inspired interiors

5.1.10

I had started to feel a bit withdrawn recently, probably the result of a whole mess of things... the weather, moving past the dreamy, brainstorming phase of work projects, moving into significant relationship territory... you know, the sorts of things that will often result in periods of deep introspection on my part. But too much thinking does not always result in a whole lot of progress, and it would be a shame if the remainder my 27th year (the past six months which have been filled with progress) were to cease being so productive. So onward and upward I go, still thinking but instead trying to make sure I still get things done.

I don't ordinarily make New Year's Resolutions, but I was drawn in by the simplicity of this New Year's Resolution Generating Robot. A couple clicks of the mouse and suddenly I found myself with 23 (ride my bike is there twice - change one to be, buy a bike and you'll have 24) little things that I can aspire to do in new year.

resolute

I'm not going to go through each item one by one, since each resolution is fairly self-explanatory. And it would probably be more valuable to address each resolution individually as I work towards accomplishing it. Of course there are sometimes more than one way which these resolutions can be accomplished, so if I decide to continue with updates on my progress, you might find that I address the same resolution more than once. Today, I choose to write about how I will be inspired. In this case, how I will be inspired by my newest interior design project (okay, so this is a bit of a stretch for a resolution, since I am always getting inspired by interior design projects, but in this case I'm actually planning to act on these ideas).

After two and a half years of providing me with a comfortable place to sleep and eat as well as exposure to the western horizon, condomaximus is being put up for sale. Feel free to shed a single tear or more, I love this apartment, but it is the right time to leave (or try to leave, since the house is not sold and I am not gone yet).

rest, relaxation, recession

in defense of white

remains of the day

There are plenty of things I'll miss about this condo (the lovely light), but I've been keeping in mind the many benefits about moving (final separation of finances with blondie, more cost effective to move to a new place) so that I stay in positive spirits. I get a new opportunity to dream up ways to fill up these new rooms with furniture and other things that will make the new apartment a home. I get another chance to fall in love with my surroundings. That means a new place to photograph with entirely different shadows and views of the city.

There's nothing quite like setting up a new home to get me inspired. The gentlemen stopped by for a bit last night, and even though he was feeling poorly, he and I did a bit of browsing through some of my shelter magazines and the internets to come up with some ideas for the new office (and other rooms in the apartment).

more inspiration for the new office

A few weeks ago I came across this fantastic photo of a girl sitting and reading by a window, her face obscured by a sheer curtain. I immediately wanted to go to that place. I have longed for some sort of window seat since I was very small, so my heart leapt a bit when over the weekend the gentlemen and I discovered a trundle bed that would fit perfectly in front of the window in the office. It was an absolute steal, because not only did it include the top memory foam mattress and two bolsters, but it had also been marked down by 50% due to some mysterious case of Boxing Day/Week madness. It's being delivered on Saturday. The gentlemen and I are pleased as punch because not only can it act as additional seating for the office, but it will also be a place for guests to sleep. The trundle portion of the bed can serve as extra storage or an additional spot to sleep if we get another twin sized mattress. With the addition of some curtains that we'll hang in front of the bed and some shelves at the foot of the bed, we'll create a little reading and napping nook. And although not exactly like the inspiration photo, it will still fulfill my childhood dream.

We were on a roll when it came to idea generation last night. Maybe it's because we were both a little bit sick and neither of us were really in an argumentative mood. Or maybe our design sensibilities just click. Obviously we haven't actually started any sort of real work on the new place yet (have to pick out paint sometime this week), but at least during this idea generation phase we haven't butted heads too much. I think that's a good sign.

As far as the rest of the office is concerned, we had to address the main challenge of fitting two workstations into a very small room. Sure, we could have done without the daybed, but my family comes to visit every now and then and I wanted them to have a place to sleep (plus it was such a good price). The current plan is to fit two narrow workstations on opposite sides of the room. Whether or not this configuration will work depends on the width of the two work stations. Our inspiration, the Nelson Swag Desk (pictured below), which I've had a bit of a furniture crush on for some time now. But of course it's out of our immediate price range. So, until we have saved enough (one day) to purchase said desk, instead we will create a placeholder, utilizing a some ikea legs and 3/4" walnut plywood that we can stain. We'll probably just create two matching workstations, but I sort of like the idea of having one desk with legs and the other workstation be mounted on the wall (like the Sticotti Shelving pictured above, leaving the floor below it clear so we can easily pull out the lower drawer of the trundle bed without having to move anything. The alternate plan, should the room prove not wide enough to fit two identical workstations, is to build only one desk and retrofit the current closet for a work station with shelves above it.

you are my inspiration

You can get an idea of the other things we liked from these inspiration boards. My black, armless steelcase chairs are coming with me (they look very similar to the chair on castors in the photo above). Some of these items, like the classy armchair in an inky blue upholstery and always awesome Sapien bookshelves (which I still want even though they know have a slight association with Twilight), are things that I could put in the bedroom or living room. Ahh, renovation dreaming. It's certainly inspiring. It's also all the fun without the expense.

So far.

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