My Apartment - the process

As you know, I've been obsessing about gray. I've been itching to experiment with adding it to my apartment. This perfect little Russel Wright pot started it all. I found this in a second hand store for $5.00! I had to have it. Now I wish I hadn't sold my Russel Wright gray bowl. Oh well, c'est la vie. I changed the main color from hot pink to gray in my place. Here's a sneak peak.


The color scheme. Gray, turquoise, pink, white and small pops of black. As you know, any color scheme I work with always includes large amounts of pink and white.

I still really love the look of the hot pink with the turquoise. But since the sofa cover is merely a sheet set, I can switch back easily if in the mood. The new gray sheet set is part of the room essentials, college dorm series at Target. I got it on sale for $3.99! Sheets are a great way to cover your sofa when you can't afford a slip cover. You can change them on a whim, they are very comfy and the best part is they are washable. You don't have to worry about your guests putting their feet up or spilling.

Here's a couple of other things found thrifting. I must admit the coaster set was ridiculously expensive for my taste. $24.99. What kind of a crazy person pays $24.99 for a coaster set? Well, the kind who has been obsessing about the perfect coaster set for two years. I could not find one simple enough, and this one is perfect. It's got that retro vibe going. And speaking of pure form, the salt and pepper shakers were only $1.99 at the Salvation Army. Love the minimal shape.

Here's a luxury I've been needing for a long time. A filing cabinet! I could never find one that I liked and could afford. I thought I'd have to buy a used one and spray paint it. Well thanks to Staples, that project is now moot. They had this fab pink filing cabinet on sale. $22.99! What could be better? I love being organized, I'm thinking of getting a second one before they sell out. After all, I am turning my home into an artist work/live space. There's no separation between life and work when you love your work. Everything must be beautiful.


Here's a couple little vignettes. The Haeger panther in the bathroom is inspired by Haegernerd and Retromod (see previous post here). I adore the color combination of pink and black. The grouping of photos in the bedroom is inspired by Ivy33. (I'm kind of annoyed that it is getting so hard to download from flickr these days - anyone else having problems?) I love a cohesive grouping, where everything is uniform. That is, they are the same size and the frames are the same. This looks much less cluttered than a grouping of various sized art and frames. Credits for art are as follows, clockwise: Love print by Jessie; vintage Hindu print; graffiti from Tokyo, photographed by by sister-in-law; vintage watercolor by Kapur.

The influence for piling pillows on the floor comes from Tricia Guild. This is an easy way to add color and warmth in your place. I adore Tricia's use of color and textiles. I've never been much into pattern, but if there's one person who could change my mind on this, it would be Tricia.

I've been wanting something to display pottery, but I didn't really want to spend money. I saw these two book cases at a thrift store, and they were tempting but I decided against them.

I opted to paint my hot pink bookcase in the sublime gray (see previous color here). The bookcase has been chartreuse, electric blue, white, hot pink and now it's gray. I love being creative, but I hate the mess!

But it was worth it. I love the new color of the bookcase. Now to style it with white pottery.

Now a couple of my pieces of pottery weren't right for the newly-gray bookcase. They were off-white, and I wanted them to be true white. I like white white, in a matte finish, but it's hard to find in an inexpensive vase. I love to spray paint them, they turn out really well but take a lot of patience. A warning about spray paint. It's not as easy as HGTV makes it sound. For tips on spray painting vases, click here.

Everything looks great with a new coat of paint, so I decided to touch up my ottoman. It was looking a little shabby.

I made a little sitting area in the alcove. One of my tulip chairs was surrendered to the curb because it was broken. I was happy that someone picked it up within five minutes.

Here's the alcove. I plan to make this into more of a work studio because I love the light. I will probably add a couple of easels and curtain the area off.

I moved my table into the tiny kitchen. This is a wonderful place to sit and feel gratitude. I drink my morning coffee here, brainstorm in my sketch pad and look lovingly at the squirrels in the tree from here. Wish I could paint all of my floors white!

Here's the funny little alcove in the kitchen. Probably no one but me would ever notice those shelves. I used the divine gray paint on them. It makes me happy every time I look at them.

I have my tea pot collection displayed on them. The lovely black tea set on the top shelf is a gift from my uncle in San Francisco. He bought it in NYC while he was in college in the 70s. I adore it. I will be taking it to Chinatown for a new handle.