3 Months In and What’s Next

So we’ve been here in the Portland Duplex for a little while now and I wanted to show you all an update on how things stand. We’re starting to make progress in a few areas and anything is better than the chaos when we first moved in! Also this is a nice place to list the twenty million ideas I have, Young Houser Love’s “Listy McListerson” style! Since I know this house is not long term – I have no plans on being her longer than my year lease – there are many things I am very cautious about putting money toward. Basically, anything I can take with me? Sure, spend the green, anything more permanent? Not happening this year. Hopefully, my next home will be a much more permanent living situation! There are tons of updates anyone can accomplish in a rental though, so that’s what I’d set out to do!

– THE ENTRY –

Before/Current

A whole lot of nothing going on in here! I really haven’t started.

To Do:

• Get seating for putting on/taking off shoes
• console or buffet for mail/purses
• Hang art and accessorize
• Paint back wall to hide electrical box better?
• Organize closet
• Shoe storage!

– The Long Hallway –

Before/Current

Also untouched!

To Do:

• Hang Art
• Add runner?

– The Powder Room –

Before/Current:

Untouched as well since this room is currently playing host to the house’s newest member! Six month old kitten Jackson is using this room as his safehouse until his stitches heal from his neutering and he and Malary learn to settle their differences.

To Do:

• Buy bath mat/rug
• Replace toilet seat
• Hang art
• Add plants
• Find nice hand towel
• Remove curtains and hardware

Soon there will be two cats photobombing all my pictures! Check out his little face in the meantime!

– The Kitchen –

Before:

Current:

Not a ton has changed in here. Those floors are impossible to keep clean so I’m looking into a runner which will hide some of the dirt I hope. We’ve still got all our pots and pans on the counter! Luckily the lovely china cabinet is helping store a lot of my things and frees up cabinet space! The stools were up for grabs when my new office moved from east to west Portland and I nabbed five for $20 beans each.

To Do:

• Buy rug/runner
• Make use of back wall with vertical storage (I’ve been working on this guy and can’t wait to share)
• Get stools for bar area
• Re plant something in that pot

– The Dining Room –

Before:

Current:

Things are looking a lot more lively in here now that I’ve added my furniture! The table is from my grandmother’s home, but it actually belonged to one of her tenants so there isn’t any sentimental value. The bookshelf was a surprise hand-me-down from my parents.

To Do:

• Remove curtains and hardware
• Paint/stain/refinish table (the top isn’t sealed properly, and I’d love to update it, this looks like a fun option, but they also look really elegant stained if styled correctly)
• Paint bookshelf black to coordinate with china hutch

– The Living Room –

Before:

Current:

Things have kind of landed in here for now. I’m using my old trunk which used to live at the bottom of my bed as a coffee table in the living room at the moment. We don’t have a couch yet and when we do get one I’m not sure the scale of the trunk will work with it. We’re using the bench I got as a hand-me-down from my parents and these two chairs as seating in here for now and it’s working pretty well. The larger chair is my roommates over which I draped a large wall hanging I got at the Berlin flea market. The wood arm’ed one is something I got from work in Oakland about 8 months back. The vintage suitcases were my Oma’s, I’ve stacked them and stuck a tray on top which is working really well as a cute side table! The other side table is some of my cherry crates stacked together with another tray. Fred is living on the coffee table at this house right now. The floor lamp is a recent IKEA purchase (my roommate’s). The faux cowhide is free from work.

To Do:

• Buy sofa
• Buy rug to layer beneath the faux-cow hide
• build larger coffee table?
• rewire green lamps for use on side tables
• rearrange entire area to work with the sofa?
• Hang art

– The Bonus Room –

Before:

Current:

This room has also pretty much just gotten a few pieces of furniture plopped down. The rug in here is awful truly awful. It might be original to the house. It’s covered in stains (some of them marker red) and sometimes smells a little bit! Our landlord said she wants to replace it with laminate flooring, but it hasn’t happened yet. The white drawer units were another item I picked up when my office moved. They were free and I napped 8 (they still sell them at IKEA for $79 each if you’re interested). I’ve got a couple in the garage, a couple in my bedroom closet, and these three in here are holding crafts supplies! It’s so nice to have them all sorted nicely. I’d love to bring a desk up here and make it a real craft room! The futon is also my roommates, I threw a couple of IKEA sheepskin pillows on top as well as a mudcloth I got at the Alameda Flea Market in the Bay Area before I moved.

To Do:

• New flooring!
• Build shelves for over the weird counter
• Buy a nice plush rug
• Hang art
• Add desk

– My Bedroom –

Before:

Progress:

Current:

Nothing great in here! My bed broke during the move so even though I’m on my own mattress and not the futon mattress, it’s still a mattress on the floor! Pieces from my old place all came with me, everything in here is still chaos! It took me way to long to go from the progress shot to the current shot too.

To Do:

• Remove curtains and hardware
• Hang new curtains (I’ll share this soon!)
• Build bed
• Style room
• Rearrange furniture
• Organize closets
• Layer a rug on top?

– The Bathroom –

Before/Current: 

Nothing really done it here.

To Do:

• Style counter
• Add bathmats or runner
• Get Malary to use downstairs litter box

 

So there it is guys! Plans for the entire house. Very feasible plans and totally rental-friendly! I’m diving in, can’t wait for you to all follow along.