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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spring is in 'da house

Literally.  I want to share with you my 100 kroner ($20) makeover of our dining table.  Note I did not say dining ROOM table, pfft.  

Ain't she cute?!  It's my happy easter slash happy spring table.  We have this 10 kroner store (like a dollar store only it's more like the 2 dollar store) which inspried the look!

100 kroner breaks down like this:

Placemates 4 x 10kr = 40 kr
Easter Egg Decorations (6 in a bundle) = 10 kr
Colorful napkins = 10 kr
Pink tea-light candle holders 2 for 10 kr = 10 kr
Tulips (from Netto) 2 bundles for 30 kr = 30 kr 

We had the blue candle holders and all the flatware.  Hooray for being bored and not spending TOO much money while hubby is away flying.

Realized I never showed you our new couch in the house?  Here she is!

Don't mind some of the crooked pictures on the wall, that is a nearly daily battle of mine.  We still desperately need something for the wall behind the couch but really just hoping we'll move before I spend more time on redecorating our little house?

Note the blanket.  I have been spending a lot of time lately writing about Christian's grandmother, I can't leave out my grandmother!  She knitted this afgan for me several years ago and it's my favorite snuggle on the couch.  I feel like I shouldn't use it as much as I do but I can't help it - so comfy and warm!

She made every square different, it's so impressive and heartfelt!  I reckon it took her a whole summer to make it.  She told me to put it in my 'chest' but I don't have one of those and I think it looks better out on my couch!  Life is too short?  Hope you don't mind grandma!  

Happy spring!  Easter is almost here!

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you know you're 26 when...

...you get excited about buying a new couch.  Yes, another official stamp on the adult world.  Christian and I are slowly (quickly) phasing out our hand-me-down furniture.  I cannot find a decent picture online of our newest addition to the living room.

Anyway once it's delivered I'll get a good snap with my camera.  It's so much bigger and cleaner and nicer than our current couch.  Super pumped.  It gets delivered in two weeks or so. 

Christian and I asked each other, which would you rather have right now, a new couch or a new TV?  Couch won, only because we've been talking about it longer.  After we bought the couch we went to lunch and Christian ordered me a giant beer.  3/4 the way into the beer I ask Christian to finish the following sentence:

If you buy your wife a couch she's going to want a _______. (a la one of my childhood favorites, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie)

Can you guess?  Hint it's not that hard!  So yes that is probably the next thing to save up for.  That and a nice airmattress because we got this couch after only really looking for a sleeper couch and hating most of them.  BUT there will be a bed for anyone who comes to visit!  :)

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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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