Dorm Room Syndrome

I remember once when I was younger, maybe in high school, going shopping with my mom and sister at a home decor store. I was soooo not into it. I was probably whining about when we would get to leave and go check out the GAP. I remember one of them, I can't remember who it was but my guess is that it was my wise mother, said, "One day you'll get your own place and you'll understand why we like shopping at these stores." At the time I didn't believe her. At all. I was sure that there was no way in the world I would eeeeeever care even a little bit about decorating. That's old, boring people stuff!! So Mom, Joni, this post is dedicated to you because, now, I understand (and I no longer think you are old and/or boring).

I'm not saying that I just now caught the decorating bug. It's been lingering for a while, trying to mature. Junior year of college my best friend got a hand me down couch from her grandmother and we made it stylish by getting a couch cover. Oh yeah, that's style. We also spruced up our room by lining the walls with pictures of shirtless cowboys from an old calendar.

Senior year my best friends and I rented a killer house and I attempted to decorate my room by putting sticky tack onto the back of a bunch of photos of me and my friends and putting them all over my room. Unfortunately due to moisture in the air, the edges of all the photos curled and most of the pictures eventually ended up on the floor. We also proudly mounted marshmallow guns on the wall above the couch in the living room so as to make sure any guests knew not to mess with us. The couch and fabulous couch cover came along as well.

Next me, my friend, and her man moved into a two bedroom apartment together. The couch came along for this ride as well, but we had no where to put it so it became a clothes holder for me in my bedroom. We also got my parents' hand me down sectional which is older than I am, but the most comfy piece of furniture you'll ever find, partly due to the fact that it is humongous so you can stretch all the way out. At this place the roomies took our decorating skills to a new level. They painted. Yup, that's right. One wall in our lovely apartment was teal green for about two months before we all moved out. But we all loved it for those two months. They also mounted some candle holders on the wall which made the place feel pretty homey. So here we had a little bit of dorm room, but it was definitely a step towards grown up style. Sadly, none of the style upgrade was thanks to me.

Next, I moved out on my own to the one bedroom where I currently live. It was at this time that I discovered the wonders of Cost Plus: World Market. I fell in love. And I went crazy buying new furniture, decorations, dishes and anything else I could find in there to make my apartment "my own." The huge couch came with me but I had to part ways with the little grandma couch and couch cover :( To accompany the couch I bought a coffee table, a kitchen table and chairs, a TV stand, a TV, a bookshelf, and two large pictures to hang up on my walls (TV and TV stand were from Target). James and I even painted my kitchen and James put lots of pictures of my family and friends all over my living room. And wah-lah, my apartment was a home. However, my couch still gives the whole apartment that dormy feel and I want to get new frames for my pictures. This whole adult apartment decorating situation is obviously a process for me.

Two days ago James and I signed a lease on a new two bedroom apartment, woohoo!! We are super excited about moving in at the beginning of February. It's going to be an interesting transition because we will be getting all of James' furniture out of storage and combining it with what I already have. We will definitely be selling a few items including the amazing, huge couch. I've already started mourning it and make a point to snuggle with it each evening so it knows that it's loved. Lucky for me though, James has some adult furniture already so we have a good foundation for making our newest apartment look like adults live there. And I want it to look like we're adults with style. My only problem is that I have no style. I'm trying people, I really am.

I saw this picture yesterday:



And it made me want to make some new additions to our new apartment. Sure, we have plenty of furniture, but I feel like there are some things we can do to make it cuter, homier, and hopefully more adult.

I never in my life thought I would be dreaming of headboards. But I am. Right now our bed is just a mattress and box springs on a metal frame. It is certainly functional, but not exactly attractive. I think a headboard could really make the bedroom more cozy. I like this one:



What do you think?

During my online search for other apartment items I stumbled upon this beauty:



Do I need this chair? No. Is it adorable? Yes. I'm not sure how it would go with all the furniture we already have, but clearly I need it anyway.

I also found this:



It's not necessarily my favorite rug, but the basic idea is that I really really want a cute rug for our living room. I don't know what's happened to me, but I could seriously look at rugs for hours.

And this is just something that I saw and liked:




Pillows can do a lot for a couch I think, and there are a lot of cute ones out there! This is just one of many that I liked.


Also on my list of things to get:

A huge, decorative mirror
More frames for the walls and possibly some professional photographs of the area
A couch for the guest room
A desk- I'm so tired of using my laptop on my lap
Candles- not just decorative though- In the last year or so I've become obsessed with smelly candles- I absolutely love walking into a house or apartment that smells good

What do you think people? Do I have the potential to make our new apartment cute and adulty? I'm not sure I have it in me. Maybe I should start subscribing to some home decor magazines. Hmmmmm.

(headboard from Ethan Allen; chair and pillow from Pier 1 Imports; rug from World Market)