Sunday Stroll: Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant

I already posted the photos of my friend Anne's DC Row House...here are the photos of our stroll through the lovely Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods. Mount Pleasant is one of DC's first suburbs, now a thriving part of DC.

Human Rights Magnets

My very first refrigerator magnets. And they are socially responsible. Sweet.

Get them here

The Disctrict Sleeps Alone

I love this song and I LOVE the DC metro.



The District sleeps alone tonight
after the bars turn out their lights.
And send the autos swerving
into the loneliest evening.
And I am finally seeing
why I was the one worth leaving.
-The Postal Service

PhotoBlog: Anne's Columbia Heights Row House

I got to spend a lovely weekend in my good friend Anne's DC home and I could not have loved her place more. I had never really loved time I have spent in DC but this weekend changed my opinion. Anne's detailed home and her culturally diverse neighborhood of Columbia Heights put DC back on my list of places I would live :) Thanks for a great weekend Anne!

Small Cool 2008: I will Keep Calm and Carry On

I just moved into my apartment last month, so I was perhaps a bit quick to enter Apartment Therapy's Small Cool 2008 Contest... but I dont regret it :)

Man! People are CATTY! I appreciate all of the useful comments but jeeez. I almost began to regret having entered at all.

I am having quite a stressful day trying to get done at the office then catching a red eye to NYC then DC. I have been one pissy bitch around the office. I thought I would take a moment for myself and check out whats new at Apartment Therapy... only to find that my Small Cool Submission from 2 weeks ago was finally posted. Oy.

I instantly got a funny feeling in my stomach as I began to read the comments on my submission.

"Why did I do this to myself," I thought.

"shoot me"

"ugh"

"why god! why?!"

.... but then I got over it. Peoples comments were about how "trendy" my apartment was. How it looks like a "copy cat" of all the others on Apartment Therapy... How they hated that so many people have "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters... and I am apparently contributing to this cultish new apartment look?!

Oy. Its funny that people would react like this to a contest on APARTMENT THERAPY.COM--- We are obviously fans of the site. Besides, it is MORE than ok to incorporate trends in our wardrobe, as in our apartments. My apartment is vary original. It comfortable and I LOVE it, just like I love the apartments, stores and designers I take cues from.

The most annoying comment was about how dark it is. Well, I love in a basement apartment... so eat it :)

OK. I am done being bitter. Here are some nice/useful things people said...

• I did, love the wallpaper on the bedroom wall, though.
• Yay, more seattlites!
• I love the bedroom wallpaper and your antlers, but four seems like alot. I love how they're arranged over the doorway.
• Also, I think you need to move keep calm and carry on down a few inches.
• I enjoyed this entry. There's a nice flow to the space. I like the soft colors used in the living areas. And, although not my style, I really liked the bedroom with that wallpaper and decor. There isn't a great new storage or living solution here, but very few entries have that this year. To me it looks like a comfortable home that someone actually lives in.
• And more than one person can have the same poster (keep calm) or decor.
• I like how the space doesn't feel small at all.
• I like that bookshelf. Can anyone tell me where I can find it?
• The space is pleasant

Not the nicest comment, but I appreciated it :

• This looks like a design-student thesis. Very predictable, but at least it is uncluttered and well put together.

I could go on and on but I have one more hour of work, then I need to run home and pack, catch a ride to the airport and spend the rest of the night regretting having booked a red eye.

vote for me: here

Shopping: ISO 50 Shop

Apartment Therapy Los Angeles posted something on this awesome designer/artist who sells his stuff on his site. I think I want a wall-full of posters from this site.

I especially love the "Vuela" poster above, for only $15.

Earth Day: Before its Over

I was super busy today but was definitely thinking about the earth :) I am still in my mission to become more green. I am trying to recycle more, buy used, use less electricity and tonight I carried my groceries home in my hands since I forgot my fabric bag :)

I need to make up for the fact that I am flying on like 5 different flights in the next 2 weeks :(

I took this photo in down the street yesterday. This tree is beautiful. right?

PhotoBlog: Monday on First Hill

I had to walk to the bank 4 blocks away yesterday and of course I packed my camera. I love First Hill because its quiet, historic, green and diverse in architecture. The best thing about it is that its in the heart of the city but so calm and peaceful, at least the blocks near my building.

My Building

PhotoBlog: Bird in My Hood

I love my neighborhood- Especially when I run into little guys like this.

Weekend Project: Tufted Headboard

I sold my old headboard on Craigslist last week because it was too country cottege for my apartment but I couldnt afford a new tufted headboard which costs about $250 somewhere like Target or World Market.

I was able to this off for just around $50. I highly recommend this project. I bought everything yesterday and with the help of Andre (thanks mister!), I was able to complete it in about 3 hours.

I was lucky enough to save some money on foam because used an old sofa bed mattress.

The size was perfect, and it was easy to cut.

Doing the corners for the batting was the tricky thing because if its messy it will be lumpy when you put the top fabric on. I suggest playing around with it. I think everyone has a corner trick. I was origionally going to do it like a present but that was too foldy for me to pull off. I ended up pulling one end over and bringing it back over for one clean fold. I will get a close up pic of it. I cant explain it well, which is why I am a fan of you finding what works best for you.

I had this blue curtain laying around that I always thought would be an elegant cover. It did. I tried it. It was too icy. Too themey. Winter Wonderland.

I ended up going with this fabulous brownish, goldish curtain I had from Target. I originally paid $30 for it.

HARDEST PART: The tufting. I bought these awesome buttons that I covered with fabric then predrilled holes in the wood... the trouble was threading the button straight through the wood. The one in the middle is a tad higher then the other 2, but its ok cause its in the middle and I can live with that.

I still have to go back and make my bed and fold and staple some wrinkles but it looks great! I am happy with it. I put it on the wall using 2 1x4's. I screwed one onto the board and the other to the wall (parallel to each other) at the top of the board. I used some sticky foam to keep them together. At the bottom of the board I used a small piece of 1x4 to make sure that it was also kept the same distance as the wall. Its sturdy and easy to remove.

Total Spent:
Ply wood $12
Staple gun and staples $13
Screws $4
3 Buttons: $2
Foam: Free
Batting(4 yards--too much): $20
Fabric (that I ended up not using): $10
Total: $51 ($41, if you dont count the fabric I didnt use)

The best thing about this project is that I can change the fabric out when I want to change my look and its easy to move when my lease is up.
I ended up paying less than I expected because I had the foam and the fabric. I am sure everyone has one of the things I bought laying around-- Take a look! How can you cut corners?!

PhotoBlog: Splendid Inspiration

I spend a great deal of my time cutting out things that I love from home magazines and I finally fot around to putting them up. When I help my friends decorate I always make them do a style board but I had never really done one myself.

I found that I love the look of white, organic, modern, classic and all things comfortable and lived in.

What do you think?