Apartment Therapy Blogger Style: Andie’s Own Living Room
(Editor’s Note: Day in and out, we love showing off our reader’s style. As a little bit of design quid pro quo, this month I asked some of the contributors from the editorial team to share rooms from their own home. Hope you enjoy! – Janel)
You’re never quite ready to put photographs of your space online. I find this a lot when I’m photographing house tours—there’s always a project here and there that needs doing, or a piece of furniture you’ve been dying to replace. Homes are ever-changing (thank goodness!) but hopefully you’ll enjoy a snapshot of ours in this moment.
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We currently live in a one-bedroom condo in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. The views are to die for, but the space is limited. As a high school teacher and a freelance writer, we tend to stick to a tight budget, while maintaining a style we enjoy.
However, with a baby on the way, the time is coming quickly to start looking for a larger home. In terms of furnishing, it’s definitely a challenge to find useful, cost-effective furniture that we love that actually fits into the space that we have and accommodates our changing lifestyle.
Our entire condo comes with what we call a “built-in” furniture layout—meaning that the windows, cable outlets and fireplaces are all arranged just so that the furniture must be placed in certain arrangements. Our fireplace is fun to have, but most definitely never used. Who needs more heat when you’re on the top floor with sunny windows?
We like to surround ourselves with pieces that are meaningful to ourselves and our families. The antlers were a gift from my father, and above the record console is an initial pencil drawing for a portrait done for our wedding by Ashley Goldberg in a vintage frame.
In place of another side table, we use a vintage campfire stool (via Etsy—shop no longer open) and hardback books to place our coffee or glass of wine on. The Pendleton blanket is vintage as well, as it was a wedding gift to my parents in 1976. The IKEA Expedit bookshelf is not my favorite thing in the space, but has served us well over the years. My dream is to replace it with lovely built-in bookshelves in a new house. Regardless, it is home to favorite books, my collection of vintage typewriters (one was used extensively in the initial branding of my business, Assemble Shop & Studio) and our little wedding cake topper, created by The Small Object.
The coral pink vinyl sofa is my favorite element in the room and my husband’s least favorite. I got it at a roadside vintage furniture shop in Los Angeles ten years ago and it’s been begging me to be in my own studio office space ever since. Some day, little pink couch.
The office/dining room/reading nook: this space has been problematic in the past (we used to use it only as a dining room) but with my adoption of a home office, the dining room had to go. We still keep the table just in case we have company and use it as a work desk. All of the “desk elements” are organized in the TV console (shown several photos below) which makes for a cleaner workspace. The chair is one of four (Overstock, $199.99), now currently waiting for a proper dining room in our storage space. We padded the bottom with felt and rope due to noise concerns, but just ordered a brand new chair from Crate & Barrel to replace it.
Just past the office area is our reading nook. This little area used to have a horrible built-in desk against the wall, which I ripped out in a fit of redecorating frenzy. Tip: if you hate it, don’t wait, just get rid of it! The rug is from Velocity Art & Design (now closed), and the chair is from Overstock.
In house tours, everyone always asks “where’s the TV?” Televisions are not that interesting to photograph, I’ve found, and neither is the furniture they sit on. However, that console (Land of Nod, $199) doubles as our desk drawers and technology charging station. It’s a useful little piece.
The painting above the couch was done by my late Grandma, and each of the extended family members have at least one of her paintings. This one is called “Florida Gate.” The sofa (Macy’s) is great for the low price, and useful in such a tiny space. Any couch bigger than this would take over the entire room—plus we like things small, look at our dog! (That’s Grady by the way). The black and white pillows were made by me, and the gray geometric pillow is from a great local designer, Piano Nobile.
Keep an eye out for some of our other “Behind the Blog” spaces.
Other resources of note:
• Paint Colors: Behr Polar Bear + Martha Stewart’s Oat Cake on one wall
• Record Console + Wooden Rocker: Urban Outfitters
• Coffee table: World Market
• Pillows on pink vinyl couch: Heath Ceramics, Nell & Mary, Target
• Table: Ikea (painted surface)
• Bear print above fireplace: Banquet Workshop
• Faux sheep-skin rug: Ikea
• Tray on coffee Table: Piano Nobile
• Floor pillow: Crate & Barrel
• White Floor Lamp: Ikea
• Vintage tennis rackets: Ludlow Home