CG's new Apartment: part 2

5 comments:

CG is my new E-design client
 and she is super excited about her new job and apartment in LA


We just finished the living room area 
and now are moving on to the 
dining/breakfast room

This is a small one bedroom apartment with many nice features, such as security and a gym, 
but the rent is pretty high 
so we don't have a large budget for furniture

Remember our $10,000 dollar budget
must include move in costs 
for the apartment too!

so here is where we stand:
  
  first and last on the rent:   $3000

           misc costs for cable and utilities:  $500

living room furnishings: $1,975

so that leaves us with $4,525 dollars
We left World Market and headed off to Pier One

This table above is really great 
and in fact I purchased one for my son when he got his first place, 
only he liked it with the black base

The base, with a 48" inch glass top 
runs $232 dollars

  We looked for more things at Pier One
 but honestly liked the things at World Market 
much better...and I love Pier One usually!
So back we went...
and bought another one of the Champagne Bookshelves 
for 
$279 dollars

What is nice about these, is that they can be pushed together at some point down the road 
if CG gets a bigger place... 
or she can use them on either side of the sofa in the living room 
as she starts to acquire more quality pieces!

Hey I'm all about buying the best you can afford...but when you're just starting out, you really don't have a real grasp on what your "personal style" really is yet...or at least I didn't!

And no one want to be sitting on the floor eating take out Chinese, 
looking at a $5000 dollar hutch with nothing in it and no place to sit.

We are using this bookshelf for storage 
of pretty white china, 
 wine glasses and a few little decorative things


We both loved these Asian inspired garden stools and so we bought two
$90 dollars each...total $180 dollars

These can be used for extra seating or as side tables if needed 
when she has friends over for drinks


Here are the two chairs we are using in the living room 
and these will be used 
for extra seating at the dining table 
when CG needs them

 We wanted a soft comfy seat for every day dining and doing "home office" work at the table.
 I looked through some catalogs for nice parsons chairs and found these
 from Ballard Designs 

 These can be ordered "in-stock" with some great slipcovers

The chair base runs $129 dollars and the slips came to $69 dollars each

Total for two chairs
 $396 dollars


There is a nice little bar area along the entry to the kitchen 
and I loved the idea of something really contemporary

I found these "ghost chair" Kartel knock off bar stools at Sears of all places!

$199 for the pair!

The furniture is all purchased
but we need a few finishing touches:


We saw some great table top and serve ware at World Market but CG has some things from college so she will be using most of those things 

but we did pick up a set of these black "Willow" plates
to hang on the wall

total...$22 dollars for 4

Two fun grain sack pillows...courtesy of The Polished Pebble Shop
$150 for two



She has a spot for a large piece of art too
so we found this poster at Art.com of a 1950's work by artist  
Franz Klein and will have it framed 

$125 dollars




We had to by at least one little fun "cutesy" item from World Market 
so we thought this little tray of mugs would look fun 
next to the coffee maker

I think these were around $25 dollars

 Here is our total for the dining area:

$1,625 dollars

total for furnishings spent to date:

$3,580 dollars

Wow...we are doing great!
 We have almost $3,000 dollars left for the bedroom

Something tells me we are going to need every penny!

Take a peek at our design
and note how it relates to the living room area


There are so many element's that can be moved around 
and changed as needed or 
when CG gets bored with the look

more fun design to come...the Bedroom

and..... don't forget to enter the give away

Winners will be announced on Saturday morning!

cheers!

Kelley









E-Design Story: CG gets her first Apartment, Chapter 1

14 comments:


 This is the story of a new College Grad...
She has lived with her parents for the last two years, saving for her first apartment,
paying off student loans and looking for her dream job in Los Angeles

She finally landed a job in downtown Los Angeles working as an Admin manager
for a huge fortune 500 company
and
 rented a nice ( but expensive  $1500 per month)
one bedroom apartment in Manhattan Beach

College Grad or "CG" as we will call her,
 can take the train into work every day to save money...but now what?

No furniture, a limited budget, beige carpet and white walls!!!

HELP!

CG and I, wanted to start fresh and leave all of her old bedroom furniture at home, so
 when she goes home for holidays she will feel wonderful and welcome...her Parents agreed!

CG was lucky to get some money from friends and family after graduation,
plus what she has saved by living at home,
 she has about $10,000 dollars for apartment move in costs
and furniture


Our budget for the living room was $2000 dollars


here is what we did


Our first stop is a great discount and ethnic inspired store called 
World Market 
We looked at dozens of sofas and finally ended up with this one

Called the Crosby...you buy the frame and then pick your slip cover
total cost $ 700 dollars
CG loves bright colors
 but she also wanted the living room to be calm and open

CG loves to shop for vintage too
 so we went with things that will have a fun and young look 
and can be swapped out for a variety of looks, depending on her mood

we picked up 4 pillows...
two of the turquoise Jacquard and 
two of the recycled silk Sari wovens 

 at $25 dollars each
total cost $100 dollars

Because the apartment is small, there really wasn't room for big cushy club chairs 
and the space next to the living room will have a small dining area


The chairs we chose are the Jayden woven cairs 
which sell for $250 dollars for a set of two! 

and we can use them in the dining area as well


While cruising around the store we spotted these wonderful stitched zebra pillows...
had to have those!
 so we bought two

cost:  $ 60 dollars

World market has so many great kitchen and decorative items 
at really wonderful prices

We spotted these grey and cream pottery vases
at $20 dollars each...we bought three

 Because CG loves to shop at vintage and flea markets, 
she thought that she might be able to find some great inexpensive art work down the road...
but what to do about the big blank wall behind the sofa?

We spotted these really fun chalkboard birds on a string and bought three

total cost at $8 dollars each...$24 dollars
 getting back to our furniture needs ...
this coffee table was just so interesting and a nice small size with a very ethnic and vintage look...kind of like an old door

the Youkos coffee table was $400 dollars...a bit of a splurge,
 but could be used as a bench or even on a patio, down the road
 next to the sofa and chairs 
we needed a nice little table and lamp...


the table above is the Aiden end table 
priced at $149 
  the lamp base we liked had a nice grey 
wash
and was only $59 dollars
topped of with this really bright embroidered shade 
it looks amazing

shade: $24.99

our last piece of furniture for the living room was this shelving unit...made from recycled wood it will house a small TV, some stereo equipment and a few books and collectibles


We loved how all of the shelves were adjustable and it was an easy item to move around

and talk about a great price!

the Campaign bookshelf is only
$279 dollars

last on our list were a few items to make her new place a bit more friendly 
after a long day at work

we found some great items in the kitchen department 
and will do some faux silk arrangement in these cute
 "good morning bowls"
bowls $10 dollars for 2

silk orchids
2 sets of two at $24 dollars

bringing a touch of black into the room seemed 
like a good idea 
so we 
purchased two of these black tea tins, 
which will hold candy and the TV clickers

$3 dollar each
total $6 bucks



finally some great baskets for magazines, newspapers, gym shoes etc 
we love these tub baskets 
2 for $40 dollars


here is CG's finished living room
and she may even have time to get a little kitty

total cost $1,972 dollars

well within our budget and really cute and fresh...

next post:

the kitchen and eat-in area

plus...please enter the give way 

thanks so much for your great ideas and comments

cheers

kel

Lavender Gifts and A Give Away

128 comments:


Wow, I feel like I have not blogged in like....forever!
and I must admit it felt pretty good to take a break

I need to catch up....quick

so
 here are my quick tips for harvesting your lavender buds 
for potpourri and sachets



Once your stems are air dried and turning grey you simply
grab a clean good sized bucket

Turn your bundles upside down and gently rub the stems back and forth in the palms of your hands

You will feel the buds easily drop off 

I had 5 tied bundles and the yield was about 3 cups of dried buds

But a little goes a long way





I like to mix the buds with a custom blended mix of 
other herbs and dried flowers for a beautiful potpourri 

The dried stems are a great addition to a gift basket
This is a gift basket that I did for someone to send as a gift to her Aunt

She bought the baguette basket from the Polished Pebble Shop and then
  picked a few other little items to make it really special

3 lavender sachets 
and some wonderful bath salts and a scrubby


We added a gift card 
and tied it all up with beautiful bright ribbon

So now I have a gift for you!

Just leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win a gift bag full of goodies 
just like the things I just sent

I will pick TWO winners at random next Friday 

Thank you all so much for being so supportive of the blog 
and for always leaving such great and kind comments


By the way....if you emailed me with a question and I have not responded, 
I really apologize for the delay!  I will try to get to all of the emails as quickly as I can

Thanks for stopping by....can't wait to pick a winner

kelley





lavender

15 comments:
lavender season ended for the most part 
about a month ago
in mid July

the lavender garden was really quite beautiful and more importantly the bee's were in heaven....
 I am really considering getting some bee hive boxes for the orange orchard

most of my lavenders planted throughtout the property is the Grosso variety
which provides the essential oil for use in soaps, lotions etc
It is very tall and spikey with long narrow clusters of blue grey flowers
just walking through the lavender 
gives off that amazing earthy scent

if is wasn't so full of bumble bees it might be fun to have a chair in the middle of the plants! 

there are actually quite a few plants that we have that are suitable for drying
 and I tried a few things out earlier this summer


but the lavender is hands down the most fun to dry 
and I really love having it in little bowls in the house

we had some rather mild weather in July followed this month
by a really nasty heat wave...but the lavender is still holding up 


 this large bed is a huge drift of about 100 or so plants...

in the center of the bed are some old wine barrels
planted with geranium and willow tertuers

the geranium are just popping up above the spikey blue stems

this is what Grosso looks like dried
I wrap it with butchers twine and hang it for about a week or so 








lavender is really
wonderful to photograph too!




now on to the harvest




next post....ideas for using lavender to give as a gift


hope you are staying cool ; 0 )

kelley