...

...well that didn't last long... :-)

Anti-faux-sugars - Day 1

Today I'm going to start removing faux sugars (plus cream/half & half in my coffee) from my life.

One of three things will happen:
1.) I will fail
2.) I will just quit drinking coffee and soda all together
3.) I will succeed and making myself like coffee with Sugar in the Raw

10 minutes in... so far so good :-)

New Apartment Ideas

I've had a lot of changes in my life as of late, one of which has been my living situation.  I recently began subletting a friends apartment.  The lease is up in December, so I have until then to completely plan out my new apartment (at which I will be for several foreseeable years), and save money to make it awesome.  For now the plan is a one bedroom apartment, all my decor plans are going on that track.

My current paint idea is to paint all the walls white.  When I was growing up, the color of the walls was constantly changing.  Not because we moved around a lot, but because my Mother is a lunatic and can't stand for the house to look the same for over two months at a time.  So a stable color like pure white seems appealing to me.  It's such a good surface to build off of by adding art and accents.

So, bearing that in mind, here are the rest of my plans so far:

• The Living Room - Inspiration: River 
• No sofa - going to decorate the living room with river rock pillows that I plan on making myself (with the assistance of my mother.  Ok, with the assistance of my mother's sewing machine).  I plan on potentially buying two adult sized bean bags and covering them with a rock like material, possibly in multiple colors and prints.  The rest of the "rocks" will be various shapes and sizes of my choosing.
• On the floor I'm going to have a rug that somehow represents water.  Maybe something like this.
• On the walls I'd like to mount either wall-fountains or mount small shelves to place wall fountains.  From what I've seen online there isn't much out there that fits exactly what I want, so if I find something I'll be sure to update this post with a link.
• Ideally I would like to have a TV stand from somewhere like Ikea, but I may buy one at Goodwill and refurbish it.  My only requirement is to be able to hide the TV somehow (sliding doors, cabinets, whatever).  This could, of course, be avoided if I can manage to afford a flat panel TV sometime in the near future (that, however, is extremely unlikely).
• Beneath the wall fountains I want two large fern or small tree-like plants that are easy to maintain.  I have a brown thumb and keeping plants alive has always been a problem for me.  I am considering getting very well made fakes.
• I am considering using a high gloss white to paint a large tree on a one wall (assuming I have a full wall other than the one the TV is in front of)
• The Bedroom - Inspiration: Purity & Comfort (I know what you're thinking, "You and purity in the same sentence?" but just hear me out).
• I want this bed frame, along with white net-like draperies hanging off the top frame, along with window curtains to match.
• All white, high thread count, bed linens. Obviously I would buy new giant fluffy pillows, as all of my current ones are flat and uncomfortable.
• Any furniture, aside from the bed frame, has to be natural wood grain, or painted white.  No fakes.
• I'd like to decorate my walls with large prints (possibly on canvas) of some of my nature photography.  Perhaps this series of photos.
• On the nightstands I'd like floating lotus blossoms in square glass vases.  
• Instead of table or floor lamps, I'd like wall mounted ones on either side of the bed.
• There will be NO TV in my bedroom.  
• I imagine I'll eventually have a chest of some type at the foot of the bed.  
• The Kitchen - Inspiration: TBA
• I can't really plan my kitchen until I know what the appliances will look like and what shape it will be.  This will be something I come up with once I have chosen my apartment and know exactly which unit I will be moving into.
• The dining room will most likely be a mix of the kitchen and the living room - as all of the apartments I've looked at have dining areas that flow into one or the other.
• The Bathroom - Inspiration: Gaudy Faux Royalty
• Everything will be deep blues and purples.  
• I will buy all new towels (ones that actually MATCH *gasp*).  This time around they will be luxurious and soft.  This is something I will drop a good amount of money on.  Can't DIY good towels.
• The shower curtain will have to be something dark and/or satin-like. 
• I'd also like to have a small bench (we used to have one when I lived with my family, it came in handy quite a bit).  Goodwill most likely has something I can refurbish.

Obviously, I have a lot of grand ideas that probably seem very costly.  90% of the items I have listed, however, I can DIY.  I will post tutorials on all my DIY projects here.  From rock pillows to lamps. :-)

The other plan I have is to get a small dog to match the walls.  Maybe a Maltese, American Eskimo Dog, or Westie.  I grew up with a Westie named Daisy.  She was the best dog in the world.  Of course, I'd like to move Edward in first cause she's my No. 1 baby.  I'd just like her to have a little friend to play with while I'm in class or at work.