Pic# 2: grill behind shelves. Details, please?

Hello! Quick note- this floor plan is the exact mirror of our actual floor plan *sorry*. Hope that’s not too confusing!

Given your limitations (budget and from BYU's housing office) you've done pretty well for yourselves. I definitely like the artwork you have rigged up over your dining room table.

I have that tv!

:)

Nice job with student housing! Those are some nice cabinets in the kitchen!

I like the chair and bookcase in the first photo as well as the artwork in the third. Nice touches with the details (candles, flowers).

Hi guys!

Lady J,
The "grill" is an old trellis from a house in the area.

Thanks for the positive comments about the artwork above the table. I needed to come up with something to hide the phone jack ;0)

As for the flowers, I learned the importance of those from the "Cure"!

The round mirror in the first picture and the polaroids in the third are great. And finally someone realized how much fresh flowers can quickly and easily add appeal!
Not a big fan of the coffee table or the dining chairs, though. They look a little outdated to me.

Caitlin-

I have to repsectfully disagree about the coffee table. I think it has a cool earthy yet glamourous look to it, and the open sides look like the perfect place to store books or display objects. The heftiness of the piece also keeps the place from looking like it is filled with cheapy Ikea-ish furniture (Not that there's anythign wrong with that when you're on a students's budget, but it's nice to see pieces with some weight that look like they were well made).

I do agree with the dining chairs though. I don't think they look outdated, but a little country for the rest of the place. It's understandable b/c of their budget though. Maybe a simple slipcover over the chairs would help?

Very good job for student housing and very good job because of the tight budget. What will you do when you have money? Wow.

I like how you turned the little nook into an office, and the prints in front of the kitchen table. Given your constraints, I think this is excellent!

Love the photos. Are they lit somehow?

We got the coffee table from the street. If you don't like it now you should have seen it the original brown "wood" with gold crushed velvet fabric behind the door handles! Whooh! Now that was bad, but I knew it had potential

We put books in the open shelf area, but then had to remove them because our son was getting into them. The storage behind the doors is wonderful for hiding his toys.

We got the table and chairs for really cheap! It was better than sitting on the floor to eat dinner.

Tollie, thank you! They are not lit however. Just looks like it in the pic.

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I am curious to hear some kind, constructive comments from some of the "not my thang" voters.

This place looks like it doesn't have nearly enough lighting. And, it's hard to tell for sure, but something seems a little off about the layout (the green chair in the living room isn't integrated in a useable way with the other furniture). But I can't figure out something else, too: Is it possible that either the second photo of the dining table, or the layout drawing, have been flipped around??

Looks like a calm, pleasant, and cheerful place to live.

Quick note- this floor plan is the exact mirror of our actual floor plan *sorry*. Hope that’s not too confusing!

Oh! Just went back and saw that you explained this at the top of the thread. So that explains it; thanks!

I said 'not my thang' b/c it isn't. But my husband's in grad school and we have many friends who are in campus apts and I know the struggles - I've also seen some really fantastic work-arounds.

I really do not care for the dining set or the coffee table. I think a pp's suggestion of slip-covering the chairs is a really good idea and one easily done - this will also help bring in some color to help unify the space. I bet you could even rig a short fabric 'drape' around the bottom of the tabletop to hide the iron scrolling.

Speaking of scrolling - the iron scroll behind the shelves could be cool if you were doing shabby-chic stuff, but it's a weird location and is lost against the white wall and between shelves....re-think that piece.

I really think the coffee table should go - it looks like it belongs on an orange shag carpet back in a 70's basement - and not the good retro....that is my opinion though. I think you can scavange for better.

I think bringing in candles of different (taller!) heights would be a good way to get color, height, and texture into the space. Good job bringing in the fresh flowers.

EXCELLENT job with the hanging pics to block the phone jack, I'm really impressed with that one.

One trick I learned was to find out the trash days for the wealthy communities around me, then do late night/early morning drive-bys on trash day. I've found lots of great lamps - even the nasty 'gold/brass' ones - just lightly use a fine grit sand paper and then use a can of Rustoleum spray paint and give it a new color - slap on a new shade from Wal-mart or Target (or get crafty and re-use the dumpy one--just strip to frame and recover w/cute fabric--perhaps matching slipcovered dining chairs...or cool handmade paper)-and voila!

Adding side-lighting (my fave) gives you better, warmer lighting options, added interest w/lamp base and shade, and can be a cheap way to decorate.

I had friends in campus housing who made a fake fireplace using pine planks and crown molding for details - they weren't super crafty either, and it was fantastic! They stained it a dark brown/walnut color. It really helped orient the living room and gave them a place to hang their stockings at Christmas!

honestly, I got a LOT of my current furniture in the trash or at yard sales - then went home and painted them to hide the nasty laminate/prev paint, etc. I love high-gloss black - PITA to dust though.

Hope that was kind and constructive for you!

i think you've done a great job here, the pics show a lot of thought and problem-solving. love the photos above the table, and i'm a fan of the coffee table. as for the above comment about the green chair, i agreed at first that it's in an odd spot/at an odd angle, but then i thought maybe you intended that corner as a kind of reading nook.

the dining set isn't my style, but i don't think it's by any means ugly. it's tough to find a decent sent--much less one you like--at a budget price (ie., under $100), especially in college towns, where there's competition for that stuff.

something strange i notice: there's no sign of a baby at all. some people might think that's a major accomplishment, but it's really striking to me.

if there's one thing i think could be changed, it would probably be to add something personal (photos, etc.)

We think that you have done great with your limited space and budget, The neutral color's help give a calm feeling. A small photo of your baby would add a personal touch.We congratulate you on your talent.

I fancy the photo arrangement in the dining room... looks sharp!

It's so interesting to hear what people have to say just from viewing the pictures.

The green chair is there for several reasons (as speculated), but mainly to allow for the most crawl space for our son. I’ve always been for function over form.

I think you're right about the trellis. But if we were doing “Shabby Chic” really...would anything be cool?

I love to scavenge. The problem, as noted by renata, is the competition around here. Lots of students!

We took pictures that showed baby stuff and entered it into the Nursery contest. Alas, other people have real nurseries and ours won’t make the final cut. It was a stretch (a pic of where I nurse-the other side of the couch, the port-a-crib, and the coffee table doors open and exposing the hidden toys).

I removed some personal photos, and maybe that was a mistake for voting purposes. I just didn’t know how comfortable I was with posting family pics. Exposing our apartment was hard enough.

Just for fun I just calculated what we've spent out of pocket on our home furnishings and decor. It was under $150 (not including our mattress and boxspring). Talk about a scavenger! The table set alone was $30.

that should read:

quote Shabby Chic end quote

Other people have covered my ideas for constructive criticism better than I could've. That said, I like the way these elements are not matchy, but speaking to each other: coffee table, porthole mirror, green color in the chair (if not the chair itself), and throw pillow. Something about the interplay of these harmonizes the honey-colored wood tones with the darker wood tones. That is nice. The style that is hovering about that first picture does seem much too dissonant from that of the other two.

Just curious, what kind of table/chairs would you expect to see here all?

I think you've done a fantastic job on a tiny budget. Respect; insta-finalist as its nearly impossible to achieve this level of cohere-ness when you don't have dough to throw around.

that coffee table is great. and i like the corner next to it too! excellent finds!