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This wallpaper/tile combination is ridiculously awesome. I would dance all over those floors...

Image: Coco + Kelley via cococozy

Winter Blues

It's hard to believe that winter is only getting started because the city has been pummeled with snow twice already and I'm beginning to seriously consider a move to the west coast. You know what I hate about winter? I hate that it follows you inside. I hate that I have to wash my floors twice as often (meaning, I actually have to wash my floors at all) because there is sludge everywhere. I hate that I have to immediately disrobe the second I walk in the door to avoid getting melted snow all over my kitchen. I HATE that my entryway is crowded with snow boots and other essential outdoor accessories because there is no room to store them properly and my neighbors might steal them if we were to leave them out in the hallway.

Winter. It's so inconvenient for the decor enthusiast. 

What I would like right now is a beautiful, bright, organized entryway that makes me excited to come home and toss off all evidence of the outside world. Perhaps something like this entryway, which belongs to Kimberly Cornelison and Alfie Ferreyra and which I've been coveting since it was featured on Design*Sponge back in September. These people know a thing or two about snow- they live in Minneapolis! Even though the space is small, they've carved out a distinct look and feel for the little nook. I adore the bright wallpaper and pendant lamp and the simple burst of color from the flowers and basket. 

How can a little snow get you down when your home looks like this?

Image: Design*Sponge

I need an intern just to think of titles for me

I was reading The Kitchn  this afternoon when I spotted this wonderland of loveliness in one of their galleries. I love how much character and personality this kitchen has-somehow a dresser and lamp next to a freaking stove looks chic and elegant.  I'm also mad about the fancy terrariums and the pottery vignette on the open shelving. I would genuinely look forward to cooking if my kitchen looked like this.

You can see a tour of this whole duplex apartment in Dallas over on Apartment Therapy and I highly recommend it because each room is brimming with interesting accessories and layers of pattern and texture. I am especially fond of the exquisite hallway/foyer, which is probably to be expected.

Image: Apartment Therapy

Pour Some Sugar On Me

It was exceptionally difficult to drag myself out of bed this morning. My four hours of sleep weren't enough to convince me to put on a work-appropriate outfit or motivate me to open the fridge to grab breakfast. As a result, I am short skirted and full of donuts. Even on the worst days, I am usually pretty awake by the time I leave my apartment. Not so this morning! I was so tired I somehow managed to slip on a pile of sugar someone had spilled on the stairs. Not cool neighbhoors, not cool! No matter how nice I try to make our apartment, there is still always random garbage in the hallway or the smell of smoke escaping people's doors. Ah, the joys of living in a city.

I wish the stairs in our building looked more like this lovely staircase from Dan Ducha's portfolio. So cheerful and clean. I love how crisp the deep orange looks with the bright white. I've never been an orange fan, I find the boldness of it slightly offensive- even orange Starbursts bother me- but I am slowly coming around ever since I acquired my free orange couch. I think it's even growing on me. Suddenly I've found myself drawn more and more to orange and grey palettes and I keep finding orange accessories for other parts of my apartment. I probably wouldn't be so tired right now if I were confronted with this staircase everyday instead of ours, which is dirty and creaks a lot.

Come to think of it since no one seems to notice giant piles of baking supplies in our hallway, I bet I could totally paint our stairs any color I want and no one would care! Hot Damn!

Image: Dan Ducha via decorology

Swoonworthy

Image: LivingEtc

Transitions

We are finally starting our major apartment overhaul! The first step was painting the living room (more on that debacle later) and the second step will be tackling our wall art situation. Last night we discussed the pig sty that is currently our kitchen.

Our kitchen poses many problems. It is a large room with a big open space in the middle. We have reserved one short wall for a wide kitchen cart to hold our toaster oven and other small appliances. Our round kitchen table resides in a dark corner that is in desperate need of a wall-sconce or lamp. I am considering an open bookcase for the other corner, which would house our cookbooks and pretty bake ware. The problem with our kitchen is the one long wall that leads to the door. Theoretically, we should be able to separate the space into the 'entryway' and the 'kitchen area'. But that is easier said than done, especially since the fridge is right next to the door. The trick, I think, is to figure out a way to separate the two spaces without interrupting the flow of the room. (Sorry to be all 'zen' but it cannot be helped.)

I was perusing the Design*Sponge offerings today and I think this new line by Lene Toni Kjeld would be a perfect way to transition from entryway to eatery while still maintaining two distinct areas. A colorful console/umbrella stand combo could brighten the white while the delicate silver design would soften our bulky wood table. It also looks great with bright yellow, which is a color I am considering painting our dining room chairs!

Image: Lene Toni Kjeld via Design*Sponge

Nice Rack!

I have about a million things on my 'to do' list but instead of working on various writing projects and/or work I actually get paid to do, I am going to write about this brazilliant coat rack.

I have such a love/hate relationship with coat racks. We had a traditional brass coat rack when I was little but it was so top-heavy it fell over on me when I was 6 and I spent half my morning 'trapped' under a mound of jackets pretending there had been an earthquake and rationing out fruit snacks in case I was stuck under there all day.

The problem is, I don't love those wall racks either- especially the kind with a shelf or anything that looks too 'country'. Ick. Since we don't have a hallway closet, we have to find a way to store coats and hats that won't topple over onto our guests and small cat. Our entryway is tricky though. When you enter our apartment you basically walk straight into the kitchen and though my first instinct is to fight for a proper entrance console/mirror combo and forgo the jacket storage altogether, I also have to consider practicality. This coat rack might be an easy solution to our problem. We could keep a few coats on it without piling them on top of each other and it looks shallow enough not to take up the entire walkway. Plus, we could paint it a nice bright color and it would look so neat and tidy!

Image: Design Sponge