20 favorite living rooms

The title says it all....and the pictures speak for themselves. Sorry if I'm reposting some I've used before--you know it's love then :)

Kate's Paperie's amazing, affordable products!

As I've stated I am: 1) Obsessed with interior design 2) a grad student 3) broke (see number 2) and 4) trying to design my new place on a re-diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiculously small budget. So of course, I've been scouring the internet like crazy for cheap ways to beautify my space. And what did I stumble across today? Kate's Paperie.

This paper supply/gift bag/really friiiiiggggiinnnn cuuuuuute store has some amazing products for really reasonable prices. Take this knockoff Tord Buntje lamp that's been circulating like crazy in the design world:

Wanna know how much it is? $88 big ones. That's right. This gorgeous lamp could be yours for under $90 (well, plus the $7 lighting rig).

But that's not all! Since I can't afford even that beautiful lamp, I was wandering around her site and found these giftwraps, which I think would be gorgeous framed on a wall:

I see this NYC subway poster in a mod/retro office with silver chairs and sky blue cushions, a white parson's desk, a yellow desk lamp, and Kate Spade blue-and-green striped and polka-dotted desk accessories.

This would be adorable in a hip little girl's room, with one of those mini Eames rockers in pink.

This one screams Anthropology to me...living room with lots of mid-century wooden furniture, a streamlined couch, and an amazing Danish credenza, perhaps?

And how about these in a chic master bedroom, probably with yellow or grassy green accents and lots of white (monogrammed pillowcases, por supuesto)?

I'd loooooove to see this in a fun eat-in kitchen with cute retro cups and plate to match, white Bertoia side chairs with geometric-print cushions, and a Saarinen pedastel table. Although that might be a bit too predictable--a roughed-up white farm-style table could look equally amazing.

These two would be great in a kid's playroom or study:

And finally we come to the one I am planning on getting for my living room, seeing as I'm obsessed with travel and we conveniently have an aqua blue thing going on:

OH and did I mention? They are FOUR DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS EACH!!!!! BAHHHHH! Can't lose!!

One more thing: I'm really really into this print....would it be creepy displayed in a home?

So what do you think? Are these prints worth finding the oddly-sized frames needed to make them work?

If you live near Minneapolis you MUST check this out!

Omg omg omg.....if you live near minneapolis and you love mid-century modern, have I got the Craigslist deal for you.

Check it:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/fud/1938678100.html

Apparently the owner doesn't know how to price these Bertoia's because they need some repair....if you have welding capabilities and like a good bargain, these could be a STEAL!

DIY living room ideas

About a week ago, I posted about things that I wanted to incorporate into my new living room. Back then, we had a few basic pieces but were still looking for a lot of furniture to make the place more functional (aka, we had no storage in the kitchen and the dining room table we're borrowing from a friend is waaaaaay too big for the space).

Well, this weekend my housemate and I went thriftin and scored some amaaaaazing deals. I'm talkin one huge, 6-drawer dresser with a marble top (which we'll use in the kitchen as butcher block basically), a nice round table with drop eaves, 2 bulletin boards which we plan to cover in fabric for the living room, a crappy canvas that we're going to repaint, plus a sheet set (we're using it to cover our futon in a pretty blue instead of the overly dark purple it came in and are making throw pillows with the pillowcases/extra flat sheet) all for......drumroll please....$75! We shop, we score!

Of course, $20 dining tables don't come looking so pretty, so we'll need to put a little extra money in to buy sandpaper, primer, and paint to dress it up a little. While we're at that, we decided to tackle a couple other DIY projects....here's our inspiration:


This room, while it will look absolutely nothing like our living room, has a lot of ideas we will incorporate, namely: fancy mirror, big colorful rug, pattern in the big fabric pieces (although I'm assuming in the photo it's wallpaper) plus a hot chandelier, comfy couch with lots of colorful pillows and a throw blanket.

We're planning on getting one of those mirrors you always see at thrift stores with the gold gilt edge and painting it a bright color, like so:

Then we plan to write a quote or lyrics on the mirror itself, either with permanent marker, stickers, or by using this awesome spray paint I just got that makes glass look etched. See inspiration photo below:

Then, we have the stereotypical Lack coffee table from IKEA (not my first choice, obviously, but hey it was free when our old roomate moved out), which I plan to hack by painting a design on top, possibly something like shown below:

(PS sorry for using this image a million times and never sourcing it....I just love it so much!)

Then, since we don't have enough projects on our hands, we're going to paint the new dresser as I mentioned....it's marble on top so we won't be painting that but I think we'll end up painting the drawer fronts and maybe doing something like they did here around the handles to dress it up a bit:

Then our last three projects in the works are pretty simple: we have a long skinny slice of wall betwen two doors, which I think would be perfect to make an organized wall collage of pictures like the one on the bottom left-most part of this shot:

And in an attempt to bring more color to the otherwise white and black room, we are going to make some of these paper poofs (really easy to make: styrofoam ball, cut tissue paper, hotglue to ball):

We also have an old chandelier that my roomate found in a dumpster which we plan to paint, but haven't decided on a color. Considering our color scheme thus far is white walls, black coffee table/loveseat, futon covered in aqua fitted sheet, and a few random green, yellow, and orange accents, I think that it would look awesome with a deep peacock blue/teal, which I also want to use to paint accents on our soon-to-be white dining table. What do you think? Go bold, or go safe, like with a nice basic black or glossy laquered white?

I can't wait to get started!

If only.....

So I've been scouring Craiglist like no other to find awesome things to furnish our apartment....a few weeks ago I came across this amaaaaaaaaaazing 6-foot-long hot pink bench and fell in love--and pink is my least favorite color! So you know it's serious.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my last post, it was going for$150 that we broke students do not have, not even for something so utterly amazing (the lady literally laughed at me on the phone when I feebly offered $60 for it). I reluctantly gave up my dream of having it perched under our huuuuuuge (15 ft!) panoramic window...but only very reluctantly.

THEN today while doing my daily design blog stalking, I came across THIS lovely bedroom, and my desire for that hot pink bench was intensely renewed.

Damn you Craigslist....damn you.

Living room inspiration

Well kids, it's finally happened. I've moved into my new place and it's cute....but it needs a lot of work. Currently the roomates and I are trying to figure out how we want our living room to look. As I searched through my archives, I was able to elucidate a few basic ideas or things that our room should have.

1. Eclecticism. My favorite images are never all one style--they mix modern, vintage, traditional, and elegant styles into one cohesive look. Ideally, we want to mix our modern sofa, futon (I know, I know....we're still obviously grad students!) and entertainment center with more unique pieces that bring out a little boho flair but still look adult.

2. Unique accents with lots of texture. You can find all sorts of cool, one-of-a-kind pieces in thrift stores and on Craigslist. I just found the most amazing 60" hot pink upholstered bench that would have been AWESOME....but the $150 price tag was a little steep for these broke girlies :( However, pieces like the ones below would suit nicely. You can get some types of furniture for pretty cheap and paint them, like those amazing yellow chippendales and the yellow table (I see a color theme here...) and I like to look for pieces that have a unique shape, like the triangle table. And I want a sunburst mirror SO BAD!

3. Two little tables instead of one big coffee table. Not only can you usually find two small tables for a lot cheaper than a big one, in a small space like our living room it is nice to have the option to pull the tables apart when you have guests over or if we're all studying in the room at the same time. Flexibility = key on a small budget :)

Btw, the above living room was designed by a recent college grad and her mom--if she can do it on a limited budget, why can't we?

I like that these chrome tables with glass tops take up very little visual space.
4. Colorful throw pillows. Obviously. This one's a no-brainer--pillows are the cheapest, easiest way to brighten up a space and they can easily be changed out if you get sick of them!

So whaddya think? What other elements would you add to a budget living room?

Pretty Pretty Things

Here's a post with no real theme.....just a bunch of pretty pretty things :)



How amazing is Olivia Wilde's dressing room? Looooove that antique mirrored vanity....so glam!



This lucite trunk is such a fun living room table!

I love the recovered wood beam used as a mantle on this simple fireplace...

And I love the eclectic looks of both this living room and dining room....both nicely incorporate yellow Chippendale chairs! Love, love

And last but certainly not least, how chic is this beautiful bar cart and amazing black trellis wallpaper?

Images from: Live Like You, Live Like You, unknown, Elle Decor, unknown, and Lonny Mag