My Soon to Be Bye-Bye Apartamentico

At the end of this year I will be packing all of my goodies up for a move... As for where we'll go, right now my boyfriend and I have two major options to consider and are still undecided... Regardless, by the end of this year my warm and cozy little abode will be no more! :(

Suffice it to say, the last two years have been a constant work in progress to get the apartment filled up and done up! I want to document the fruits of my labors in this sanctuary, my first apartment ever, and the first place I've called home since living at home with the folks... The memories will certainly never be forgotten, and now I'll make sure that the design and decor won't either! Below is somewhat of a mixed batch of recent and not so recent photos taken throughout my wild two years in this apartment. Some were taken at different times than others, and I am constantly moving art, chairs and accessories around as well... But, overall most remains the same, it waits in limbo as the countdown to its dismantlement begins... Enjoy!

(by the way, pardon the bad light in my apartment, as well as the iPhone pictures... I lost my camera and have yet to replace it)

This is what my dining room looked like from April - June of 2009, haha... It often transforms itself into a work area, and I frequently whip it back into a dining room from time to time when things get overwhelming (or when I have a party, like the Fourth of July party I cleaned this beautiful mess up for!). I can't wait until I have a house with a room specifically for all my crafts, projects and before and after renovations! By the way, the one framed instrument with the striped background was an experiment with striped velvet fabric, I wasn't crazy about the idea of all of them looking so busy, so I will only add fabric to one more, (eventually) the one diagonally across at the bottom right.

Anyway, this is what it currently looks like.... (new table base found at dumpsters in my complex, see my post "A Productive Labor Day Weekend" for more...

My wall of various art pieces: my drawings, my photography, trinkets and more

I got that stunning vintage black paper cutout of the peacock at a garage sale in a wood frame for $2!!! I put it in this copper frame from a Goodwill that only cost me $1, it looks much better :) The keys and lock are antique, the Jack Daniels statue belonged to my father, the milk glass pieces were a gift from my boyfriends mother (she has tons of it and gave a lot to me because she doesn't like it much anymore, yay for me!)

The tea light holder is a German crafted/hand painted piece I found at Goodwill... The shadow box with wine corks is my own personal artwork (see my post "More of My Arts and Crafts" for more of my "Shadow Corks"). Here are close-ups of a few....

That Buddha head on the stand was from a DOLLAR STORE :) The brass Asian Foo Dog was a thrift store find, it's an incense cone burner! The photo in the background I took when I was fifteen while in Paris, France.

My grandmother gave me this antique trunk, she had stowed it away in her garage for many years... thank you abuela!! Now it is home to my big book collection!

Those doors leaning against the wall are from an antique china cabinet that was falling apart due to water damage on the base, it was part of a lot of furniture being thrown out when my great aunt was moved to a home.... I could not bare to let their beauty go to waste, so in a fit of genius, I grabbed a screwdriver and took all four off. Now they are leaning/hanging in different parts of my apartment, I like to move them around often too... Love'em! Also salvaged from the same home was the cabinet they are sitting on, it's an antique record cabinet that I sanded, I have yet to stain it so I covered it with a long piece of green and white fabric with a Moroccanesque print. The lamp is antique, with blue bubbled glass detail - got it from a thrift store downtown for $25.

My antique leather top side table...someone threw this table out in their front yard!!! Oh the joy I felt as I spotted it coming around the corner, can you hear my tires screeching?? On top is my antique lighter collection (the pink beauty is recently purchased from eBay)... check out more photos below....

This is the close-up sale picture from when I bought this beauty... It's a vintage Evans fine bone china lighter and ashtray combo... it can stack too as you can see... I LOVE IT!!!

That was all from my living and dining room, here are some images from my bedroom...

This picture is from when I first got this antique side table at a downtown thrift shop for $25 or $20, I think... Since then I have hung more items on the wall and switched out lamps. I'll post an updated photo soon!

These are just random pictures of the crazy Buddha/perfume bottle/soapstone trinket box vignette I have hangin' out on top of my dresser... The man (Greek God Hermes carrying a caduceus) is a very old antique brass lamp that belonged to my father, I remember it sitting on his work bench "banco" when I was growing up and I always loved it... It doesn't work, but perhaps some day I'll fix it. For now, it serves as a great art piece and reminder of my father :)


That's it for now, though I plan to take better quality photos before I dismantle it all... Let me know what you think!