Fifteen Cerdos

Where I live is not something I'm proud of.  In fact, I don't want to invite my friends over.  I've been wanting to move to a house for a while now. I'm not proud to say that I likely spent about 3 hours a day on design and home decor websites. But I don't have to look at other people's apartments or houses to know that mine sucks. First, it's a cookie cutter apartment with lots of problem and the ugliest fixtures. Second, it's filled with furniture we got from our college era and it still looks like a dormitory, as in, we have 4 bookcases, 2 desks, 1 futon that probably has dust mite in it, and no practical storage pieces like a sideboard. Third, you see boxes and boxes of print outs that Yves has accumulated through undergrad and phd, and our bookcases are lined up with texts since eco 100.

I know it will be a while before we can finally move into a house, but I can start by getting rid of eye soars and things that we haven't used in years and starting to collect things that I know we will keep and treasure.
So tadaa! Here's my to do list for the apartment in order of priority:

1. can I paint lamp shade with watercolor? Fabric dye did not work as well as I had imagined. If water color doesn't work, replace with a plain white Ikea shade and spray paint base in glossy yellow
2. replace futon with a nice grey sofa
3. get a sideboard (on its way) and refinish it
4. wood crates as storage under bedside tables
5. replace lighting in kitchen. It's just too dark in there.
6. sell old desk on Craigslist
7. paint shoes rack in white
8. donate old desktop
9. donate old text books
10. buy an Expedit 4x4 to match ours and accessorize with Expedit doors and boxes
11. use trunk purchased on Craigslist as new coffee table/storage
12. upcycle the futon frame into benches (tentative start time: end of March)
13. turn old coffee table into a desk
14. a new blanket (or old?) to cover sofa
15. rent a car to: visit Castlefield design district, Ikea, HFH Restore, antique/flea markets
16. make a bookcase using vintage wood crates and salvaged wood (in the far future)

I'm sure there are some that I forgot. But this is a good list to start with don't you think? There will also be some shuffling once our sofa arrives. I can see great things happening in this sad little apartment.

Gaiam has a great list of creative ways to reuse your old yoga mat.  Too bad I couldn't really use my mat for any of these because there's cat pee in it... but next time I will keep my old mat around to cut it into useful tools like coasters, grip pads, sitting pads or kitchen shelves liner!

http://life.gaiam.com/article/50-ways-reuse-your-yoga-or-fitness-mat