I (Laurel) Need Your Help. Decorating Help.

Oh, stop looking at me like you just discovered that the earth is flat after all!

You heard me correctly. I mean read me correctly since I’m not actually speaking. :]

So, What’s up?

 

Well, some of you may recall that I always say that everyone should have decorating help.

 

I mean EVERYONE– even decorators!

Why?

Errrr… if you were a brain surgeon would you operate on your own brain?

It’s a lot like that.

And I’m no different from the rest of you…

This is not easy!

And when I say “this,” I mean creating a space that’s unique, cohesive, personal and eclectic without being bizarre.

 

But here’s what’s going on and why I need decorating help.

 

Haiku Fans, a subsidiary of Big Ass Fans  got wind (no pun intended) ;] of my fan post and wants to send me a freakin’ fan!

 

 

 

A CEILING FAN! I mean, how can I say no? And especially after about five people wrote me that day to say how wonderful they are!

But… It’s an 800 sq foot apartment. The living room is out because the electrical installation would be an issue. The kitchen could work but maybe it little too narrow?

The best place to put it is in my bedroom.

And that’s fine. Except for one problem.

My bedroom kind of sucks. Not massively so. But I figure if I’m going to show off my big ass, ;] I better spiffy things up.

No, that is not a come on.

Unless you want it to be. ;]

Oh dear… I think I need a xanax. I’ve never had one. Do you have one you can spare?

I tried giving myself a consultation until I remembered that I’m not doing those anymore and why. But that didn’t stop me.

This is the problem. Well, one of them.

 

It is far, far easier to work with a completely or almost completely clean slate than a lot of givens that are going to hinder things.

 

And Laurel has a LOT of givens that are most likely not going to change.

Oh dear. You are going to be horrified.

Please forgive me.

We’ll start with the floors. They are a little orange.

Fine. They’re a LOT ORANGE!

How did that happen?

Well, back in 2012, I very much needed to get away from my living situation. I found this place. It was quite suitable for me. I did not look at things very closely. If I had, I would definitely have refinished the floors before moving in! However, in my defense, I think that it’s possible that the  previous owners cleaned the floor with you know what and that’s going to create problems down the road.

However, they are quite antique which does have a certain charm.

I did not paint except for the bathroom and bedroom, both which need to be repainted and that was a few months after I moved in.

But now, the whole place needs to be repainted! The trim is wrong in the living room. It’s Benjamin Moore plain old white which does not work with Hawthorne yellow in certain lights. In the morning, it’s fine. In the afternoon, it’s not fine. Do I ever notice this?

No. I am living my life.

That’s a good lesson I think.

The living room is not going to change in any significant way, except for painting and I might change the color in there a little.

 

I’ve been thinking about using this mural from Anthropologie in the hall.

It’s actually a fairly large area for a one-bedroom apartment, so I will need four of them. And there is no way I’m putting it up myself.

The bathroom— desperately needs a new vanity. The idiot before me put in one that is too small and stuff is constantly fall in between. And I hate the color. I will show this to you at some other point.

I would love to change the tile. But it’s not terrible.

The kitchen.

I would love real white marble counters.

But then there’s the beige fake-stone floor.

The Ikea cabinets were installed about 2 inches too high.

There are my appliances that the fridge and dishwasher are about to expire. That’s also for another post.

 

But for now… we need to focus on the bedroom. Let’s just focus on the bedroom.

 

But, we can’t.

Why?

Because it is reckless and dangerous to “figure out” the bedroom until we know what is going in the hall! I really don’t want it to be yellow any longer.

View from the Living room looking into the spacious entry shortly before I moved in. That’s my realtor, Nancy Beers-Nix.

Standing in the entry, one of my favorite parts. To the right of the front door is the kitchen, then the winding hall. Every apartment has at least one of these arches with the corbels. Two cedar closets flank the world’s smallest bathroom.

The view from the bedroom, also taken before I moved in.

The living room with the big bay window. Love. And yes, those are ready-made rags hanging.

See? the trim is too cool a white. Super White would’ve been terrific.

Or even Cotton Balls that I used to paint the cabinet. Simply White. Chantilly Lace.

All of those would be fine. Plain White. Not fine.

You’ve seen this one before. I need to post it a lot because I had to practically embed myself in the wall to get the shot. haha.

But here’s the problem.

It’s the screen. My prized antique Zuber screen.

The screen is the star of the show. Or at least one of them.

This mural from Anthropologie is going to detract from the screen. It’s like a woman of a certain age trying desperately to look like she’s 25 again. It just doesn’t work. It’s not that this paper is bad. I think it’s quite cool. If I did not have the screen, it would be a real contender.

Okay, back to the drawing board. (my text editor says that sentence is a cliche! Well, not in this case!)

But first…

 

I need to show you my bedroom.

 

And quite frankly, I might as well be laying in the bed starkers. That’s how it feels.

I’m horrifically a little embarrassed which is why I’ve never really shown it to you before in its entirety.

 

If you look super fast, you might say… Why Laurel, that’s really lovely! But then you will go…

What’s doing with those drapery rods Laurel?

Guys, like I said…

 

The bedroom needs attention. It is FAR from perfect.

Yes, lol, the finial fell off and I can’t get it to go back on. There used to be a mirror in the antique gold frame. It fell and broke one day. The print was just hung up where there was already a nail.

Yes, I know… it’s a sea of wires. No plug on the dresser wall is one reason why. But I can’t see it when I’m lying in bed, so it’s okay. ;]

See that little window across the way? Yes, of course you do. That is still my building, so those are my neighbors (two gay guys) and that window is the bathroom. And what is in front of the window?

Yes, the WC.

And can you see through the frosted glass at night?

Yes.

Seriously.

I usually move the drape over.

Why is there one drape?

Because that’s the way the place came. The ONLY thing I did was paint this room from a too bright indigo because it was nauseating to this lovely dirty purple which is one of my Laurel Home Paint Collection Colors – Benjamin Moore – Tropical Dusk.

 

If you go back up and look at image #1, the left window has the radiator in front of it which is the same width as the window. There is a drape there, but it is always ungapotched.

This is my dresser from Lexington that I got about 15 years ago. It is a total POS. While attractive in terms of style, it is by far, the crappiest piece of furniture I own. The mirror is from Aidan Gray. It is not dirty. That is some not very believable antiquing, but the rest is very pretty. I don’t know if it’s still in their line. Fair warning. It weights a TON!

 

Case in point re: the dresser. Most of the knobs are missing. The upper drawer won’t close. I took the drawer out and there is nothing there. Other drawers are broken. Horrible quality. Sorry Lexington.

How do I open the drawers?

See those little leaf thingies? They work very well. :]

Don’t you WANT knobs, Laurel?

Yes, lol– Of course I do!

See??? I told you so. I am farrrrr from perfect.

In fact, I have no idea how some people have everything look so perfect all the time.

Or… maybe it just appears to be that way. :]

 

Here you can see how the chandelier was hung up. I know. Horrible. Yes, that too, came with the place.

One of my vintage night-stands that I picked up 18 years ago for 50 bucks each. LOVE the lines on these two pieces.

The bed is the beautiful Harbour Cane Bed from Serena and Lily. 

I adore this bed! And it comes in different sizes and also a pretty white finish.

So… now what?

I think that I need Roman Shades instead of drapes. Oh, the shades that are there are BROKEN.

For years, I’ve been taken by this fabric from Home Couture (Quadrille)

Persepolis from Home Couture (Quadrille).

And then I looked at lots of different wallpaper possibilities, but there’s one that I’m really loving.

This is the Florent paper from Fromental in the Harbour colorway. It is from their Studio Collection. This is not going to be cheap, but it’s not the prohibitively expensive stuff.

 

Here’s a detail shot. I need to get a sample because I’m not sure if it’s this green or not. I color corrected the bedroom because it was really blue.

Here is a pillow from Spark Modern on Etsy.

 

The turquoise and tobacco colorway. I need some samples.

I’m not 100% sure which colorway this one is from the Horchow Catalog, but it gives you a sense of the pattern.

Obviously, the wall color would need to change.

I am thinking maybe a cream?

One thing that’s always difficult in rooms with a high picture frame moulding is that if you do a dark wall, there’s about a foot of ceiling color and I’m not crazy about that.

One solution would be to put a ceiling moulding up and then take the wall color up to that.

But I’m thinking that creamy white walls would be very lovely. But, I do love the darker color at night.

Seeeee???

Will the rug still go?

Well, it’s a little small for the room. I picked that up for a woman’s daughter’s bedroom about 15 years ago and she didn’t like it so I kept it. It would be okay I think in a bit of a funky way.

But then I was thinking that it could be nice to paint the cabinets. They are also cheap crap, but at least I knew that up front.

Maybe something like this or a little more color. Not sure.

Now, there’s one more option. Well, there are a million more options.

Persepolis comes in this colorway, which would go beautifully with the carpet and the current wall color– most likely.

But that doesn’t go with this. And this is what I like and what I think would be stunning off the living room and my gray bathroom. And the kitchen with the beige-y Silestone counters.

Is your head spinning yet?

I’m hoping that if nothing else, this post will make some of you. (probably none of *you*) realize that the design process is not easy; requires a tremendous amount of thought and planning.

And then the fabric that the entire room was built around which is the only fabric even remotely like it, was just discontinued with no more stock.

What do you guys think? (please be gentle) :]

I very much cannot operate on my own brain. I need your decorating help!

***NOTE**** Oh my thank you all! I have spent the entire day answering comments and emails and I needed to turn them off for this post. Thank you all who took the time to send me their good thoughts.

xo,