Loving that craftiness

So while I have finally settled in to my apartment (although it would be that much more wonderful if Grant was here, but I digress), I have set about fine tuning the things that will make it more beautiful to me. I absolutely love coming home to a clean apartment, but there are a few things missing.

So here is the dining room as we last saw it:

I'm still not sold on it, but it's okay for now. I need to fill my photo collage divider as right now it just has the factory brown inserts. I really would like to add in some stools for the counter there on the left, and maybe once I do that, I'll be able to rearrange the whole dining room to a more appealing layout. I also need some things to fill the walls. Maybe I'll create something tonight or tomorrow for that, and then I'll submit that with my photos that I want printed for the stand.

Second, I have my living room portion that I love, but it still needs work. Now because the apartment is only temporary, and we'll be purchasing a house next year sometime, I don't want to buy too many things that may not fit in there. However, I hate my curtains. They're brown and ugly, and I want something to brighten the room. Since I have white walls, I've decided to go ahead and try and find red curtains. Yeah, that's not easy.

I did stumble upon this wonderful fabric site: Kitty Craft. I adore almost all of the fabrics, and who wouldn't with such cute stuff as this:I think I've decided on this one though:
I think the freshness of the design and the red will be perfect, but I'm still hesitant to purchase unless there is truly a red fabric that I like with some sort of design. Maybe I will wait a week, and

Declutter

Every time we move it helps us to gain perspective and remove a bunch of the items we no longer need or use, and part of this move and the new year I have decided to get rid of 100 items. I'm donating several bags of clothes, and then I'll auction some off at Mompack Auctions. Anything that doesn't sell I'll donate as well.

I also hung up several of our photos (some of my favorites) on the wall behind the couch today. I'm not really sold on it. There's also a lot of white space, and I am just not sure yet. I also hung them with red ribbon, and I'm not sure about that yet either. Here's a general photo without any other furniture. I should have some apartment photos up here in a few days.

Hmmm...I'm just not sure yet. I still need to find some cloth to sew pillow covers for the couch pillows. I think that will add some more color to the room, too.

Conversation pieces

I absolutely love weird, cool things that you find and put into your home. When you see someone's home or visit, I always wonder who picked what, what does that piece reflect about them, why did they choose that? Some things are cool looking, some are an interest, some have sentimental value.

When we moved to North Carolina I received a lot of furniture that had been other family members that were in excellent condition. A few of those items include two end tables and a coffee table that was my great grandmother's from the 1950's. They look like I just brought them brand new, and I love them to pieces. The coffee table is something I'm working on because it needs a need glass plate for the top, but I will hopefully have it in working order by February. Here are some photos of how the end table looks. I'm hoping to have more photos by next weekend of the apartment once the sofa comes in, and I finish moving things around to the places I like.

Dishes, Sofas, and packing

While Grant purchased these absolutely gorgeous plates and serving dishes from Japan last year, we are need of actual every day dishes. We had these wonderful glass plates and bowls, but alas, they did not last. They cracked and chipped, and then I threw them away and donated the ones that lasted. I made a drastic different purchase of plates tonight. They're black and more of a rounded square. The bowls are "squarish", and so are the cups. They're quirky, and I like them.

I only purchased a set of four, because I found a different style that are red and black. I think I'm going to get that set, too, and mix them. I love them both. I'll post pictures once I move in and open the box. As of right now though, they're going to stay in the box until I move.

Hopefully all of the paperwork will be complete by Tuesday, and I can move in on Wednesday. That would be wonderful. That also means I need to get a move on with packing everything .

Also, after thinking through everything. I have decided I don't have to have a sectional sofa with a chaise, so I'm going to get a regular sofa in white. Then later purchase a separate chaise to go with it. I think the original sofa we had chosen, well, I was falling out of love with. Something simple, but comfortable where I could maybe update the pillows some would be perfect. I am on the hunt now!

Sofa

So while Grant was here we went sofa shopping and decided on one that we both liked. I think when I actually purchase it I will do some updating to the pillows in comes with. I think I will use some sort of funky red fabric to cover them with to tie in with the red that I like.
At first I wasn't sure about the couch, but the more I look at it the more I like it. Plus Grant liked it when he sat on it, so that did make it better. Plus I love the chaise at the end.