colophon's Profile

I remember your place from last year and loved it, and I love it even more (if that's possible) this year. Wonderful!

I live in a 500 sf studio apt. Due to window and door placement and natural traffic flow, my furniture placement is fairly limited but I do believe it is in the best place. Everytime I get a new peice of furniture, I try in a few spots until I settle on one that I like best. I think I can only rearrange accessories right now to give my place a different look.

The only thing I would LOVE to do but haven't tried is to flip flop my bedroom area and my living area. But that would mean my bed was between my front door and the door to my deck. I think I could live with the rooms being flipped within my apartment, but I don't think I could get a decent night's sleep if I put my bed there. My apt is on the second floor and my door is right at the foot of the landing... all my neighbors who live on my floor or the floor above seemingly STOMP their way up the stairs and past my door...ERRR! I also have caught too many conversations wafting through that one exterior wall to count.

Since sofas are a big investment for most, I suggest buying a sofa for your needs as opposed to tailoring the scale to fit a temporary apartment. Just try not to go too overstuffed with arms in a tight space - unless you really like that look. When you go sofa shopping, note its dimensions and then get some painters tape or newspaper and block the dimensions on the floor so you get a true since of scale.

Also, note the height and width of all doors and hallways to/from your place -- you want to make sure it fits.

I like the dark color of the beams. I would paint the ceiling and the walls the same color -- the beams will then stand out beautifully and will contrast with the rest of your decor instead of clash.

Strip them if you think they are too dark, but do not paint them white! I've seen some really lovely rooms with dark wood floors, white walls, trim and fireplaces, and dark beamed ceilings. I happen to like high contrast rooms though.

I've had two roomies. The first was a friend of a coworker. She was really nice and we got along fine. But I soon realized that she was a pathological liar -- she told coworkers, friends and FAMILY that her mother died of cancer about 4 months before she actually passed. I stayed up with her one night as she cried and cried about how she mourned her mother and listened as friends of her mother called her with their condolences. The list can go on and on about how disturbed she was. I was ecstatic when she told me that she had to put her house up for sale and that I had to move out.

My second roomie was my ex best friend; we lived together for 1.5 years. Our relationship deteriorated when she started to have an affair with a married man. It was the classic girl dumps her friends and changes for her new beau. She didn't realize it until months after I moved out and she moved in with him after his divorce (and when their relationship started floundering).

What's ironic was that they were both GREAT roommates. They both were completely absorbed in their boyfriend's lives and I was left to myself most of the time.

Needless to say, I now live on my own and will not live with another roommate unless I'm in dire straits. The drama both of them brought home was too much for me to deal with.

I loved watching This Small Space and Home to Go way back when. I love, love, love SSBS (recorded every episode, I think). I like most anything Sarah Richardson does, Karen McAloon's Find Your Style, and I have seen all of the new Dear Genevieve shows and surprisingly love it. I also like Designed to Sell, but only the one with Lisa LaPorta/Clive Pearce.

What I don't like most about decorating shows is that I have seen it already. If I see another Ikea/West Elm/Pier 1 room, I'll scream.

I have been a huge fan of This Old House since I was a kid, and also Bob Vila's Home Again and Hometime. God...those 3 shows comprised most of my Saturday mornings as a teenager!

Navy or Midnight Blue with white or pale gray trim with a yellow door.

Orange is my favorite color; I have orange everything: clthes, utensils, wallet, outerware, jewelry, etc. But when people come to my house, they are surprised that my decor isn't orange. Orange can become too much very quickly, even for a orange freak like me. I like to pair orange accents will gray, white and shades of brown. But I would love to have an orange 4 poster bed...I just haven't committed to it yet.

I worked at a retail store that doled out employee numbers. One guy at my store was employee H666. He completely freaked and quit. He was coaxed to come back with a promise of a new employee number. A few months later, one of the managers asked him to drive to Home Depot on an errand; he got in a (minor) car accident and said he couldn't work and filed a worker's comp case. He didn't work until the case was resolved -- he was told that he couldn't stand for long periods of time (he was a salesman) so they made him a warehouse employee because there was a vacany. When he complained about that, they moved him to customer service where there wasn't even a vacancy but the managers had to put him somewhere. He couldn't understand working the computer applications or and was piss poor dealing with customers, so he eventually quit.

We thought the original employee number was ironic, but I knew a lot of people who didn't like their ID numbers and requested a change; they were completely miffed why their requests were denied.

When I first viewed units at my apt complex, they didn't have the studio apt I was interested in available for viewing. But when the leasing agent said that the studio had full size w/d hookups...I applied and paid the application fee sight unseen. I then went to a big box appliance/electronics store where I used to work and purchased a washer and dryer from one of my friends (and got a great deal to boot).

I had to wait 2 months prior to moving in, but it was worth it. People are surprised when they walk into my 550 sq ft studio and realize that I have a full size w/d. I'm in heaven!