What I've Been Up To

I am driving myself crazy with all the design changes I'm trying to make around the house! It recently hit me that I'm going back to school in just a few weeks and I began to worry that I did not have the right environment for studying. That, and I just have not yet found a sanctuary in my own apartment.



The biggest changes so far are in the bedroom. I bought another bookcase and we put them on either side of the bed, giving it sort of a built-in look. I'm still working on properly accessorizing the shelves. More importantly, I gave in and bought a duvet cover and a beautiful mirror from World Market. And let's not even get into how much I spent at Bed Bath & Beyond on sheets, shams, bed skirt, etc. (P.S. If you sign up for World Market's e-mail list, they give you a code for 10% off your next purchase!)

Now the parasols I spent so much time stressing over don't go, so they'll find a new home in the living room eventually. I am definitely considering buying some of Alicia Bock's through the viewfinder prints for over the bed. I was so inspired by her photos that today, (though I'm so far extremely disappointed by the slow speed of the seller) I bought two vintage cameras from eBay to try my hand at the vintage technique she uses, but it's going to require building a light blocker and even getting a macro lens for my camera.

Speaking of the living room, before I mentioned that I needed a good work environment, so I bought a simple white desk from Target (where else?) that should arrive in a few days. I looked on craigslist for so long to find a chic desk, but this ended up being the right size, look and price. Next on the list will be buying two pieces from the modular cube storage system as a new tv stand, and painting it, a la the modular coffee table featured in this month's Blueprint Magazine.

And that's really just the tip of the iceberg because there's still walls, walls, walls to cover, as well as setting up my desk area, getting storage, and my sewing machine back from my mom's house, wallpapering the cabinets, refinishing the table and chairs... I'm getting overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Finally, there's an entry over at Decor8 in response to an e-mail I sent Holly, asking her advice on Etsy shops. I'm thinking that once I get the apartment under control and once I get a feel for my course load, I can settle down and create. But that feels like it'll never come!