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Happy 2013!!

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Happy New Year everyone! My apologies for the radio silence during the month of December but the Sledge has had a LOT going on, namely starting a new job! Now that we’ve made it through the insanity that was my birthday, starting said new job, the holiday season and a week plus on the East Coast with family, I’m raring to get back at it.

And I have some great upcoming projects planned for you all including a MUCH overdue post on our holiday decor, another room overhaul at Jefe’s parents’ house as well as my first bathroom project! In addition, I’ve made a 2013 blog resolution: you’re going to get a lot more Sledge, and much more consistently this year.

Since I’ve started this blog, although it was only a short time ago, I’ve discovered how much I love it. I love me some good design and I really do love writing. So here’s to a new year, a new me, and a new(ish) blog!

And just as a little teaser, here’s what I’ve got coming for you on Monday:

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Dresser Jewelry

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Most of our home, like so many other twentysomethings, is primarily furnished with Ikea.  I’ve done my best to mix and match and find some of the highest quality items they offer so as not to have our home appear like a page out of their catalog.  I’ve found the easiest way to really accomplish a non-catolog home is to personalize wherever you can.

I’ve been planning this project for longer than I care to admit based on HOW FREAKING EASY it is, but I finally got my butt in gear this weekend thanks to a quick trip to Home Depot.  After Jefe dragged me past the abominable snowman I was longing for, we headed over to the drawer pulls.  Time to update these puppies:

Seeing as we have quite the collection of different metals and styles in our bedroom, I decided to go with something simple:

Please note, this was after Jefe nixed my awesome idea of these guys from World Market:

So, without further ado, a Hemnes boring before:

And a Hemnes semi-blinged out after:

It’s not a drastic change, but I’m loving it.  It’s amazing to me how such a small change can really change the feel of something.  We’re planning on replacing the knobs on both of our nightstands now since they are also from the Hemnes collection.  I’m hoping to find something coordinating without having to get identical ones just to mix it up.

Source: Drawer pulls were Liberty 1-1/4″ Round Knob in Sterling Nickel.  $2.78/each.

Christmas Come Early

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Our Christmas Mantle 2011

The Christmas season is my happy place.  I’m not religious in any way, but there is something about the time of year, from the music, to the food (oh god, the FOOD!) to the glittery, sparkling, twinkling, jingle-y decor that gets me more excited than a fat kid in a candy store.  But when it comes to the holiday season, I have some firm rules:

  1. I force myself to wait until Nov 1 to cue up the Jingle Bells, Rudolph, and Mariah so as not to OD on it before Santa shows up.  (I may have caved a day early this year while driving home on Halloween after a particularly rough day at the office.)
  2. I won’t subject Jefe to the music until Black Friday.
  3. I’m not allowed to decorate until Black Friday (although I sometimes cheat if I get a second wind after the Thanksgiving meal).
  4. As of this year, I’m not allowed to buy any more holiday decor until I get rid of some of the things I already have.  I just have no extra space to store the 4-foot inflatable abominable snowman I may have scoped out at Home Depot yesterday:

So although I LOVE the season, I try to refrain from getting too engulfed in it earlier than necessary.  But I’ve noticed a growing trend – Christmas seems to have arrived in October this year.  From the glassy ornaments at World Market to the Target dog running amok in a snowy town in their latest commercial, it appears that the retailers of America have decided that the holiday festivities will now start in mid-October.  Poor Halloween is suddenly getting the short end of the stick.

I love fall almost as much as I love Christmas, but with all the red and green pressure, I don’t feel compelled to decorate for the season or get excited for Turkey Day (the 90 degree LA temperatures don’t exactly help).  I feel like I’m being peer-pressured into buying jingle bell vase filler and listening to Nat King Cole on constant repeat.  Is anyone else having this problem?  It could also be that I’m a tiny bit bummed that I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year.  It was a bit stressful cooking it all myself last year, but I kind of loved setting the table, having the house smelling amazing, and feeding the family a meal that I made that wasn’t just edible, but was actually pretty damn good.   I’m still amazed I successfully brined a 20 lb. turkey all by myself (with Jefe doing a bit of the heavy wet-turkey lifting.)  And I set a pretty mean table if I do say so myself.

Turkey Day 2011 table

Despite all of this though, I’m trying to power through my holiday confusion as I love the holiday season and everything that goes with it, be it Turkey Day, Christmas, Winter Solstice or Hanukkah (who doesn’t love a little dreidel spinning, am I right?!)  I’m still planning on making my Grandma’s infamous apple pie and Momma Sny’s sweet potatos (no marshmallows allowed!) to take with us to Thanksgiving at Jefe’s aunt’s house.  I’m also currently contemplating a few quick and easy spruce ups of the aparment with some fall-themed decor in addition to my sad little $1 mini pumpkins and a burlap runner.  But my stipulations are that it’s got to be something either a) reusable for next year or b) easily disposable.  Because we all know I’ll be busting out the snowmen and reindeer antlers in 3 weeks anyways.

This year’s sad fall display. Why can’t their just be a maple tree nearby that I could swipe a few branches and leaves from?! Ridiculously warm LA weather – that’s why.

All kidding aside, I’d be lying if I said my Christmas playlist wasn’t on constant repeat and is helping to get me through some tough times at the ‘ol 9-to-5.  (God, how I wish those were my hours).  There is just something about a little holly, jolly music that seems to make everything better.  But I get it honestly.  Momma Sny starts in September.  At least I have the decency to wait until October 31 November 1.

The West of Elm

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Jefe’s least favorite part about our new hood – we have a West Elm 2 BLOCKS AWAY.  How have I lived the previous 28 years of my life without this magnificent beacon of home decor so close?!  I am obsessed.  It’s a problem.  Jefe may or may not be looking in to WEAA – West Elm Addicts Anonymous.  Thankfully, the ole budget won’t allow me to take home the store and I’m positive that I’m too freakin slow to try and grab a throw pillow and make a run for it.

With all that said, I did a little bit of window shopping this past weekend.  Below are some of the highlights:

Mercury glass and owls are my new crack.  I just can’t get enough of either.  Apparently, neither can West Elm.  I bought the little guy on the left, Hootie, on a previous trip:

So I was hunting down a companion for him.  (Jefe already vetoed Hootie’s bigger brother, who is on the right).  I ended up with this little votive that looks like a tree trunk:

Then I ventured over to the wall ‘o pillows.  I was searching for something to replace a recently failed no-sew pillow cover project.  I came across these two hand sewn favorites:

   

I do, however, have a trouble spending so much money on something with “throw” in it’s name.  Same goes for these warm-hued blankets (anything fall-colored is my jam) that would look amazing on my couch.  Unfortunately they were also not machine washable which is kind of a necessity in my book.

     

Then I ventured up to the kitchen section.  I found these woodland creatures that I’m trying to convince Jefe, (aka-Cookie Monster) to let me adopt.  They also still have this tea towel that I might as well shell out the $9 it costs for the amount of times I’ve looked at it.

     

Then on my way out, I was magnetically drawn to the shiny objects.   How I wish I had a place big enough for fancy holiday parties that required such beautiful dish and glassware…

     

It’s all just so pretty….. I need the sale fairies to show up pronto.

Downsizing – Coping with 400 less sq. feet

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For the last 3 years, I had the luxury of sharing a 2 bed/2bath condo in West Hollywood.  First with a roommate for 2 years, then with my Jefe for the last year.  But at the end of July, Jefe and I were forced to move due to landlord issues.  I admit that we were renting our old place for a steal so we knew when we started apartment hunting, that we’d be forced to downsize.  I was shocked at how true that statement turned out to be.

Turns out, when I have 1300 sq. feet of space at my disposal, I WILL FILL IT.  I had to learn the hard way that if there is empty space available, it’s very easy to continually shove stuff into every closet, cabinet and corner available without ever truly evaluating what I have and purging what I may not need any longer.  Below is a quick tour of the old place:

(Note that these pictures were taken shortly after Jefe moved in to the old place and before we broke out the paint cans, bought an island, hung nicer curtains, etc.  I unfortunately don’t have many “after” pictures as we moved in such a rush.)

Two months later, we’re finally settled in to the new place, but I’m still working to weed out the things I’ve discovered that I truly don’t need as you can see from the below (please excuse the work in progress that is our apartment…):

Thanks to some serious prodding from Jefe, I had to realize that without the space, I can’t hold on to such things as unused decor or uncompleted design “projects” that there just is not space for.  When downsizing from 4 full closets, a kitchen the size of a sailboat, a linen closet, and a dining room hutch to 1 closet, a tiny linen cabinet and a kitchen the size of a dinghy, I had to reevaluate….

  • Having an Ikea lamp reworked to fit a standard lampshade I loved.  Lets be honest – when do I have the time to find a place that repairs lamps?  It probably would have cost more to get it reworked to fit the lampshade than it cost to buy an entirely new, standard size lamp.
  • Throw pillows with less than stellar covers (my no-sew hem tape skills still leave a bit to be desired and I have yet to acquire a sewing machine)
  • Picture frames that although I love, don’t fit the style of our current decor
  • More Christmas decorations than kitchen supplies (sad by true)
  • Books I will never read.  Although much to Jefe’s dismay, I’m still holding strong to my Twilight series.  He’s currently considering purchasing them for me on my Kindle so he isn’t embarrassed by their visible presence when we have guests over.
  • Owning enough candles to burn down a city block

I had to learn the hard way that I can’t just store things without truly evaluating if I will ever use them once they’re behind closed doors.  Hoarding tendencies run strong in my blood and it’s nice to be on the path to a somewhat simpler life.  And I can finally admit that I do not miss the vast majority of the things we donated to Goodwill/resold on Craigslist.

Although I miss the amount of decorating opportunities such a large space provided, at this point in my life, I’m working 10-13 hour days and am exhausted by the time Friday night rolls around.  That leaves little time for large-scale decorating.  So for now, I’m focusing on really turning our smaller space in to a home so on the weekends, we can just enjoy the space we do have.  I’m also looking to take on side projects that include badgering my friends to let me redecorate their places, which would leave less time for my own.

Finally, this large-scale purge of ours will hopefully make it easier when the big moving day to NYC comes along, whenever that may be.