spring forward

Spring has arrived in Southern California! As I type, I am wearing a sundress and sweating. Yeah, that didn't come out like I wanted it to. Point is, it is gorgeous here in Redondo Beach - the sun is shining, the birds are chriping (literally), and the Goodyear Blimp is passing by.

In honor of spring, I thought I would feature my patio. Like any good "city" apartment, my patio is small, but it gets great light and it is a perfect place for me to read in the morning. I had held off on doing much of it, but when my mom visisted she brought me a box of things I had taken from my grandma's house when we helped her move into a senior apartment community.

My grandma had a ton of statuaries (sp?) in her garden and while I am not particularly religious, I love religious artifacts. When I went to put them out, I laughed because all of her items are western-based, while my Buddhas are all eastern. I like the ending result ... very balanced, yin and yang :)

Please ignore the dirt, I just watered. And the empty Talavera pot - I just planted a New Mexio cactus garden that should bloom in three weeks. Oh! And I would be remiss if I didn't point out the custom-made trellis my mom decided I HAD to have! Enjoy ...

design on a dime

When I made the decision to move out on my own, I looked at a lot of aparments, but something about this place stuck with me. It was the perfect amount of space, had the amenities I was looking for, and my manager is pretty much the best manager EVER!

My two reservations were a) the lack of storage space and b) the long length of the living room. After talking with some friends and family, I was able to solve issue "a" with minimal cost and maximum design.

In late February, my mom, her boyfriend Lester, and their truck containing enough equipment to open both a tool shop and design studio arrived! While I know they really wanted to come and hang out with me, I immediately put them to work putting together a storage space in my living room.

If you look closely at the above picture, you will see the awkward alcove stuffed full of boxes. The space was too small to fit any of my furniture, and because it didn't have a window, I wasn't a fan of making into a reading corner like I ended up doing in my bedroom.

So Lester and his saw worked together, and along with some shelving materials from Office Depot, put the alcove to good use as both a storage unit and bathroom for Annie:

Now that we solved the storage issue, we had to make it look good! This is where my mom came in. We stained a long wooden curtain rod, spanning the length of the sliding patio door and storage unit. My mom then sewed curtains for me using some off-white upholstery material she had left over from a project at her house, along with some gorgeous fabric I purchased.

The end result is more than I could have expected. The curtains soften the room and serve a practical purpose. Getting closer and closer to my housewarming cocktail party with all of this work ... oh, and my mom and Lester are available for hire. Lester really likes Sierra Nevada ...

powder room

I have been slacking in a major way on the blog front. Life ... why must you be so hectic??? I am currently in Albuquerque for work and have a few minutes to spare here and there so I will try to get a couple of posts on the new place up and several people have asked to see the progress!

While not excitng, below are pictures of my bathroom, which has two distinct areas - a vanity and a separate shower/toilet room. Painting the bathroom is not in my plans right now so I needed to find a color scheme that complimented the beige paint and white baseboards.

About a year ago, my mom gave me the most gorgeous shower curtain. I had never put it up at my old place because quite frankly, it was too nice. Now that I have my own place, I was so excited to have it serve as the focal point of my new bathroom!

Armed with a Tiffany blue and chocolate color scheme, I set to work decorating the rest of the bathroom. I found a chocolate and silver bathroom set at a Restoration Hardware outlet and then painted a wood shelf I already had to match the decor. I was able to incorporate a vase and onion grass I already had ... and my beloved Buddha canvas I have had for years.