Old place new.

Lately I've found myself cruising Craigslist late at night looking for apartments, when what I really need to do is take a closer look at what's around us. Our location is tops, our rent is cheap, our bones are strong -- I just need to put in a little effort. Minimal effort is still effort, so here is a list of things plus some pictures of what those things will look like if and when I ever do them:

Bedroom
Something I've been meaning to do for a long time -- like, since I moved in with Paul -- is decorate our bedroom. For some reason it's been the one area of our home that's always eluded style-inspiration for me. (It's the first door I shut when we have company, it's such an ugly wreck. Ugh.) Don't get me wrong, it's not for lack of trying. I've attempted plenty of looks: I've tried a fluffy mis-matchy Anthropologie-style bed with bleached coral wall art (circa 2006, don't judge); I've tried salon-walls of moody thrift store portraits; I've tried masculine-buffalo check-Pendleton blanket-minimalist-hunting lodge. We're currently sleeping in a monochromatic cube of white down bedding surrounded by even whiter walls. I know your bedroom is supposed to put you to sleep, but BOOORING, right?!

First things first, I'm totally going to rip off Confetti System and make an above-the-headboard installation piece, like this one:

Then I'm going to find some side tables. I like these, from West Elm:

Last, I'll hang some sconces, so I can read Bossypants before I go to bed (even though it made me LOL so much last night that I forgot to fall asleep until two a.m.) They're also from West Elm.


Kitchen
The kitchen should be fairly easy, since there is so little I can change. I'll just find the perfect muted coral and paint the walls, which will instantly transform the room into this perfect mix of pink and butter and black-and-white. Easy! I'd also like to hang a copper pot holder (so I can reclaim some cabinet space) and a pendant lamp, for those special occasions that call for romantic lighting in the kitchen. Like when Ally and I drink multiple bottles of wine and smoke cigarettes on the windowsill while watching Rihanna videos. (Okay, just this video.)


Dining Room
I mean, because Jenna Lyons can do no wrong in my eyes, this photo of her home (RIP Domino) is obviously the inspiration behind my urge to paint every inch of apartment wall with chalkboard paint. Since I'm not quite ready to commit to that much black, I'm going to start with just the dining room. Then I'll hang all those vintage American flags I bought on eBay at three in the morning and finally force myself to find some way to tame our ever growing collection of dusty bourbon bottles (omg seriously, Paul).


Bathroom
I love my girl Dean's bathroom -- especially that color. It's the most perfectly calming medium-gray. (What's that color anyway, Dean?) Plus she's really made me rethink my aversion to houseplants. In fact, I might even line some up on top of the primitive wooden cabinet that I need to sand at least eight layers of paint off of. I bet Dean even has a sander I can borrow.

Even though it's not on my immediate list of things to do, here is a little inspiration for the hallway. It's like a little bit Wilderness Princess, and a little bit seven-hours-of-painters-tape-and-a-level. (So worth it, I bet.)

I'd like to finish all of these things (bonus points for the hallway) by the end of August. Full disclosure, though: I've had this list of home improvements since we moved into this apartment (March of 2010), and I'm pretty much out of town for all of July, so take that deadline as seriously as you'd like. (I wouldn't take it too seriously.)

But it would be really amazing if I did, wouldn't it?