bathrooms

When we first moved into this apartment, we pulled a marathon and after three days were like ninety percent done with unpacking and decorating. (It helped that we were downsizing a bit but into a similar styled apartment.) The last ten percent is (always for us) the bedroom and guest bathroom.

This time, our guest bathroom is large, but awkward (three towel, but none in the right position to hold the appropriate towels). The art I loved in our previous large bathroom is gray and white and red, and looks terrible hanging in the new one because the “white” walls actually have the slightest mint green tint. Combine that with the fact that that bathroom is the only place we had to put the cat litter box - housed in a diy cabinet - and I pretty much hate the room. It’s hard to make investments in decorating a place you know you’ll only live in a year or two, but the good news is that I’ve come up with a game plan for improvement, and it will be a pretty easy and relatively inexpensive fix.

I’m planning on sort of a subtle beach theme. For the art, I picked our a few our vacation photos to put into the existing frames:

We also need some white towels, because teenage boys use acne face stuff that have bleached stains into our current gray set. Since it has to be white, I’m thinking a pattern like this would be nice:

We have been using an ikea bath mat (originally purchased as a liner for a cat’s bed!) and I’m shocked how well it’s held up. I love that it’s all cloth and can be frequently washed without ruin. Cheap too, I think it’s my favorite bath mat I’ve ever had.

I repurposed the soap dispenser for the kitchen, and want to replace it with this one from Target that we currently use in our other bathroom:

I would also like to get a tray to display a candle and a jar filled the beach glass we collected when we lived in Gloucester. We have so little of this sort of decorative extras in our apartment, but the counter space is currently so big and so empty, that I think it will work well.

And finally, a new curtain for the cat litter box house, made from sort of a cabana-style fabric.

Texas

It continually surprises me that we live in Texas, and that I don't mind it at all.

custom pet portrait: do or don't?

I've been joking about getting a giant custom painting of Spot the Cat for a while, joking only. But after seeing how cool it could look in these photos of homes, I'm becoming more serious about it. I think it adds just the right amount of humor to the rooms when done right.

IKEA hack = modern cat bed

Hubby wanted something more stylish than the beige carpet covered cat furniture we've had the last few years, but I wanted to make sure the cat would like and use whatever we replaced it with. After looking online at lots of modern cat beds with metal posts (not practical for scratching...) we decided to make one instead. A trip to IKEA later, and we had something modern that Spot loves even more than his old stuff.

Expedit Wall Shelf ($19.99)

Malinda Chair Cushion ($6.99)

Seagrass Scratch Pole ($29.99)

EDIT:  I've tried to reply to the comments below or just leave my own comment so many times but it keeps disappearing. Seriously, how are you guys leaving comments when I can't? 

Anyway, the cat box is secured to the wall (with included hardware - screws and bolts) and windowsill (with extra strong velcro tape - works for almost anything) and the scratch post is just wedged below, making it super easy to change out once it is all scratched up. We were lucky that the windowsill and scratch post were exactly the right sizes. In our new apartment, we used these posts: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14667 with the short bolts and had to drill a hole in the bast of the box to accommodate them. Still just wedged in, our cat vigorously scratches them and they still don’t budge. Also, Ikea stopped selling those square wall shelves, but if anybody finds a replacement I want to know about it!

patio time

I finally made an herb garden! It’s one of the things that’s been on my to-do list for a really long time.

It started out with new patio furniture. We shopped around a bit, and settled on two Adirondack chairs from Loll. The company is pretty awesome, and the chairs are made from completely recycled plastic, mostly from old milk cartons. 

They are comfortable, durable, and cleanable, but my favorite part is a secret bottle opener built into each chairs’ arm. How’s that for awesome?

We went with white chairs, because I fell in love with a magenta twist cube designed by Frank Gehry.  I’m a sucker for hot pink furniture, apparently.

Once we got the new furniture, our little balcony looked empty, so I convinced hubby that we needed the herb garden right away. We went to several different garden stores, and saw some beautiful stuff:

But no herbs, until we went to Buchannan’s garden center. They had more different types of herbs than I’ve ever seen in my life, all organic and native to Texas. It took us a while to choose planters and plants, but we ended up after the first trip with mild and hot jalapeno plants, basil, thyme, and chives.

This tiny garden makes me so happy! Plus, we’ve actually used the jalapenos every day since getting the plants and once the basil grows a bit we’ll use it on tomatoes. The chives, however, are going to die. Little Bit cannot leave them alone. I turned my back and he had devoured the whole plant.

We went back a few days later and bought him his own planter filled with chives, catnip, and parsley. Again, he ate the two chive plants down to the root. 

He ignored the catnip and parsley completely, but if I break off a catnip leaf and give it to him he plays with it and even licks it a bit before becoming bored. (I’m pretty sure he’s in the 20% of cats that catnip doesn’t affect.)

And later, I’ll show you how we’ve been using the jalapenos!

delivery

Our bedroom is pretty minimal, with just a bed, two side tables, and a cat bed. For the last five years, we've had black sheets and comforter, and it just wasn't working anymore. So after I killed our comforter by shoving it into the washing machine one last time, we decided to go in search for a thin, but cozy blanket to take its place. One that could fit easily in the washer, but still felt substantial. We found the most beautiful, soft white blanket, and got white sheets to match. 

The linen store had a kitty living there, I stumbled upon him curled up on a show bed. I pet him a bit and he was purring instantly.

The room looked so much better and brighter instantly. But still a bit bare. So we went in search of a wall mirror, one that could be a substantial part of the bedroom decor, but that matched our style. Our friends in NYC have one close to the one below, made from a really old steel window frame, and it's beautiful in a antique, but modern way. 

I also really liked this yellow lucite frame, but probably because I'm a sucker for anything made out of plastic/resin/lucite.

Finally, we fell in love with this gigantic (8 foot tall?) faux white-alligator mirror. It's huge - substantial enough to be a focal piece of decor - but still bright and minimal. It was delivered today!

beam coffee mug

My husband and I are movers, we've moved 6 times in the last 7 years. It's lovely fun to move in and set up house, but at the end of the year I'm usually a bit stir crazy. Usually we move on the spur of the moment, but this last move was planned a few months out, giving me tons of time to sift through all of our belongings and declutter and organize every last possession.

One of the little things I got rid of were our collection of coffee mugs, several beige ones from a starter set and the rest mis-matched and picked up from who knows where. I replaced them with six matching bright yellow mugs from cb2.

They make me happy whenever I see them.

patchwork quilt

One of the things that's been on my to-do list for quite some time is to make a quilt. I have no idea why I want to do this. I'm thinking a simple, bright patchwork throw to cozy up with on the sofa in the winter...

I've had these photos saved on my computer for so long that I can't remember where they came from, with the exception of that adorable baby...

awesome cat beds

Searching for a modern cat bed to replace the beige carpet covered trees we have, there are a lot of high-priced options and some great inspiration for DIY projects...