Habitually Chic Redecorates: Making Progress

After - September 2008

Before - March 2008

It's been a whirlwind week of painting and redecorating at Casa Chic and serious progress has been achieved. I'm so happy with the wall color, Benjamin Moore Cedar Key (OC-16) and White Dove (OC-17) trim. It better reflects my style now and coincidentally my closet. I repainted the television cabinet in Midnight Dream (2129-10) which pops off the tan walls now. I like how the black television disappears in it so I am debating whether to put the doors back on. I may look for new knobs though.

I also moved my computer to the other side of the room in order to have space for a new bookcase (Ikea Billy $59.99. Gotta love it!). I own a million books and needed more organized storage space. I also now have room for magazines and storage boxes for my tear sheets and work projects. Of course, after I styled the whole thing two new books from Rizzoli arrived today! More about those later. I still have more to do including hanging all my artwork and priming and painting all the trim in the bedroom. But now I think I might take a nap! Decorating is exhausting!

Paint by Numbers

It's a terrible photo but Benjamin Moore Cedar Key (OC- 16) is wonderful! I'm so happy I decided to repaint my apartment! Of course, I'd be happier if it was completely finished but I still have half of the living room to complete. I also painted the front door in Benjamin Moore Midnight (2121-20). I thought black would be too harsh so I wanted a very dark blue to compliment the other colors in the room and apartment. A good rule of thumb is to choose a color on the paint chip that you have and work either lighter or darker. The other colors on the Midnight chip in the fan deck match the other colors in my apartment which is why I chose it. If I had choose one of the dark blue colors from the chip with more lavender or green tones, I don't think it would have worked so well. Now, I'm off to get a manicure. I don't mind getting my hands dirty but I do mind ruining my nails!

Habitually Chic Redecorates

I'm blaming Brilliant Asylum for my overwhelming need to redecorate my apartment. I had already been thinking about it after seeing Domino editor Tori Mellott's new apartment in the September 2008 issue but then Brilliant Asylum posted about Eddie Ross from Top Design and Martha Stewart and that was it...once I saw all the photos on his blog (see below) I knew I was a goner. You know that old saying that the cobbler's children have no shoes? I don't want to be the interior designer with the less than chic apartment! That's worse than a hairdresser with bad hair! There really is no excuse!

Like Tori's old apartment, my current one has a lot of color but it's really not feeling cohesive or as sophisticated as I would like so I've come up with a plan...landlord and security deposit be damned! I'm going to paint all the walls a grey/taupe color (similar to the bachelor pad), finally strip and paint over the honey colored shiny wood trim in Benjamin Moore White Dove (wish I had done this when I moved in!), paint the front door a very high gloss deep dark brown (black won't really work), get rid of the chair that is too big for my living room (I kept it thinking I would want it if I ever moved. Two years later and I'm still here.), paint the television cabinet (not sure what color yet), cull my books (do I really need The Nanny Diaries? I think not.), find a glass and brass vintage two tier coffee table (anyone have one they want to get rid of?), rehang all my new art (I seem to have a small ebay addiction to buying vintage watercolors and abstract paintings), get control of my magazines and tear sheets (I hope I don't end up one of those people who die when their stack of magazines falls on them!), and start collecting more real china and hotel silver (darn you Eddie Ross for inspiring me!).

I also plan to do as much as I can on a budget so you can follow me to the flea markets and all my favorite thrift shops. Oh, and did I mention I'm not a morning person?! The early bird may get the worm but sometimes the afternoon flea marketer gets a better bargain. I'm sure there is no way I could beat Eddie Ross there anyway so there is no use in trying! Check back for more updates!