2013 Home Wishlist

2012 was such a great year for Jeffrey and me. Thanks to the support of our families we were able to furnish our kitchen and living room with brand new appliances, kitchen accessories, lamps, a coffee table, and a couch. We received even more great stuff from them at Christmas, and we're looking forward to investing in more pieces to make our apartment a true home.

This is my 2013 Home Wishlist for the kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom. Everything is affordable (the furniture is under $200 each), stylish, and comes from either Amazon or Target (and with our Amazon Prime and Target Red card memberships we will enjoy discounted prices and free shipping!)

Read on to find out what we plan on purchasing in the new year!

Fiesta 5-Piece Place Setting, Shamrock at Amazon.

Last Christmas we were fortunate enough to receive five of these 5-piece place settings from my uncle, who is a user of Fiesta himself. We later purchased two sets ourselves and then were gifted two sets of the matching silverware for my birthday and two baking pieces this Christmas season. To even out our collection to a healthy set of 8 I am eyeing this set in Shamrock. I'm also eyeing Sunflower since we don't have a yellow color currently. But I really love how Shamrock looks!

Fiesta Stoneware Spoon Rest, 12" Bread Tray, and Sugar Packet Caddy in Sunflower (Amazon)

To go along with the two serving dishes (in Tangerine) we received this Christmas I've found these three pieces in Sunflower that would add both functionality and bright color to our kitchen. We currently have a spoon rest but it is wine-themed and I would prefer something a bit more plain. The bread tray would be perfect for when I make homemade bread from scratch, and the sugar packet caddy perfect for storing packets of Truvia, which I use for my coffee and tea.

Keurig Mini Brewer at Target

I've been wanting one of these for a few years now. However, I could never really justify the purchase and still can't. When we moved into this apartment I purchased an inexpensive coffee maker, and also used an inexpensive espresso machine Jeff had purchased for me back when he lived in Camarillo. During the year we upgraded to a nicer espresso machine and have used it primarily for coffee brewing ever since (and the occasional Starbucks-inspired white chocolate mocha). The Keurig uses K Cups which come in an assortment of flavors and varieties (including tea and hot chocolate) and is perfect for me as I am the only one who drinks coffee. I still plan on using my espresso machine, but I've had my eye on this for so long that I've decided I should treat myself. And isn't the color fantastic? 

Keurig K-Cup Carousel Tower at Target

I saw this K-Cup carousel tower in a YouTube video and instantly fell in love with it. It looks so cute and is a great way to display and choose from K-Cup varieties. 

Wine Enthusiast Hanging Metal Stemware Rack from Target

 A hanging stemware rack is an item Jeffrey has wanted since we moved in, and we have a perfect place to hang it right above where we prepare food. This is a very inexpensive version and would allow us to get our wine glasses out of the dusty top shelf and looking chic.

food storage

At one point we purchased a set of food storage containers from Fresh & Easy but they've been scattered here and there and don't really get used. This is just one of those items that we need to keep food fresh, especially when we bring leftovers home from Jeff's parent's house (which is quite often!).

EZ-Serv Dry Food Dispenser from Target

To be honest with you, Jeff thinks I'm silly for wanting this. But it is perfectly reasonable to have fun items in your kitchen/home! We eat a lot of cereal and store the boxes on the counter (since we're short on storage space). This would be just a cute visual to have in the kitchen and a great way to keep track of when we need to buy more cereal. And one would be solely dedicated to Reese's Puff cereal. 

White Queen Upholstered Headboard from Target

Moving on to the bedroom, one item we are sorely missing is a headboard. Right now our pillows tend to fall in the space between the mattress and the wall and we often find ourselves stuffing other pillows in the space just to keep our pillows propped up and neat. It's very annoying! So imagine my surprise when Jeff not only agreed that we needed a headboard, but expressed an interest in the very same kind I want! I love the tufted, upholstered look (think of Don and Betty Draper's bed from Mad Men) and found this very lovely and super affordable version from Target. It's an off-white white that may not be the best as far as collecting dust and dirt is concerned, but it's the bedroom, not the kitchen, and shouldn't get too dirty. Just imagine how beautiful it would look against a painted wall!

Uptown Dining Chair Black & White Chevron (set of 2) from Target

The final piece we are looking to invest in is new dining chairs. We currently have an oak dining table that used to belong to Jeff's parents and some matching chairs he found on Craigslist. I'm not a fan of the chairs at all and they are mighty uncomfortable, so I've been looking for a reason to get rid of them! As soon as I saw this set of black and white chevron chairs I wanted them. It's a bold print to have at the dinner table and wouldn't exactly match the oak table (which can be remedied with a tablecloth) but they are so beautiful to look at and I feel would definitely add a chic element to our dining-slash-kitchen room. It might look really beautiful with our bold colored Fiesta ware, too!

So those are the items we're looking to add to our home. I'm also on the lookout for some nice nightstands for the bedroom but so far haven't had luck finding something I like. That will likely require going from store to store to find something perfect, and I have a feeling I'll find that something perfect at Home Goods or World Market.

If you haven't had a chance yet, be sure to Like Apartment 54 on Facebook! There will be so much more to come in 2013!
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Ikea Catalog Shopping, Part 4: Side Tables

Our apartment is furnished with secondhand purchases and cheap buys, so it is very important to us that anything we buy not only represents our joint style and aesthetic, but also has some meaning to it (and is a great price, of course!) Fortunately, we've received a lot of great gifts from our families that have helped steer the design direction in our apartment and we're taking cues from them. While Ikea furniture is typically not known for superb quality and durability, it is inexpensive and stylish, which means we can pick up things we like now on our grad school budgets and worry about making the bigger, more quality purchases later down the road. We'll be purchasing our very first couch next month (likely the Ektorp from Ikea) and what would a couch be without some great side tables?

Ikea PS 2012 side table, $49.99 

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Sure, they're advertised as being for kids (or indoor plants) but for people like us who have a lot of little things lying around, these are great! I just love the built-in pocket compartments for all the little items that just don't seem to have a permanent home. Remote controls, extra batteries, pens and pencils, and so much more could fit inside these. Maybe even an indoor plant or two!

If room permits I'd like these by the couch... but they'd be great as bedside tables! Right now we have exactly one side table - an uninspired piece of black table (material unknown) - and it's not exactly a great fit with the design of the room. I'd love to be able to just tuck a few loose items in the beside table pockets, a book or two in the built-in shelving unit, and call it a night!

Coming up next: a great coffee table!

Clutter, Clutter Everywhere!

If my bedroom looked like this I'd probably keep it clean!

I recently moved my desk into the bedroom so that we could have a bit more room in the living room for our chairs. It's worked out really well so far because I can stay in the smaller bedroom with just a portable air conditioner and not have to turn on the central air, which would cool every room in the house (including the ones I'm not in). Plus, it's nice to have a separate study space from Jeff so that we don't both each other.

The problem with it is that our bedroom is always the least organized room in the apartment. There are always clothes everywhere and our closet is packed beyond belief. I can barely even walk to my side of the bed because there is just so much stuff in the way! I really need to do something about it.

The thing is... I can never throw stuff away. And even when I've put together bags or boxes of stuff to take to Goodwill, they never end up there because we always forget to take them when we go out.

Rather than tackling everything at once perhaps I should instead focus on cleaning one small area, like the walkway to my side of the bed. Then another time I can focus on a different area, while also trying to keep the first area clean. Good in theory? Yes. With summer upon us and the weather reaching up into the 100's every day, it would be nice to have a fresh, clean bedroom that I can look down in and not see piles of clothing.

And maybe one day I'll get to tackle the behemoth that is our closet!

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Vanity Pillowcases

Do you think Jeff would notice if I casually snuck in these pillowcases onto our bed? I love the idea of these!

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Actually now that I think about it, I could purchase two pillowcases of my choosing and ask Jeff's mom to sew in the words. She has one of those fancy, uber-expensive Bernina sewing machines that do everything except command NASA flights. 

Rather than "Sleeping Beauty" and "Prince Charming" - which doesn't fit us at all - the pillowcases could say "Hers" and "His" or "Mrs." and "Mr." (someday!).  I love that personalization can be really inexpensive and thoughtful!

Photos: Pretty in the Bedroom

The other day I blogged about prettying up our bedroom with some new purchases. Here's a breakdown of what we did:

• New sheets and (2) pillowcases 
• Curtain (plus rod)
• Decorative pillow

Doesn't seem like much but the sheets alone took up more than half our budget. I think the best deal we got was on the curtain panel, and I really think it lifted the look of the bedroom considerably. It's not picture-perfect yet but I think we're on our way. 

Undressed window on the left, finished product on the right. And I love the way the sun comes through the curtain in the morning! The light is so soft and really brings out the floral pattern.
Curtain: Botanical Burnout, Target.  Rod also from Target.

Fieldcrest Luxury 450 Thread Count Solid Soft Sheet Set  in Grey, Target. 

Adding a touch of femininity to the room. The grey sheets were a compromise  but Jeff let me have my way with the curtain and decorative pillow. Ultimately I think he feels I made the best choice. 

Top: front of the pillow. Bottom: back of pillow
They aren't different colors. My camera is senile.
Simply Shabby Chic Embroidered Euro Pillow, Target. 

Credit: Target.com
View of the pillow that wasn't taken witha  senile digital camera. 

In addition to the new purchases, we also removed the tiled garden table that I had been using as a bedside table. While I'd like to have the free space available for storing extra pillows and bedding, right now it's being used for the portable air conditioner.

The bedroom hasn't received the kind of attention that the other rooms have, but I think we're now in a position to build on the few items we have purchased. We only have so much room to work with and because we're coming from two different households, we have two different sets of furniture. One of the more exciting aspects of living with someone is building everything together. I really like shopping for home furnishings with Jeffrey and I can't wait to see what else we come up with!



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Pretty in the Bedroom

Tonight we picked up a few good deals from Target to pretty up our bedroom. That was the room we had paid the least attention to. We've also made some minor changes to the furniture layout throughout the apartment. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!