I love my apartment, it's really nice to walk inside from the hot Louisiana heat and hit the air conditioned kitchen. To take that first step into the house, then rapidly spin around and shut the door, closing out the suns rays like they were crazy demons intent on my destruction. That feeling of home as I turn to survey the house and make sure the neighbors didn't make off with my stereo while I was out. Unfortunately the love affair ends there. Though the house is welcoming, it is only so because of a forced familiarity. Nothing in there is really something that I'm proud of or reflective of who I am. Though I don't need a karmatic balance or feng shui, I would like to look through my apartment and be proud of it... I'd like my apartment to be a little less ghetto.
By ghetto I mean the furnishings and such do not match at all. None of it. I mean honestly with the amount of built up crap that I have something should match on accident. Yet there isn't a single item that does. My light brown entertainment center (straight outta wal-mart) my thick oak coffee table (straight outta my moms house) my huge bright red throw pillow (straight outta Compton... no really, the Compton swap meet gots phat lewt) combine to do nothing but confuse visitors. The light pine dvd shelf looks very interesting next to the black and silver plastic cd shelf. My entertainment center *should* look nice, but I was smart enough to buy a vcr/dvd surround sound system that only had input jacks on the front, so instead of a slightly geeky tech look it looks as though it were assimilated by the Borg. My living room should speak of comfort and entertainment, not make me mouth "resistance is futile" when I sit there too long.
My goal is to remedy this. I would like to have something other than plain blinds on my windows. I would like to have a room that I love the feel of. I would very much enjoy having items in my house that I don't have to consider if they are even worth bringing with me when I move to a new place eventually. I want furniture that I can be proud of for a reason other than the fact that I put it together all by myself when I brought it home from wal-mart.
I want to stop spending my nights awake and sweating, wondering how many of my friends have figured out that "I'm going for a chaotic blend of styles and shapes to reflect my exquisite inner turmoil" really means "I'm too cheap to buy matching furniture".
*Gives Scottie all her furniture* Have it! Have it all! I'm sure you'd be able to match something up for your room/living-room... All my furniture is wooden :D *hugs*
I know the feeling. I would love to decorate my whole apartment so that everything matches... but the money is not there. I somehow find other uses for it, no matter how much I want the place to look more like 'home' and less like 'bachelor pad'.
Embrace the eclectic. Resistance IS futile. :P
Reading your entry has given some humor to my otherwise mind-numbingly boring day! I just keep picturing you getting assimilated by your entertainment system. I can't stop smiling. :D
Embrace the non-matchiness. There is not one damn thing in my house that goes together. I've never had the money to buy things in sets - from the light pine entertainment center to the walnut coffee table and the cherry and bamboo side chair... Eventually everything just blends together because I give it no choice! I don't even have matching dishes or silverware...
I like your living room! I think it looks pretty cool! :D
Are you planning on staying in that area long or do you have a long-distance move in your near-ish future?
If you don't need stuff to last for the long-term, I'd highly recommend Ikea. Not the best quality furniture but it's totally workable and inexpensive. And much of it looks good.
The problem with Ikea is that the nearest one is in Houston, TX which is a 300 mile drive. At this point I'm seriously considering making my own furniture... at least for my office. :D
I TOTALLY recommend IKEA! My living room and bedroom are IKEA and I love it!! That does suck that the closest one is 300 miles away though :(
I am a HUGE believer in liking "your stuff". It doesn't need to look like the cover of Better Homes and Gardens - but you need to like it. If you replace items one by one you'll eventually come back from work one day to a home and not just a place where you live. Good luck!!
lol YOU JUST GOT NO STYLE! omg well actually my flat is pretty messy, too. the living room is really gemütlich but the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom are terrible and arent really decorated with a lot of effort and love!