Remodeling / Redecorating / Home Decor

[Sibyl]

Hi all,

This thread is for anyone that cares to show their remodel /redecoration results or plans for their living spaces, whether it's a house or apartment or room or whatever your living space happens to be.

Mine are only planned right now, but I wanted a place to post them and get opinions and/or suggestions.

I'm afraid there won't be many pics of my actual house as it is right now as it's really not very presentable. It hasn't been since we moved in and work pretty much stopped on the improvements we were making before we did actually start occupying it.

This is my plan for my living room:

Sorry for the horrible render. It was taking far, far too long for such a small image when I did it. I was using a different renderer than I'm using now, although I've been able to import that model into my current house file with my new renderer. I'll get a better render, soon. I just need to recreate texture maps for the model and correct any incorrect dimensions.

This is basically what my living room looks like now, but not finished (no trim around the shelves or anywhere and the shelf fronts aren't curved as they are here. The lighting is also totally different, the half-wall is only on what would be the right side of this image, and the center shelf unit is wider and is where my TV is now. Oh, and there's no enclosed front entryway like in my first image. It's just a basic front door:

And this is more or less what I'd like my bedroom to be:

More coming soon!

 

[Timewalker]

I envy you all those shelves.

Around here, apartment dwellers aren't allowed to paint anything or put up trim. It's barely tolerated to hang pictures on the walls (has to be an approved type of nail used or the tenant will be expected to pay to repair it when they move out). Putting shelves on the walls is out of the question.

So I'm stuck in a beige apartment with brown carpeting, but I insisted on putting up pictures (my grandmother's paintings, mostly, and I plan to put up a couple of my NaNoWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo posters). I tell them it's a mental health thing - I need colorful things and my family stuff around.

 

[Sibyl]

I envy you all those shelves.

Around here, apartment dwellers aren't allowed to paint anything or put up trim. It's barely tolerated to hang pictures on the walls (has to be an approved type of nail used or the tenant will be expected to pay to repair it when they move out). Putting shelves on the walls is out of the question.

So I'm stuck in a beige apartment with brown carpeting, but I insisted on putting up pictures (my grandmother's paintings, mostly, and I plan to put up a couple of my NaNoWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo posters). I tell them it's a mental health thing - I need colorful things and my family stuff around.

I'm sorry.

I was in an apartment before getting this house. I know the feeling.

Have you seen 3M Command Strips? They let you put pics up on walls, damage-free. No nails and supposedly come off cleanly when you're ready to remove them.

We built out that wall by 16 or 18 inches so we could have those built-ins. The same depth as the brick alcove in the first render. On the other side of that wall is my kitchen. A kitchen that is in desperate need of a complete gutting and all-new everything. It's a narrow galley kitchen leading to my side door, the only door we currently use in this house right now. Kind of why I want that entryway in front.

A pipedream of mine, and it's only a pipedream because it would be far too expensive, is to vault the ceilings in the front of the house and possibly even add a second floor to the back. The problem is that I have a double-peaked roof and I'm not sure vaulting would look right the way it is now. Then again, if I'm adding a second floor, I guess anything can be done with the roof, especially if this is just a pipedream.

 

[Sibyl]

@Avro Arrow, would you mind changing the thread title to "Remodeling / Redecorating / Home Decor"?

I've realized that not that many people are remodeling or redecorating and it would be great to see how other people have decorated their homes (apartments, rooms, etc.)!

 

[Avro Arrow]

@Avro Arrow, would you mind changing the thread title to "Remodeling / Redecorating / Home Decor"?

Done!

 

[Sibyl]

Done!

Gracias!!!

 

[Butters]

I should have loads to put in this thread, we’re meant to be extending in to the roof space, but that’s all on hold while I sort out my mental health and stuff.

 

[Refuge]

I like all the book cases/shelving. They'll be good for sound proofing too.

 

[Timewalker]

Have you seen 3M Command Strips? They let you put pics up on walls, damage-free. No nails and supposedly come off cleanly when you're ready to remove them.

I'll check them out, thanks!

 

[Warp Core Breach]

I love your designs here, the living room setup in particular!

 

[Sibyl]

I love your designs here, the living room setup in particular!

Thank you!

 

[thestrangequark]

@Scribble I love that you got your mirror in the render!

I love decorating my space, and will post some pics, but it's evening and the lighting's poor for that. I live in an apartment but it's Bushwick, so my landlord is just happy I'm not murdering my neighbors with an axe. I've lived here eleven years, he's appreciative of a clean and reliable tenant, and so he lets me pretty much do what I want. When I wanted to paint one wall of my bedroom dark green he even did it for me.

 

[thestrangequark]

I envy you all those shelves.

Around here, apartment dwellers aren't allowed to paint anything or put up trim. It's barely tolerated to hang pictures on the walls (has to be an approved type of nail used or the tenant will be expected to pay to repair it when they move out). Putting shelves on the walls is out of the question.

So I'm stuck in a beige apartment with brown carpeting, but I insisted on putting up pictures (my grandmother's paintings, mostly, and I plan to put up a couple of my NaNoWriMo/Camp NaNoWriMo posters). I tell them it's a mental health thing - I need colorful things and my family stuff around.

Indeed. I work from home, and so spend a lot of time at my desk in my room. It would get really depressing if I didn't love the space.
I'd love to see more people's spaces. I feel like decor can say a lot about a person. As with @Timewalker , color is a must! Also, a lot of things were given to me or passed down. Lots of remembrances of friends and family gone or far away. Overall, if I'm honest with myself I think my style does toe the line between quirky and tacky.
I'll do the living room later -- my roommates and I had a book exchange over the weekend so there are literally about 600 books just stacked on everything from the floor to the microwave. So just the bedroom for now. My bedroom is obscenely large for NYC, and I have an en suite. Basically, I am not giving up this apartment until I die or become a multimillionaire.
I also have OCD (like, for real OCD) so I clean compulsively when I have panic attacks. It's pretty much always this neat (inside the drawers and closet and bins is just as orderly).

From the other angle. Yes, I have more clothes than will fit in the closet and dresser and had to get a wardrobe.

The highboy and nightstand are antiques I found at a junk shop. They have minor surface condition issues, but are solid given they are over 100 years old (they are signed so I was able to research the company). I paid less than $250 for the pair including delivery!

Print by one of my favorite artists over the bed. I made the afghan:

Despite appearances, I am not Catholic. Or religious at all. In fact I have always been an atheist. But I do love religious iconography, and my dad's side is very Catholic. I just find lighting my saints comforting, alright? My sister and I found this Michael, abandoned for a few chips and a broken wing, and brought him home. He always makes me think of her. The rosary around him is very old and belonged to my grandmother. I don't know exactly how old, but I know it's olive wood and made in Jerusalem.

More books, and a shelf positioned specifically to give my cat ample window-gazing space (the real cat, not the fake one).

This chair is really the only other nice piece of furniture I have, it was given to me by my upstairs neighbors. With the ottoman and the antique lamp it's a nice reading nook.

Finally, knick knacks:

 

[Sibyl]

OCD can be good for some things!

I love your dresser and nightstand! I'm all about antique furniture.

Do you play your yuke, mandolin, and guitar?

Oh, I've heard about rent prices and apartment sizes in NYC. You literally have a palace compared to some of the placed I've seen!

 

[thestrangequark]

I do play them! And the cello too, but I don't trust the walls enough to mount that.

I have a palace compared to places I've lived myself. I had one apartment that was so small I could stand in the middle and touch both walls -- it was 5'x11', had an airline sink, a mini fridge, a shared bathroom for the entire floor, and I had a roommate.

This one's a four bed 2 bath. I have the largest room and ensuite, we use one bedroom as a spare/office, and I have two roommates.

This is the living room. I hate the sofa, but I can't afford a new one. When I first moved in my roommate bought it used off her uncle for $50 and it's been here since. I did the rest of the decoration, though inflicted less of my personality on it since it's a shared space. I love my lamp, though. I love that it really should be tacky -- like, if you described it to someone (Well, it's a large standing brass lamp with huge, pink, frosted glass flower shaped shades and heart-shaped brackets...) but it's actually quite pretty.

 

[thestrangequark]

Oh, and you'd never believe what I'm paying in rent -- $775! I am never leaving.

My roommate Maddy, the last to move in, said that everyone told her our ad must be a scam because the rent was so low (she pays $600 -- I pay more for the ensuite). The truth is, I just have a landlord who is fair and doesn't want drama of people moving in and out all the time.

 

[Marynator]

Love your style @thestrangequark! I wish I was as talented at decorating as you are!

Today I redecorated my main bathroom, I wanted to inflict my personality on it before I get married in a few weeks and have a man offering his input again.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

@thestrangequark I love your apartment. It's very cool looking.
NYC is one of the most expensive cities to live in on Earth but that apartment looks so cool.

 

[thestrangequark]

Love your style @thestrangequark! I wish I was as talented at decorating as you are!

Today I redecorated my main bathroom, I wanted to inflict my personality on it before I get married in a few weeks and have a man offering his input again.

I love it! My bathroom is also all in pink.

@Cyanide Muffin , it is pricy, but I am super grateful for my landlord. People are paying twice my rent for half the space in my neighborhood. Plus, I don't need a car + insurance, so that helps balance things a bit.

 

[Nakita Akita]

I have a house. It's on 1/4 acre lot or maybe it's 1/3 acre anyway the house is 960 sq.ft. Small, And pretty ugly and plain. I just keep everything plain anyway really.
When I was married, we had a pretty house.
It's too much work.
I just can't see myself lying on my death bed and lamenting that I wished I had spent more time cleaning the house.

But that's just me. My aunt, for example , likes to have a clean house she always spends a lot of time keeping her house clean.
With the two bigger sizes dogs, full time work, my hobbies, I'm too busy