Name: KristinaXI
Location: Chicago, Illnois
Type: One bedroom rental
Why I use color:"I think the number one reason I use color is because I grew up in a military household – even when we owned the house we lived in (which happened once, for about 3 years, in 13 years of moving all over), we couldn't get too creative with color or painting since we had to worry about selling the house within the next two to three years. Painting a room, to me, then, is the ultimate form of ownership. Even if I move in a year and have to paint it this back, for now, this is my space, and I can do what I like without having to check with anyone else whether they approve of my taste. "
"I joke that I use color in lieu of having a personality, but really, the colors I use are entirely indicative of my personality, and to me, no room is completely done if it has white wall (though I've seen some AT house tours that belie that sentiment)."
2 Good color tips:
"Go with your instinct. Each time I showed up at the paint store, I just went with what felt right in my gut, and freakishly enough, it worked all three times"
"Get some sort of edging device. I hated taping and it actually ripped off some of the paint from the molding (I didn't paint that) so the edger became my best friend. "
Favorite type and brand of paint:"I prefer Pratt & Lambert's colors, but at Thybony paints (5440 N. Clark), they matched those using their own paint, so I ended up using them for all my rooms – and I like an Eggshell finish."
Awesome place! Where did you get the pot rack that's above your stove??? I love it!
view PriscillaAmber's profile
Ikea - it's the Grundtal pot rack (I think it's a pot rack...it might have been meant for the bathroom).
view KristinaXI's profile
Nice kimono on the wall!!
view Emmm's profile
I love the green room!
view quercus's profile
nice to settle into, where'd you get the bedroom curtains?
view Laurie's profile
i love the green and grey colors, but the black and white bins on the wall just seem a bit much with all the other black and white in there...
im about to paint my living room a rich navy and am very thankful for your "use an edger" tip!
view my little apartment's profile
Yeah, it feels very immature to me the way they are right now - I'm hoping to get some stencils or else some wall stickers to break up the blocks of color, and I want to put something red on one of the white ones, so we'll see. I just moved (which is why the apartment looks so messy) so it's still pretty raw right now.
The bedroom curtains, btw, were actually made for me by a friend - I bought black and white curtains and then she trimmed the white ones and sewed them to the black ones (I wanted a form of blackout curtains, since I can't sleep with much light).
Either way, thanks!
view KristinaXI's profile
your house looks very nice~
i've seen those calendars in many places, but i don't know where they are from~
can you tell me where can i get them?
thank you~
view daisuki012's profile
I think those are Stendig calendars.
Why 2 of them? Yeah, mostly pretty nice except for the overly dogmatic black/white/black/white scheme in the bedroom which clashes with everything else.
view lolax's profile
ohh~~
thank you so much >____
view daisuki012's profile
I think this is one of the best uses of grey on the walls I've seen. Normally I find it too coldly modern or industrial for my taste.
view angorian's profile
I've got two up because I don't carry a planner - one is on this month and the other is for next month.
view KristinaXI's profile
do you have info on the "for like ever" print...I have been trying to figure out the artist/ where to get a print...
I love your space....
view Jess2nola's profile
i second that. where is the "for like ever" print from?
view clarkbar9's profile
What a wondefful shade of grey. I love it. I love the decor of the bedroom a lot but I can't get with that particular shade of green. Maybe a different shade or more muted shade would work better since the room appears to be kind of small. I think it would open up more with a better shade.
The kitchen and dining are also very nice.
view orangejuce's profile
Excuse the spelling of "wondefful" above. Of course, I meant "wonderful" :)
view orangejuce's profile
Go here for that print: http://vllg.com/products/Village/Villageposter_limited/
They are AWESOME, and they have it in gold and in pink.
view KristinaXI's profile
it's funny, how that poster shows up everywhere now. i've seen it in domino and even elle decoration uk, i think. it's like the "keep calm" poster that i've seen crop up in this same contest and all these other online photos of people's places.
not that i can blame ya. 2 great posters!
view lolax's profile
I love how the grey walls make the other colours in the room pop. Nice effect!
view ehy2k's profile
the gray is very nice.
view SD913's profile
wow that girl is not afraid of color! nice!
view francisco2's profile
Where is that poster over the dining table from?
view hanifa's profile