Couch Soliloquy

We're finally setting into our new place, and I'm spending lots of time thinking of decoration ideas for the new place. With oh so much excitement and zeal.

Recently, we've been shopping around for a new couch, since our cute and furry friend destroyed our last one.

I would like something vintage-inspired, something which does not resemble our clearly recognizable IKEA Karlstad. We have a real grown up apartment now, so it's time to think more along the lines of...West Elm.

So many couches to choose from, oh boy! But wait, we have to fit this couch through our 2 foot wide entrance hallway. Hmm... So that wipes out some, nope, most of our options. So either, A., this couch has to come in a box/be assembly required  or B., the couch (as-is) has to have measurements that allow it to fit through our narrow entrance way. And we need something that's not ridiculously expensive. And it has to have a dash of mid-century flair... What to do?!

So we really sat down and thought hard about what would work financially, spatially and aesthetically.

And we decided on...the Karlstad. 

It's cheap enough and the box will certainly fit through our entrance way. But we would customize it. My recent obsession with home decor blogs (like Apartment Therapy, OMG!) has led me to find a place called IKEA Hackers. What IKEA Hackers inspires to do is to take a normal IKEA object and modify it to make it look not-so-IKEA-y.

So. The plan:

I saw a post where someone took their IKEA Karlstad couch and transformed it into a retro-inspired loveseat. It was brilliant. So I am going to try and recreate this look for our apartment. I might skip buying a slip cover, and see how much it'll cost to get the back cushions tufted by an actual upholsterer instead. Because if it were done by me...yeah let's not even go there.

Shhh, no one has to know it's was a Karlstad...

-Sophia

October Nails: All About Nude

I've been in a "nude" mood lately. Nude polish creates a very clean, minimalist look which I'm all about. I decided to go for Chanel's polish in Jade Rose. It has a subtle pink undertone which I love, and it doesn't look completely washed out against my skin.

What are some of your go to nail colors this Fall? 

[Friday] Music Mix: Lovers In The Parking Lot

You guys know how I love anything and everything Solange! I was listening to her album on my way to work this morning and have been humming this song all day. 

Happy Friday!

-Sophia

The Apartment Hunt

Sorry, guys, I know it's been a while since I last posted! I'd been sucked into the scary abyss of apartment hunting.

Seriously apartment hunting in New York is no joke, plus trying to find a decent sized space for a reasonable amount of money (not like $2500 for a studio!) is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Our studio apartment is starting to feel smaller and smaller by the day: Our cat is literally bouncing off the walls, and basically, we're tired of bumping into each other.

We are in need of a bigger place that's for sure. Or at least a place where the bedroom has a door. That's all we're asking for (cue in the sad violin music).

So the search began. We started casually looking in and around Brooklyn over the summer just to get a sense of what was out there. When people would tell me their apartment hunting horror stories a part of me would think that they have to be over exaggerating.

It took our first dip in the apartment hunting waters to realize, no, no they weren't exaggerating. When our first viewing led us to an address that was not of an actual residential building, but of a cinder block yard, we knew this was going to be a very interesting ride.

With some Brooklyn rents as high as high as some rents in Manhattan, we opened up our search to Queens....and even Jersey. It started out as fun where we could explore different neighborhoods and see different kinds of "living" spaces.  But the fun quickly filtered out after we visited one crappy apartment after the next, sprinkled with one or two just ok apartments. Case and point, upon leaving one apartment, the front door knob literally fell into my hand, not to mention the entire building smelled of gasoline.  Just no one light a match!

Every morning I would troll Craigslist, Street Easy, Naked Apartments, and various other realty websites. Refreshing each page constantly. Seeing listing titles such as "WOW, Super Sexy Clean LARGE 1 BR" (let's just put every appealing adjective in the title, shall we?), only to scroll down to the pics to reveal a super broke down extra small one bedroom with no window. But with that said, very surprisingly out of all of the sites, Craigslist was actually the one that came through in the end. And after all these months, after we almost gave up on Brooklyn...we finally found our place. As soon as we walked in we knew that this was it. The apartment.

So the lease is signed. We're moving to an ACTUAL one bedroom! And more importantly, we're staying in Brooklyn! 

So the moral of this story is before going apartment hunting, especially in New York f!@#$% City, remember these three things: Patience, a sense of humor and the knowledge that good things come with time.