Making it Lovely

Tag: MIY

  • MiY 5d: Reading Nook

    MiY 5d: Reading Nook

    James and Eugenia, our fictional couple with exceptionally good taste in furniture, have just moved to Chicago! They have a long but wide hallway in their new place that they’re setting up as a mini-library. They don’t have a ton of space, so the small scale of the mid-century rocker chair is perfect for a little reading nook.

    Bookshelves with glass doors line the wall (the same bookshelves we have in our hallway library), and a glossy black floor lamp illuminates the area. The walls are painted a charming blue-green, and there isn’t enough room for a full rug but a graphic black and white runner works perfectly here. The apartment has a nice lived-in feel, so books are always scattered on the little side tables along with a few coffee mugs that hadn’t made their way to the kitchen yet. Eugenia also likes to keep a blanket (in orange, James’ favorite color) over the arm of the chair in case she gets cold.

    James and Eugenia have a spare room that they thought they’d setup as an office, but it looks like they’ll be turning it into a nursery instead! We’ll see that room next time in the final look for this edition of Making it Yours.

  • MiY 5c: The Bedroom

    MiY 5c: The Bedroom

    James and Eugenia, our fictional couple, have been moving the furniture around. We’ve already seen their mid-century rocker in two versions of the living room (once when James was living alone and then again after Eugenia moved in), and now they’ve moved the chair into their bedroom.

    The furniture here is pretty sleek (that’s James for you), like the low dresser and the Eames-inspired bed. The wall color is fairly masculine as well, though it’s the same color we used in our bedroom. Eugenia’s represented here too with the soft throw, slightly granny-ish rug, and hysterical kitty pillow (ZOMG, kitties!). They hung a sconce over each side of the bed so they can read at night, and the swallow mobile adds a little decoration.

    Hey, I hear Eugenia’s about to land a new job and they will be moving to Chicago! The rocker will be finding its way to a sweet little reading nook in their new place.

  • MiY 5b: Moving in Together

    MiY 5b: Moving in Together

    Big changes are happening with James, our fictional orange-loving research biologist. His girlfriend Eugenia has moved in with him! She’s so happy to be with a guy that has such good taste (and such orange furniture) because her previous boyfriend was “too busy revising his manuscript and thought her bourgeois affinity for decorating was capitalist and silly!”

    I may or may not be basing this on my actual friend Eugenia who wants to live vicariously here.

    OK, we know James had some pretty good furniture to start with. The mid-century rocker is staying since we’re basing each room around it in this edition of Making it Yours. We’re also keeping the sofa, orange pillow, pouf, lamp, and table. The molecule set is staying too, and we’re adding a vintage-style apple tree biology poster.* Eugenia and James painted the walls green, added some new curtains and a pillow, and put down a soft new rug to make the place feel like home for the two of them.

    James and Eugenia will be moving the rocker into their bedroom soon, so when we check in on them again we’ll see how they’ve incorporated it.

    * Did you know that apples don’t come true from seed? Apples are pretty interesting; read The Botany of Desire if you’re curious.

  • MiY 5a: Bachelor Style

    MiY 5a: Bachelor Style

    Meet James, the fictional man that lives in this apartment. As we first meet him, he’s single, in his late twenties, and has just started his career as a research biologist. In his living room we have the mid-century rocker that will be the basis for each of the five looks in this edition of Making it Yours (MiY).

    James loves orange, so when he bought his new couch he figured he may as well get one in his favorite color. He also picked up an orange pouf to rest his feet on and an orange pillow for the rocker. The couch has a faux wood grain pillow and a blue pillow that goes with the wall color and curtains. The cowhide rug, black floor lamp, and Ringside print are masculine and good-looking, much like our young bachelor (ba dum bum). And what could be more perfect on a biologist’s coffee table than a molecule building set? Awesome.

    Next time we check in with James and his mid-century rocker, he won’t be a bachelor anymore… his girlfriend is moving in.

  • Making it Yours 5: Mid-Century Rocker

    Making it Yours 5: Mid-Century Rocker

    I’m hard at work today on the next round of Making it Yours (MiY). In this upcoming fifth edition, I’ll base five different rooms around the Mid-Century Rocker Chair. My intention is for the chair to be a readily available stand-in for the true vintage Danish modern chairs that pop up frequently on Craigslist and eBay.

    Remember, this is what my Making it Yours series is all about:

    I really love the way rooms come together over time, with special pieces finding their way into different rooms at different stages of one’s life. A chair that was once on your front porch might show up in your son’s room five years later, in the family room after that, and maybe twenty years later in a vacation home. Pieces that you carry with you throughout your life become more than just an object you bought at some store, they become part of your personal history.

    The rocker will make its way into two versions of a living room, a bedroom, a reading nook/library, and a kid’s room. I’ll have the first room ready for you soon, and I hope you’ll enjoy following along again. I’m excited about this one!

  • MiY 4e: Subdued

    We’ve come to the last look in this fourth edition of Making it Yours (MiY). This one may be my favorite, though it’s a toss-up because I really liked the first look as well.

    MiY 4e: Subdued

    The bed, sofa, lighting, and tables that we have followed throughout this edition are here again. Sheer shades instead of curtains, a black rug, and a creamy gray wall color help the room feel restful and modern. I’ve added ochre bedding (paired with white sheets) and a black bedspread, along with art that picks up on those colors. A green velvet pillow matches the sofa, and an interesting vase (that I found via Design*Sponge) would be beautiful in this room.

    You can go back and see each previous design in more detail: 4a: Striking Stripes and Polka Dots, 4b: Feminine Moorish, 4c: Fresh Picked, and 4d: Seaside Fair.

    Making it Yours 4: Making the Bed(room)

    This was an interesting challenge because normally I only use one piece of furniture for my MiY series. The four items in this edition were not inexpensive, but I wanted to show that you can invest in a quality base while allowing for different styles with easy changes. What do you think? Did you have a favorite out of the five designs?