Mena house decorating in the U.S??

[Aymsgirl 0]

I threw out so many vhs tapes. I didn't have the patience to filter through them.

[nunyab 0]

The thread has been rescued!!

So my plan is a big one and I'm sure it's going to take me all of the weekend to get through. Soooo here goes:

Bedroom:

Hang curtains over windows (we have floor to ceiling windows with mini blinds that I hate). I have to actually use and/or buy these....

Make bed canopy (I posted the link to the design I'm going to use in the Thursday thread). I'm thinking this is going to be relatively easy aside from hanging the two pieces from the ceiling...

Master closet - we have a large walk in closet that really is our only decent storage space in the apartment. Sooo it has totes, clothes, suitcases and laundry. We have a friend with a house so the totes are going to her basement. Then I plan to hang a curtain in the back 3' of the closet to cordon it off. I am going to put in a fold down ironing board on the wall and put in a dirty clothes sorter. Both sides currently have a rod that goes the length of the closet with a shelf on top. I plan to hang another curtain on tension rods on each side to sort of "hide" our clothes and other things stored in that part of the closet. I am also moving my bookcase into the bedroom and possibly recovering the side tables and getting new bedside lamps.

Bathroom

In the bathroom I plan to put a removable tiling over our existing cruddy 1x1" white dingy tiled floor (gotta love rentals). Our under sink area is fully exposed so I plan to use a tension rod and curtain again to close this area off.

Living room

One of our walls has 2 sliding patio doors. I am going to hang curtains again from the ceilings to cover these up. (We have plaster walls so getting anything to stick in them is a nightmare)

I am making pillowcases to redo all of my pillows and some artwork to add to the walls (in frames of course).

Kitchen

The biggest kitchen issue is space. I am going through all the cupboards and throwing/giving away what we don't use. I also am getting a magnetic strip to put all our bigger knives on so they free up drawer space. I'm also considering hanging the pots and pans on the wall on hooks to empty one of my cabinets for more free space.

Boys Bedroom

This is the biggest challenge. Right now they have a toddler bed and a crib in a pretty small room. I am going to empty out their closet, sorting out all the clothes and packing away what I can and getting rid of the rest. I am also going through all the toys and purging the ones that are half missing, broken or not played with. They have plenty of closet space it just is not efficient right now. I plan to build on one side a small desk for Mikhail. It will be built in and have organization spaces on the walls for all of his "supplies". I am hoping this gives him some seperation from his brother. I'm also considering getting him a twin loft bed, creating more floor space, just not sure if he's big enough for that yet.

So that's the grand plan. We'll see how much I can manage to get done! I'll do before and after pics for sure!

holy cow... can you do some before and after pics????

[nunyab 0]

Yay for more decorating!

We're moving into a larger apartment starting next week, so we're really starting to think about this. Our sofa and chair are older than I am. My husband isn't fond of them, but they're solid. They do need more padding, and the slipcovers are a faded floral that my mom made. I've ordered slipcovers for them in garnet. I'm thinking of tacking or stapling mattress toppers over the backs and under the seat cushions, and something similar over the arms, as well as adding batting to the cushions before adding the new covers. Good replacement cushions are so terribly expensive! My husband wants to put those two pieces in the spare room and get something new, but if I can make them look and feel good, he may hold off. If I can find (or make) some large, square pillows to put across the back and against the arms, big and solid enough to toss down on the floor to sit on, that may take care of it. My other wishes for that room are a glass-doored china cabinet to keep our breakables away from the cats, and some floor lamps. My husband's mom may visit in a few months, and he wants her to bring us some "real" pouffes (guess my old Turkish one doesn't count!). And I think my husband has just about decided he needs a hookah to take out on the balcony and make an impression on the neighbor lady across the way. We'll have sliding doors, and I don't want to block the light with heavy curtains, but I do want some color there. My husband's keyboard will go in one corner, probably with my cello (gah! that will mean I have to do something with it!). And that will do it for that room, except for stuff to hang on the walls (I always forget that part!) and a carpet of some kind. This will really be the first time I've made a conscious effort to decorate, so we'll see.

The other ongoing project is clutter control and mending my packrat ways. Lots of paper to shred, and a lot of old VHS tapes. My parents just got a DVD burner to copy their old tapes, and I plan to borrow that for a while and then dump the tapes altogether. Oh, and I don't even want to think about the boxes of National Geographic dating back to the '60s! Hubby thinks we can sell them. I'll give it a shot, but I think we may end up passing them off to Goodwill or to a teacher/homeschooler to be cut up for projects.

I do love coming here and hearing all the great ideas!

ohhhhh I should tell you I went to Ikea got the burnt orange curtains for a great price but get this! they come very long but instead of sewing the hem they sell it with an Iron on hem so later if you move you can readjust the length!!!! i love Ikea the curtains i got are thin so i can add color to a wall without painting and they cover those ugly vertical blinds over my sliding glass door.

it goes without asking...... before and after pics please????

Y'all - I posted this in the Thursday Thread but here you go:

For those of you getting the decorating bug, last night at Target they had some totally awesome pieces in their seasonal part of the store. I swear I was ready to throw even the baby out with the bath water and start all over again in decorating my house. Too, too COOL!!!!

Caybee - try to put the NG mags on ebay.

thanks... i remember seeing some stuff i liked i hope they're there when i get there in the clearance section lol

[caybee 21]

I threw out so many vhs tapes. I didn't have the patience to filter through them.

I may not either, when it comes right down to it. I always have grand intentions...

[caybee 21]

ohhhhh I should tell you I went to Ikea got the burnt orange curtains for a great price but get this! they come very long but instead of sewing the hem they sell it with an Iron on hem so later if you move you can readjust the length!!!! i love Ikea the curtains i got are thin so i can add color to a wall without painting and they cover those ugly vertical blinds over my sliding glass door.

it goes without asking...... before and after pics please????

Great idea about the iron-on hem! No Ikea store near us, but I'll look online. That reminds me, I need to get a full-sized ironing board. I have a tiny tabletop one from my college days, but it's time for an upgrade. Yep, will take pictures.

Oh, I was in Joann Fabrics yesterday and saw 3" foam for cushions for about $40 a yard, much cheaper than I've found the precut ones online. The cushions on there now are maybe 4" thick and still in pretty good shape, so when the budget allows, I'll buy the foam, borrow my sister's electric knife to cut it to fit the old ones, glue them together (maybe into one large cushion to delete the separation in the middle), wrap them in that netting stuff, and make new casings to fit the new thickness. That will be cheaper and will probably work better than the mattress topper.

Also saw some large, square pillow forms at Joann, so those might work across the back of the sofa. My husband's comment has been that the padding on the arms and the back is too thin -- he's drawn more to the overstuffed jobbies. So I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that. I've thought wrapping actual bed pillows over the arms and tacking them in place under the slipcover, but I don't know how that would look. Fortunately, it's a cheap fix, and we can always use a couple more pillows on the bed if it doesn't work out well.

This is looking like kind of a big job in itself!

The coffee table...I love the shape, but it's all wood, and the top has gotten a little scratched since we use it for eating, laptops, whatever. It has a 1/4 " groove around the top about three inches in from the edge, and my husband has suggested putting tiny bits of tile in that groove and putting a glass top over it. I've thought about taking a photo of a style of Moroccan tile that I found online and having numerous copies printed on photo paper to "tile" the top of the table, or maybe lining the tile pieces up on the computer and have a poster-sized print made, then covering that with a glass top. But that might look silly. I do think the glass top will help a lot, though, regardless.

Caybee - try to put the NG mags on ebay.

I've seen the NG magazines on eBay, but I haven't had much luck selling there in the past, so I was thinking of trying Craigslist. I may just need more practice with the online selling stuff. Marketing was never one of my strengths.

[Muh and me 18]

If anybody has any ideas for ktichen let me know. Ours in is bad shape plus i have a speed bump tht goes from my bedroom into the kitchen accross. We have 4 door ways and hardly no cabinet space.

[JeanneVictoria 55]

If anybody has any ideas for ktichen let me know. Ours in is bad shape plus i have a speed bump tht goes from my bedroom into the kitchen accross. We have 4 door ways and hardly no cabinet space.

Terrie, don't know exactly what you are looking for, but this might help you to organize some of your boxes and canned goods.

http://www.bedbathstore.com/thinmanpantry.html

[Muh and me 18]

If anybody has any ideas for ktichen let me know. Ours in is bad shape plus i have a speed bump tht goes from my bedroom into the kitchen accross. We have 4 door ways and hardly no cabinet space.

Terrie, don't know exactly what you are looking for, but this might help you to organize some of your boxes and canned goods.

http://www.bedbathstore.com/thinmanpantry.html

not a bad idea, but am looking for a way to add more cabinet space and like that.

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Totally bored with the bedroom now. I just redid the living room and it looks like the redo itch is getting ready to spill into the bedroom.. heh

[nunyab 0]

considering redoing the bathroom from lavender and yellow duckies to black and gray and white???? is that to contemporary hardly MENA though... thoughts!!!???? It's only going to be 9 days until he's here! and my bedroom hasn't been touched!

runs around in a circle arms flailing

do i wait to do the bedroom or do it before he's here?????? suggestions

[caybee 21]

considering redoing the bathroom from lavender and yellow duckies to black and gray and white???? is that to contemporary hardly MENA though... thoughts!!!???? It's only going to be 9 days until he's here! and my bedroom hasn't been touched!

runs around in a circle arms flailing

do i wait to do the bedroom or do it before he's here?????? suggestions

I'd be tempted to put some nice candles and flowers and maybe some new sheets in the bedroom, and then wait to decorate it together once he's here. That would be a fun "getting-to-know-each-other-again" project for the two of you in the room you will share the most, and you don't want to be worn out by the time he arrives.

[nunyab 0]

considering redoing the bathroom from lavender and yellow duckies to black and gray and white???? is that to contemporary hardly MENA though... thoughts!!!???? It's only going to be 9 days until he's here! and my bedroom hasn't been touched!

runs around in a circle arms flailing

do i wait to do the bedroom or do it before he's here?????? suggestions

I'd be tempted to put some nice candles and flowers and maybe some new sheets in the bedroom, and then wait to decorate it together once he's here. That would be a fun "getting-to-know-each-other-again" project for the two of you in the room you will share the most, and you don't want to be worn out by the time he arrives.

ok I have to agree it will be fun.... I recall what he is like to shop with in morocco this should be interesting here

[Y's_habibitk 2]

considering redoing the bathroom from lavender and yellow duckies to black and gray and white???? is that to contemporary hardly MENA though... thoughts!!!???? It's only going to be 9 days until he's here! and my bedroom hasn't been touched!

runs around in a circle arms flailing

do i wait to do the bedroom or do it before he's here?????? suggestions

LOVE it! These are the new colors in my living room. pale grey walls, black trim and white doors

Have fun

[nunyab 0]

considering redoing the bathroom from lavender and yellow duckies to black and gray and white???? is that to contemporary hardly MENA though... thoughts!!!???? It's only going to be 9 days until he's here! and my bedroom hasn't been touched!

runs around in a circle arms flailing

do i wait to do the bedroom or do it before he's here?????? suggestions

LOVE it! These are the new colors in my living room. pale grey walls, black trim and white doors

Have fun

I was considering doing a black rug on the bathroom floor but decided that will show everything so will go with Gray I think..... Target here I Go!!!!

[MrsAmera 41]

Well I didn't get EVERYTHING that I wanted to done. Didn't have enough time for the bathroom and the boys closet/room took me about 5 hours to clean out, sort, and reorganize. I'm going to try to add the pictures here.

These are of the boys room. They share a small room and have way too many toys! Our apartment has all floor to ceiling windows that honestly are a pain.

This is Mikhail's bed on the side and the new curtains.

This Khalils' crib. The bed tent was on Mikhail's bed but he didn't really like it. So I thought I would give it a shot on the crib. It opens on the other side, but this way it is a little more private. One of the biggest challenges is getting them both to sleep in the same room. When they see each other they won't sleep!!

This is their closet. I wanted to do a built in desk for Mikhail but Ikea didn't have the desk that I needed. So instead I put in a little bean bag like chair on one side and on the other stacked these wire basket things for "car/truck" parking. We have so many and at least this gets them out of the way a little more.

This is our bedroom. My bed didn't have a headboard with it so I got these metal things at Ikea and put them up like a headboard. You can't see good in the picture but the curtains have a black leaf pattern on them (thin lines). I hung up the fabric behind the bed and wanted to do a canopy but I couldn't get a hole through the ceiling (concrete). So I settled for this.

This is our entry way. I always have lunchboxes/backpacks, purse etc all over. So this is just a few S hooks on some bars, a basket for mail and another for keys.

I did hang curtains in the living room but that was really the only redecorating I got done there. Sorry the images aren't super clear I took them with my phone!