to do in my apartment: redo the stairs

i would LOVE to buy my place.  i didn't think i would ever say that, but i have a lot of ideas for what i could do with it.  i could really turn it in to an airbnb and make a lot more money if i could add a second bathroom.  and one of my ideas is to turn the spiral staircase shown here

into a thin staircase with one change in direction.  i think i would have the opening change, instead of stepping on to the staircase on the right hand side at the top, i'd move it to the lefthand side then have it go down against the brick wall and turn once and go in to the dining room.  anyway, thats an idea and then i saw this change in staircases (from a ladder, though, not a spiral staircase) to a totally functional staircase and it makes me want to do that!  check out these before and after pics from here.

gallery wall: to do

one of the things i want to do in my apartment is make a gallery wall: a wall with lots of pictures of different styles, frames, shapes, etc.  i have the perfect place for it: my entryway.  here is the entryway as of march 2015.

as you can see, the only things on the wall are at the end of the hall, as seen here:

i want to COVER the walls with photos and art.

i have found some examples of gallery walls that i quite like.  check out these photos from here.

i actually like how the one above is kind of hap-hazard and unexpected.  the one below, i like because it covers the whole wall.

and this one looks haphazard, but i think its actually quite organized.  i love it.

this one is really cool because it goes over two walls - so creative!

i really want to do this with this area in my apartment.

you can't really tell, but there is a big curved wall to the left of the couch.  i want to cover it with something and then have it feed through to above the couch.

what do you think of gallery walls?

window benches - wow. what a creative title!

my mom sent me a cool closet bench and bookshelf.  i can't find the picture right now, but it was a closet that they put shelves in on all three sides, took the door off, and then put a comfy overstuffed bench so you could sit IN the closet and read.  how fun does that sound?  she knew i would like it because she knows i like things like this: window benches.

from here.

when i was little, i tried to convince my parents to add on to our house (as if money grew on trees!) and give me a bay window in my bedroom (the smaller room, not the one facing the street at 1210).  i never got it (understandable! doesn't really add a ton of resale value! - ha!), but i still love looking at things like this.  love the colors in this next one.

good use of space for a random walk-up space.

do you have a window bench?

friday night in paris

tonight is friday and i am spending it in paris.  fortunately, the place where i am staying is free for me.  unfortunately, it is not any of these places.  my friend gidge sent me this site and i thought you'd enjoy some of the parisian apartments.  here are some of my favorites.

up and do and round and round

i love stairs.  i'll say it again.  they are so cool.  what would we do without stairs??  i'm in france today and i went for a walk in the village.  there weren't any stairs. but there were hills.  and i was tir-ed after the walking.  i would've liked to have seen some fun stairs like these.  from here.

organizing - i LOVE it!!!!!!

the other day at work, i was talking about how i read a bernstein bears book to my nephew.  and my colleague said "i loved bernstein bears!  the messy room was my favorite!" and i was like "that's MY favorite, too!"  here is a picture of it.

my colleague said "there's the bulletin board - i love that!" and i do, too.  so, when i saw this post, i instantly loved it.  here is the before and the after.

click here for all the details.

and doesn't that closet remind you of the bernstein bears closet??

don't just buy from a furniture store!

i'm using this place to write about different art and decoration things i like.  i love apartment therapy, and have been (re-)posting a lot of pics from there recently.  here are some others i like.  different ideas for nightstands.  i am thinking i would love a wine barrel - refinished, but with a cool brand name on it as a nightstand for me.

which one is your favorite?

check out other ideas here.

charlies angels desk

so this video is pretty cool.  the finished product is neat - i wish it were a teeny bit more spiffed up, but thats just me.  if i had a big, eclectic house, i would definitely put this in it somewhere.



saw it here.

its almost my birthday!!

i need to get back in to this blog!  shame on me!  it's saturday and i'm inside because the pollen is HORRIBLE outside.  so, because of this, and because its almost my birthday, and i love bright pink and cool creative apartments and whatnot, here are some cool decorations with bright pink highlights found here.  what do you think?  in both pics, the pink is what i like best and probably wouldn't do the rest!  ha!  i think i'll clean my apartment so i can take cool pictures tomorrow.

stroopwafels

i consider myself gluten free.  sure, i don't follow 100% of the time, but in general, i try very very hard to follow a gf lifestyle.  and there are very FEW things that i want to eat.  good scallion pancakes are one.  the burger bun from the gallows is another.  picco pizza crust.  and stroopwafels.  if I haven't given you some, you should definitely let me know.  we shall share some.  so when I saw this office decorated like this, I thought - that's. so. cool.  great design.  and how could you possibly work there??  you would want to stuff your face all the time.

what is a stroopwafel you ask?  Here is the def from wiki:

(English translation: syrup waffle, treacle waffle, or caramel waffle; lit "syrup waffle") is a waffle made from two thin layers of baked dough with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle. They were first made in Gouda in the Netherlands. Large versions are sold in the streets as a snack.

you make a mug of hot tea, and then put these on top for a few minutes (resting, so they don't touch the water) and it melts the caramel inside and they are mmm mmm good.  so good.

from here.

posting this in honor of my friend, r, who headed back to the Netherlands the other day.  she is there with her baby and hubby and they are planning to leave the low country to head to cali.  good luck!