Trunk Before and After

My mom got this vintage trunk for me from one of her friends. Her friend had spruced it up while keeping its vintage charm with an olive green paint. I kept it as she had left it and stored miscellaneous china and stuff in it down in our basement for 4 years. Before we moved into our new place I decided that I wanted to make it brighter and clean it up a bit so it could be used in our loft for extra storage. At this point I had already ordered our grey couch, so that was the only color I really needed to coordinate with. I lightly sanded the rails and gave them a new coat of slightly darker stain to contrast with the orange and voila.

Before.

After (iphone photo)

And here it is living in its new spot with my favorite piece of art above it.

Moved In

So We're finally IN. In and done. For the most part. There are still things that I would like to add/change, but all the spaces are 99% livable. Technically the one precent could be solved with two counter stools and another for the 'desk' which is really a hallway with a countertop on one side. Enjoy before (previous tenant), move and after pictures.

Before. Red. Too much for me. 

After. Devine Koala. Lovely. 

Packing a Uhaul is like an adult game of Tetris. It only took 2 trips and 7 elevator rides to get it all. 

En progress. Blurry iPhone. 

Dead (not really) dog at the end of the hallway. 

Reupholstered the ottoman in a gray/orange strip. Pictures to come. 

Blah bedding on guest bed replaced. Pictures to come. 

If you cant tell Im going for the grey base color with orange pop look. My fear though is that its going to just look orange if I keep adding POPS! A wise woman once told me "Pictures don't lie" so Im going to just keep taking pictures after I add something to see if it gets to stay...I can already see that I need to de-clutter the kitchen area...maybe cover up the inside of the glass cabinets with - wait for it - ORANGE paper so that they have a more solid look like the birch cabinets. 

Failing Miserably

Im still evaluating my relationship with this whole blogging thing - its not really behaving like a proper give-take relationship should. Although I would have to say that Im solely to blame for its unbalanced behavior. Im not giving to my blog - yet Im constantly taking - from others.
Im taking A LOT from the new generation of online magazines.

I love this one:
Rue

And this one is my new favorite:
High Gloss

Not only is it my new favorite online time waster, but it also confirmed my design lust for a cowhide rug-over-rug look, not once, not twice, BUT 3 times!!

And the kicker is that the last image has a grey single cushioned down filled sofa - just like me!

Were Moving!

Hallelujah! We're heading back down to 'The Pearl'. Portlanders, you know what Im talking about - non Portlanders, you may not. Its about as opposite as you can get from where we currently are. Now = 1948, traditional sectioned off no closet space house. Move = modern open loft style with concrete pillars and ceiling in a 10 story building with an REI on the lower level.  Now = Suburbia with no place to eat or grocery shop within walking distance, have to get on the freeway to get downtown, and there is a Target within a hop, skip and a jump - a sure sign your in the burbs. Move = The Pearl - specifically within walking distance of EVERYTHING. Yes, every single thing in Portland. Maybe that was an exaggeration...but seriously, there is not one thing that I cant walk to from this new place - grocery store, restaurants, dog park, hardware store, public transportation to get husband to work. Wait, crap, there is no Target! We may need to reconsider....

I'll have to carve out special Target travel time, but it will be worth the extra gas. The goal we have with the move is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Smaller; by about 300ish square feet. But the 1700 were getting is much more usable than the 2000 we have now. I also have delusional thoughts that I will be compelled to cook more since the kitchen is open and included in the main room, rather than a galley walkthrough with no social connection to any of the rooms we actually use. This may or may not actually happen. What is a definite possibility is sending Husband down to REI to pick up some dehydrated meals when we have nothing left in the freezer and the 3 blocks to Safeway is just too far away.

We will be missing a yard with the move. I REALLY doubt that we will actually MISS it since we both loathed all the work to keep it from looking like the most neglected yard on the block - but we will no longer have one. That does require getting dressed and actually going down the elevator and outside to let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. This can be Husbands job while Im slaving away in the open kitchen making proper meals.

This move is going to require some purging. I can't wait. I LOVE purging. Although this level of purging is going to require Craigslist and I loath selling things on Craigslist. Oh well, its for the greater good.

Off to pack and purge!