unveiling

My shelving units are finally put together! I was freaking out on Monday

because we got a notice for our annual inspection, and the whole apartment looked like this :

So, we got to work, and after a couple hours and some sweat (no blood, almost tears) the dining room looked like this:

And the living room looked like this..... (sorry, this picture is a lil blurry....)

Which I will be doing something about today.

I'm utterly delighted! It looks so great, every time I walk in there I get so excited I squeak with joy. Ok not really (out loud), but I am very happy with it. It's not fully completed, I don't have everything arranged just the way I want it yet. I also discovered that we don't have enough stuff to fill every shelf, which made my husband happy because it gives him an excuse to but more books. Men... I'm happy to have finally done! Now on to the living room- putting the coffee table together, dismantling the desk, getting rid of the mis-matched brown shelf, decluttering some more.

ps- the tears were because my husband was a little hammer happy trying to get the pegs in, and he banged it a little in a couple places. Luckily they aren't visible. I finally got the idea to put a blanked over the area to be hammered, and that kept everything pretty safe. So if you are ever putting together stubborn ikea furniture, keep the blanket trick in mind!

woo hoo!

Tomorrow I will show you pictures of my new dining room!

Yes, that's right....we finally got it all up! We actually did it Monday, but we had to get it done because we were having our annual apartment inspections this week (today) and our apartment looked like an isolated natural disaster had happened, so we had to work like mad to get it all put together and put everything on it and do major cleaning. But i will tell you, it looks fantastic!

I'm so excited!

do you ever....

listen to a song and find yourself listening to that song for the rest of the week or month? as i was cleaning the other day i found and listened to a carpenter's album, and now my song of the week is "rainy days and mondays." i know it's a tad depressing, but i love it because of this line:

Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do

Run and find the one who loves me.

What I feel has come and gone before

No need to talk it out

We know what it's all about

so true... do you ever feel that way? this happens to me from time to time, i just feel bleh for no reason. nothing is really wrong, i just feel out of place, lost, bored.

whenever that feeling comes over me like a wave i just have to say to my husband "i'm feeling melancholy." he knows exactly how i feel. he gives me a hug and lets me cry if i need to. the only thing i can do is run and find the one who loves me. we don't need to say anything, we know what it's all about.

today was one of those days. but it wasn't rainy, and it's not monday... just one of those days.

i wish....

....i could do this.

by Yuken Teruya via design*sponge

bathroom window makeover, and a lampshade

Today I went crafty crazy in the bedroom/bathroom.

I have been wanting to do a candlescape in the bathroom for a while, and I finally found some brown candles I like (2$ at tjmaxx!). Everything else I had on hand, glass tray, beads, other candle and soap dish (yes, it can be used for candles!).

I then decided the window needed something, and remembered a skirt I had that was a little small on me. It had brown embroidery along the botton (my bathroon is brown & cream) so I cut it up and made it into a curtain! I had a curtain rod leftover from my college dorm I just knew I would use someday, guess I was right! The skirt was white linen, so I brewed some strong tea and stained it to make it “creamier”. It’s a little crooked up there, but by the time it was done I didn’t care.

I still can't get over the fact that my skirt is now a curtain....ha!

On to the bedroom!

We also got a new comforter cover at IKEA. The one we had was a queen size that didn't fit our IKEA full/queen comforter (can you tell we love IKEA? We do) and it drove me crazy because it was so big and annoying....gah! I was getting a little bored with it anyway. The comforter we picked is a totally different direction form where I was going. I originally wanted the bedroom in light dreamy blues and greens that evoked a serene spa, but settled on a black&white pattern, which goes better with the painting over the bad. I decided I want to incorporate green accents into the mix. I have recently become slightly obsessed with the color of the tazo the green ginger tea bag. I LOVE that color, I want my life to be that color! So I first decided to change the lampshade. I was going to but a new one, but then I remembered I had some silky fabric in the exact color!! How perfect, right?! And soo much cheaper!

I got my glue gun and glued it down, then bagan making random pleats along the shade.

Because it’s sheer, the pattern shows through. Now I have a little bit of that color in my room! My next quest will be to find some pillowcases in that same color.

Total cost for both of these makeovers? two dollars! Just for the candles! I love using what I already have on hand to revamp something!

New bedspread!

>>>>>>

The Makeover Commennces

Even though we only got new furniture for the living area, I find myself thinking of new ways to make over every other room in the apartment. There is still a bit of clutter and homeless objects from when we moved [over a year ago] in that I am hoping to eliminate, and finally create a cohesive space that we can enjoy and be comfortable in.

As we have not even opened the IKEA boxes, it's a little hard to get at revamping the place. The main reason is because my husband goes to school and works all day, and he's the one that's going to be putting it together. All I've done so far is clear one bookshelf. Needless to say, our living area looks like a disaster zone....

I will be sharing my makeovers with you later :)

100 things we didn't know last year

From the BBC, still entertaining and illuminating! 100 Things we didn't know last year.

cutesy things

I'm sort of a big fan of cutesy stuff. my husband just got me this adorable passport cover. And as I'm going to be re-decorating the apartment, I've been on the lookout for new accessories (as if I don't already have enough stuff...) because in my book, a change in furniture arrangement requires the need for new fun home accessories! So today I stumbled upon the cutest website, plasticland, and found 2 goodies I will be adding to my "dream" list:

This clock would be so awesome in the dining area!

This birdcage memo holder would be perfect right next to the door. I think I might have to figure out a way to recreate it...

Life is Good

My Christmas was wonderful. I got to see my family that lives in Chicago. We had a wonderful "first" Christmas. Then Ez and I had our own little Christmas time, then we were lucky enough to get off work and spend Christmas with my husband's family. We got to see "A Christmas Carol" which was super fun. I got everything I wanted, and got money to get get my "wish-list" things (flat iron! black skirt!)

My birthday is the 29th, and anyone whose birthday is close to Christmas knows what that's like...;) I wanted to go out to lunch at IKEA for my birthday (don't judge me, I know what I want!) But Ez had to work all day that day, so we wer

e going to go the day after but ended up going the day before. We had been wanting some new furniture, a bookshelf and coffee table, and got a gift card (yay!) But when we bot there, Ez decided we should just go ahead and make our whole dining room wall a wall of books. I love my husband. So we decided to put all of our Christmas money together, and we are so excited about rearranging our apartment! I'm totally thrilled!!!

Then, on my actual birthday, we planned to go out for Thai when Ez got home, but it snowed! And when it snows here, people freak out and forget how to live. So my poor husband had to walk home and didn't get home till 9!! So, no birthday dinner....I'm not gonna lie, I was a little upset.... But he took me back to Ikea the next day for breakfast and to get the rest of our furniture, and then out for my birthday date that night. AND he got me a new camera!!! I love my husband so much, he always makes me feel so special and loved :)

Hope your holidays were wonderful and your new year is everything you want and more!!