the Anders' abode...

Decorating our apartment has been quite the unexpected challenge. I love to decorate and one of the things I was looking forward to most about married life was officially becoming the “queen of the castle!” Up until this point of my life, my decorating powers have been very limited. Between birth and the age of 18 I was living in my parents’ home where I only had reign over my own bedroom, and even there my decorating was still basically controlled by my mom, who had the checkbook, and therefore all the real power. My 5 ½ years of college were spent in a dorm, apartment, and rent house all of which came pre-furnished, and all of which I could not paint the walls. So my decorating was limited to hanging pictures on the wall, and throwing pillows on my pre-chosen furniture. So after Jon popped the question I started daydreaming about our future home and all the power I would have! (Honestly these daydreams started WAY before he popped the question; they just grew more intense after we became engaged.) However, within minutes of walking into the first store we were registering at, I realized that my dreams were not going to be my reality…

I walked into that Target assuming that all relationships have a similar dynamic as my parents – My mom does all the decorating picks out all the pillows, paint colors, and accessories. My dad doesn’t care. He has no say in the decorating, because he doesn’t want any say. He approves the big purchases and then happily watches sports as my mom rearranges furniture – I walked out of that target fuming mad and utterly confused. Jon wanted a say in everything, and we couldn’t even agree on something as simple as a soap dispenser for our bathroom… Now, looking back at it, we laugh. It all seems so silly and trivial, but at the time neither one of us was laughing. I had to learn to let go of some of my power; it is OUR home, not MY home. And Jon had to learn to put a little more trust in me. This was a challenge for both of us, because our styles are nothing alike… Jon is going to school to become an accountant, meaning he is NOT a creative, out of the box thinking, big, bold personality type. He is very much in the box, and in my honest opinion, his style of decorating is way too safe and boring. I am a way out of the box, lots of colors, lots of patterns, lots of fun, type person. So you could see how this would be an issue. I had to tone down my original ideas and find a happy medium between our two extremes. And Jon had to learn to trust my “creative mind” when I would suggest something he just couldn't picture. This was the first major challenge we faced, but we are starting to find that happy place. One that has pops of color to satisfy my wild side, while still being calm and classic to match Jon’s laid back style…It is still a work in progress, but we have our whole lives to figure it out

one of Jon's registry selections

one of my selections

The second major challenge is the temporariness of our current home. Jon has two more years of school left, and after that we are thinking about packing it up heading for the mountains. Jon misses Colorado and wants to move back, and I just want to be where he is. So… since Jon is still in school and only working part time, and we might be moving in a couple years we decided the best decision for us at this stage of life is to rent an apartment. Likewise, a lot of our furniture is stuff we may or may not keep when we move – either way most of it is not items we see hanging around for years to come. This is just the stage of life that we are in right now. The starter phase, as I like to call it. So, we want our apartment to feel homey, and inviting, and comfortable and we want it to fit our personalities and our lifestyle. But with the temporary state of everything we own, it’s hard to justify putting much money into anything. (Plus, we in the “starter phase” don’t have much money anyways!) And so our challenge has become the task of making our apartment a nice temporary home for us to enjoy for two years, without breaking the bank. When looking for apartments one of my “must haves” was being able to paint the walls. So that is one easy, and affordable way we have been able to make the place “ours”. Also, most of the artwork displayed throughout our apartment I have painted or made myself, this way we can save some cash while being able to tailor our art to our exact style and needs!

Here is a quick tour through our apartment for you to see what we have done with the place so far!

In the living room we used mainly blues, yellows, and greens. These are all calming colors, and I was able to have fun with our art work, while using a “natural” theme throughout. We then softened things up with light tan and cream drapes. It’s fun without being too crazy!

In our bedroom we went for a little more classic feel. We used a warm tan tone on the walls. Our bedding is gold and a deep maroon we use white and black for simple, classic accessories. The headboard gives me the drama I crave, while the warm and simple color palette keeps Jon relaxed and happy.

In our bathroom we wanted to use a different color palette than what we used in our room, but one that would complement the bedroom. So we chose dark brown, with a gold-ish yellow, and pops of orange.

For our guest bathroom we wanted a calm, spa – type feel. So we used lots of white, with light blue. I plan on painting the walls in here a light gray but haven’t got around to it yet. Once I do I will show you the updated version!

  

For our second bedroom I dreamed of a luxe, 1920’s, art-deco study, done in dramatic dark grey and emerald hues, with black and white and silver accents. A place to curl up under a big fluffy blanket and sip on an amaretto sour (my current favorite cocktail) while reading a good book.  Sounds wonderful doesn't it, girls? – Jon dreamed of a mancave, a place to set up all of his sports memorabilia, and video games… Jon won… it took me a while to give in, but Jon uses that room way more than I do. The desk is in there, and that is where he works on homework. We didn't have space for the Xbox and Nintendo in our living room set up, so he hooked them up to the TV in there, and before I knew what hit me, it was a mancave. But this transformation didn't happen until after I had bought a fabulous black and white rug that was going to be perfect in my study…so what we have here is a wonderful rug surrounded by boy things. Oh well, maybe one day when we get a house I will get my study, and that rug can finally get the sophisticated home it deserves…

That’s it! Still a big work in progress, but its home.