via

Prabal Gurung

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+ & –

by Lara on March 15, 2011

in + & -

 

  • Hey guys! I started a Tumblr. I have no idea what I’m doing and there’s not much on it right now but it will be an extension of this blog… an image dump of pretty things.
  • My little apartment suits me just fine but, I would love a spare bedroom, a half bath and this:

via

  • So, what kind of eyes do you have? Apparently, I have “hooded eyes”. Who knew? Well, I always knew that I couldn’t do the bold shaded crease with shadow because my crease is really low as opposed to being right under the brow bone but I never knew there was a term for that. It’s more prominent in Asian people and when I brought it up to my bf, he was like “Oh yeah, it’s one of the first things I noticed about you!” Hilarious.

  • I do most of my baking from scratch but one of my favorite super quick mixes is Krusteaz Cinnamon Crumb Cake. It is a no-brainer. All you need is a square glass pan, 2/3 cup of water and 1 egg + 40 minutes in the oven. It’s great hot or room temp and the crumb part has a touch of salt. We polish off a pan of this in a day. Perfect for unexpected guests!

  • Next Wednesday is my 32nd birthday. I still have to take care of my mom so, we’ll have lunch and she of course let me pick out a few things (3 tops, those sandals, and I got super-exciting dental stuff: Waterpik, new heads for my Sonicare, and a 1-hour whitening kit. Actually, I’m really excited about that stuff!) I’ve been begging the bf for a low-key evening – no presents from him, a casual dinner and crème brûlée at Can Can… maybe a movie on the couch when we get home. Sounds perfect!

 

 

  • I’ve been so consumed with recovering from this damned cold and absorbing all that’s going on in Japan that I don’t have much to talk about this week. I will comment on people’s opportunism in light of a tragedy. I’m not particularly bothered by people selling art prints and the like with proceeds going to relief efforts. I mean, people are just doing what they do and taking a hit on their own profit – but where’s the proof the money actually gets donated? What really bothers me is the “like” this on Facebook and we’ll donate money, reblog on Tumblr, RT on Twitter. It’s all based on an online identity getting more exposure. The money is already there. Just donate it and be done with it. Do you really need 100,000 pats on the back before you’ll give?

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