Category Archives: Inspiration

August 3, 2012 · 2:40 am

Some shit

Yayyyy our gorgeous Turquoise over-dyed Turkish kilim rug came today! I texted my boyfriend who was at work when it came: “it is magnificent.” It’s such beautiful quality and just makes the room feel REAL, and LIVED IN. I can’t describe what a difference in coziness a great rug makes in a room. It makes it feel just so….real. Like a real bedroom that real people have, not children like us. It makes it so WARM and inviting. I LOVE the room with it!

My boyfriend relaxing in the bedroom over the new rug.

It’s the first rug I’ve ever owned. Like this is my first rug as a human being. I lived at home, then I lived in dorms, then my first place ever had carpet (the horror– I try not to remember it), and then we moved into this place with its parquet floors, which we have lived in for 9 months– 8 months of which we had nothing on the floors but a cow’s hide from Ikea. Then, our neighbors upstairs were giving away a FREE RUG (SUPER fugly, but free), so we took that for our dining room. So this is the first rug I’ve ever bought and I eyed it for literally 19 months before finally going for it. It’s kind of a joke how inexpensive the rugs on RUGS USA are. Like who is the joke on? Is the joke on me? I’m confused, but I love you Rugs USA.

Total game changer and goes a LONG. WAY. But we still have a gagillion things until this room is ‘done.’ It’s still far too boring and neutral for my liking. It needs depth. Layering. I need more art for the walls. The nightstands need things. Possibly different lamps. Probably something entirely different for the foot of the bed– like poufs, or something tufted, I DON’T KNOW, but it’s still too much of the same thing. That is– white, brown, green, grey. I need some pattern in there, something peach or raspberry or purple, some things that make it feel less spartan. Different pillows, some curtains. Blah blah.

But who ever doesn’t get rugs? Like where the fuck have I been living? Carrying about my business like an idiot, with nothing but parquet floors. Like a savage. It’s uncivilized really. To live on rug-less parquet floors. Rugs are IT. Rugs are everything. Also the parquet is clearly like, so much better than carpet, but I’m going to need some hard woods pretty soon here. The parquet pretty much makes me want to kill myself every day. So thank god I have something to cover them up now.

THEN, I went and ordered this giant photograph of a scuba diver that I spent no less than 49 hours at the computer debating. I mean I did a TON of research to find a photograph I thought was super cool– I’m totally obsessed with the under water world as it pertains to photography. I think photographs of the creepy ass creatures down there, like octopuses and weird fish and sharks, and scuba divers are just cool as shit. Something about it really appeals to my particular eye. The colors of all the various blues, the bubbles, the eerie way everything looks submersed in water… I just think badass photos of scuba divers have this super creepy alien-esque vibe to them, with their black rubber suits and their weird eye goggle masks and all the equipment. Something about it feels disturbing..unsettling.

And, I’ve been OBSESSED with the notion of one, giant, huge, statement-making photograph (or piece of art) in a room for forever. It’s just an interiors thing that totally speaks to me. For some, it’s so not their style. For me, it’s the epitome of me. I just like BOLD, crazy, whack shit. That’s why I love “The Antonio Treatment” on HGTV because Antonio Ballatore is this totally insane interior designer who does AWESOMELY out of the box shit for his clients– so he’ll build like an aquarium in the middle of their living room, or like, find a sculpture of a giant sea horse and work it into their bedroom and it looks amazing. REALLY loud, crazy, bold stuff but it looks sick how he does it. So I just like loud art on a massive scale.

These are a bunch of examples of exactly what I’m talking about– images that I’ve been saving for years that show rooms in houses that have one HUGE photograph blown up or one big piece of art. Some how, it looks effortless and natural and awesome in all of these places.

This is in a museum and is very famous but like, I would LOVE this in my living room at this exact scale. Fucking technicolor Mao? That’s the kind of thing you walk into a room and go “SICK.”

Pop art Jackie O in a dressing room against busy wall paper? yes.

Love this black and white photo of what looks like the queen? Or this chick’s grandmother? Or a Shriver? haha not sure.

The Novogratz’s (9 by Design) have a giant piece of art in just about every room in their house. I love this photograph of a vulnerable looking Lolita type, who’s a dead ringer for model Barbara Palvin, in that amazing yellow dress, and it kind of looks like a blend of an oil painting and a photograph.

The photo was taken by interiors blogger Jen Ramos, when she went to their house in New York for a private blogger event, so it’s like a personal iphone photo from a blogger of the amazing Novogratz home. This is another giant piece of art in their home, that’s directly to the right of the girl in the yellow dress:

And ANOTHER large eye-catcher, a blown up photo of one of their kids:

See, the Novogratz’s don’t give a shit- they just go for it with out-there wall art. And I love it.

Famous octupus triptych that’s made its rounds on the internet:

So on Art.com, I spent hoursssssssss playing around with different large, water-related photos that would make an insane statement. The cool thing about the site is that you can actually “frame” the photo, and scale it, and see what it looks like in different ‘living rooms.’ They have like 8 or so room set-ups with paint and furniture, and you drag the painting into it to see how it can look. So like, I looked through FOUR BILLION photos to find the ones I personally liked, then framed them based on like 40 frame options, and then dropped them into certain rooms. So it’s not like “order your shark print here!” It was my creation, not a pat option. I played around with some crazy shark photos:

Two different great white options:

And a super extra-terrestrial esque scuba one, that I really really liked and debated down to the wire:

Buttt, we ultimately settled on “Fish on Reef” because I liked the visual interest of the spots on the giant Grouper fish, the little pops of neon yellow from the diver’s flippers and the little fish, and the electric lavender color of the grouper.

Of course when it came I was like, Alina what the fuck have you done. I still can’t tell if it’s fantastic and just needs the right scenery, or if it’s totally tacky and awful.

BUT, here is what I am thinking. I think the reason it looks awesome in the “test photos” is because since it’s such a bold, loud, colorful piece, it needs to be balanced out with sleek, straight, masculine, white lines. Those square club chairs are the perfect accompanying pieces to the photo. I’d envisioned it also in a really sleek dining room- with a long white table, white chairs, that photo, a great flower arrangement, and some natural accents. Obviously it looks like SHIT in that photo up above because our dining room overall looks like shit because it’s thrown together with free pieces from unknown neighbors and $35 dollar Ikea and Home Depot accents. Like what is this dining room. It’s an abomination to my visual senses. The red and blue rug? It’s there for two reasons: (1) it was better than JUST the Parquet, staring back up at me in their conceited way– “we’re all you’ve got, just a whole bunch of PARQUET SQUARES, STARING AT YOU IN OUR HORRIBLE GLOSSY AMBER WOOD COLOR, NAKED.” Naked Parquet– horrific. And 2.) it was free.

But the red/blue/yellow primary colors of the rug + the black of the chalkboard wall and pink colored chalk– it’s really NOT doing it for us anymore. So this is what I imagine though—- imagine if we TOTALLY lightened up the room. Like THESE dining rooms:

(Camille Styles’ gorgeous dining room)

So we get like a white or cream or grey rug, paint over the chalkboard wall BACK to a white, swap our wicker dining chairs for white ones– and then hung the picture behind the dining table. THAT IS MY VISION. And when I envision it like that, I think the piece will be a really cool background to a white/neutral dining room. My friend who is an interior designer/genius is going to come over and give me some thoughts. I texted her tonight “I got an insane photograph of a scuba diver and a grouper. Can’t tell if it’s awesome or tacky. I am troubled.”

I mean right now with the parquet and the rest of our dollar-store dining room of course it’s awful, but I PICTURE it in a white room with sleek lines and I can see it. And all that room would take is a coat of paint, a different rug, and selling our current chairs to get new ones. Easy. I’m going to see what she says. I have 30 days to return it so I’m going to give it a chance to show its potential without all of the strikes against it right now, that aren’t its fault (mainly– the parquet and the chalkboard and the wicker).

that’s all for now! I got some really cute new shoes and I was going to post about them in this post since it’s entitled “some shit”, but………….I’m now too lazy to continue so I’ll make it a separate post tomorrow.

2 Comments

Filed under Home Decor, Inspiration, Interior Design

October 8, 2011 · 5:05 am

Idea for Moving Organization: Moving Binder

So today I discovered Pendaflex ‘project sorters,’ and today my life changed forever. I am obsessed with them! They are a visually pleasing, file-folder like organization tool with color-colored tabs on the front, and see-through front and back pockets. They make doing a project so fun, and a lot easier.My boyfriend and I are moving into a new building in a new and muchhhh cooler part of town {thank you Jesus Christ in heaven} in exactly three weeks, and I needed everything to be organized in one place. This is what I did, and what you can do too the next time you move:

1st thing first: I printed off a simple grid “Moving To-Do Checklist” for the front, to keep track of all the tasks associated with moving. I highlighted stages: Pre-Move, Moving, Utilities, and Mail.

Pre-Move is things like:

Buy boxes, packing tape, sharpie
IKEA trip
Order couch for delivery on date of move-in
Selling anything?, i.e.- go through stuff and figure out what is being packed, versus sold or thrown out, etc.
Pick moving company and make reservation

Move is things like:

Reserve loading dock at current place
Reserve loading dock at new place
Figure out dimensions of freight elevator and doorways at new place

Reserving the loading docks when moving is suuuuuper crucial, IF you live in an apartment building and/or condo that is. Obviously houses and townhouses with front-door entry into the units don’t apply. But if this isn’t a task on your to-do list, you forget to do it and then 3 days before you move out, you call to reserve it and it’s already full and you can’t do a single thing. If you don’t have loading dock access for couches, beds, etc., you basically can’t move. It can really screw you over.

Utilities is things like:

Cancel electric/gas/cable at current place
Set up new service or transfer service to new place

Mail–>Change of Address, lists all the places I need to contact about my new address. Things to consider/remember are:

Officially at the post office
Banks
Doctors’ Offices
Magazine subscriptions
College
Loan Lenders {if you have student loans}

These days everyone does paperless everything, but people still get mail, so just look through your mail and think about where you are sent mail from, and make sure they have the new address because you DON’T want any correspondences from your bank getting sent to a new person living in your old place.

On the checklist, put contacts and phone numbers for everything you can think of– the moving company, the leasing office at your new place {or if you are not renting, whoever is in charge…condo/homeowner’s association, whatever}. This mostly applies to renting though.

So that’s the checklist.

Then, I used a label-maker to print labels for the big ticket items.

Floor Plan
IKEA List
Paint
Rugs
Room Inspiration
Lighting
Art
Decor
Textiles
Furniture

Like SO: TAB1: The floor plan to your place governs pretty much everything, so I put it as the first tab. You refer to this GILLIONS of times throughout the pre-move and initial phases, when considering dimensions of furniture, what will fit, where it will go, etc. Even when figuring how much paint to buy, you need to know how tall/long the walls are, etc. I had our leasing people email me an electronic copy of it, and I printed off three clean copies. I kept two clean, and decorated one with my not-to-scale sketch of what will go where. See my outline of the cow’s hide? hahaaha that’s my favorite part. And the only part that looks good in this drawing. But it all makes sense to me. TAB2– “IKEA List.” My boyfriend and I are broke. We are the kind of broke that your parents talk about being, when they were law students living off of loan money and Ramen and lived in a shoebox sized apartment on top of each other in New York, and worked 3 jobs and donated blood to earn extra cash. We sat down the other night and went through all of our finances {it was really fun} and determined that between all of the bills we have to pay, i.e. FIXED expenses, things like credit cards, loans, car payments, insurance, gas money, move-out costs [like the fee we have to pay our apartment for them to re-clean it before the next person moves in, etc.], that after all that, we have exactly– EXACTLY– $400.00 for the move. We don’t have furniture………………………The things I OWN include things like side tables, lamps, one console table {that I’m selling because it won’t fit in the new place}, shelves, etc., but the TWO things that a person needs in a place are: a couch, and a coffee table. Those are the two things we don’t have.

Sidenote– Have you ever moved into a new place? The first time I ever moved into a new places was last year, when I moved into the place I am currently living in as I type this blog post, and also the place I will be moving out of in 3 weeks. It was my first lease, and my first experience walking into a completely empty room. While at Dartmouth, I lived in the dorms all 4 years and dorms come furnished so I never learned what you NEED when moving in to a new, empty, residence. Well friends, when you move into a new place for the first time, you notice within two hours—two hours– the things you didn’t realize you need, and those things are: A shower curtain, a trash can, paper towels, toilet paper, and scissors. They are things you would never think about before your first move, but after your first move, TWO HOURS into the new place, you’re like….”oh shit…..this isn’t a hotel. there is quite literally NOTHING here.” You realize, that there is nowhere to throw anything out. That you went to go pee, and there are no paper products. You start to unpack things, and have no scissors to open anything. You wash your hands, and can’t dry them. You need to take a shower from all the dirty moving and unpacking, and you realize you are standing naked in a tub with no shower curtain…and you don’t know where the towels are. It’s just something that I personally didn’t think of. I remember walking into our place for the very first time, and going to the bathroom and realizing……..oh….right….there is N-O-T-H-I-N-G here. I made a list right then and there, of the 5 things that are like, a mover’s emergency stash. You have to have those things on hand immediately.

But THEN, there was a realization that took a bit longer than 2 hours. Our couch wasn’t being delivered for a few days, and we hadn’t yet picked out a coffee table, and by 10 pm that first day of being in your new places without those two things, you’re like “uhhh okay joke’s over…get me a fucking coffee table and couch NOW.” There is nowhere to do anything without those two things. while a person can live without MANYMANYMANYMANYMANYMANYMANY things, including ALL DECOR, book shelves, accent chairs, curtains, etc., there are two things a person needs BEFORE they even move in, and those two things are: COUCH. COFFEE TABLE. That’s it. Those are ESSENTIAL.Your life will be miserable until you have a couch and coffee table.

So we have 400 dollars to get a couch, coffee table, buy packing materials, hire movers, etc. HAHAH Good luck, US. #Nothappening. NEEDLESS TO SAY, allllllllllllllll of this was to get to my point that IKEA is literally the only place we are looking/going for at least 2 months. There is not a SINGLE place that can beat IKEA’s prices. Their “Lack” coffee table is $39.99, and their Ektorp couch {which is very comfortable, long, and has 3 cushions as opposed to two} is $399. 399 dollars and is hands down THE cheapest couch we’ve come across, especially for one that is aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. Unless we buy….like, some SUPER ghetto couch off Craig’s List or Goodwill, but that’s ghetto. I’m cool with refurbishing side tables and chairs from places like that, but your COUCH– no thank you. There are a few other things we are aiming to get at IKEA- like the UBIQUITOUS “Expedit” grid bookshelf, some knives {we don’t own any and they’re $4.99 at IKEA}, a cow’s hide {if there aren’t cheaper ones on EBAY or something of the like}, and some other things, and at IKEA.com, you can select everything you want, and it will look up the numbers and availability at the store location of your choosing, and then you print it out and take it with you for easy shopping. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, our IKEA List has its own tab, because we are going to be living off of our IKEA shopping list for like the first 4 months of being in our new place. With each new paycheck, a new thing can be bought because that is how life is when you are 25 and hustling.

For the rest of the tabs, I simply printed images fit to full-sized 8 1/2 by 11 printer paper, in full color. These are good to have on hand because a.) they remind you of your ultimate vision, so you don’t get carried away. And b.) So you show people at the stores where you go. “I am looking for a rug like this.” Etc.

Tab3– PAINT. Paint colors are crucial. I don’t want us to go too long without painting, because then you just get lazy and like 6 months pass and your walls are still eggshell white. #NO. I have MASSIVE folders of images I’ve saved for years, so I printed out the images of painted walls I have that caught my eye in various editorials from magazines or Apartment Therapy or blogs or whatever. They go in the “paint” tab so that when we walk into Benjamin Moore or wherever, we can just look for paint chips to match the pictures, or show the pictures to staff and say “we’re looking for a green like THIS.”As we start collecting paint chips and going through that whole process, they will be stored in this tab too.

Tab4– RUGS. Ditto on the rugs. We need a cow’s hide, a Moroccon-esque kilim rug, a graphic modern black-and-white striped rug, and a flokati.

Tab5–Room Inspiration. Here, I printed out images of actual ROOMS that I like, instead of individual things like “rugs” “lamps” and “art pieces.” The rooms are ENTIRE rooms whose look I like.TAB 6–Lighting.

Tab 7– ART.

Tab 8– DECOR

Tab 9– TEXTILES

TAB 10– The ACTUAL furniture. This is last because we won’t be able to afford the good stuff for awhile. The IKEA Ektorp $399 sofa is temporary…ultimately my dream couch is the blue velvet sofa from Ethan Allen that you may have seen on other blogs. It’s a dream couch!

At the very back of the binder, I have the full collage I made of the overall design look for the house.

I also made a list of ‘resources’ if you will, for home stuff, even though it’s IKEA in the short term. I did this because I sometimes forget about places, like Home Goods when I’m on the hunt for something, so I spend all day looking for a lamp and give up and go home and then remember I didn’t go to Home Goods because I’d forgotten it existed. And for the front of the binder, I printed out calendar months for the last months of 2011. It’s just nice to have things laid out visually, so if you go into a store and ask about delivery or whatever, you can look at your calendar and see how it fits into things. I KNOW people have phones, but I like being able to hold things and touch them and write on them. So that’s my moving binder. It was SO easy to make. Pendaflex’s are 11 dollars at Staples. The checklist was made using grid boxes in Microsoft Word. A simple label maker made the labels for the tabs. And then I printed all of the images. Literally all you do is right-click to save an image to your desktop, then open it and click file–>print, or “Control+P”, and whether you have a PC or a MAC, it should just automatically print the image to the size of the paper. It’s legit. I CAN’T tell you how obsessed I am with this binder. Every time I see it, I just want to make out with it. It’s just makes me want to wake up and start slaying life. Just owning our move. I’m normally not THIS organized. Without Pendaflex project sorter, all of these things would have been in ten different places, but this little magical part-file folder part-binder gave me a place to put it all together, in a very visually satisfying way. #obsessssedwithPendaflex. #notsponosoredbyPendaflex. #wouldbeweirdifIwas.

An empty pendaflex:You also don’t have to use labels and can instead used colored sharpies to fill in the tabs. Alright good night. It’s 2 AM on Friday night and I’m still up posting about this.

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Filed under Cute Ideas, DIY, Home Decor, Inspiration, Interior Design

September 30, 2011 · 1:09 am

Industrial Loft Living: How to do it right

Can you EVEN believe it’s the same space??? Take a good look.

I discovered Natalie’s blog the way I discover half the shit I discover– clicking link after link after link until I couldn’t tell you how I got to where I am IF you paid me to. What I do know is that an online magazine of some sort had featured her due to her DIY bunting project that was really creative and cute. Seeee: She made that. The entire thing, in her spare time, because she is Martha Stewart.

In terms of the space she currently lives in, I was always really amazed when she blogged pictures of her loft BEFORE I saw the before picture!! Like even before seeing it, I thought it was amazing and so cool and funky and thought for sure she must have a background in interior design based on how well she filled such a cold and just large space. And then I stumbled upon her before picture and was in shock! So, look again: beFORE

Like WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT???? What an incredible transformation! The picture you saw up above, at the start of the post, was of the area re-arranged to accommodate guests for her and her fiance’s 26th birthday party. They rented chairs from a party company and had all of their closest friends over. But normally it looks like this. The best part is that she is so crafty and thrifty that like, half of the things in the pictures were DIY-ed, thrifted, refurbished, or bought from Craigslist.

Let’s get down to a few specifics. Her awesome bubble chandelier above the dining room table. SHE MADE IT. Out of CB2 Plastic Bubbles. You may not even believe that, because it’s so incredible, butttt she photographed the entire thing and blogged a step-by-step DIY on how to do it haha. Man, some people just are Martha Stewart. But better. The idea of me crafting this lamp is LAUGH-A-BLE. Amazing right?

She also DIY-ed these amazing mid-century modern-esque lounge chairs. I’m so jealous of abilities like this.Above, are the final products in their home in the living area. Below, is what they looked like when she found them:

I am totally obSESSED with the piece of artwork that draws all eyes to it, in their dining room area– this amaaaaaaaaaaazing 3D piece that is a turquoise blue-ish skeleton-looking face with these funky eyes and mouth. It’s just fucking COOL. The story is even cooler. It’s by this San Fransisco based artist named Pete DooLittle, and they went to his show, and found it by the dumpster outside after the show, asked the gallery owner what it was doing out there, and the artist said he was supposed to give it to a friend who didn’t want it anymore so he offered to sell it to them for a hundred dollars. I….am dying. I want this EXACT piece of art. I love how he rendered the mouth. I also love his funky graffiti-like signature in the bottom right corner.

She also re-did their back deck which is as amazing a transformation as inside. I meannnnnnnnnnnnnn. Do you not wish you were her friend so you could have drinks on this loft-deck at night? I certaintly do.

Their loft is in downtown Los Angeles and like…..I need for it to be my loft. I wish DC had cool loft spaces that WEREN’T like 4 million dollars and in the ghetto.

She’s also super crafty with food…and crafts…not just interiors. When they invited everyone over for their birthdays, they made supercute appetizers, cooked the whole meal for all the guests, printed hand-made/designed menus, and created the cutest table-setting I’ve ever seen a NON professional party planner create. Working backwards, the tablesetting: {this is inside their apartment. She did all of this. The runner, the confetti, the flowers, the plate settings and home-made polaroid place settings!!!}The menu {which she and her fiance cooked} The garlic & herb cremini mushrooms {I want to be someone who cooks GARLIC AND HERB CREMINI MUSHROOMS FOR MY FRIENDS ON MY OWN BIRTHDAY}The appetizers {HOWWWWWWWW CUTTTTEEEE ARE THESE}The dinner was inside but the cocktails and appetizers were out on their back deck:What a lovely little evening…..I may copy every single element for a future party.

Natalie, thank you for the inspiration! You are a very talented person! For the record, she is NOT a professional party planner or interior designer by trade. Butttt she should be.

ALL photos and graphic design elements are Natalie’s own! I just wanted to feature her amazingness.You can follow her creative happenings here, on her blog MintLoveSocialClub.

Outfit Inspiration that is not necessarily seasonally relevant

The SEXIEST little black lace dress that’s entirely modest and understated, amazing legs, leopard heels, perfect hair, gold glitter clutch {on my newest obsesssssssssssssssssssssssion, Gal Meets Glam. Mayyyybe the prettiest person I’ve ever seen. It hurts.}

Tie-Dye maxi in neutral-ish colors, tan chunky heels, knotted belt {GMG}

Simple printed jumpsuit, leopard belt, pretty pink lips {GMG}

NEON {Laser Cut Lace mini, leather + insane necklace}, on the one and only Miroslava

Cropped Colored trousers + poiny toed pumps {one of my favorite combinations in the history of fashion}, random photo

Cropped LEATHER trousers + pointy toed pumps on JLO

STARS + Hot Pink {GMG}

Red Wide Legs {Late Afternoon}

’60′s Flower child Hair + High Waisted Shorts + Funky Printed Lace-Up Top + Aviators {GMG}

All-American Denim on Denim + Some Fringe and a Yellow Knotted Belt {GMG}

Burgundy pleated sheer ballerina skirt + comfy striped top + leopard belt + ankle boots {GMG}

Safari-inspired amazingness on Atlantic-Pacific

Candy Colors on AP

Ivory Scalloped-Hem mini skirt + Sleeveless silk button-down blouse + mint green nails {GMG} {I think she looks like a combination of Michelle Money from the Bachelor, Emma Watson, and Lauren Conrad.}

White frills + tribal mini shorts {GMG}

Skinnies + Plaid Shirt + chunky waffle knit sweater + converse, on Elin Kling

The prettiest lace top I’ve ever seen, navy trousers, chunky wooden-and-leather heels, high bun {GMG, who the fuck elssse}

Glittery Studded Heels, Trousers that you KNOW are Italian-made. Don’t know anything about this photo but I *KNOWWWWW* those trousers are Prada, Miu Miu, something along those lines. They’re fucking PERFECT.