The incredible shrinking apartment

Thanks to the lovely site Floorplanner, I'm able to show what the apartment looks like.





















It's not an ideal layout, what with the useless little dry area behind the bathtub and the kitchen doorway I wish I could widen. The little voice in my head says it's better to forfeit your security deposit than to ask permission, but that is asking for a galaxy of trouble.

In the process, I learned something. The apartment is smaller than I had initially said. It's not 400 square feet. It's not even 306. Two hundred and seventy two, according to the calculations of the floor planner website. If I keep measuring it, I think it might disappear entirely.

The living and sleeping area is coming together, but I have a large rectangle that I'm going to have to make into a dining area AND a work area. I live alone, so it's not necessary but it's the principle of the thing.

Houston, we have a living area.

Operation go to Ikea and buy furniture was a success. Three really big boxes and a few blisters on my fingers from those darn hex-head bolts later, I had a living area. It's a good feeling, knowing that people can come over and actually sit down on real furniture.


It's a futon, and not the sort of sleeper sofa I truly wanted. I took stock of my bank account, my desire for something approaching a queen size mattress, and my back that really really should not be doing heavy lifting. The only conclusion was that this would be a good compromise because I cannot drop 3 grand on the perfect sleeper sofa.

I'm doing the ol' 'use an expedit bookcase as a room divider' trick. I'm also using the less-popular 'use an awkwardly-shaped suitcase as storage for bedding' trick. I'm going to be upgrading to an actual trunk soon enough when that suitcase goes back to live at my parents' house.

the living room is still a little dark, and I do need a rug, so I know what's next on the list at Casa Nicholas. Also on the to do list is this little teaser for future coming attractions:

Whatever could it be?

If my fridge is going to be replaced...

... can't I get one of these instead?



Pretty please?

Some improvements, some need for improvements

Let's get down to business:

The good news. My shower curtain arrived, so the bathroom isn't so so so very very white. Curtain plus bathmat from Ikea equals a step in the right direction.

The other good news is they fixed the light in the kitchen. Instead of a fluorescent tube thing that didn't light up, there's a cheap looking round fixture that does light up.

The bad news is the fridge. Behold, the leaking something.

You will note that the green thing that's burst open should not be burst open. Also, when up against the wall, this water leak was directly above the electrical outlet. The tag on the plug has substantial water damage to it. Bad fridge! Bad!

The comically small kitchen, illustrated.

Slowly but surely I'll get everything in order.

Floor tiles that look pretty cool (for now)

I love a good wood floor. But I also have strong opinions about other floors, if they're cool enough. These vinyl tiles from Modularity Tiles are eye-catching in a way that makes me wish I didn't have generic tile in the kitchenette of my apartment. It'd be an excellent way to introduce a little color and help break up the beige.


















Modularity Tiles
Fun and funky. Oh, that my kitchen looked like this.































Modularity Tiles
Reversing the white and colored parts changes the entire feel.




































Modularity Tiles
Very retro, very op art.















Modularity Tiles
Some looks are less successful.

I like the concept, but I have the very strong feeling that this look is going to age quickly. I hesitate to throw my weight behind this because while furniture is easy to remove once it becomes offensively out of date, tile is more of a headache.

Discovered via Design Milk

Monday monday....

Let's get in the mood for what kind of Monday this is going to be:


Over the weekend, I went to Ikea. It took 2 hours, as does every other trip to Ikea. That place is like a casino, I swear: no windows, the clocks don't work. You lose track of time. I bought things and scoped out the furniture situation. Once the big check comes, it's furniture-buying time! I did buy some actual things that I'll show later this week.

Because I went to Ikea, I stole a handful of paper yardsticks. I measured my space and 400 square feet my rear end. 306. Three hundred six square feet. Its... cozy. I've got plans to make it all work though, don't worry. Those too will come later in the week.

Lastly, I discovered a dripping sound coming from behind the fridge. In the morning, a small puddle formed at the back of the fridge. I'm thinking broken condenser, or coils thereabouts. I'm thinking new fridge. I'm thinking it's a little ridiculous that both the fridge and stove don't fully work. That's 100% of the major appliances in the kitchen. As well as the ceiling lights and uninstalled vent hood.

Maybe that Boomtown Rats song would have been more appropriate.

Where I'm at: Let's just say there's a lot of potential

I don't know if I ever made a promise to show how far along the improvement process is. Well, I'm a man of words that someone else put in my mouth.
Also, if you're coming here from the Making it Lovely Social Space Makeover Contest, a big welcome to you! I try and follow as many blogs as I can, so come in check out the site and I'll do the same for you.
Here's where I'm at:

Yes, that is an air mattress. That eventually will be a sleeper sofa and half of the living/entertaining part. I'm also going to get a nice lamp to put with the fake Eames lounger. I swear, I sit in that chair and

That's the desk. Yes, I am using the padded laptop case as a cushion. Eventually, I'm going to make that part the dining area and sell the desk. But lighting will be a challenge, because there isn't an overhead light. That light switch controls nothing.

Color-wise, I need more pop, more wow and less brown/tan/creamy yellow. (pop and wow are colors, right?) The color balance in the second photo is a bit off, the creamy yellow is really what it looks like. I know right now the apartment doesn't look like much, but I've only been here a week. And for an unmarried guy's apartment, it's pretty darn clean.

I need glasses...

... and I've found just the right sort I'm looking for.
It's (maybe a week) old news at this point, but Fishs Eddy has a lovely Todd Oldham and Charley Harper collection they've just announced. And I am all about the glasses.

(Source:Fishs Eddy)

(Source: Fishs Eddy)

What I'm also excited for is that the Alice in wonderland series is on sale. Or at least what's left of the series.

Feeling moody

I'm all moved in to the new place, and I'm slowly getting my bearings on how I want to do things. This is MY SPACE gosh darn it, so I'm figuring out how to make it look good.

Which brings me to this: Now that I have photoshop, I can finally make mood boards like the fancy pros do. So without further ado: here's what I'd love for the living/sleeping part of my space to look like. Sort of. I'm not 100% sold on the rug. And I like the idea of the trunk, but maybe in a different color. And I need art. And lamps. Very much a baby mood board. I'll get good at these with practice.


The space itself is a bit of a challenge. The problems are that there isn't any overhead lighting in the apartment. It's bizarre. Getting adequate light means either daytime events, or loads of lamps. Or both. Also, getting a full or queen size bed into the mix is a challenge (because darn it, I'm out of college and I am NOT sleeping on a twin mattress ever again.) A sleeper sofa will probably enter the mix, or heaven forbid.. a futon.

Making it MINE

Now that I have the apartment (move-in day's Saturday, so THAT should be fun) I'm getting all kinds of crazy ideas for how to make the space my own. Picking out things like the shower curtains and ways to deal with the ugly heater that's right in the way of where I want to put my bed.

Which leads to this crazy idea: I want a new fridge.
The current fridge is probably from the 80s. It's a bit too large for the space, and it almost certainly is an energy hog. I took one look at it and knew that I'd better check to see who pays for electricity for this apartment. The fridge isn't mine per se, but I'd like to see what joys a newer, slightly thinner fridge would bring to the space. I mean, they showed me an apartment that didn't even have a fridge.

I'm probably drunk with power over "owning" my new space, but it can't hurt to ask, right?