Category: At Home

Washi Tape Backspash

Okay, so I painstakingly used up a roll of washi tape from Target today making a “backsplash” for the area under one of my kitchen cabinets.

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(DIY fail) I hate it.

Like I wrote about yesterday, I love the conveniences that come with this apartment, including the on-call maintenance people, the dishwasher, workout room (which I have yet to use) and hot tub (which I use a LOT). However, I have hit a roadblock–for some reason I’m having a hard time embracing the white walls like I did at the old place. I have absolutely no inspiration and my lack of creativity is frustrating me. And I want to blog, but can’t seem to come up with any quality content!

Sorry for such a bummer of a post on a Friday. I guess, file it under “keeping it real?”

Hope you all have a great weekend! I hope it’s not cloudy and rainy tomorrow because I want to spend all morning outside!

Rain, and Confidence

So, the original plan for today was to take pictures of our small balcony to share on the blog, because it is really cute. However, it’s really cloudy and chilly (in the 60s) and won’t even get into the 70s today. Just doesn’t feel like the right time to capture the summery happiness of our little terrace.

Then, as I was catching up on reading the design blogs I’m subscribed to on Bloglovin (follow this blog here), I heard really, really heavy raindrops on the roof. And you know what? For the first time since 2010 I did not wince in nervousness. I didn’t worry about a roof leak at all!

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For those of you who might not be in the know, my first apartment in Kansas (shared with Lisa, then with Doug) had two glorious, magnificent, huge, and leaky skylights. Every Kansas thunderstorm that rolled through had the potential to become a lake in the dining room. Lisa and I got really good at remembering where the drips went and had an elaborate system of towels and kitchenware that we’d employ during those months. Added onto this was the absentee landlord who never really repaired anything. Although he was well aware of the leak, he employed our construction-savvy neighbor to do “band aid” fixes on it that never solved the problem one-hundred percent.

Our second place never actually leaked on us, but next door neighbors had clued us into its leaky history. Luckily, I think the person who my in-laws bought it from had ultimately fixed the leaks once and for all. However, the mystery behind the history of the run-down house always left me a little uneasy, not to mention the shadow I would have felt on my heart if my in-laws had ended up needing to shell out the big bucks for roof repair.

Today, however, was totally different. Not only did the heavy rain pass through in less than five minutes, but I had the confidence in the knowledge that if something had happened, there are two full-time maintenance guys that I could alert to the situation. It is their job to fix things out of control in the complex. My rent helps pay their salary to do that!! What a concept, right?

That, my friends, is why I’m currently A-OK with living in a cookie cutter complex.

Bohemian Direction

I got a great question (from my mom) in the comment section on last week’s State of the Home post.

What kind of vibe are you going for in the new place? Will you keep the eclectic mid-century/urban look, or go for something else?

It has been a real head-scratcher as to why I can’t seem to catch my last place’s mojo and infuse it into the new place. I have the same furniture and the last place had all white walls. Should be easy to translate to an all-white apartment, right?

Wrong.

I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. We just moved in three weeks ago? Anyway I was trying to put my finger on it and I realized a few things.

  1. The old place was oozing architectural details–the fireplace, vaulted ceilings, arched doorways, to name a few.
  2. The old place was broken up in a much more chunky way.
  3. With lots more windows (see #1) there was more opportunity for texture- like lots of different curtains and the bamboo shades.
  4. While I thought the last place was dark (and it was compared to our light-soaked loft apt) this place is even darker! In order to put a positive spin on it, I’m going to call it “moody.”

Instead of clinging to the light and airy eclectic-meets-mid-century-mod feel of the old place (what a mouthful!), I think I need to make a slight shift to the bohemian side of things. Obviously I can’t just ditch all the existing furniture, but I can reuse items in ways that seem more laid-back and incorporate more fabrics–getting more creative than just curtains on windows to add texture, and bring in more aged objects (maps, etc). I live in California now, after all, I should be able to find tons of old hippie cast-offs at area thrift stores.

Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. I have written before about my technique. I do not look for inspiration by searching Pinterest for a key word, nor do I look at old pins, but I look at what I have pinned in the past and what images I am still drawn to even now, a few months or even a year later.

I have a bright white dresser acting as buffet/sideboard–it is the first thing one sees when entering the apartment. Gotta soften that corner somehow. I also have three bright white bookcases now (post coming on those soon!). So the place is leaning a bit towards “mod” at the moment and I need to lean it back toward “boho.” There: a goal has been set.

Images: Please click through for the full tours and much more!

  1. Giovan & Chloe’s Handmade Honeymoon Home on Apartment Therapy
  2. Tommy & Todd’s Bohemian Chic Collection on Apartment Therapy
  3. Michael’s Masculine & Modern Open Studio on Apartment Therapy
  4. Justina Blakeney’s Bohemian Bedroom <$1000 
  5. A room Julianne Moore decorated, photo linked by Emily Henderson

So, in conclusion: 

  • I’m going to fill up the walls.
  • I’m going to find some kind of awesome brass accent.
  • I’m going to dial down the colors a bit from bright to muted.
  • I’m going to hang way more curtains than necessary.
  • I’m going to layer rugs on top of carpet.
  • I’m going to get a plant and try to keep it alive!
  • I’m going to make the open layout work for me not against me!

And with that, I have created myself a compass to look at while making decisions! Do you have a decor compass you use when you’re stumped?