where we're at

I am still here! But barely. Meaning, I don't have a lot of time right now and spend more time working, eating, sleeping, and eating. In that order.

We moved to Stockholm, it was chaos. We aren't really settled in. I love my new job. Times a million. And I love our new apartment. And the trees. And Stockholm.

So this is where we're at now. In love and busy. Lucky us!

slow slow

Posting will be slow here the next few days. We're moving in less than two weeks and I have a jillion deadlines to finish before that. We still need to pack. Sigh.

See you on the flip side.
(do people still say that?!)

sthlm apt: living room inspiration

The living room will be the easiest room to decorate. We already have a great living room set up and plan on using the exact same furniture we have now. The only changes will be adding a smaller dining room table and (finally) dining room chairs. I’m guessing we’ll eventually add an arm chair and somehow figure out how to put lighting in above the dining room table…? The electric is all wonky and old in the apartment, so it’ll be interesting.

Two windows! 

View towards the office and hallway. I’m thinking a small dining nook can go right next to the office door. Probably one those expandable IKEA tables…?

This is our current living room. I like it! 

We’ll use the shelves again. Probably a different ceiling light though. Who knows.

And now for the inspiration!

1. I love, love, love this photo I found over at Emma’s DesignBlogg. I think we can create a similar look using like colors. In fact, all we really need is a green arm chair like this one.
2. I think this Kubus is the perfect statement piece. Time to save my monies. I love it.
3. We’ve had Eames chairs on our wishlist for months now. I’m not sure if we’ll go with replicas (because we’re cheap like that and we have to save up for a new kitchen) or the real thing. We’ve always wanted white but I’m a bit partial to the black as well.  Photo from here.
4. We have to downsize our dining table. A round one would be nice and it expands. It’s IKEA.
5. I’m Texan. I love all things Texan. I love this armadillo times a million. It reminds me of Texas and my dad and the time I was in an armadillo race (you blow on their tails to make them run… what? I grew up in the country!)

So there you have it, the living room and all it’s inspired glory.

sthlm apt: bedroom inspiration

Now to the bedroom! I want to keep the bedroom as simple as possible. Actually, that’s the goal for the whole apartment since it’s so tiny. Simple with good, clean storage. Lots of bright whites, smoky blacks, creamy tans, and a few pops of bold reds, blues, and yellows. But the bedroom will probably stay neutral.

This is the realtor’s photo, using a wide angle. But we have nice light in here and a lovely view of woods behind us. It’s taken from the doorway and to the right are two tall and fairly deep closets. 

This is our view. Isn’t it lovely?

The closets. We’re going to tear down the divider between them and make them one big closet. They’re fairly tall so that’s good for linens and towels. I’ll paint the shelves and floors white.

We’ll use our bed and bed frame (which is cherry wood) but I’ll switch the dark grey linens for white.

Here’s the inspiration:

1 and 2. Once again, I’m sorry- I forgot where they are from. I’m much better at sourcing inspiration images now but in the beginning I never thought I’d be putting them online. Let me know if you know where they are from.
I love the white linens in both! I like the contrast of image 1 (a bit too dark for Swedish winter) and the brightness of image 2.
3. I’ve been wanting this IKEA rug for awhile now. I think it’ll be perfect to break up the wood from the floor and from the bed.
4. We’re going to need two bedside dressers with drawers (extra storage). I know the industrial look is tired, but I don’t want to use anything wood color. I guess we could paint something black or white?
5. We already have this light from IKEA. Yay. 

I think we’ll be able to fit a dresser in the bedroom too. 

sthlm apt: entryway inspiration

I thought I'd share some inspiration for the new place. We'll start with the entry way.

This is our entry way. To the left is the door to enter the apartment. The door you see straight ahead is the bathroom door. The open door to the right is the kitchen. And the gold knob leads to a small closet. This photo is taken from the bedroom.

The photo above is from the realtor. The photo below is me struggling with the white balance. But here you can see our front door and some awesome electrical stuff…? and a shelf. I think this is where we will hang coats and winter gear.

And here is the closet. It has a small cupboard above it too. I guess we’ll use this for extra coats and boots and maybe cleaning supplies? I have no idea. I’ll be painting those shelves white though.

It’s a small space so it has to be efficient. It’ll need:

• doormat
• shoe storage
• coat storage
• hat storage
• mirror
• key and mail storage

 I’d like to use some of the stuff we already have. We already have a nice doormat (IKEA) and a good entryway mirror (thrifted). 

So here is my inspiration board for the entry way. 

1. A stool is always good for tying shoes or pulling on boots.
2. I am so sorry, I don’t know the source of the photo (if you know, let me know please!) but I love the clean white and the storage! It looks like we might be able to build something similar but smaller.
3. Cute entryway, I love the IKEA trones for shoes. I can’t find the version in white but maybe black will be ok?
4. I also like this key and mail storage from Granit, except we don’t need so many key holders. 

It’d be perfect if we could build something like in picture 2, especially storage wise. Thankfully, we won’t have to worry about our winter clothes for the next few months so it’s not needed right away.

when it rains, it pours

To say I've neglected this blog would be an understatement. Sorry!!!!
It's been a crazy few weeks from bank loans to apartments to getting a job (just happened) to traveling and traveling and traveling back and forth between our two homes. And now the craziness continues as I pack up my life here in Malmö and get ready to move to Stockholm. By May 1st. And we just moved in February.

So let me update you a bit. We bought an apartment, it's cute and needs some work. It has a view of woods and birds sing around it. It's close by a subway. I applied for an awesome job and miracle of miracles they hired me. They want me to start May 1st so up to Stockholm I go. G won't join me until July, so I'll be exploring Stockholm all by my lonesome.  May 1st is like three and a half weeks away.

When it rains, it pours.

STHLM

We've been hanging out in Stockholm for the past few days. It's been a lot of fun. It took me awhile to fall in love with the city but now I really like it here. In fact, big news, we're moving here this summer! Yup. We bought ourselves an apartment and we're set to move in around June. It's all happened pretty fast. 

We'll we've been talking about moving to Stockholm for awhile now but within the last three weeks we've secured a bank loan, found and bought an apartment, and now we're spending some time hanging out in our soon-to-be-city.  

We're heading out to our new apartment tomorrow (we've already viewed it a few times) with our camera and I'll post a ton of photos as soon as I have them. Plus more information about everything move related.

Ok. Friends are coming over soon (we're currently staying in a cute apartment right in the center of town) so I need to go.

new apartment, more and more

So now you've seen the photos of our new, tiny apartment. BUT! There's still a few more areas to show: the bathroom which has had a few changes from when we first moved in, the closet, the laundry room, and our in-glassed patio.
Most of the what I'll show you in these rooms is organizational because they're not really rooms you decorate, at least, when it comes to a rental, of course you can but we're choosing not to do so much decorating and instead focusing on great organization. I'll try to have these areas up later this month or sometime next month which is also when I'll (hopefully) have some bigger news to announce.
It's been a lot of fun fixing this place to our taste and making such a small space work for us.

new apartment photos: entry way

The last area to show you is the entry way. It used to be salmon pink which was a hot mess. And we did something that was even hotter and slightly messier...

Hotter: we painted it white!
Messier: we painted over the pink wallpaper.
I know, shame shame painting over wallpaper, but it's a rental and it's a rental we're not going to be in for very long. The entry way is such a small, awkward shaped area that it was easier to slap on two coats of white paint and call it a day. It made a huge, dramatic difference and I'm glad we chose white vs a darker color, it helps one room flow to the next.
We hung a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster in the entry way for a bit of color and because it's a good motto on hectic days. The mirror in the background is thrifted. Eventually, I'd like to put a little stool under the mirror but it needs to be quite small or else the closet door and bathroom door will hit it.

Here's a view of the entry way from inside the bathroom. The window at the top of the door is nice but let's in a ton of light during the night so we installed a roller blind! The basket on the ground holds our router wire, if you look at the very top right of the door you'll see where the wire starts- what a weird place to put a router. The door mat is from IKEA. The newstand is thrifted and is a bit big for the space but it works. The basket holds keys and bus cards. You can't really see but we have a few hooks on the wall for umbrellas, bags, and jackets. The ceiling light is Jean Pelle's bubble chandelier that we made December 2009.

If we were staying here for long time we'd properly remove the wall paper and then paint  but you can't really tell there's wallpaper underneath except for in a few corners near the baseboards. And I much prefer white over orangey pink.

new apartment photos: bedroom

The bedroom is really the living room. Or the living room is the bedroom room. Regardless, it's one big space with no privacy so it's important the two areas are separate but work together.

We originally were going to build a wall between the couch and the bed but it's not practical for our long term plan or even our short term plan so we're nixing the wall. We could put up curtains but we'd need a way to install them from one wall to the other and that requires a SUPER long curtain rod. We don't really mind the bedroom being in the living room, it's open and full of light and we can watch TV from bed! The only time it's really annoying is the early mornings when G is getting ready for work and I'm still asleep but nowadays it's so light in the mornings that I wake up more from that than from him.
The bedding and bed frame go really well with the rest of the room and we kept the bed area simple. You don't really notice it when you're sitting on the couch.

The bedside table is IKEA, the water pitcher was a gift, the little basket was a gift too. The lights on either side were Christmas gifts from my sister-in-law. We got our bed off blocket.se for a low, low price. It's a really nice, 180 cm Duxiana bed that had never been used before (I think it's from the black market!), it came with the cherry wood bed frame. We have a love/hate relationship with the bed frame but it's the only one we have so we're keeping it until further notice. The bedding is from Ellos, I really like the grey but I think I might switch back to white or cream later this year.

We keep a few trinkets (as my grandmother would say) behind the bed. In the frame is a dictionary cut out of the definition of love, G gave it to me when I graduated college. The black and white photo is of my parents when they were young, it's a hilarious photo with a man dressed as a pirate in the background. The card with the people dancing is one I gave to G for Valentine's Day and the candleholder is G's from before.

This dresser is at the foot of the bed. It holds my socks, tights, and leggings, jewelry, scarfs, and mittens. G's mom gave it to us. The print is G's, can you see the hidden face? On the dresser is a silver bowl from my grandmother, vintage book cards from my grandmother, two thrifted votives, and the letter H is from my mom.

So there you have it, our "bedroom." We just need some curtains for when summer comes and it's perfect.

new apartment photos: living room

The living room has been the most fun to decorate. Before we moved we got rid of a ton of clutter, only keeping what we loved, what we wanted displayed, or what was necessary. That philosophy definitely helps when living a small space like we do.

So here is a glimpse of the living room from the hallway. You can also see the bedroom. Haha.

This is the view from the dining nook.
From the left- the painting of the red lady is from G's godparents, it's a bit spooky but I love the rich colors. The two smaller ink drawings are by G's grandmother, they're drawings of Lund, Sweden and so amazing. The black side table is from IKEA was one of the first purchases we ever made as a couple. We have two (you can see the other one in the far right of the photo). G has had the statue forever and the lamp needs a lampshade.
The couch is the one we traded with G's brother, it has an IKEA pillow and a sheepskin from Sweden. We made the coffee table from our old desk (I realize it's not perfectly centered).  The candelabra is amazing, it's the Georg Jensen advent crown and is definitely a splurge but so worth it, it's been on my wishlist forever and I got it as a birthday gift. The rug is from G's parents and the plant is a jade plant.
The floor lamp is from G's godparents, the old font box is thrifted, the bust is G's from forever ago, the sketch of the lady is from G's godparents, and the ceiling lamp is IKEA.
This area was really easy to put together, the only new things were the ceiling lamp (IKEA) and the candelabra but other than that we used items we already owned and thankfully love brown, black, and white. I'd like one or two more throw pillows for the couch but other than that the area is done.

Love.

Now for the wall shelves. This is the view from the couch. The walls shelves are our biggest splurge with the new apartment but they were very necessary. I love the open airiness of them and while I wouldn't mind a few more books and records, I don't want them to become cluttered.
They're in desperate need of better organization, especially the very bottom row and that is just one trip to IKEA away. I'll use white Kassett boxes to hide games, dvds, cds, magazines, etc.
The top two rows hold our boxes, organized by color! There's also a few knick-knacks spaced throughout the top rows including the first photo ever taken of me and G, an old Nikon camera from 1970, a hippo, and binoculars.
The large middle row is the TV, thrifted science beakers, pottery from my mom, vintage bird prints, and a small silver box.
The row below that holds an old telescope, a vintage chalkboard, a robot(!), our stereo system from the 90s(???, it needs to be replaced to something more modern), a glass gun, a bowl from my mom, and a box with a pocket watch inside.
The next row has a sketch by G's grandmother, our old speakers, records, binocular and camera cases.
The very last row is clutter, clutter, clutter, and our record player.

So for the shelves we need a bit better organization and wire control and to update our stereo equipment. But I really love them, they really helped to bring the room together and are a great way to display our favorite things.

new apartment photos: kitchen

And now the kitchen. If you remember the kitchen used to be all wood colored. We both weren't so fond of the wood, it was dated and remind me of the 90s. So we asked our apartment company if they could paint it white. They could for about 100 SEK a month added on to our rent, not so bad! Just last week they finished painting and put our cabinet doors back, here's the finished product.

This is the view from the dining nook. The door in the back is to the laundry room. I think the kitchen looks a lot brighter and calmer in white even though the lights are off. The white also works better with the backsplash. The outside of our fridge is a bit of a mess, we keep important memos, concert tickets, and a bit of memorabilia on it. Eventually I'd like a bulletin board placed at the left of the laundry room door for all of that stuff.

We got new hardware too (which was totally unexpected).

Sorry this photo is so crooked. We hung IKEA utensil holders under the cabinets so we could reach our most used kitchen utensils easier. It's a bit cluttered which I hate but it's better than them being stuffed in drawers.  Perhaps one day I'll show the insides of the cabinets but for now our chipped bowls, mismatched silverware, and odd number of plates, glasses, and bowls remains hidden!

new apartment photos: dining nook

We finally had a sunny day where I was home and the apartment was more or less clean. So after a cup of coffee I got out the camera and took a few photos of our new apartment. I'll show each area in separate blog posts.
The dining nook:

This is our dining nook. The view is from the living room but in the first photo you can see a glimpse of the kitchen to the left. The space a slight challenge since the ceiling light socket does not hang where we wanted center to be, so the light is hung more right than what we'd like. However, we hung it low and offset it with a center-placed candle and I think it looks ok.
We got the painting on the back wall from a thrift store, the artist is from Göteberg, Sweden. The painting on the right was given to us from G's parents, and the deer skull was thrifted.
We still need dining room chairs, that's on the "To Do" list but for now we're using some outdoor chairs that need new cushions, an old wooden chair that is dangerously close to falling apart, and a white IKEA chair.
Sine the table is teak and heat sensitive we using black leather place mats. They're simple and don't overpower the table.
The side table in the back holds mainly office supplies, candles, napkins, and coasters. On the top is a whiskey station so G can grab a quick drink, our favorite decanter, some small champagne glasses, and a horn bottle opener.

The champagne glasses are 10 SEK (for all four!) from a flea market and the bottle opener is from when G lived in Zambia.

We're making an effort to eat all of our meals at the dining room table instead of the couch! Ha. It's pretty nice and I can't wait to get real chairs!

A bit of news

I just realized I've been 24 for a whole week now. It's been a week of many highs and many lows. So a normal week.  I have a few bits of big news (nope, not preggers) but will have to wait to tell you about it. Well, some of it.
I can tell you that our kitchen is finished. Finally. Unfortunately, we've had grey, cloudy skies since Saturday and taking photos in this lighting is not going to do it justice. But it's lovely. White kitchens are the best.
The whole apartment is pretty much done, with the exception of a few decorative details, so as soon as we have nice weather (aka good lighting) I'll bring out the camera. We decided to not a build a wall between the bed and sofa but more on that later.

So here's to being a year old for a week and to having good news and an almost finished apartment.

24 years

Yesterday was my 24th birthday. I spent it in bed with a cup of tea. I started getting sick this past weekend and unfortunately the worst of it hit yesterday. Today is much better.  My head feels lighter and my face doesn't hurt like it did yesterday (I'm thinking it's a sinus infection). I've taken a ton of Vitamin C and haven't really moved much since Sunday night. My first outing as a 24 year old was last night when I took the recycling out. How'se that for being a grown up?

Anyways. It wasn't much of a birthday, being super sick in bed. But I'm grateful to everyone who sent me birthday wishes- thank you.

The sun is shining today and I'm itching to leave the house but this sinus infection is still lingering so it looks like it'll be another day indoors. The good news is that it's getting lighter and lighter out and despite that it snowed yesterday (a really beautiful snow too) the sun is out and I can feel that spring is almost, almost here. Finally.