Well, we are in! It’s been exactly a month since we moved everything in and we LOVE. IT. It’s definitely a different type of space in here than our last place, but it’s a welcome change! The last place, boy what a mess it was. I’m so glad to be finished with that! We have some minor storage issues here, since we don’t have an attic or extra room anymore to store things in – but we are making due just fine! Obviously the first part of the home to really get settled into was the living room, so I thought I’d share some photos from that area. I can’t seem to find my camera cord, so iPhone photos’ll have to do for now!

We definitely have a ways to go, but we finally have a dining area! No more sitting in front of the tv on the couch to eat dinner!

From the kitchen, the dining area and the living area are seen. I need to stop calling them living room and dining room, because, well.. it’s one big room. :)

We went with the Meltorp dining table from Ikea, and metal chairs from Overstock. Love the combo. The photo wall has made it’s debut – the idea is to continue it over the tv as we gather more frames. The red table was in my dressing room at the last place, and I’m thinking I’ll cover it with contact paper in either white, or wood grain to take the harsh red out of the room. I’ve never been a big red fan and it clashes with the tv stand right now.

We have a serious bird problem. Now that all our art is basically in one room instead of spread out, it’s kinda ridiculous. Counting all those orange birds, I think I counted 26 in this space (including the salt and pepper shakers and the art on the photo wall). Crazy. We still need to figure out what to do with that space above the couch. I’m thinking the placement of this art may change here soon. Not loving the placement of the vertical bird prints.

And from the couch you can get a better view of the dining area. I really love the chairs and table. But that red really needs to go. :(

Kira is adjusting fairly well. We are on the first floor and the street is fairly busy, so the reflections from the cars throws lights all over the apartment and keeps her running around. Maybe she’ll lose a pound or two, hehe.

We are currently working on the den/office and the bedroom is getting there as well. I think we are planning to keep the walls the color they are. They aren’t dirty looking, but are a slight off-white color that doesn’t bother me. Gasp, I know.

Can’t wait to share more as we continue to turn this little white box into our home. I’ve already been told it ‘looks like Laura lives there’. Good! :)

I’m feeling bold and colorful today with the relaunch of the blog, and Carlos Miranda is doing nothing but egging me on. How rude.

I know you’ve enjoyed those photos, but did I mention I refreshed the blog? Oh I did? Well come to the site and check it out, I’m loving it! I’ve added categories up top for all my favorite areas and now that I see there aren’t many posts in each topic, maybe I’ll actually post more! :) I designed it myself, so I’d love to know what you think!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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All photos from Carlo Miranda’s portfolio website.

This space wasn’t horrible, at least not in this photo. But the table was way too big and the whole space felt a bit cramped! So we ended up getting the Smart Round Marble coffee table from CB2:

And it’s fitting quite nicely! Kira especially loves it, though normally she hangs out underneath of it.

But we had to show the table up and get something else. I’ve been watching craigslist every day waiting for the right moment to pounce and then BAM! There it was! I hustled to contact the seller, and after a few hours finally got in touch with him – but oh no! Someone else wanted it! I puppy-dog-eyed the boyfriend and we were on our way to swoop in and nab it. So I guess this is where I should say, if you are the other person that was interested in this:

I’m sorry.

I wanted something with plenty of storage, modern lines and maybe something that made it a bit different. I think these will do the trick.

I think the new coffee table and the new (old) tv unit will play nicely together..

What do you think? We are absolutely in love with the storage it’s giving us. Plenty of room to hide away the DVD player, DVR and Wii; hold all of the DVDs we never watch and the Wii games we have. Plus, since the new coffee table doesn’t have a place for storing remotes, we have those drawers at the top to wrangle all those odds and ends. :)

I’m quite excited. :)

We got this sweet pillow at the Crate and Barrel outlet in Alexandria — I love it because of the different colors — makes it easy to change things up. :)

Over the Holidays I was given this book — It’s been on my wishlist for awhile, it’s got a ton of eye-candy in it, maybe one day I’ll scan some photos of my favorite spaces. Makes me realize I need to get to the Mid-West or West coast in order to get the type of home I one day would like. Or, build it. Haha.

Finally, there’s this cute little candle I got at Target on a whim for only $6 last weekend. I love the pattern and the warm yellow glow. I’m going to be said when it burns out. :(

Any fun finds for you recently?

From this view, it doesn’t look like it’s TOO bad, but that space between the chaise and the end of the table is only about 7 inches. That makes it really hard to get around the table to the chaise, and frankly, it makes the whole room feel cramped!

From a different angle:

See? Way. Too. Big. So, despite just getting the table in September, it looks like it’s off to craigslist for a reduced price (sigh…) and in with something more for the space. Our choice? The Smart Round Marble table from CB2.

We had a few considerations, and despite this not having hidden storage like our current table does (you know, for all those pesky remotes), we wanted something that would be timeless, durable and of a decent size without being too bulky. Comments from owners have said that it’s very heavy Carrara-style marble with sleek chrome legs look great. It’s got a 4.9 out of 5 reviews (and based on the one or two that were 4, it wasn’t really anything that kept it from a 5) so it’s gotta be good.

We’ll see; delivery is scheduled for this coming Friday, so here’s hoping it meets – nay – exceeds our expectations.

Any stories out there of furniture you’ve bought only to have to replace something else due to style, color or size? I feel like we’re playing musical furniture around here!

Empty. Our living room is echoing. Kira is freaking out because everything that has her scent on it is GOING AWAY OMG. We’ve just spent almost all day at Ikea. Well, traveling to and from BOTH Ikea Woodbridge and College Park. But we have a couch! Well.. Actually as of this moment, we don’t have a couch. We donated the purple one this morning, and the new one will be here tomorrow morning. Happy New Year’s to us, eh?

But! New couch! We decided to go with the Kivik loveseat + chaise in Teno grey. It’s a great, tweedy fabric that kind of matches our walls. At any rate, it will be nice to have something that 1) isn’t purple and 2) is big enough for both of us.

Oh, and that chair up there? Yea. The Bertoia chairs, while fun to look at, were totally impractical, and we had NO room for them to just sit pretty. During my constant craigslist searching, I came upon this curb-side wonder. We ran out, looked for it, and voila! In our home! A little WD-40 and a quick wipe down and she’s basically new! A bit wobbly still, but much better than the uncomfortable Bertoias.

So with that, I bid you a Happy New Year. Since we’re couchless, we’ll be spending the evening watching Star Wars: IV and V in bed. Daring, I know. ;)

Happy New Year, all. See you next year: new year, new couch. New lots of stuff!

Our choice was originally the Karlstad from Ikea, but we’ve since tried out the Kivik (pronounced ‘shee-vek’), which is lower, loungier, and chunkier — which is great for the cat that likes to perch on the arms, and the boyfriend who is 6’7″. Part of me still kind of wants the Karlstad, for it’s mid-century lines, but I’m finding that our styles are forming a more eclectic combined style, which requires not going all in one direction.

The chevron rug we had in the living room has made it’s way up to the bedroom because of all the foot traffic we get in the living room. Since it’s right off the front door, it had seen better days.

I picked up some acrylic nesting tables from CB2 which are going to work nicely with the low couch, and we bought the coffee table you see there, the Stockholm, from Ikea a couple months ago.

But back to the rug situation! As of right now, we’re looking pretty bare! The coffee table is kind of blending in with the floors right now, and it’s driving me nuts! We’re thinking something more traditional, like shown here. Most ‘oriental’ rugs are heavier in red tones, but I’ve been considering something more blue. I suppose we will see as we near that step, perhaps next week I’ll collect some photos of traditional rugs in modern settings to share.

Until then, wish me luck as we donate the purple couch (it was never brown, Ikea!) to the Salvation Army and pick up the new couch this weekend! Until then!

Perfect. It’s modern, it’s eclectic, it’s soothing, it’s bright.

And the silly portrait doesn’t hurt. ;)

via d*s

The flow is so much better, but now we have a big empty wall where the tv stand used to be. My idea’s are ever-changing, but I have a rough concept of what I’m going for. I’d love to have a wall of curated but random photos and things hanging on the wall, but would also love some additional storage. I was really inspired by this relatively cheap hack of sorts that Anna at D16 came up with.

Anna from D16′s apartment wall.

Anna used Ikea kitchen cabinets to pull this look off! I love it! The fact that it is floating makes the visual space much airier than if it was just a credenza on the floor. This has been in idea in my head for awhile, and seeing her use it shows me exactly how it should look!

While the plan is definitely to move in June, might as well make the space work for us while we’re here right?

So, how you been? :)

ANYWAY — back to the true topic at hand — PURCHASES! For once I was the small ticket spender, leaving after only spending about $40. There were a few things that have been on my radar from Ikea over the last few months, and I used this time — the time of no big purchases for me — to go ahead and stock up on a few accessories!

Most of these accessories have found their home in my dressing room, which I am in the process of putting together. Eventually I’ll have a post or two regarding that space, but for now, it’s mostly a disaster area! What I do have are a few small pieces that make me smile in the mean time. The new items in the dressing room include a couple of trays and a super-signature vase. The particular vase in question, which I picked up in teal (but also have its three sisters in white) found its home on one of the trays — a sweet little tray with fantastic grey and white stripes on it.

The thing I love the most about these stripes is they aren’t just regular stripes, which I thought at first, but they are a bit irregular, adding a bit of fun and whimsy to the vignette. This tray has found its home on top of my dresser, and the other tray is now living it’s life on my former desk-turned-vanity, holding some of my daily odds and ends.

Those little dots are so darned cute! By the way, it’s kind of hard to see — but isn’t the grain on that desk lovely! Remember how groudy it was before I refinished it! This tray is perfect here because of it’s longer shape — and once I finish painting the walls (you can kind of see on the right side of that picture) it’ll coordinate perfectly!

The last item I picked up was a sheep skin rug! Well, it’s more of a throw, really. At first I placed it on the floor in the living room, but it kinda looked like a dead.. well, sheep. So, because the Bertoia chairs weren’t feelin’ the love lately due to them being uncomfortable, I went ahead and tossed it on there!

Walah! In a fit of never-ending “I gotta change this place around” aka nesting, the chair now sits caddy cornered in front of the bookcase — feels a bit more cozy that way. In fact, the living room has had a few other updates in the last week or two, and I’ll be sharing those with you shortly!

So — can you leave Ikea without spending a dime? That’s right, not even on a tasty cinnamon roll or a yummy frozen yogurt — no meatballs either! When you do go, what do you normally grab up? Accessories, kitchen supplies, plants, or maybe just some tasty Swedish delicacies. I am a sucker for most things Ikea, but I always have to have some meatballs, a hot dog or a frozen yogurt before we hit the road home. Yum!