Entries in decorating (5)

Monday
Jul182011

our city living space

Finally settling in here in our new apartment.  It is hard to believe we have been here a month and a half already!  I wanted to share some before and after shots with you!

Living room before and afters:

The heart picture collage was all my talented hubby.  We had the collage up at the old house and it kind of almost looked like a heart we decided once.  So I went to work one day and came home to Christian's masterpiece. Love it. Love him.  All furniture seen here was stuff we had at the old place.  I would like to eventually replace the dining table with something that expands so we can fit more guests.  For now it works, though!  We have this indent thing in the living room and the bedroom which makes centering things really weird if not impossible.  We could have put the TV stand in there but then our couch chaiselong would be on the wrong side so we just decided to forget it and work with it the best we can.


Because we didn't move our old bookcases with us, we needed some storage system desperately.  We had the TV stand already and decided to spring for the shelving unit here in the same series.  Christian is worried it makes the room feel smaller, and it could be true but it works for now and we can always move pieces around.  Now I just need to work on the organization within the shelves and of course the mess on top. :)  However our ceilings are high so this piece and the one you'll see in the bedroom create instant storage which is good.

PS we get Jon Steward every day at 6:15 pm. :D

Bedroom before and afters:

 

Closets are not standard in Copenhagen apartments.  So it is really no surprise that IKEAs most expensive furniture are their closet systems.  Luckily we got this piece as a wedding present from Christian's dad and Ann.  It fills out our bedroom divet quite nicely.  To the right is the desk and to the left is my giant princess mirror.  On the wall to the left is a pile of boxes and a work in progress.  I hope to replace our tiny dresser there with this piece.  I really want to do the bedroom in a chocolate brown and whites.  The walls of the closet unit are a chocolate brown but you can't really see it.  Slowly on the way.

Here we have the bed with a very wrinkly duvet thanks to our psycho dryer (more on that some other time).  I am not in love with the piece in the corner but it it works for now.  The bedroom window faces the courtyard and even the lowest of conversations echoes straight back into the room.  Christian struggles with it more than I do during the night.  I think I am just used to noises... or just sleep like a bear no matter what.  Maybe I should get him some ear plugs... sexy... haha.

Kitchen before and after:

Just one small pic of the kitchen because it is not that exciting.  We have zero counter space so we are trying to get creative about how to store things in the kitchen.  The curtains cost $8 so it doesn't matter if I can't pull off the polka dots in there after all.  I want to do rich blues in the kitchen but really at the moment there is nothing to decorate, haha.  Hopefully more to come on that.

Where we live:

Thought it was important to give you a view of our street.  The building across from us is really cool looking.  It's not what the outside of our building looks like but its our view that matters more, right? 

The street is relatively quiet.  We are in a very young and diverse neighborhood but in a nicer part of it. It is a 15 minute bike ride into work each day and there are loads of shops within a 2-3 minute walk. We also live really close to friends which is great.

So, now all you need to do is come visit to experience it first hand!  I know it took me forever to post this, or post in general.  Life has a funny way of getting in the way of itself here and there.  :)

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Monday
Sep062010

perfect wedding #2 : The preparations!  

I don't know how it's possible to have two absolutely perfect weddings but we have been blessed.  The wedding this Saturday was as breathtaking and heartfelt as our first, we loved every second of it!

As you know, we did this as a family again so we owe a HUGE thank you to every single person who helped us with our special day.  We sincerely couldn't have done it without you! 

I'm aiming to blog about the day/weekend in chunks.  First up, the preparations!

Two tents were put together in the lower garden (only one shown below) at Christian's mom's house.

Putting up curtains:

Laying the floor:

Carpet layed, tables set:

Buffet table around the apple tree:

Here's a picture from the dinner to show the table settings a little better (friends from HS):

A lounge was set up in the upper parking area at Christian's mom's house.  It is where we hosted appetizers and served as a quiet get-away during the party:

The lounge after...

There are pictures missing even from all the preparation details.  This was just Christian's mom's house - we had a reception at Uncle Bjarne's between church and Christian's mom's house that I'll share soon!

I'm hoping to collect more pictures from different sources soon but I thought I'd share these for now.  More to come! :) :)

THANK YOU EVERYONE, IT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING DAY!

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Thursday
Sep022010

wedding is this saturday!

There isn't much I can show you but I just got so excited last night when I got to see the start of decorating the tent.  Ahh I have to keep it mostly a surprise for our guests here but I can't wait to share the completed project. Kate you would die, haha.

Ok here's a smallll sneak peak but trust me it's nothing... this was taken while the other side of the tent was getting its makeover.

It's all going to come together and look absolutely perfect, I can't wait! 

I also helped make some of our wedding cake this week... well really just watched Christian's dad make it and taste everything to make sure it was good (sooo good).  It's a hybrid between traditional wedding cake and my favorite cake here (remember the birthday cake I wrote about?).  So excited.

There's still room - book your tickets! ;)

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Tuesday
Jul132010

i love IKEA, don't judge me

This one is for you Kate, finally.

I’ve wanted to post about our bedroom makeover as I was very proud of how cute we made it in so little time.  However, that said, I am (of course) not completely satisfied with it and (of course) there is a lot of work left to be done.

My initial excitement was so big because the room is already 100x better than it was before I moved in.  I wish we had before pictures but sadly we do not.

Highlights so far…

New headboard – thanks hubby! This was my surprise when I moved in – he chose the fabric for my love of butterflies (I think, I hope).  Fabric is from Ikea (surprise, surprise).

We’ve kept our bedspread (dyne) plain white, but I like it this way.  It’s a small space with a lot going on so keeping white space is important to me.  I like light and airy spaces!

Our major construction project was hiding our rather haphazard closet/clothes storage functions.  Here is our make shift IKEA storage system… haha.  Whatever, it looks fine when the curtains are closed!

We added the shelves above the hanger rack to alleviate some of the overstuffed cubby holes in the unit on the far left. What would that unit even be called? Not sure.  We also bought the giant curtain rod and two packs of curtains from Ikea to hide all the ugliness.

I like the curtain fabric a lot – which is a good thing because it covers an entire side of the room, pfft.

Here is my work-from-home spot.  Yes there are 2 laptops and an additional monitor.  What’s missing is Christian’s laptop! It’s absurd, I realize.  Not much I can do about it, though.

I want to paint the shelves white but that’s on Christian’s longer term ‘honey-do’ list.  I also want to replace the little table between the desk and the bed with something that has drawers.  Storage, storage, storage people!

Across from the bed is a small dresser and my big princess mirror that I absolutely adore. 

I have most of my hair, makeup and jewelry in those black baskets on top the dresser.  You’d think there would be space in the bathroom for such things but I won’t even go there. 

Then we have the rug from IKEA.  A big gray accent to match the curtains and some future pillows I think. Breaks up the wood floors nicely but it attracts every speck of anything.  But, it’s easy to vacuum!

What you’re not seeing is the wall with our windows – three big panes that look out over the garden.  Underneath is a hideous radiator painted seafoam green, NOT OK.  Again on Christian’s ‘honey-do’ list. 

Also not featured is the back of the door which has some seafoam green panels on it – ugh.  That is next on Christian’s list, followed by the shelves I think.

On my list? The bare wall above the bed.  I want to hang a bunch of frames of different sizes above it.  I want to incorporate some general photography (Grandpa have any good B&Ws to donate?) and B&W wedding photos.  Of course Ikea knows what i'm talking about (always):

(Ikea.dk)

If we didn’t have the desk shelves right next to the bed I really like the idea of a long shelf with a big frame leaning from it against the wall – but it wouldn’t work in here.

I also need to figure out some window treatment.  We have wooden blinds at the moment which are a little dark for my preference but at the same time – we won’t be here forever so I have to pick and choose upgrades wisely!

I want something for above the dresser next to the mirror as well.  It might be some kind of unit to store jewelry.  I’ve always been jealous of this piece my friend Deanna has:

($119.99 from Target.com)

But this piece and a lot of similar pieces have a mirror on the front so I'd have to do some hunting or cover it with a big photo maybe.

So that’s it.  This is where I spend most of my day when I work from home so it’s not so bad to look at!

The living room – I can’t begin to tackle until we make a plan for how long we plan on living here because it involves furniture overhaul. 

The kitchen is a crawl space (so it feels like) and we’re working on some better storage options there.  But really, I’m pretty happy with our quirky little railcar style house!

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Thursday
Aug202009

a face lift

You may notice that the header of the website is different. I think it’s taking this website to the next level. That and it’s very me. Blue and butterflies. Anyway, I hope you like it.

I was inspired by a friend’s blog I saw yesterday – domestiKatedlife.com. Check it out. Super clean and lots of colorful images. From what I can tell, Kate blogs about design and fashion in different ways. This week has been dedicated to back to school and the looks that will keep you looking fresh this year. If I miss one thing about school it’s definitely back to school shopping. Thumbs up, Kate!

Maybe domestiKatedlife can help me spice up my new space. I am renting a room in an apartment in Coolidge Corner now and the room is furnished (for the most part) but has red and gold fabric draping over boxes all over the place. NEED to do something about this. The closet needs serious organization as well. In a dream world my closet would look like this from WestElm.com:

While the room is “furnished” there is no dresser. Thinking I need one, for sure.  Gail just got this dresser from Ikea in light wood.  I might get it in dark. $40 – can’t beat it. Though, I might need two.

Or the likely story is that I will be living out of suitcases for the next six months. :P Help me!!

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