New Addition

On Friday, we purchased a couch. At first, I was excited about the purchase. That was until I took my first nap on it this weekend and then I was ecstatic about the purchase. I forgot how awesome couches are and it is now my favorite place to beach myself after a long day of work or play. Why on earth did we wait this long?

Ta da! Our couch (sitting in the craptastic living room). I tried to crop out the boxes and other random stuff, but Photoshop can only do so much. Needless to say, our apartment in this state won't win any design (or tidiness) awards, but I'm making progress. Slowly.

I'd probably make a little more progress if my lounge breaks didn't get in the way.

But how can you judge my progress when it's the breaks that make me so darn happy?

Speaking of progress, I'm 31 weeks 2 days along and the belly continues to amaze me. Every day J and I marvel at the sheer size and wonder how the heck 4-5 more pounds of baby will manage to squeeze in there?! I'm convinced that my stomach is already stuck somewhere under my left shoulder blade, as evidenced my my inability to eat anything larger than my fist without feeling overly stuffed and short of breath. I have to say though, feeling (and seeing) Baby G's little feet poke and prod around is well worth the stomach drama. It makes me more and more excited for his arrival in August!

Furniture Update

J and I stopped in at the hardware store this morning and picked up a bottle of Old English furniture oil as a first step in making our chest of drawers look like new. I'm glad we did. I thought I might have to take more drastic measures, such as waxing and retouching with a tinted paste. However, $6.50 went a long way with this project! As you can see, the right side looks refreshed and good as new. Next step: shelf paper in the drawers and we'll be set with a pretty great looking changing table.

Completed Project (Almost)

Ta da! Our new (old) dining chairs are finally finished and made their official breakfast room debut last weekend. The fabric that Jesse's parents purchased a few years ago is a perfect fit for our apartment -- fancy enough to stand up to the chairs, but with a hint of modern geometry that works perfectly with some of our mid-century furniture.

Here's a shot of the underside with the new jute webbing. The only glitch is that the webbing is stretching a lot more than I thought. I learned a valuable lesson, I guess -- using a stretcher tool is a must. Jesse's mom has a canvas stretcher that she thinks will do the trick and is planning on bringing it up in June when they visit on their way out to Virginia. I've also been looking into some more high-tech options for the webbing and found upholstery grade elastic (the kind used for automobile seats) and think that is the way I'm going to go this second time around. I'm a little bummed that I'm going to have to take the seats apart again, but after a week of sitting it's become quite apparent that the sag is only going to get worse.

On the bright side though, Jesse's parents brought up two really great pieces of furniture that are doing an excellent job of filling up some empty space in our apartment. This one will double as a changing table and chest for baby stuff. I gave it a good vacuuming today and cleaned it up a bit with wood cleaner, but the finish still looks like it could use a little more luster. I'll do a little more research on that before delving in, but as you can see there's already a pile of blankets and clothing just begging to be put away!

And here's the second piece of new (old) furniture that is doing an excellent job of storing our baking pans and a few other odds and ends. It also serves as an excellent sideboard for hot dishes and dessert. My favorite part about this piece are the Belgian tiles. Don't they look fetching with our newly recovered chairs?

This month has been exciting because I feel like our apartment is really starting to come together and feel like home. Who knew just a couple of new pieces could really warm up the place and make it feel so cozy?

Guest Room Inspirado

As I've mentioned previously, for the past couple of months our back bedroom has been the dumping ground for all things ugly and unwanted -- piles of unopened boxes, random bags of cords and electronics, and stacks of artwork and photo frames that still need a home. It is also J's home office, so add a bunch of work stuff on top of the heap and we had quite a mess. Actually, it is still a huge mess, but we've made great strides to improve conditions this week. One giant motivating factor was that we went out on Tuesday evening and purchased a set of mattresses at a super discount from a local sleep shop. To my surprise, they were insanely speedy with the delivery, promising and arriving at 10am sharp yesterday morning. So what's the catch? Well, we haven't actually purchased a bed frame.

We'd been going back and forth about whether to go with a queen-size guest bed (with the comfort of our parents in mind) or something smaller. The thing is, we actually want our families to come and stay and feel comfortable, so a full size bed was out of the question. The only problem is that 75% of the year, the bed would remain empty and take up a lot of floor space for such a small amount of use. When searching for alternatives, I remembered that my sister had a daybed as a kid and my parents frequently used it for out of town guests. After consulting with my Mom, she assured me that it was a pretty comfortable sleep. So, I started the search and finally found a daybed with a pop-up trundle in our price range that wasn't insanely hideous -- I was surprised to find that daybed designs have changed very little over the course of my life, most of which really didn't fit the look of our other furniture. So, for most of the year, the bed will serve as a couch/lounge space and when guests come to visit, we'll have a king-size bed for their use.

Naturally, my mind has jumped about 15 steps ahead of the game. I'm already envisioning color schemes and coverlets for the new daybed (that hasn't been ordered and probably won't arrive for another 6 weeks). To add fuel to the fire, one of my favorite blogs, Apartment Therapy, just announced that DwellStudio has teamed up with Target again for a new line of bedding. Unfortunately, their coverlets only come in queen and king size (I'd most likely want two twins), but I'm kind of loving the gold and pewter combination. I'm also partial to the blue green combination (found on the link above) that might contrast well with the sort of lemony walls in our apartment. Perhaps I'm due for another trip out to Fabric Depot in the near future to see if I can't make those coverlets myself!

(Image of DwellStudio Line borrowed from Apartment Therapy)

On a Mission

This week Jesse noticed that one of the drawer pulls on our credenza was cracked. In truth, it wasn't just cracked, the handle was about to fall off. This made me very sad, because I actually really love the pulls. I'm not sure how it happened -- whether it was already cracked when we bought the piece, or if we damaged it somehow when moving it to the apartment. Both Jesse and I have a knack for breaking things, so maybe somehow one of us did it by accident.I can't really point fingers here, because it is a total mystery.

Anyway, I have been on a mission to find something to replace my cute little drawer pulls, but to date I have hit a wall. Not only are they a unique shape, but they are also a weird size. Very few pieces of furniture hardware come with the screws spaced at 4.25" on center. Even the internet has turned up very limited options. At this point, I'm not even worried about style as long as I find something to make the drawer functional again! I have yet to troll the vintage furniture and hardware replacement stores here in Portland. That in itself is a daunting task. There has to be a shop that specializes in old hardware, especially with the mid-century modern craze that has hit lately. I just have to find the right store!

My roommate from college is taking an intensive course this summer in the hills of North Carolina on metalworking and forging. Maybe I can be her first customer and commission her to craft a new set for me.

Weekend Update

This weekend had been all about furniture. After much thought, I decided that we needed a bookshelf in our bedroom to hold some of my office supplies, but more importantly to contain some of my fabric and sewing machine. I want my desk to double as an office space when I have work and a craft table when I need to do projects. So far, it's been difficult to switch between the two tasks because I have to dig out all of my crafting things from the closet. Jesse will be traveling a lot this month, so I'll have lots of time on my hands.

We headed out to Ikea on Saturday morning and got there right around 9:45 (just in time to get a quick breakfast). Unfortunately, this weekend was the annual Ikea mattress sale. Also, they were giving out free breakfast. There were probably 150 people waiting in line for a $.99 eggs and bacon. I nearly died. Jesse and I had to try our best to hold it together, since we both arrived at the store really really ready for food. So, we meandered silently through the store, picked up the Billy bookcase and headed straight for the checkout. Thankfully, the snack bar was open on the ground floor and we had a nutritious breakfast of $.50 hot dogs, a coke and a cinnamon roll. The day was much better after we ate.

Today, we went to SE Portland to pick up a piece of furniture for the living room. For a few weeks now, I've been poking around Craigslist looking for a small sideboard or chest of drawers to go under the big window in our living room. Not only does the space feel empty, but Jesse desperately needs some storage space near his desk (otherwise his "office" starts to take over the whole living space). This piece was at the upper end of the price limit I set for myself, but it's solid and couldn't be more perfect in terms of size. Oddly enough, the lady I bought it from turned out to be a classmate from undergraduate school. I'd say we were more acquaintances than friends, but it's kind of a small world to meet someone (buying furniture on Craigslist of all places) that I never expected to see again.

It needs to be cleaned up a bit in terms of vacuuming and tightening the drawer pulls, but overall I'm really happy. I'm thinking of making a runner for it this week out of fabric that I picked up at Urban Outfitters this Christmas on super clearance. I think I'll bring a nice bit of color in the room (and it'll hide a water mark on the top until I can get around to repairing it).

I'm pretty excited to get started!

Furniture Game - Final Update

As Nightrain reminded me yesterday, I have been evading the question of whether I am succeeding at the "Furniture Game" or have failed miserably. As of my last entry, I had spent $295 of my allotted $609 set aside for furniture purchases. Shortly after I started the Furniture Game, my parents contributed $100 in the way of a housewarming gift, bringing my overall budget up to $709. As stipulated in the original rules, I have not included any purchases that were made for Jesse's home office. I have also not included things that we obtained for free (with gift cards left over from our wedding) or small items like hooks, kitchen gadgets, etc.

I have obtained the following "furniture" items since my first Furniture Game post (including a recap of initial blogged purchases):

Kitchen Cart from Ikea: $56

The cart has been a lifesaver not only for providing extra counter space, but also for the storage racks. It's a great help during dinner prep because it means that one person can chop and stir completely out of the way of the person at the stove. After looking at this photo, I realized that I have only oiled a portion of the lower racks. I'll just add it to the list of things to do tomorrow. Or the next day.

Metal Kitchen Shelf, Courtesy of Craigslist: $25

Like the kitchen cart, this shelf has also been worth every dollar spent. I like that all of the pots and pans that I use on a regular basis (particularly in the fall and winter for soups and stews) are easily accessible. The pots and appliances also add a splash of color to an otherwise very white kitchen.

Bed Frame, courtesy of Craigslist: $125

This was another necessary purchase to make our apartment feel more like home. It has been moved and shifted several times over the course of our first month and has caused numerous bruises on my knees and shins. Luckily, we solved the clothes disaster under the bed -- it has now been shoved in a closet, out of sight.

My Orange Chair: $89

Even though it made me sweat in the 98 degree weather in early September, I have used this chair constantly since it was purchased. It has now moved from a corner of the apartment to our new living room area. Eventually, once we get a worthy shade for our tiki lamp (courtesy of Larson), it will make for a perfect chair for reading or working on my quilting projects.

Fairly Honest Bill's Chair & Supplies: $65 for the chair, $67 for refinishing items (new foam cushions, fabric, notions, wood stain)

This $65 chair has turned into quite the project, but well worth the time in my opinion. I have seen similar chairs with fully restored wood finishes and new cushions going for upwards of $400 in higher end consignment shops. Of course, mine isn't a high-end chair, but it does a nice job of looking the part.

Poang Chair from Ikea As-is Room: $99

Finding this chair was a total fluke. I had just stopped in at Ikea for some kitchen hooks and happened to browse through the As-is section. My first choice for a frame would have been a slightly lighter wood, but the cushion was the perfect chocolate brown to offset the other colorful chairs in the living room. The bookshelf pictured is one that we brought with us from D.C.

Billy Bookcases: 2 @ $59.98
We purchased the two tall Billy bookcases this past weekend to hold most of our books. The three smaller bookcases in the middle were brought with us from D.C. It's amazing how much stuff these bookcases hold. I'm also really excited that they blend in enough with the walls to mimic the awesome built-ins that we have throughout the apartment.

End Table, courtesy of Craigslist: $15
I know, you probably think I'm lying, but I really only paid $15 for this awesome end table. As I was driving to the lady's house, it crossed my mind that this might have been a ploy to lure me to a dark alley and take all of my belongings. That thought couldn't have been further from the truth. She was really nice and told me that it was her parent's (they bought it on their honeymoon) and she just wanted to give it to someone who would appreciate it.

Crate and Barrel Wool Area Rug: $149
Totally lame photo, I know, but it's back ordered. Hopefully it will come in the next few days. Unlike the photo, the rug is a nice brown color. The actual cost was $249, but we had a gift card from our wedding.

Step Stool/Office Chair/Kitchen Chair: $24.99
Jesse and I have had a philosophical disagreement on whether I should include our step stool into the equation. He argues that since I have been using it as a chair for nearly 4 weeks, that it is, in fact, a piece of furniture. So fine. I'll include it, but under duress.

So, that brings the total to $835.95 (or $126.95 over budget). So, technically I haven't won the Furniture Game. However, I am not completely devastated since most of you naysayers speculated that I would fail miserably by going at least $200 over budget. Also, the point of the game was to dip as little as possible into our meager income these first couple of months in Portland. I think it's a pretty huge feat to furnish our one bedroom apartment (almost) from scratch for under $1000 -- and to have only $127 in out of pocket costs.

Now that I have a paycheck on the horizon, I won't feel bad about shopping Craigslist for a cute breakfast table and chairs to replace the empty spot left by my my new office desk.