1. Zero closet space.
2. Tiny bathrooms with pedestal sinks and no storage.
3. Multiple living rooms.
Seriously -- I'm not sure exactly how people spent their time back in the 1920s/30s/40s, but judging by the houses they built, they did so much entertaining in all their various living and dining spaces that they never had time to take showers or go shopping. But I digress. What I'm getting at here is that I am one person, with a large amount of clothes crammed into tiny closets and a large amount of hair, makeup and beauty products crammed into a tiny bathroom, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what to do with an extra living room. This room, affectionately termed the "front room," has morphed into a de facto study space for me over the last 6 months or so. I actually have a desk in the kitchen, but it's so cluttered with bills, to-do lists, etc. plus it's in the middle of a usually-messy kitchen, so it's not the most calm space to focus on studying. I've also been figuring out that I need to be doing a lot more studying for work while I'm at home, so my goal is to try to make this room a gorgeous and peaceful study space so I can actually focus and get something done every once in awhile. I just snapped some pictures of what it looks like right now, with zero cleaning or decluttering, so get ready...
Study corner. Notice the pile of random mail on that end table that's awkwardly in front of the window. Also notice the Clorox wipes (why?) and random cups everywhere. This stresses me out just to look at it.
Comfy chair in the corner. This desperately needs an ottoman and for that side table to be moved next to it. Also I really want to recover the chair one day...
This is my knockoff Closetmaid version of the Ikea Expedit shelf. I kind of hate it. The cubes aren't big enough to store magazines or papers or anything useful, and I just have random crap in there now. It looks terrible, I know. Also, I feel like the lonely poster just doesn't belong up there...
Instead of a list of goals, I'm going to make lists of things I love about the space and things I hate about the space.
THINGS I LOVE
1. The curtains. I'm obsessed. They may be the single house-related purchase I'm most proud of in the entire world. I was randomly looking at the scrap fabric table at Old Time Pottery about a year ago and came across this Jonathan Adler fabric (!!) for $5 a yard. FIVE DOLLARS A YARD, YOU GUYS. This stuff retails for like, $60 and above per yard. And there was just enough to make curtains with a little leftover. So I did, and they're fabulous, and they make me feel like I deserve a whole room full of designer things so they don't pale in comparison to these curtains.
2. The Prada sign. If anyone watches Gossip Girl, you know what this is about. My friend Kandace and I decided to make our own versions, so we did, and it was basically the first thing I put on the wall after I moved into this place.
3. The cute little mini crystal chandelier.
THINGS I HATE
1. Clutter. Enough said.
2. That my cube shelf isn't an Expedit. I go on Ikea's website and drool over the white Expedit at least once a week. I'm already brainstorming a way I can get one here for less than it would cost me to drive five hours to Atlanta to buy this.
3. That I am afraid to try reupholstering that green chair. It's great and super comfy, but I wish it was a charcoal gray color or a navy blue. But even the "super easy" Internet tutorials on how to do this give me heart palpitations.
4. That I have no good system for storing office supplies. I have the file cabinet for papers, but I don't have a good place to keep the random stuff you need like staplers, hole punches, etc. Or do I really need that stuff? What do I actually NEED in my home office? It's probably a whole lot less than whatever is filling up that giant "OFFICE" box in my guest room, I can tell you that much.
That's all for now. I'm brainstorming a few fun things to get started on this week, so I will keep you posted! And stay tuned for a post summarizing my February mini-project in the next day or two!
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