Last night Peter posted about his hate/hate relationship with our couch. What he didn’t mention was that when Peter and I first met this condo was eerily empty. Imagine yesterday’s photo with no TV and no coffee table to collect clutter. This was the way I was first introduced to it. One would think that having studied art for 14 years that the boy would hang SOMETHING on the walls, but no, it was completely empty. I moved in with one semester left of college. I didn’t know how long I would be here because I didn’t know where I would end up getting a job and so I didn’t want to “waste time” decorating. We hung a few things here and there until finally I realized that no matter how short a period of time I spent living here, I needed it to feel home-ier.
We decided to start with the living room because since we don’t have an entry way this is the first room that guests see when they walk into our home. For a long time we focused our frustration on the biggest (and pretty much only) item in the room–our couch. I yearned for one of those beautiful cream couches that would grace the covers of fabulous design magazines like Domino. Finally, with not enough money in my bank account for a new couch (and two black dogs who would’ve covered the couch with their fur) I let my focus leave the couch and decided to start somewhere. We opted for curtains.
A short trip to both Ikea and Target only set us back about $40 and suddenly we had curtains and curtain rods for the room. We opted for the type of curtain that you can hem with an iron. It was super easy and it was the first step to making our house a home.
Here is the condo post curtains. What do you think?
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Written on September 23rd, 2009 by Peterno comments
We began redecorating with considerations of what we needed to remove from the house. Foremost on the list was a chocolate brown couch (c. 1982) that has a wide rib corduroy type texture. Imagine the worst pants you have ever seen. Then, imagine those pants as a couch and you get the basic idea of what we had before us. I have a hate-hate relationship with this sofa from long before I met my lovely fiancé. It was a gift (read: cast-off) from my grandparents and traveled with me from Chicago to Austin in a U-Haul which repeatedly broke down between point A and B. The truck finally died outside Oklahoma City, requiring my father and me to transfer the sofa from one truck to another, along with the rest of my worldly possessions.
The couch weighs as much as a Buick. It comes from those halcyon, pre-Ikea days when furniture was made from steel and little else, like a Detroit muscle car. Lifting this sofa a handful of times gave me pain I have not felt before or since. It almost crippled my father, who has an already delicate frame caused by drunkenly carrying a boat motor through the woods in the Canadian wilderness (but that’s another story). The couch has gone from two separate apartments to the condo, where it now rests in the sitting room. Having long since lost the casters that served as feet, it rests on a couple of two-by-fours like a broken down car.
Given this history, I was only too ready to sell this monstrosity or delight in tearing it apart and tossing the pieces in the dumpster. But the only couches we really liked were from places with price tags better suited to Sotheby’s than bourgeois home stores. We did, however, possess sufficient funds for an alternative project. Gradually, we added to or modified the contents of the room in a way that embraced this once hated piece of furniture and made it the veritable centerpiece of our plan for revamping our space. This embrace of a repulsive object allowed us to expand our imaginations and craft sensibilities into creating something that steered away from the overdone, catalog photo living area and into something that was collectively fashioned, rather than purchased readymade. At least, that is what we have decided to tell ourselves, but our additions have certainly helped. More importantly, it is surprising to realize the sheer joy in creating by hand certain additions to a space that one could buy.
Here is the entire room, including the couch, before we started the decorating process. Stop by tomorrow for more on the living room decorating.
Have you ever had a piece of furniture that you had to decorate around? If so, tell us about it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about friends who act as wedding vendors. My brother’s wedding was put together almost completely by his and his wife’s friends. The wedding was beautiful and it reflected them as a couple. But people in the wedding industry don’t seem to share my opinion on the fabulousness of friendors. Recently, Peter and I met with a few wedding planners who cringed when I told them my friend would be making our wedding cake. The planners quickly threw out a number of stories in which a friend acted as a vendor and either didn’t follow through or screwed up, thus ruining the wedding. It seems a little dramatic to me. Plus, they don’t know this friend. She’s not only the person who introduced us, she’s also unbelievably amazing. Think about a younger, prettier, smarter Martha Stewart without the whole jail factor. In short, she’s that totally put together girl that everyone wishes they could be.
This weekend she came in town and brought us a sample cake. On her first attempt she completely blew away every other cake we’ve tried during various bridal shows. Staying in line with our theme, she made us a lavender flavored cake. Lavender has become a probable theme for the wedding because of its calming properties and because it reminds me so much of my mother. (If my mom ever reads this post I’m sure she’ll tell you about all of its natural benefits.) A calming scent that reminds me of my mother + a cake made by one of my best friends–what’s not to love?
Here’s a photo of the cake in a non-wedding cake form followed by a picture of the future groomie who was completely unaware that I was taking a picture.
In our search for the perfect photographer, I came across this page featuring Awesomely Bad Engagement Photos. Here is a sneak peak but be sure to check it out for yourselves. It really lives up to the title.
UPDATE: Due to high traffic volumes looking for engagement photos, we decided to dedictae a blog solely to this. If you’re looking for more ideas for your e-session visit us at Pictured in Love.
I love makeup. I love the colors and the sections in magazines where they take pictures of tiny piles of eye shadow and smears of lipstick. It’s so beautiful and brings so much possibility. A few weeks ago I came across an Etsy shop called The All Natural Face. The store sells chemical-free, natural, vegan mineral makeup. Vegan is one of those words like “organic” and “natural” that somehow manages to triple the price of an item. So you can see why I was shocked to learn how affordable the products are at The All Natural Face.
My package arrived today and for the $10 I spent I received: 18 samples of foundation (I only ordered 6), eye shadow primer and the accompanying brush, an eye shadow brush (sounds the same but it’s very different), five samples of blush (free), two samples of eye liner (free), five samples of concealer, five samples of eye shadow (free), and three samples of dusting powder (also free)!! Isn’t that amazing?! I have so much to try and I’m so excited. I may stay up all night playing with my new makeup but at least I know that if I do, I now have concealer to hide the evidence!! I’ll let you know how it all turns out.
Visit the website to learn some terrifying facts about how your body absorbs the chemicals that you put on it!
