Moving on Up ...

I think many of you probably follow along on instagram, and you probably already know that about 19-months ago I met a wonderful man whom I've fallen madly in love with. We've each been maintaining private residences even though there's only been a handful of nights we've not spent together. About a month ago, we realized that it was silly - and that taking the leap into living together wasn't really that much of a leap when it came to trust, and love, and commitment. The leap, was in where?

His apartment was too small. Mine was too, well, mine. And frankly, when I thought I was going to be moving to Florida and sold all of my things, I lost a lot of love for the place. I spent thousands of dollars reinventing it, desperately trying to make it new, stretching my design muscles and trying to bring food to the blog.

But it never was quite right. I never fully loved any of it, and it was primarily because of the space. So, since we were moving in together, we decided to just start a new. In a beautiful little townhouse just for us.

Cute little row house style townhouses in a quad each with a different entry or roof line. Ours has a bay window, like you see here in this unit, a brick walled private patio, and a sweet little front door with diamond shaped panes.

Que the gasps! I know, wall-to-wall carpet. This will stay. I ripped out the carpet in my current apartment and put down the laminate (like you see in the dining room here) but I'm not going to do that here. Firstly and most importantly because they no longer make the laminate that is in the dining room and kitchen, so they either wouldn't match OR they'd have to be replaced throughout. Secondly, it's expensive - and unnecessary. I have to treat this like I would any client who would come to me and say, "Artie, I'm in a rental and I need it to look beautiful but not disrupt the apartment or violate my Lease Agreement." So carpet stays. And look - it doesn't always have to be a terrible thing:

Ellen Degeneres

I've somewhat figured out a furniture plan based on the floorplan we saw in the model. Ours is flipped, has a bay window, and I think the dining room is a more defined space. But I won't know for sure until after the New Year. There's a full basement, which I'll use as studio space, and a half bath downstairs.

Kitchens have nice upgrades: granite counters and stainless appliances. The kitchen in the unit we are moving into has a double galley kitchen I believe, so it may be a bit different from this one. Same finishes though, with a window that looks out to the patio area. Upstairs there are two bedrooms, one full bath.

It's a sweet place, very much like a home - and I'm VERY excited to move in! Most of my current furniture will make the move, but the dining room will be completely new. Both of the tables I have currently are too big. They're actually WAY too big for the dining room I have now, but c'est la vie.

I found the PERFECT dining room table, an antique Scandinavian pine farmhouse table with the sweetest hand turned cabriole style legs. It's by far one of the most beautiful pieces of furniture I've ever owned.

Tyler hasn't seen it yet, and I'm trying to keep the whole dining room a surprise as my little "wow" moment for him. That being said though, I do need dining room chairs!

Ellen Degeneres

The dining room table is this color, smaller, but rectangular with legs that are a bit darker and more decorative. I haven't decided yet if I want to keep the legs as is, scrub them down like the top, or paint them in a gray wash like most Gustavian pieces. Still, this gives you an visual on one idea I've got, pairing the scrubbed pine table with beautiful dark wood french cane chairs.

 I love this pairing. I might style the top with these: 

Wouldn't lose little footed terracotta planters look great with just some simple moss in them? And at that price, you could afford to do several. 

I also like the modern route: 

Unknown

Certainly a bit more comfortable I'm sure, and I'm always worried about the longevity of cane seats in a household like mine. 

Amazon has this set of 4 which is very similar. Also in velvet, for less than $50/chair! 

mydomaine

I've also thought of mixing chairs, but not quite sure of a good mix. I like this this leather and scrubbed primitive table mix a lot! I also love it with the black chairs. 

mydomaine

I love these metal and burlap chairs. Talk about heart going pitter pat. Even mixed in with white slipcovered parson chairs, they look great! Oh if only I had a bigger budget! These may be a cost effective compromise:

I'll keep my eye out - and would love to hear what you think! Drop me a note in the comments! Excited about this new stage, and hoping y'all will follow along!