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
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| one of Jon's registry selections |
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| 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.
