Apartment Decor!

For some reason, college apartment decor has become associated with old, nasty, disgusting couches, alcohol related posters, and crusty surfaces due to the fact that nobody cleans. I'm not really sure why this is the norm, because in order to survive the trauma of college (yes, I do find college to be traumatic--sorry), I need to keep my apartment as homey, cozy, and clean as possible, otherwise I will go crazy and fail out of school.

I do not have the funds to furnish my apartment with only the finest things (plus, there is no fun or creativity in that), so it's a total mish-mosh of found, rumaged, and a few bought things that come together in perfect harmony (of an OKGo song).

Here is my living room:

The couch, curtains, and pillows were new for my apartment a year ago. The faboosh orange, leather couch is from Ikea, the curtains are from JCPenney (????!!!!??? I know! But they totally work! True style doesn't discriminate.), and the pillows are from Target. The blue side table to the left of the couch was my great-grandmother's sewing table that resided in my basement at home. My mom let me paint it, and voila! It's perfect. Had the lamp and leopard shade--duh. The square double-decker table in front of the couch was one of three tables my mom found at an antique store for $35 (as in, all three were $35 TOGETHER) and gave to me for Christmas one year. The fancy glass thing was actually an anniversary present I gave to Steve one year, but since he lives with a bunch of (BOY) roommates now, we both thought it was a good idea if I hang onto it for now; it's an antique. Phyllis is my fabulous philodendron. Love her, or else...

To the right of the couch is this little seating area:

I found the giant, groovy flower artwork at Goodwill for $4 years and years ago. I knew it would be perfect somewhere, someday, and I was right! The table that so fabulously resembles a cake was one of the three antique ones from my mom. I made the yarn pompom "flowers" and threw them into a vase I got at Goodwill for 50 cents (I recently saw the same vase in an antique store for $30!) The chair is an antique that was in our basement at home.

Facing the couch is this little "media center":

The white ottoman (which opens up for extra storage) was something I've had all throughout college; I bought it before freshman year started from Ikea. I bought the fun pillow at the same time! The green blanket was bought out of pure necessity from Target last winter, but now I don't know how I ever survived without it. My little TV may not be the most gorgeous home accessory, but I love it to pieces. It sits on top of a little, retro shelf system my mom picked up at a rummage sale a few years ago for $5. I keep some books and DVDs on it. The artwork above this area was actually a step in a silk-screening project I had to do for a class last year. The clear, plastic material has my design printed on it! My dad made a frame to fit it for me, and we painted it a pale purple.

To be continued...