Frustration Redecorating
I have been redecorating my condo because I can’t stand the piles of clutter everywhere and the awkward pieces of furniture shoved in corners. Rule #1 to organization is you have have to have space in which to put things; that means we need new furniture. As usual, we have almost no budget for decoration (think $1k-$2k); far too little to recruit an interior decorator. So I plagiarize.
When I was at a good friend’s house a few weeks ago, I saw she was using a leather storage bench for additional seating against the wall at her dining table, which I thought was brilliant. I repurposed a bedroom storage bench; instead of using it for shoe storage I moved it behind our dining table, and I love the instant roominess there. Now we can easily seat 5-6 people at every meal rather than three, plus store table linens, sunblock and other last-minute walk necessities.
Next on the list was my daughter’s room and the living room entryway. I bought a storage chiffonier ($600) on clearance from Gothic Cabinet Craft on Washington Street to replace the too-small and poor-quality white dresser. We now have five spacious drawers topped by a cabinet with three shelves. The clothes she is currently wearing go in the drawers, out-of-season and too-large clothing goes on the shelves, and I bought two large storage bins for the top to store outgrown clothes for a younger sibling or cousin.
I initially bought a smaller chiffonier ($400) from another Hoboken mom who was leaving the area, but it looked tiny as soon as I got it home. I moved it to my son’s much smaller room and it fits perfectly there, providing ample storage for his current and too-large clothing.
Next up on the list was the living room entry. We currently use that area as a mud room, but since it is part of the great room (living/dining/kitchen) I wanted it to less obviously utilitarian. After several false starts, I found an elegant solid wood bench ($199) on clearance from the Crate & Barrel outlet that I purchased with American Express rewards gift certificates, so the actual cost out of pocket was $100 for my handyman to pick it up from the outlet store (thanks, Andy!) I also bought a slim-profile 2-bin recycler ($45.46 including shipping after googling a 20% coupon) and white coat hook rail ($21.99) to blend in with the molding and hang the kids’ jackets.
So far I have spent $1,167.45, and I am pretty much done. I still need to declutter and reorganize my kitchen and den, but I don’t anticipate spending more than $100 for some inexpensive storage bins.
Next on my agenda; artwork and photograph collages. My walls are looking pretty bare, and I love the hanging collage picture frames another friend has all over her apartment. My family has given us some original artwork, so that’s a start. Now I need to come up with a color scheme and wall plan.
