Guys, I am now a grown up. No big deal.

I now live all by myself. It's crazy. No roommates. I'm pretty sure this makes me a grown up. Living alone most importantly means: I never have to wear pants. Also, I can do whatever I want to my apartment without having to worry about the wishes of other people who also live there.

Mostly this means painting eveeeeerything gray. Gray Gray Gray. I love the color gray. Ok, and some blue.

When I first moved into my new place, a cozy little one bedroom in Portland's Hawthorne neighborhood, I was totally charmed by it's thick crown mouldings, multiple closets and hardwood floors.

I was less charmed by the taupe paint covering every wall (I have heard it described as "pukey" by more than one visitor) and the pervasive smell of cat pee.

Firstly let's talk about the cat pee.

When I viewed the apartment, I am not sure if I noticed it. I was euphoric with the hope that I might have actually found a one bedroom I could afford that was in a desireable neighborhood and larger than a shoe box. Also, maybe I assumed the smell was from the furniture of the previous tenant, which was still in the space at the time.

When I returned to sign my lease, the old occupant's belongings having been removed, and the cleaning person already having visited, I noticed the smell. I did not mention it to my landlord, I think I was still convinced something would fall through and they would pick someone else. I didn't want to complain about anything until that lease was signed. Anyone who has experienced the rental market in Portland in the last few years will likely understand my weird paranoia.

My landlord pointed out to me a stain on the wood floor in the hallway, noting that it was probably from wet boots. It was definitely from cat pee.

The combination of the slight cat urine aroma and the "pukey" color on every wall was...horrifying. But  the apartment was otherwise so darn cute. And it was mine!

Well anyway, white vinegar is pretty amazing. I soaked the stained part of the floor with it several times, and aired out the apartment for a few days, and soon the smell was gone. Thank goodness.

This only left the paint to deal with.

Full disclosure, I did not get permission to paint from landlords. Don't tell them.  Also, Cecile and Patrick, if you are reading this- I'm sorry. But I promise I did a good job and I didn't get any paint on the wood floors.

So cute, yet so taupe.

I swear the color looked worse in person than in these pictures.

And then the painting began!

The painting tripod. Everyone knows this is the most efficient way to paint.

I wasn't painting the bedroom, so it became the receptacle for everything I own. All this.

This is how I feel about my newly painted walls. Like dancing, if you can't tell. I think it was the Charleston.

And the finished product?

Gray > Taupe

Also, I got a new rug since this picture was shot...update to come.

I mentioned there was also blue, right?

So...here ends the first post about my grown up apartment. Which no longer smells like cat pee.

When is a door not a door?

When it's ajar. I don't know, for some reason my parents used to tell that joke a lot. Especially in the car.

Ok, now that I clearly have your roaring in laughter, let's get to the actual point of this post. I recently posted new pictures of my repainted room, and was so proud to get so much nice feedback! I really love it, and of course that is what matters the most, since I am the one who lives in this space, but I still love so much hearing that my friends and family love it, too!

But there was something a few of you may have noticed in the pictures... Why didn't I paint the closet door? The trim around it is painted bright white, but the door itself is a dingy off white. Not a great look!

Well, I didn't bother painting that door for 2 reasons:
1. Painting doors is a task I find particularly annoying for some reason.
2. I was considering removing it all together.

Why remove the door?

Well, it went to a closet, so a sound and privacy barrier between my room and the closet wasn't much of a concern. Also, in such a small room (can you tell from the pictures that this room is SMALL?) the door really got in the way. It couldn't open all the way without hitting the dresser, and when it was left open (which I would do occasionally when I was in the process of getting ready for the day and needed to go in and out of the closet a bunch- the closet is not only where I keep my clothes but also my jewlery and make up) it constantly seemed to be in my way!

So I took it out. On my own (why am I bragging about this?). And hid it behind the BILLY bookshelf from ikea that I use in my closet to organize my shoes, make up, and jewlery. Bye bye, door.


Hello pretty, geometric curtain.

I really love the pattern on the curtain on its own, but I am not 100% sure it belongs in the room- too busy?
Either way I do really like no longer having a door there to get in my way...

I am considering taking down some pictures (they will maybe find new homes in another room?) and removing some of the cute stuff that starts to look like clutter. I am thinking if I make the rest of the room a bit more minimal, the pattern on the curtain won't overwhelm. It sure is hard having a small space like this to myself- given that the rest of the house was already decorated by my roommates before I moved in, much of the stuff I love ends up crammed in here!

What do you think- should I declutter (even the things I really like) to make the curtain I love work better? Or should I save the curtain for a future project and buy one with a more simple look to not overwhelm the space? Maybe just replacing the night stand with something plain and white that would draw very little attention to itself would do the trick? HELP ME!

In case you are wondering, the curtain is from Urban outfitters, and is currently on clearance.

A fresh coat of paint

 When I first moved in, I painted my room a shade of green I thought would look fun and bright. The truth? As much as I tried, I never quite liked how the shade came out.

Luckily, paint color is pretty easy to change over and over...You just need to buy some paint and set aside some time.

So now my room is a soothing light grey that I like a lot more!

As you can see in the picture above, I also painted the bedframe (which was an upcoming project I mentioned in a previous post) and moved around some art work. 

Additionally, I settled for a color to paint my "hello" sign that was previously above the bed- it was one of the items that ended up getting switched around, and ended up on the wall opposite the bed, above my record player.

I love how the colorful items in the room now really stand out against the soothing neutral background. Success!

Oh, and by the way, did anyone notice the arrival of yet another terrarium on my desk? I'm telling you I have a problem. 

I made that one recently with a fish bowl found at goodwill (for about $3), some gravel and soil I had left over from my last potting project, and some native plants I grabbed up from my driveway.  Then I added a couple plastic dinosaurs (I have a bunch hanging around since my local bar puts them in their cocktails!)

I also made this little one for our living room. It's full of moss and other local greenery, once again picked straight off the cement of my driveway, and once again inhabited by some plastic toys from the bar. Portland's wet weather means there is no lack of moss and greenery anywhere you look- including right on the cement of the driveway!

I really do have a problem, don't I? I may have already bought several more glass containers that are just waiting for their shot at terrarium status...Do you have a terrarium problem like I do? Can we start a support group?

Also, what do you think of the new paint color? Have you ever painted a room in a color you thought you would like, but ultimately couldn't stand? What did you do about it? 

Hey, good looking.

Hey, good looking. Hey.

Sorry, you know, just crooning in the general direction of my sweet new vintage dresser. It's totally normal behavior. Maybe.

This was a craigslist find. I love finding just the thing on craigslist, it is bound to be such an adventure. So, after I saw this guy on the furniture classifieds on craigslist, I immediately messaged its owner, asking for dimensions and subtly hinting at my deep, deep love for the vintage, chippy dresser she posted. 

Craigslit can be daunting, I have to admit probably 4 times of out 5 when I have messaged about an item I saw posted there, I learn that the item is already gone/arranged for. It's always a bummer.

But this time, I lucked out! And the dimensions were just right to fit in my space. 

The only problem? It was located out in Vancouver, Washington, and was um, a little large to take home on my bike. :)

But, I got help. 

Hey there.

Ok, that's all. 

Hello!

Occasionally, especially when I have a paper I really should be writing, I remember that I have a blog. A sad, abandoned blog. I wonder if it is silly to swing by and update a blog that has been abandoned now for months. Surely no one will think to check here. Oh well. Hello, again!

You may recognize from one of the few stray posts I have made since moving to portland, that this picture is actually taken in my bedroom at my new shared house in pretty, green, (and ok, trendy) Northeast Portland.
I just bought that fabulous wood sign from etsy, after filing it away in my favoirtes about two years ago.

*PSSST* Mom and Laura, this is where those etsy gift cards you gave me went! Thank you! I love it!

The seller who made it, Oh Deir Living, offered it in many colors, and I picked "Saffron" hoping that a pop of coral-y orange would really look cheerful there above my bed. The color came a little darker than I imagined, (sometimes its hard when you can't see things in person!) so to make it fit, I am planning on repainting it. I am testing out some colors to see what I like best with my grellow-y avacado walls.

Opinions, anyone? This photo does an imperfect job of showing the colors accurately, they are truer in the picture below. I like the pink more than I thought I would. Also digging the light orange tone I made by mixing the pink with a little of that yellow. I just bought a few color samples from the hardware store, and am planning to mix up the perfect tone.

There are a few other things I should mention about this particular part of my room pictured.

The first, is that a bigger project I am planning to attend to is painting that metal headboard. The ivory tone is just too similar to my wal color. I am thinking a light blue, possibly Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze, which I have a few cans of.

The next thing I want to point out is my little night stand. I needed something tiny. For a long time I could find nothing that would fit that little space. A lucky day at the thrift shops (and a suggestion from a friend) helped on that front.

 In order not to block the closet door I had to find a night stand no wider than 13", which proved to be a really hard feat! Luckily, one day I recieved a text from a friend with a picture of these 3 little end tables at a thrift shop:

They were 12" square, with really pretty wood. Sold as a set, for $40. It was 3 times as many little tables as I needed at the time, but I decided it was worth it.  So I picked them up. On its own, one of those tables was just too low to make a useful bedside table. And it lacked any sort of little drawer- where would I stash my emergency chocolate?

Luckily, the thirft store next door to the one where I purchased the tables held a good solution. A discontinued box of drawers from ikea. exactly as wide as the table.

I liked that the box was not as deep as the table, so it creates a ledge to place a couple things like glasses or my cell phone. But obiously the two drastically different wood tones didn't look quite right. I wanted the box to look integrated into the table, creating the look of one piece of furniture. 

I love wood stain.

Not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good. And it fits that tiny space! And my emergency chocolate!

Well since I abandoned this blog for so long (but didn't abandon my hobbies I usually blog about!) I have a lot of little changes and projects still to share here. I even took the pictures already. But to keep this from turning novel length, I'll end this post here. You can look forward to future posts that show: what I did with the two remaining end tables, my awesome vintage dresser craigslist score, some new etsy artwork, and how I organized all my jewlery. 

Anyways...Any color suggestions for me for my awesome "Hello" sign? I know blue or sea foam may seem like the obvious choices, but I am planning to paint the headboard below it that color. Of the swatches I painted, do any stand out to you? Other ideas?

New Home

After a long, and sort of terrifying home search when I moved out here (the rental market is intense in this city- so many newcomers into a fairly small city will do that I guess- openings are scarce) I finally found a home! It's in a shared house in NE Portland, where I was lucky enough to interview with and be picked by some very friendly and welcoming housemates. Wooo!

It was actually a pretty overwhelming process, which made me realize how lucky I am to have so many supportive people in my life- from my cousins who were so gracious to let me stay with them during the whole ordeal, to my friends and family back in Boston who put up with my long phone calls while I worried aloud that I might never find the right place.

But, about a month ago, it all fell into place, and I moved in to my new home. I got to work setting up my new space, painting, and unpacking. My new room is sort of small, sort of oddly shaped, and full of character. I have already done a lot to make the space my own, but still have a few future projects in mind.

Want a little peek? I may show other parts of the house later on, but for now, here is a little before and after of my bedroom:

Before

Before

And a few pictures of the room as it is now- with a new paint color (Benjamin Moore's Pale Avacado) and furnished with some simple inexpensive white furniture, and my assorted vintage finds. I wanted the space to be light and cheery, with plenty of character.

Vintage desk lamp, school chair and eames shell chair 

A home for my record player, aloe plant, and a sweet ceramic elephant I just had to own from fab.com

I'm loving this vintage blue GE fan...still works wonderfully

So far I am keeping the bedding simple- all white.

I installed a new overhead light from Ikea 

A little view of  Portland in Autumn out my window

There are still a few things I want to do in here, such as take care of a project relating to the rug (more on that later) and figure out some form of window treatment. For now, I hope you enjoyed the little peak at my new spot in the world!

A Soothing Modern Living Room Mood Board

I am currently in the process of helping a friend design and style the interior of his new home. It's a particularly exciting experience as he is starting from scratch, with no furniture but a mattress coming over from his previous apartment. He sought my advice about what items to get, and how to pull everything together.

After much shopping together, online and in store, the living room is starting to take shape.

He wants a soothing, modern and professional looking space in which he can relax as well as entertain friends and clients. We share a love of modern furniture items with clean lines and mid-century influenced design, so working together was a breeze!

I'll be sure to update more as things continue to move along, but for now, here is the mood board I created:

Rob's living room by hannahjacklyn on polyvore.com

Refridgeration Blues

My first DIY project ever posted on this blog has left the building. What seems like ages ago I covered our sad old fridge in patterned contact paper. Because I am a crazy person.

   You can view that original post here.

The fridge later stopped working properly (unrelated to the contact paper, promise) and gladly we are now getting a replacement (after nearly 6 months of badgering the management, but that's another story.)


Can I just say, that as happy as I am to now look forward to food that stays cold, fresh, and does not mold by the next day, I am also just a tiny bit sad at the sight of my first home DIY project leaving the building?