I'm not sure whether a piano teacher should be heard quoting outdated pop songs, but as it turns out, it's just the right quote for the occasion. What I did do? Refurnish my living room again - the effective word being "again", since it's about the fifth time I move my furniture around...
You see, it's difficult. Where I say "living room", I really should be saying "multi-room". My apartment consists of a tiny hallway, a tiny bathroom, a tiny bedroom and a larger room which incorporates a kitchen. I need this room to serve as living room, kitchen, dining room, office, occasional guest room, plus storage room - there's no storage space whatsoever outside the apartment. And this room is only about 25 square meters, which I think is about 270 square feet (if my convertor didn't fool me).
I want the room to be both practical and nice, so the refurnishing called for some extended brain work. But I think I've found the solution - I'll take you on a guided tour! This is a marathon post, but I think this furnishing is worth recording because it really works well and meets all of my different practical and estethic requirements. As you will see, most of the furniture serves at least two functions. I hope this post contains ideas that might be inspiring for other desperate small-space dwellers.
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This is what you see when you enter the room. The kitchen and dining area is on the right side of the room, but that's for another blog post!
My IKEA shelving system consists of two chests and five shelves. It's very versatile, as you'll see below. I've put four of the shelves between the kitchen and office area, where they serve as 1) extra storage for kitchen equipment and recipe books, and 2) a prolongation of the office space.
I try to make the office space look nice, since it's in the living room. The workspace has got optimal placement: I get lots of natural light from the left.
Part of the sitting area. I love my large windows. As you can see, I collect phalaenopsises, which also love my large windows!
The little shelf consists of two CD racks from IKEA. I had the glass shelves custom made to fit in the shelf. The LOVE card is by me.
One of the chests from the shelving system sits under the window. You'd never guess that my tools are hidden inside it... (I've even got a drill and a saw stashed away here) If I decide to fill my house with guests, this section can be converted into extra seating if I remove the decor and add a couple of pillows.
A few of my beloved interior design and art books. If you look closely, you can see the Downtown Chic book that's waiting for its new, lucky owner (if you want to enter my giveaway, click here). The "New York Interiors" book is a gift from my BF.
Who said that you can't decorate the top of your toolbox?
I keep all filing systems and other office necessities in the bookshelf, hidden behind curtains (these are just makeshift, as I'm making new ones out of the same fabric as my living room curtains).
The ottoman with the loose cover is made from the drawers section of an old desk. I removed the drawers and nailed a thin layer of foam rubber to one of the sides, and voilà - three pieces of furniture in one: footrest/ storage space/ extra seating.
View from the chair. What I'm really happy about now is that you can't see the kitchen area when you're seated in the living room area, and this is the main reason I moved the furniture. The lamp is a revamped Salvation Store find which you can read about here, and the tiny side table is a design project described here - this post also shows a bit of the before if you're into "before-and-afters"!
I've christened the couch The Diva Divan. It consists of two "sleeping chairs" from IKEA. They convert into camping beds, so this is my guest room! There's even a table on each side - two sections of the shelving system serve as coffee table-cum-nightstands:
Underneath this one are electric outlets that I want to be hidden, but still accessible. The boxes are filled with files that I have to keep. The chairs have no armrests, but the heavy boxes are supporting the large cushion so you can lean back and make yourself comfortable: just put your coffee cup on the napkin and pick up a magazine from the wicker basket!
The other side table is close to the kitchen area, so I've got a few more recipe books here. This chest contains my sewing equipment and fabrics.
As you can see from the above, I don't need a coffee table in the middle - even the chair has got a tiny side table (when you're having visitors, it's just as practical to keep the food on the kitchen counter). Every apartment should have a tiny step ladder like this one from IKEA! And if I want to read when it's dark, there's light overhead plus space to put the tiny, but extendable reading lamp you can see on the windowsill in photo no. 4.
Whew. So. I've managed to make everything work, - even though there's not much floor space left for Argentine tango dancing. Still, it's actually more practical to clean now because the large pieces of furniture are free-standing.
I've kept the main colour scheme light and neutral. The wooden furniture is all blond, and I've dressed the soft furniture in grey and cream to keep everything more together visually. With this backdrop, it's also easy and inexpensive to change the look of the room at a whim. This year, I've gone all girly in the accessories, inspired by the colours found in these photos. But having lived with *red* and *various pinks* for a few months, I'm thinking that it's time to insert a bit of *green* and *aqua*! I've already bought all I need for a tiny makeover, namely napkins and candles.
And yes, I live very happily without a television! Between work, blogging, my BF and friends plus my tango dancing, the need for this kind of input is bordering on non-existent.
