Updated Living Room | Tour My Apartment

Here and there, I've been putting some finishing touches on my living room. It's really coming together as a cozy space. I love the orchid walls, plum accents, and splashes of rich turquoise and juicy tangerine. I still can't imagine why anyone would ever paint century-old hardwood floors black?! (A previous tenant did just that.) Maybe someday the floor will get stripped, sanded, and refinished. Wouldn't that be lovely?

Here's the view as you walk into the living room from the kitchen. I adore the bay windows (and so do my cats). That odd gate thing over the double-doorway is actually a do-it-yourself cat barrier I made to keep my cats separate without having to pull the squeaky, rattly pocket doors closed. (Plus, I like to see through to the next room... even if it is unfinished.) 

My turntable was originally placed on the purple television cabinet (pictured above), but it just wasn't working out. In order to play the records without the records hitting the lid of the turntable, the turntable needs to be open more than a 90-degree angle. It was inconvenient to constantly pull my tv cabinet away from the wall when I wanted to put on a record. So I gave my typewriter stand a coat of gold spray paint and here it is! Since it is lightweight and on wheels, it makes for a super convenient turntable stand that I can easily move away from the wall... or roll into another room of the apartment if I so wish.

Note: That's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's latest album on the turntable, if you're wondering. :) I loved them in high school and I recently got to see them perform at an intimate little venue quite recently. It was lovely!

Just down from the turntable and my new globe (a cheap Goodwill find!) is a chair that I have yet to paint (its partner has a white frame) and my bar cart. These double-pocket doors lead to my bedroom. I'd love to keep them open as well, so I may need to build another cat barrier. (I like a cat-free sleeping zone.)

Here's a "bird's eye view" of the bar cart. After running out of brandy and running low on gin, it's looking pretty sparse. I guess that means it's time to drag the boyfriend out to one of our favorite distilleries/wineries again. ;)

Here's a backed up view of the turntable and bar cart area. I'm not quite settled on what I'm doing with the walls yet. My house is interesting. Some of the walls are easy to hang things on. Other sections of wall are impossible to nail into or so easy that the nail falls right out. My sister tends to buy me Eiffel things for some reason. I don't mind. :) The little Eiffel Tower on top of the record player is actually a cage for wine corks. So convenient! I'm also not sold on having the pouf in here. The green really stands out since it's not part of the color scheme. Maybe I'll cover it in another fabric? Maybe I'll just relocate it to another room. It tends to migrate between the office and living room.

Here we are back at the tv cabinet. Dahlia enjoys British period dramas as much as I do. :) That chair I mentioned before that needs painting? It will end up being white like the one in this photo. 

Here's a nice view of my lovely bay window. I've considered positioning the couch here, but I have this thing where I find it unbearable to put furniture in front of tall windows. 

Cotton really loves the bay windows, too, especially when I open them and she can sit in a window sill and talk to the birds.

This orange couch was a lucky Craigslist find before I left my college town and relocated to eastern Iowa. It's old and tends to eat you alive when you sit on it, but I adore the silhouette, the color, and the round brass wheel feet. I know I need to start thinking about getting a "big girl" couch, but I can't part with it just yet. It will be a sad day when I do! (But trust me, it photographs better than it really looks. And since the fabric is pilling, this thing is the ultimate magnet for cat hair.)

To know me is to know that I'm a huge Gone with the Wind fan. And I'm seriously considering a Scarlett and Rhett themed shrine gallery wall here. 

Last up: a little photo looking down on my coffee table. Nothing too crazy here. I like to keep it easy to clear off the table for pizza delivery and Netflixing nights. ;)

And that's my living room! Color, pattern, and coziness! 

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