Natala la la la ... ... ...

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Sunday, March 06, 2005

self-torture 

decorating is hard, particularly when you are slightly neurotic, and a little OCD -- as the visio diagram below illustrates:

living room design

i'm literally obsessed with making the "right" choices, and the sad result is that my house is still very empty. this was sorta "cute" in the beginning -- i do have these furry white bean bags...but now, since there's nothing on order, i really do think it has gone too far.

So, in order to make some sort of progress, i mapped out my living room in visio (which has a handy furniture/room template) and tested out a bunch of options. Below are notes on my current top issues -- which i really hope to resolve in the next week -- if you have any feedback i'd love to hear it!

ISSUES:

shipping.
I would like to order everything at once so that i can minimize my shipping / delivery costs.*sigh* this is probably the largest source of self-torture because it means i have to make a bunch of decisions at once. not that i've really made many decisions, but still...

colors.
i've decided that i would like a neutral tone for the furniture, with dark woods (but not that new trendolicious ebony, more of an espresso) with red-rose accents (for things like pillows). however, neutral is posing a challenge, because i inherently think buying creme colored couches is kinda, well, kinda silly. I mean things spill. like wine. but, i think it looks good in the house and that a dark leather couch is too "heavy"... i am trying to find a "camel" color that i like, but often they look too tan (i.e. too much yellow-orange). The secondary tone in the living room is olive. I'm hoping to pick that up, along with the red-rose, in the rug.

rug.
I fell in love with a ridiculously beautiful and expensive afghani wool rug. It's too big though, or so i thought. Now i'm not so sure. Either way, I don't think i can swallow the cost. The smaller green rectangle in the image above is for an 8x10 rug, the larger green rectangle represents the "forbidden" carpet.

budget.
i have some money set aside for this, but the total amount just makes me uncomfortable. even though i'm an amazon-addict, i really don't like to spend money. and deep inside i think owning real furniture somehow means i'm an "adult" and that just creeps the hell out of me.

couch.
I've had the couch that I am thinking of getting selected for weeks now. it is pretty much exactly what i wanted -- three pillow-couch, about 77 inches, and with a modern but elegant feel to it. I like the skinny arms and i wanted the three-pillows because i like to repeat threes in my house. BUT, i still need to settle on a fabric. The boucle linen that it comes with worries me -- i am concerned that it will catch on things. Luckily i can select any fabric from their selection (for a cost of course). Unfortunately that means i'm waiting for more fabric samples. Ideally i think i want some sort of linen (true linen) with a grain, however, i'm also considering a micro-suede because i like the texture. Texture is really important.

accent chairs.
ok, i am completely losing it when it comes to accent chairs. I don't like the ones that coordinate with the couch -- they are too boxy. I want something with a bit of a curve to it. but that doesn't look too old-fashioned or traditional -- i still want a modern feel. right now i am leaning towards these harlowe chairs -- but they are armless. will guests miss the arms? will they fall off the chair? will it be uncomfortable? i have literally run about a million scenarios through my head on this issue, and i've even gone and sat in an armless chair to test it out. it felt fine. but it still worries me. i like arms. i prefer arms. at the same time, i really like the clean lines of the harlowe armless chair...see: self-torture continues.

reading nook.
i think i have this one figured out. I'm going to get the Luke chair w/ ottoman in ambassador fudge leather. it looks sumptious, and should provide a perfect comfort zone for reading the NY times on sunday mornings listening to itunes. Mind you, i looked at about 100 chairs first, do i want bronze tacking? what about thick-stiching? how deep should it be? smooth leather or textured? pillow-back or flat back? uh-huh...

tables.
rectangle or circle. i think i've finally decided to go with a circular table - more flow. now that shape is decided, what should it be made of? glass? wood? a glass-wood combo? that would be ideal, but so far i haven't found one. I'm also thinking about getting a bench that can repurpose as a table. two-for-one.

accessories.
i haven't even started to think about accessories...accent pillows and flowers seem easy and i surely have enough knick-nack stuff to pull out some cute stuff. the key here is "grouping:" according to one magazine i read. If you have, say, random statues and little desk things you picked up in hong kong all over the house they look unrelated..but you pull them together into a group and they become a "harmonious and interesting collection". hmmm.

¤ posted by Natala : 3/06/2005 02:37:00 PM


Comments:
It’s so funny that you’re in this stage – it’s basically how I felt almost 4 years ago when I was about to live on my own for the first time. I had an empty apartment and a ton of requirements. After going through the whole experience, I think that it’s all about being able to compromise between what you want and what you can get. To save money I’d start with cheaper basics. Think about what really matters for you, and what you will buy for now and then can easily replace it. I’d get a nice sofa since it’s likely to be around for a while. Don’t be afraid of bright colors because they get dirty: I have a very bright sofa, I clean it not more than every 3 months and it doesn’t have a single stain. I wouldn’t be buying that overly expensive rug, but I’d go for something cheaper but nice looking. The rug is something that you can replace once you restore your budget after all the initial renovations (you can even recover some of your cost by selling things via craigslist). Also, first spend money on things that you really need to do, like renovating the basement. I would definitely avoid buying anything via mail order or over the net if you haven’t seen it with your own eyes. In my mind it’s not like buying a book or a CD. I’ve seen stuff that looks beautiful in a catalogue but once you touch it, or look at it from a different angle it looks crappy. You’ll also save on shipping costs (Buddy has a truck *hint, hint*). Not buying stuff at once will also give you more time to piece everything together. Once you have your carpet and a sofa you’ll know whether a wood or a glass table look better. I have never bought everything that looked the same way in my apt as it did on display. You won’t believe it, but I went through like 3 dining tables which I returned right after I saw them in my living room. If you don’t want to go with an interior decorator (and I definitely think that you shouldn’t) it’ll take you more time to buy everything and it’ll be a trial and error experience.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4:45 PM, March 06, 2005
 
but what about the armless chairs?
# posted by Blogger Natala : 5:28 PM, March 06, 2005
 
Natala, you're an adult! ;-)

My approach: I know I won't get it right. So instead, I want to keep things flexible. I want to be able to move things around. I want to get a new set of pillows and change the look. Or a new lamp. Or different plants. So I try to avoid furniture that restricts my changing things in the future.

It's sort of like when you buy clothing---do you get the sets that look really good, or do you get the separates that you can mix and match?

Good luck! :-)
# posted by Blogger Amit : 6:34 PM, March 06, 2005
 
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