Category: Apartment Living

The Couch and Table

Friends, I know you have all been dying to hear the full story on the new chartreuse couch and glass dining table. No? What if I bribe you by promising a glamour shot of each?

I love our vintage Danish modern couch, but the basic foam cushions over the wooden frame was hard on the old aching joints after several hours of blogging or watching TV. The easy solution would be to spend less time on the couch, right? Well… instead, we decided to add a new couch member to the family.

New Couch

Shortly after embarking to save up to $1000 for either a new or vintage couch (one with tufting to soften the number of modern straight lined pieces in the living area), this beaut popped up on Craigslist for $250. We drove over to check it out and loved it instantly! It’s very soft–perfect for naps. I forgot to negotiate down the price, as you should do with Craigslist dealings, but the seller delivered to our apartment for free which is worth much more than the $25 or $50 I probably could have talked him down.

The fabric is very, very high quality and I believe was scotchguarded many years ago so it’s been wearing quite well. The only thing that makes it less than ideal is how low it is–I mean the cushions are low and when you sit down you sink even lower. But it’s not uncomfortable or anything, so I like it.

Chrome Table

As for the chrome and glass table…! The round wooden table we had before technically fit better in our space–round is always a great space-saver. The top was very water damaged and therefore rough on the skin, and it was very crowded for knees underneath. This table is much larger and can accommodate 6 people if we need it to! Coming into possession of this table is one of the reasons I love that my parents never throw anything away. I grew up with it! I have vivid memories of my mom asking me to Windex this as one of my chores in elementary school. I used to be such a drama queen about it… coughing and hacking as if the ammonia scent was going to kill me (I really did think it would). I still don’t love Windexing but I do love the gleam of the clean tabletop.

Someday, I’ll even buy four matching chairs to go under it! I know, I know… dream big!

The Ole Switcheroo

As I mentioned back in March (yikes!) the apartment is now home to a new-to-us sofa and dining room table. To accommodate these new items, our space plan got totally changed up and we lived with it for a while (three months!) tweaking here and there, until landing on a layout that mostly felt right. But something was off. Lazily, I had never changed up the arrangement of  any of our art pieces after moving around the large furniture.

Anyway, if you remember, our sitting area was at the back right of the apartment, and the dining area was at the back left. Those spaces have now been flip-flopped. Here’s a wide shot to give you an idea, and, spoiler alert–the new art arrangement too:

Switcheroo

A few nights ago, we rearranged almost ALL of the art in the apartment and while we’re a couple steps away from being done, I can say that adding art in the right places can help a furniture arrangement feel more purposeful and make your place feel more like home.

Before hanging art

Before we moved these pieces to the TV wall, the white wall combined with white shelves looked “blah.”

After hanging art

Now, the focal point is more anchored.

After moving the couch and secret console-table-slash-storage-space, the tall art almost seemed too tall.

Dining area art

Layering my favorite empty gold frame with this pretty painting made by my great-great aunt in the 30s adds color, and by hanging horizontally, balances out the lamp and the eiffel tower. I love seeing the gleaming gold frames when I come through the front door.

So now, the gray couch lives in the office “slash” extended entryway. It creates a great little place to sit and put on/take off shoes, read a book or magazine, or to chat with whoever is using the computer at the time. Mosey also loves rearranging the throw pillows so he can take a nap there. It wasn’t replaced by the green couch per se, just relieved of some of its use!

Switcheroo 2

It was kind of sad to see the gallery wall go, but I was just craving simplicity. (In all truth–we were thisclose to hanging Doug’s bike there but the wall couldn’t support it). I don’t know what I’ll hang above the gray couch now, but at the moment I’m strangely feeling okay with the empty space.

When I get antsy and obsessively peruse craigslist to find out what other apartments are out there, I must rearrange my current space to satiate my need for change… Which is exactly what I did. Now it (kinda sorta) seems like a new place! So, what do you think? 

An aside: It’s a pet peeve of mine when bloggers apologize for their crummy images, especially “sorry for the iPhone photos!” But… I truly have to gripe about the photos in this post. Getting shots of this part of the apartment is murder, since the only light source is the sliding patio door, so every image is either way underexposed (and therefore grainy) or too blown out to make sense. So even though I used my fancy camera, I can’t help but shake my head at these pics, simply because I know I can and should do better. Now you know.

Coffee Talk Epilogue: Nespresso

Last February I shared a three-part series detailing my experiments with at-home coffee making… without using a standard Mr. Coffee. If you missed them, make sure to check out my tips and tricks for a French Press, Mokapot, and Pour-Over!

Have you heard of Nespresso? It’s a capsule-based espresso system. Their commercials here in the US feature Penelope Cruz, but internationally George Clooney is their spokesman.

(Bonus points if you recognized “Nora” from How I Met Your Mother)

I have a quick epilogue to add to my coffee conversation! My kitchen has a new little addition to it. I sell Nespresso machines at work and well… you can see, I’ve sold myself on it!

Nespresso

My machine is the budget-priced Essenza, but my favorite machine is the cute and user-friendly Pixie. 

Espresso is a different animal than coffee is: its flavor comes from water forced through a tightly packed shot at a high temperature and high pressure. That’s why the flavor is so intense and most espresso shots are only 1 to 2 ounces. When you order a latte at Starbucks, it’s normally two small shots added to steamed milk. Think–you’re really paying $3+ for four ounces of coffee!

Nothing against grabbing a latte out with friends–I love meeting up at a coffee shop with people. It’s grabbing a quick latte every day before work that becomes a big-time money suck. Enter Nespresso: the machines heat up in no time and the flavor options they have available are really delicious… and for 60 cents a shot–it’s much faster and cheaper than going through the Starbucks drive through on the daily.

Nespresso

When I have a lot of time in the morning, or a lot of writing to do and want a massive carafe of coffee that will last for hours, I still default to “normal” style coffee made in my French Press (which I’m getting better and better at making!) When time is of the essence and I want a yummy caffeine fix, my routine is this: prepare my cup with a small spoonful of sugar. I run the capsule through my Nespresso and then finish the cup off with milk. This process takes roughy two minutes–120 seconds!

I’m not getting paid or perked by Nespresso to write this post–Just sharing the technology that’s out there with you all in case you hadn’t heard of these machines and were suffering from paying too much for specialty coffee drinks every day.