packing up

hullo! i hope you're enjoying the august break posts around here. one of the reasons i decided to participate in this project was so i could devote a bit more of my free time to getting things organized around the ol' apartment so i can begin packing. i'm moving to a rental house in another city (not too far away) in early- to mid-october and if you remember the pictures of my apartment, well... there's just a lot of stuff to sort through. *ahem*

as i clear through my things, i'm setting aside a few items to list in the shop. i'm going to try and go with a bit more of an edited look at the new place. still kitschy and kooky and colorful, but edited kitsch and kook and color, you know? of course that doesn't mean i haven't picked up a few new things for the house.

(source)

i fell in love with rachel's idea for a vintage school desk as a table for a record player (i have the same player), so i've been on the lookout for a similar desk at thrift stores. this past week, i found not one, but two turquoise metal school desks. of course, one was $50 (insanity!) and the other was $20 (much better, but still a little high?). i picked up the less expensive one and i actually really love the shape more than the expensive one.

it's a bit difficult to convey the greatness of the turquoise - it's almost a pearlized metallic bluish-green. it's perfect. i'm not loving the front pink panel, but i think i'll have that side facing the wall.

one of the things i can't wait to do at the new place is create a paint by number wall. nothing too crazy (and definitely no paint by number clowns), but a cohesive grouping of my small, but growing, collection. i found this paint by number at the same thrift shop as my desk and i love it. i'm not too attached to the frame, but i was thinking about spray painting all the frames a matching cream to add a bit of consistency to the grouping. we'll see.

okay, back to packing. have a good weekend!

le apartment // dining room

the last little bit of the apartment of any interest is the dining room. i say dining room, but really. come on. it's more of a hallway. a pass-through zone at most.

i can count the number of times in the nearly four years i've been here that my table has seated more than three people. there's just not enough room.

i inherited my little collapsible/expandable breakfast table from my grandparents and promptly primed and painted it. i wanted mismatched, but similar, chairs in different colors, so i scoured a few thrift stores and got all four (the fourth green chair is in the office) for less than $30. i try to pick up vintage tablecloths at estate sales when i find them (and when they are in fair condition) and this red fruit cloth is one of my favorites.

i love this little gallery space, which is basically an ashleyg wall. i'm quite fond of her babies and bearded men if you couldn't tell. the other fellow up there? my one and only, ricky gervais by elloh. oh, yes, i am that... kooky? we'll call it kooky.

this is the pastel corner, where everything seems a bit more subdued than the rest of the apartment. but there's still a lot of stuff, clearly.

i recently picked up the three pink and the one blue pyrex bowl at my local thrift store. all four pieces in one day and each no more than $3! it was a good trip. thinking about it, i don't think i've paid more than $3 for any of the, uh, collectibles on my cosco cart.

the rest of the cart is basically visible storage: buttons, yarn, vintage silk thread, bar ware, and old linens and tablecloths, etc. i picked up the cart at an estate sale and, after a good cleaning and scrubbing with steel wool, spray painted it sweet pea pink.

the vintage yellow cosco stool was also a great find. i think i paid $2 or $3 for it at a garage sale. keith helped me clean it up and now it's ready for the kitchen (when i have a kitchen big enough for it).

on the wall above cosco corner are various girly bits that i've picked up here and there. i love the floral bird needlepoint (big surprise, right?) and the little glittery bisque animal medallions were a surprise find at an extremely junky and dirty yard sale. they cleaned up nicely and i strung them all on a length of grosgrain ribbon.

the wooden handle linen cross stitch bag was a birthday gift from a sweet friend a few years ago ♥ (oh, man. i need to find better hooks than clear acrylic thumbtacks)

i have two sets of these owl plaques. one set is by my front door and this set perches above my bedroom door. they crack me up.

on the other side of my cosco cart is an antique armoire that i picked up at an auction several years ago for $90. i love the rounded shape and the best part is the inside.

the inside is still outfitted with the original hardware and labels.

in its first life, this armoire was a gentleman's dressing wardrobe. there are labels for collars, shirts, ties, and more. i use the armoire now for craft, fabric, ink, and computer hardware/software/cables storage.

the top of the armoire is used for displaying a few of my vintage cameras, an old check printing machine (picked up purely for the turquoise/aqua color), and other bits and bobs. see that olive green bowl sticking out on the right-hand side? my mom asked me if i was interested in an "old enamel bowl" that she had gotten as a wedding gift in the early 1970s. it's actually a cathrineholm lotus bowl and i love it so.

at the foot of the armoire, i use my grandparents' old traveling cases for more storage. one holds old photographs and one holds all my embroidery supplies.

i picked up this 1960s plastic shell chair at an estate sale and i'm actually having second thoughts. or, more accurately, sinful thoughts because i really want to change the color. it's a bit drab, but i know spray paint would be sacrilege.

so, that's it! i do have a small foyer, a tiny bathroom, and a plain bedroom, but they're all pretty uninteresting. thanks for indulging me in this little project! (and i can guarantee that the apartment is nowhere nearly as clean right now as it was when i snapped these photos. life.)

le apartment // the kitchen

le apartment // living room

le apartment // office

le apartment // living room

first off, thank you so much for all your wonderful and sweet comments on my kitchen post! it's always nice (and reassuring) to receive positive feedback on my kooky sense of style.

today we'll take a peek at the living room. there is a lot (a lot, a lot) of stuff crammed into a tiny space. it's not that i have too much stuff, it's just that i have too small a space. yeah, that's it.

my front door is just to the left of the tv stand/buffet and my office space is just behind the small wall with the mirrors.

this yellow and pink chair is the first piece of furniture i picked up for this apartment. i got it at a local thrift store and because my volunteer at work also volunteers at the thrift store, i got it for $50 instead of $100. it was a haverty's floor sample and is missing one button. i got the needlepoint throw pillow at a garage sale at least ten years ago.

do you recognize the suitcases? i originally left them at a thrift store, but i kept thinking about them and went back to rescue the pair. without consciously knowing so, i've begun to collect ceramic owls.

more thrifted finds! the needlepoint was from the same shopping trip as the suitcases and the daisy plate was from an estate sale a few weeks ago. the print is my attempt at screen printing.

i procured this amazing vintage gooseneck lamp last year from a friend's co-worker who was leaving the country and had to sell most of her possessions. the brass is a tad tarnished (even after rounds and rounds of scrubbing with brasso), but i love its great color and whimsical cattail details.

the larger of the two lady baltimore suitcases is used to display my favorite travel photos: strawberry field (no 's') in liverpool, various beatles stops, and paris.

if i had to choose my favorite vintage needlepoint in my apartment, this psychedelic lady would be it. this is another case of oh, i'm not sure if i love it or hate it, so i'll just leave it thrift store mentality. i obviously came to my senses and went back and rescued it -- and it was 50% off when i went back, so hurrah!

the bunting over the window was made with recycled felted wool sweaters and binding fabric. 

all of the pillows on the couch are handmade because i could never find anything crazy enough for me, i suppose. the floral pillows are reversible and were made from anthropologie napkins. i made the owl pillow from recycled felted sweaters. the quilt is a lap quilt i made last year from anna maria horner's garden party fabric.

the quilt on this side of the couch was my first quilt and it was made with denyse schmidt's county fair fabric. i love it so much -- and so does lola! she can usually be found perched upon the couch pillow, looking out the window. i knitted the little monsters a few years ago using this pattern; they are also a favorite of lola's, as evidenced by one of the eyes coming out of its socket.

this little corner is almost a corner of childhood in a weird, hopefully non-creepy sort of way. the prints are from the amazing catherine campbell, a.k.a. my folk lover. my blue kidrobot display case has looked a bit bare ever since i moved my dunny collection to the office. i'll just have to get a few more, yes?

my mother has recently started a complete home organization makeover, which means i have had to collect all my odds and ends that have been in my old bedroom for years and years. one of those items was my very first big boy in the form of a bank.

this portrait is part of a new collection i've started: random estate sale portraits. i don't know why, but i love coming across old painted portraits at estate sales. they make me sad and nostalgic and i can't bear to not purchase them. i don't know if that's cool or creepy. the clock was picked up at the first estate sale i went to, years and years ago.

a few more childhood memories interspersed with thrifted finds. i love the slide viewer, the camera, and the musical bank - the car moves up and down as the the music plays. i got the white lockers at ikea to store my dvd collection.

i got this art deco buffet at an auction a few years ago and i love it so much. it has tons of storage and charm. please take no notice of how small my television is. it's sad, really.

another growing collection: nesting dolls.

i've been picking up sets of nesting dolls whenever i can find them. i have a set from london, russia, and germany and i've gotten a few more at estate sales and thrift stores.

my favorite set is the circus-themed set. i got these at an antique store in jefferson, texas and paid more than i normally would have, but i couldn't resist.

i got this amazing orange vase/container (?) as a birthday present last year. i love when my friends recognize my style!

above the tv is my colorful board game from 1942. please ignore the thumb tacks holding it up for now - sigh. i almost died when i found the two small needlepoint children on either side of the game.

they have got to be the cutest things i've ever seen! (if it's not obvious, i'm a girl and i live alone. a little bit of cute is okay for now, yeah?)

for now my thrifted $25 kroehler slipper chair is (inconveniently) in front of the tv stand. i'd like to reupholster the chair (is that sacrilege?), but it will have to wait. the hand-hooked rug on the floor was from my grandparents' house.

so, yeah, that's it. my cramped and full and sunny and colorful living room.

thanks for reading!