so look left and look right

When I moved into my apartment, I brought very little furniture with me. I had a bed and two dressers, several book shelves, a desk and chair, and a coffee table. My old flatmate Vanessa, who moved in with me, had a bit more furniture than me; in addition to her own bedroom furniture, she had a sofa and television stand (We both had televisions but used hers, as it was bigger.), a dining table and chairs, and a second smaller table.

Vanessa moved out of her parents' house when she was 16, so she'd acquired a bit of furniture. With the exception of the six months that I spent in New York City, working at a restaurant in Soho and living with my boyfriend-at-the-time in a (furnished) apartment in Queens, I'd only ever lived with my family or in a dorm room.

Vanessa moved out this past April and my boyfriend moved in. He's 35 and has much more furniture than me.

The challenge for me, as I now try to decorate our apartment and blend our lives together, is the furniture. My furniture is more old-fashioned and lighter both visually and in colour. (Most of it is white.) JP's furniture is heavier. Almost all is dark wood and a lot of it is from Pier 1 Imports; a few pieces have wicker/basket weave, which is something I almost always associate with Pier 1. 

Two completely different styles. 

So I have to figure out how to mix-and-match our belongings.

We are buying some new furniture to replace old things. A new couch to replace JP's awful (He agrees!) old one that looks like it would be at home in a living room in 1983. (We have a dark purple slipcover over it to cover the horrendous... pattern... underneath. But with four cats, it's a cat hair magnet.) A dining room set to replace the old set Vanessa left when she moved out. And a few other things...

The furniture really is the biggest challenge. Picking paint colours was really quite simple, as was choosing fabrics for curtains. But blending our furniture is proving difficult. 

sunshine daisies butter mellow

My apartment, located on the top floor of an old three-story building, is actually rather large. It's the whole floor. The only apartment in the building to be the whole floor. We have three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. And a really long hallway.
Until about twenty years ago, the first floor played host to a string of shops over its one hundred year existence. Originally a general store with living quarters for the owners on the floors above, it has large glass windows the height of the floor to ceiling of the first floor. It looks really sweet and old-fashioned, but I'm not so certain I would like my living room window quite that large. The residents of the first floor apartments on the street side hang large curtains over the windows.
When I moved into the apartment, the walls were all a most unattractive beige with scuffed white trim. I, of course, immediately decided that needed to change. I wanted each room to be brightly coloured. When you walk in the back door, you can catch glimpses of the walls of almost every room (the bathroom and one bedroom excluded) off the hallway, which ends in the very large living room. So I planned to do a sort of Dorothy Draper thing...

A photo from the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, showing a view through several corridors and rooms into the Victorian Writing Room, was my inspiration.

Most of the rooms have been painted. (I'm actually taking a break from painting the living room as I write this.)
All of the bedrooms are along the right side of the hall as you walk in. You can't see the colour in the first bedroom because the door opens against the wall visible from the back door, for which I am grateful. My old flatmate, who lived in that room, painted it a miserable grey-brown, which I hate. (I plan to repaint it, but it's not a priority.) The middle bedroom hasn't been painted yet and is, therefore, still a beige colour. And the bedroom where my boyfriend and I sleep, the last and largest bedroom, is a purply-blue lavender. (The colour I've wanted to paint my room since I was a kid but was never allowed.)
Along the left of the hallway are the kitchen and dining room. The bathroom is off of the kitchen. The kitchen is painted a sunshine yellow and the dining room a dark peacock blue-green. (The bathroom is wainscotted; I've painted it white. Above the wainscotting, the walls are black. And the ceiling is a magenta colour.) And the living room, which I am currently painting, is a colour called mint shake green.
The hallway is a sky blue. I'm buying a stencil to paint the walls to look like wallpaper. The second colour is a darker blue.
I'll return to my painting. Hopefully the cats haven't tracked too many paw prints around the apartment. Or gotten their tails covered in green paint...
I will post pictures with my fancy new Nikon camera as soon as I can.

look alive, sunshine!

My name is Meggie. I'm a 23 year old graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. I grew up in the food service industry; my mother owned a bakery before I was born and later, throughout most of my childhood and into my teens, a catering and specialty cake company. Before culinary school, I worked in restaurants. After graduation, I returned to the restaurant where I'd done my externship the summer before. This past January, I started working at the bakery/cafe owned by the same chef, learning pastry. (I currently... specialise... in granola and gelato.)
But I'm a bit tired of the restaurant industry. It's the lifestyle mainly. During the busier months, I work six-day, 60+ hour weeks. I work on Thanksgiving and Christmas and my Grandfather's 87th birthday. I don't see my family, despite the fact that I live only miles away from most of my relatives. And I feel like an old lady; I'm always tired and sore. (I feel bad complaining. My boyfriend is the sous chef at the restaurant where I externed. His hours make mine look like nothing.) And quite honestly, I just don't enjoy it as much any more.
I'm ready to move on. Unfortunately, however, I really only have one polished skill: working in professional kitchens. I've never had a job that wasn't in a restaurant. Unless you count babysitting when I was 14 and 15. So I've got to learn a new skill.
I've always been interested in interior design. I was fortunate to grow up in a family with, if I say so myself, very good taste. All of my relative's homes are very nicely decorated. And after a trip to the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, I fell in love with Dorothy Draper's bold, eclectic style. Since moving in to my apartment August last, I've been planning the interior. (With so little time off, however, I've not down very much. Most of the rooms are painted...)
When he started to notice my disenchantment with my current profession, my boyfriend suggested I get a new job. "What though?" I asked. "I don't know anything else."
"Something you like."
Well, no interior design firm wants an unqualified hobbyist as their newest employee.
So I'm planning to return to school to study interior design. In the meantime, now that my hours at the bakery are slowing down, I'm going to finish what I've started: my apartment. And I'm working on a portfolio to submit with my college applications.
This is my journey...