Category Archives: Furniture

Now Our Coffee Table Won’t Collapse and Kill the Dog!

First things first, I’d like to start things off today by saying that if you love what you read around here, we would be SO grateful if you took 10 seconds to vote for Our Cozy Cubbyhole in the Apartment Therapy Homies. We would LOVE to gain more readers!  Your support means a lot to us!! YOU ARE THE BEST!

Moving right along… I am happy to announce that it is only February and we are able to scratch another apartment new year’s resolution off of our list! For the past few months, our coffee table was so wobbly that it the top would shift 4 inches if you put your feet on it. It was bad. We could have added brackets as a temporary fix but we really wanted to upgrade to something a little nicer.

Over the weekend, we decided to finally take the plunge and did a bunch of searching. While we found a few tables we loved on the World Market website, they charges these ridiculous “delivery surcharges” that basically negated any sale price (and put the tables just slightly out of our price range if we were being money-conscious). We almost decided to splurge and go for it before we got the brilliant idea to look at Overstock.com. Seriously, best decision ever! Not only did we find a bunch of tables we loved, the prices were reasonable and the shipping was free! We decided on the winner, which was on sale for $139.99 from $222.99!OverstockPage1On top of that already amazing deal, I had a coupon code for an additional 7% off and there were no tax or shipping charges so the total came out to only $130.19!OverstockPage2It arrived in perfect condition two days later. The only only hiccup in this near-perfect ordering situation was that “Assembly: Assembled” was a bold-faced lie… we most definitely got a disassembled table and had to put in some elbow grease. However, most people know I have an affinity for putting together furniture so I wasn’t too put off by the little surprise.

Enough of me blabbering… LET’S SEE A PICTURE!!

Hold on. Bo wants to be in a picture first...

Hold on. Bo wants to be in a picture first…

CoffeeTable1

We are so happy with the way the new table looks and fits in our room. Plus it is so new and shiny, it makes us want to keep the house clean. ;)

Happily, we can scratch another thing off of our resolutions list:

1. KITCHEN LOVE – Since we didn’t quite get to this in 2012, I would love to get our kitchen project underway early this year!

 

2. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! – We need to do this every year! We got a bunch of Christmas gifts (books, DVDs, etc.) and have no where to put them so we need to do some spring cleaning to make room.

 

3. STORAGE SOLUTIONS – Now that Walker and I have lived together for over a year, we have slowly filled up all of our current storage. Aside from putting everything in the garage, we need to come up with some new ways to add storage (especially for books, DVDs, CDs, and school supplies!).

 

4. NEW COFFEE TABLE AND RUG – Our current coffee table is hanging on by a thread! We absolutely need to save up and replace it. We would also love to get a new, upgraded rug for underneath… class up our living room a little! :)

 

5. SCHOOL WORKSPACE – I love our writing desks but I am going to be doing a lot of drafting and projects that take up much more space/storage for school. We need to figure out a way to make a little more space for doing schoolwork, which is going to be really tough!

The best part is that the table was so inexpensive and we found a goldmine with Overstock so we actually ordered a brand new rug to go with the table! It arrives in a few days so get excited! Our living room is going to look like a whole new place. More pictures soon! :)

New Kitchen Eating Area: The Plans

I know it has been a little quiet around here recently but I busted out the good old blog planner today and started planning out some great projects.  Hopefully that will get us back on track!

So why not get the ball rolling with one of the biggest projects we’d like to tackle: our lack of counter space and storage in the kitchen. Walker and I love to cook but all the prep work has to be done from the kitchen table, since we have practically no counter space (and the space we do have is mostly used and very inconvenient for cooking).We have tossed ideas around about using a kitchen island on the wall between the door and kitchen table.  Right now I have a leftover bookshelf to use for additional storage but it is in no way a good use of the space.

However, all of the kitchen islands we have seen are either too small (like our microwave cart- shown above) or too long (and crowd the kitchen table) and they all cost a fortune. So then we started talking about perhaps running a counter along the entire length of that wall and building in an eating area under the window with stools underneath. Here is the only image I was able to find that was similar to our idea:

Photo Source: Apartment Therapy

We would aim to make ours a little roomier but we love the concept! When we didn’t need the space for a table, it could be a giant 8 foot counter! WOOOO! That is 200% more than we already have.

The big question now is: How do we achieve this idea without spending a fortune or doing anything too “permanent” to our rental? Enter Ana White. I have become recently obsessed with her amazing website and was able to find free building plans for a kitchen islandthat I feel comfortable modifying for our needs.

Photo Source: Ana White via Domestic Jenny

This is a beautiful kitchen island that is fairly simple to make (famous last words…) and would only require minor modifications in order to fit our space.  By shortening the piece as a whole, lengthening the tabletop, and adding a third pair of legs under the extended tabletop (and maybe a few brackets to the wall), we can create the idea we are aiming for. I drew up a rough (very rough haha!) plan sans measurements (because this genius lost her measuring tape…) in order for you to visualize what I am poorly explaining.

We like this approach because it gives us what we need (storage and counter space) while remaining fairly temporary. Even if we move in a couple years, we can always cut the extended tabletop back and have a good old-fashioned kitchen island like in the original plans. We’ve also talked about adding shelves to the right side as well instead of just a set of legs depending on the final measurements (because my drawing above is quite squished!).

Once I can get my hands on a measuring tape, I will happily build out a more solid plan with measurements and expected costs. In the meantime, I would love your input! What do you think of this small space solution? Are you afraid of the idea of me building furniture? You should be… ;)

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His & Hers Writing Desks

Yippppeeeee!!! New desks!  Even though our original plans didn’t pan out, I am so much happier with our revised solution.  The living room is so much more open! :)

After much research, we decided to order these desks online from wayfair.com.  All of the other desks we saw were $200-$500 a piece so when I saw these cute writing desks for $122.99 a pop, it was a no-brainer!  Plus, I had a coupon code so I was able to knock off another 10%!  The website also didn’t charge tax or shipping so (drumroll please)…Two solid wood desks for $221.38! BOOM!

They were super easy to put together (just put on the legs and hutch) and fit PERFECTLY in the space.  I am pretty great with the measuring tape when I actually measure (unlike here)!  We have about a quarter inch on either side… snug as a rug!

We aren’t in love with the “honey pine” since it is a bit more orange-y than the rest of the light wood in the apartment but it is certainly tolerable for now (and considering we would have had to pay a million more dollars to get something in a preferred wood tone).  Someday we may go at them with a sander and some paint brushes but until then, our short-term plan is to add new hardware.  We also need to figure out the cord situation, readjust/change the art on the wall behind the desks (okay for those of you who recognize the current “art”…. here it is if you must), and get some new chairs since the ones in the picture are from the kitchen.

 

And lastly, for those of you who are counting: 2 new year’s resolutions down, 3 to go!

1. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! – Ok, so I do this every year but it is so important! When Walker moved in we found a place to put everything and have ignored it since. But in the next few weeks we will be getting a detached garage space (YIPPEE FINALLY!) and can stash some of our stuff in the extra storage. Sounds like a good excuse to do some weeding out of the excess and give us some breathing room.

2. CREATE A NEW DUAL WORKSPACE – Currently both of our computers are sitting on a desk I originally bought for myself that I Frankenstein-ed to accommodate both of us. However, there is no room to move or work… just barely enough room to click. So we have started some beginning plans on creating a new dual workspace that will actually meet our needs.

3. UPGRADE THE TUNES – We have been talking about getting a record player for the living room because we both LOVE listening to music. Walker even has a mini record collection started so we have some great stuff to listen to when we actually take the plunge. We anticipate a little extra space once we get the garage space and new desk so we hope to make it work sooner rather than later.

4. KITCHEN LOVE – The living room and bedroom have been slowly transformed to merge our styles since Walker moved in. However, with the exception of an additional calendar and some art, the kitchen looks exactly the same. I think he and I need to put our heads together and see what we want to do with this room.

5. BATHROOM SOS – Other than towels, curtains, and a bathmat, I have yet to do anything with the bathroom. This is the year to start!

Erika

I’m Erika, an interior designer with an aesthetic that is a mix of California Bohemian, Mid-Century, and Scandinavian influences with pops of fun color and loads of natural materials. Plus plants, plants, and more plants!

My sweet family (Walker, Juniper & Hank, as well as pups Arlo & Guillermo) just reloacted from Los Angeles, CA, to Lincoln, NE. We would love for you to follow along with us on this journey!

 
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