Tag: apartment life

Rain & Records

So the song goes, “it never rains in Southern California.” Not true! This winter has been much rainier than usual for San Diego–at least it seems that way compared to what I am used to. I am thankful for it because I love having lush, green plants outside year-round.

A rainy day like this one is the perfect opportunity to stay in pajamas as long as possible, drink many cups of hot coffee and listen to records. Oh, and practice a little bit of low-light, moody photography.

Listening to Records

We were lucky enough to receive a turntable from Doug’s parents for Christmas. It has been so great to listen to records again–our other players (Crosley) both went kaput last winter! It took a little rearranging, but we hooked it up to my stereo (that I got when I turned sixteen??!) and the whole system has a spot in the heart of our living/dining area. In case you were curious–both units, as well as our TV and PS3 are all Sony. What can I say? We haven’t been disappointed (knock on wood) so we stick with a brand we trust.

Listening to Records

We have a small but well-selected collection of old and new records–lots of U2 and most of Led Zeppelin’s albums! We scaled down our collection a lot when we moved–parting with some gems to a local thrift store–because records are heavy!!

For us, it is “Monday” (Doug’s days off are Wednesday and Thursday) so I plan on getting some cleaning done and shooting more of the apartment this weekend. It won’t be long until you can see some whole room shots. I’ve been cropping the mess and unfinished bits out ever since moving in, but I think I’m finally ready to reveal our main living space!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. What are some of your favorite albums? I could listen to the one pictured, Attack and Release, over and over all day long!

Faking a Sofa Table

Sometimes you have awkwardly large items you need to store, and no place to do so. In our case, two large speakers and two bar stools. Where to put them? One option is to get rid of them, but I really, really love these bar-height stools and look forward to using them in a future home, once we’ve moved on from our current apartment. The speakers will be cool when hooked up to a turntable someday (unfortunately, the turntable we have does not have any output capabilities except the speakers in its unit) so we’re holding on to those for the future as well.

That said, when you’re dealing with just over 800 square feet, every space must be maximized to its full potential. There is no spare bedroom, basement, or garage to hoard items in–which is quite the learning curve for my since the last place we lived had all three of those hoarding storage solutions.

I really (really, really, really) like the console table that John built to go behind the Petersik’s sofa in the living room over on Young House Love. It has a ton of hidden storage and adds a lot of dimension to the room. I thought perhaps I could take a clue from that and come up with some kind of storage/hiding place solution in our apartment! All it took was a little brainstorming and one pre-finished shelf board at Home Depot.

I love the look that a sofa table adds to a room. It gives the space much more dimension than just having the couch shoved up against the wall and in the corner.

The finished product:

The untrained eye would never guess what is going on behind the couch! It is a fantastic place to keep some of my more attractive (and more frequently thumbed-through) design books, a few pretty tchotchkes, and a much-needed lamp. It also provides an alternative place to put snacks and drinks while watching TV, since the coffee table is simply too dog-accessible.

And a peek behind the curtain:

The cloth runner (from Target) is up there for two reasons: a) it looks pretty, and b) the shelf board is a little shorter than I like so this hides that awkward fact pretty well.

If I ever get around to it, another shelf board slid on to the lower bar stool rungs will be a great addition for a little bit more concealed storage.

And a bonus shot, with a little explanation:

I realize I never showed the world the back of the couch cushions! When we purchased the gray microsuede for our upholstery, it was a remnant and about a yard short of the needed amount to cover all the cushions. We went ahead and selected an inexpensive contrasting canvas printed with french postmark stamps (I think?) to make up the difference. So far we have been able to arrange the furniture so that it remains hidden.

Now you know our (not so dirty) little secret! Have you ever gotten creative with something like this? I bet they do a lot of creative “faking it” for furniture on TV and movie sets, don’t you?

Space Planning

Space planning is really, really key when it comes to maximizing your apartment’s square footage, especially when living in a small space (mine is around 840 square feet. I’m not complaining; it really could be smaller). The point of the following ramble is to show you that you don’t need to follow “the rules” when it comes to placing the layout of your space!

  • If you entertain a lot, and don’t even own a TV, you will be devoting much more space to a dining area–possibly to seat 6-8! (Most apartments seem to be designed to seat around 4 comfortably.)
  • If you are clueless in the kitchen and eat out every meal, why bother with a dining room table? A bar stool at your counter for morning cereal and coffee might be all you need.
  • If you live alone and really, really need a dedicated office space, consider using a daybed in the living room and turning the bedroom into a mega-productive office.

Those are just a few examples I could come up with off the top of my head. Don’t let yourself be limited by where items “should” be!

A while ago, I shared the floor plan that my complex’s pamphlet assumed I would go with but just for refresher, here it is, including my notes for where I planned on placing furniture. Note: My unit is the reverse of this, but you get the picture.

As you can see, “they” assumed that the dining area would go right outside the kitchen. Unfortunately, for me, plunking down a table and chairs in the intended dining area would cause a major obstruction to the flow of traffic. Instead I’ve got my dresser sideboard, desk, and china cabinet blocked in around the perimeter, and the major floor space open to lead nicely into the living/dining space.

Above is a quick little floor plan I threw together on floorplanner.com to show you how things are really goin’ down around here. As you can see, the living and dining spaces are side-by-side at the back of the unit, with the “extra” area serving triple purpose of entryway, office, and storage.

Here’s a tip: Online floor planners are fabulous tools, but on many of them, if you don’t have a paid account (I don’t), you can only do one space at a time. Also, their selection for furnishings is very limited (as you can see) but overall I love these tools for doing virtual re-arrangements (so I don’t go and move around all my heavy furniture only to discover that I hate it). 

Here’s my fancy “flow of traffic” arrow. Isn’t it nice that there’s no real need to go around anything to get to the back of the unit–where most of the socializing and hanging out would occur anyway? this arrangement is totally my jam.

Here’s a tip to be filed in the “do as I say, not as I do” category. In order to NOT waste your time, measure stuff. See the plan above? Totally eyeballed. Since I do live in my space, I know approximately how big things are, how far away from the wall stuff is, etc. If you want to get the most benefit from your space planning, please measure your space, then measure your furniture items. Floorplanner.com (and most other online floor planners) will have an option for you to change the size of everything, down to the inch. 

Remember my three imagined scenarios from the beginning? Well, using much of the same furniture, I came up with alternate-reality versions of my apartment.

The entertainer who has no TV: the focus here is really on the dining area, which seats 8. 

The TV fanatic who doesn’t cook: movie nights will be epic with the addition of another couch, and added shelving provides storage for a huge movie collection. Note the folding table for one.

Turn the bedroom into an office: Slip the bed behind a couple of folding screens and create a “bedroom” where there was previously open space.