YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Decorating the apt.

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Decorating the apt. https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:41:30 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301446 Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:28:42 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2301446@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thanks ST. The kente is on a chair, has been there since before my son was born. If I need to get it reupholstered, I’ll probably do something different. We are a long way off from the big reveal, but I hope to be able to show first steps in a couple weeks. Anonymous on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301379 Wed, 11 Jan 2023 18:35:20 +0000 Anonymous 2301379@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Looking forward to the Big Reveal Check Etsy for the fabrics, I've seen kente cloth on there. Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301308 Wed, 11 Jan 2023 14:30:05 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2301308@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Coming down from the designer fabric fever dream, I recall I have a piece of fabric I purchased in Dar es Salaam that is just the somber colors I want in that room. I had it on the wall above the daybed/couch (stuck there with starch) in Tampa. It doesn’t tie the kente chair in, but I’m not going to worry about that just yet. Might recover that chair anyway SarahD8 on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301217 Wed, 11 Jan 2023 02:16:59 +0000 SarahD8 2301217@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ You can find a lot of his prints/fabrics through svenskt tenn. def a splurgy cushion cover fabric in my world! Funny, he seems to have designed a print called “Dixieland” Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301213 Wed, 11 Jan 2023 01:49:28 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2301213@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ CJH, thank you for inserting reality there! Now I see why, in the notes I’ve kept for years about how I would like to decorate my place, I said to use wallpaper with his design in a very small space, or in a frame! So I am recalculating. Samples are not expensive, but they are very small. I wonder how big an impact 1 m (x130 cm) would make…. Maybe I could make a flat blind of dark green fabric (raw silk?) around that piece of his fabric, like a frame? Or use it for a valance, above a fairly plain blind? The window is 109” wide x 56” high. cjh on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301193 Wed, 11 Jan 2023 00:56:01 +0000 cjh 2301193@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Not an expert on Frank but a quick search turned up only truly expensive examples. How about trying something like this? <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.hancocks-paducah.com/Free-Spirit-Fabrics-Treasure-Island-by-Snow-Leopard-Designs-Philip-Jacobs-Tropical-Leaves-Aqua?quantity=1&custcol_tt_itemoption_decimals=1">https://www.hancocks-paducah.c.....ns-Philip-</a> Free Spirit, Kaffe Fassett, Alexander Henry, Anna Marie Horner are fabric designers or lines which have big bold prints, botanicals and animals, lots of whimsy, maybe what you’re looking for. Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301108 Tue, 10 Jan 2023 21:11:46 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2301108@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Trying to find fabric in my favorite print by Josef Frank, I came across this quote which is pretty much exactly my way of thinking about my wardrobe. Josef Frank, the Austrian-born Swedish architect and designer, never believed that a house was a machine for living. “It doesn’t matter if you mix old and new, or different styles, colors, and patterns,” he advised in 1958. “The things you like will always blend, by themselves, into a peaceful whole.” <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/josef-frank-fabrics/amp" rel="nofollow">https://www.architecturaldiges.....abrics/amp</a> The print is animals on a dark green background. I think it’d be a great shade for the windows in the study, and then I wouldn’t mess with wallpaper! ***Can anyone help me find Joseph Frank fabrics?*** I can’t recall the name of the print I’m looking for, but could certainly choose another. It needs to coexist in the room with the kente chair (on the other side of the room) in a darker room heavily influenced by dark green (bankers green?) and adjacent to the lighter room with the floaty curtains in pastels and brights (<a href="https://poshmark.com/listing/Curtain-Set-of-2-panels-white-with-gray-stars-ikea-5fa5679929e69877ada4d15c?utm_source=gdm_home&utm_campaign=13175633477&campaign_id=13175633477&ad_partner=google&gskid=pla-1845498651989&gcid=629201577528&ggid=142023726865&gdid=m&g_network=g&enable_guest_buy_flow=true&gbraid=0AAAAADwcDC-1KL0EAFnfYJmnjGmeu9_FM&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzeSdBhC4ARIsACj36uG3-uMBAZLRfOH-Lhd0MSUcJ7xOIBvWP5F6QYemQ2G8dZir-xtdxq0aApNGEALw_wcB" rel="nofollow">https://poshmark.com/listing/C.....NGEALw_wcB</a>). This is roughly similar to what I want to make, with 3 drawstrings in the middle: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/DriftAway-Woodland-Watercolor-Darkening-Adjustable/dp/B09FWWL554/ref=asc_df_B09FWWL554/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=533109139419&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8749765681101582525&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9060373&hvtargid=pla-1442545485351&psc=1" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/DriftAw.....#038;psc=1</a> Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301104 Tue, 10 Jan 2023 20:56:41 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2301104@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Suz, what inspirational spaces! Funny that you mention an exercise ball, because at the moment that’s the closest to furniture that I have. Suz on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2301081 Tue, 10 Jan 2023 19:36:40 +0000 Suz 2301081@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Terrific that your son will have a dedicated space for visiting. It allows you to set the rest up more to your liking as well.  I actually write from or in a "thinking chair" because I use a laptop and a laptop desk. I don't even have a proper desk at the moment and I don't really miss it.  My office is ground level, garden entry, with a partial overhang from our deck, and I look out a big picture window. I can see the hummingbirds feeding and the deer who visit us. It's the nicest work space I've ever had.  I'm greedy for light and can't bear to work or spend a lot of time in darkness (except for sleep). This room is not the brightest due to the partial overhang, but the size of the windows and the exposure (southwest) and the lighting helps make up for that.  I do Zoom meetings from the built ins, most of the time -- I have a little stool I bring over, or an exercise ball.  Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300990 Tue, 10 Jan 2023 05:17:52 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2300990@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I’m here! Spent much of the day shopping for cleaning supplies, etc. Some discoveries, now that I have time to soak it all in: That huge closet is 4.5’ x 12’. That’s big enough for a twin-sized bed and a desk. It has a small window that opens onto the common stairwell, which has windows to the outside. It’s not a bedroom to live in, but the question of where my son stays when he visits for a few days or even a couple weeks is resolved. He agrees that having a door he can close beats more spacious digs in a room other people walk through. There are other closets: There’s one in the bathroom that should be fine for toiletries & linens, once I get the shelves cleaned off. The bedroom closet is 5’ wide and not deep enough for hangers. Also, the door is 2.5’ wide. Someone has outfitted the closet with planks as shelves. I’ll clean them a bit, cover them with contact paper, and use them. One day I want to get a lingerie chest, but until then, my undies, gym & swim stuff, and pjs will reside in baskets in the side of the closet. The part I can see easily will be for sweaters & shorts, maybe T-shirts, or they might go into baskets in the other recessed areas. The pantry has nasty flooring and filthy shelves, but is nice sized. I might block off part of the door though—the refrigerator really messes up the kitchen. Putting it in the pantry mean I have about 18” to get in and out. I could look for a shallower fridge, but don’t know as I want to put out the $$ for a temp space. The only closet that has non-nasty shelves is the coat closet; I’m taking those shelves out so I can hang my skirts, pants, and maybe some coats there. That leaves me with no space for general “stuff”. I guess I’ll deal with that as it comes. I’m so tempted to focus on the front porch. That’s absolutely silly at this time of year, but this guy and i got to know each other over a summer when we hung out on my front porch every evening, him in a rocking chair, me in a swing. I’d like to see his reaction if I set this one up with identical furniture (but don’t think I will). Unloading was easier because of the porch—I just tossed a lot of things over the railing, or lined them up on the edges, to pick up later from the porch. The kitchen has new floors and stained counters. Judy, yes, if wallpaper then absolutely removable! Unfrumped, there are some framed pictures, etc in the things from Florida, so there will be wall hangings. Angie and Rachylou, Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean—you’re the latter-day version! As Sarah wisely pointed out above, it’s quite easy to experiment now, when I have no furniture. I wandered through a mall of second-hand furniture, etc today, found it heavy on the “etc” and didn’t buy a thing. Jenn, that’s an excellent point about “public” vs more private areas. I don’t want to open my bedroom door to the UPS driver just trying to do their job. Suz, do you have a “thinking chair” near where you write? I’ll have one in the study, but this summer, the porch should be a yummy place to sit. judy on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300952 Tue, 10 Jan 2023 00:26:50 +0000 judy 2300952@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ There is removable wallpaper!  I haven't used it myself but I heard about it on an interior design podcast (The Great Indoors). unfrumped on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300931 Mon, 09 Jan 2023 23:08:54 +0000 unfrumped 2300931@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wallpaper isn’t easily changed; I might stick with paint ( haha) and various forms of art, including textiles, wall hangings, rugs. Angie on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300925 Mon, 09 Jan 2023 22:07:51 +0000 Angie 2300925@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Personally, I need to have a view when I work on my laptop or desktop, so I'd need to look out of the window either from the front or side. AND there would need to be natural light. I could not work in a walled and dark space. I'd make the bedroom the darkest space. Good luck! Lots to think about. rachylou on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300773 Mon, 09 Jan 2023 00:46:10 +0000 rachylou 2300773@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ My only thing is I don’t like having my computer in a room facing the street. Not even an upstairs room. If my study were in the front room, my desk would be against a back wall… Suz on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300759 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 23:57:38 +0000 Suz 2300759@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What Jenn and Sally said --- for me room use would be light and traffic dependent.  Jenn on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300742 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 22:42:18 +0000 Jenn 2300742@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ If your main entrance for guests is the front of the house, it would make sense to me to order your rooms from least to most private/intimate, so living room —> study —> bedroom makes sense to me. Sal on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300736 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 21:58:19 +0000 Sal 2300736@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I think the front room sounds logical for living and work - with the bedroom being darker and cozier (still no fullstop available to me)  I think especially in winter that would work better  I hope you can have fun setting this up for this adventure - and good luck with your male friend! Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300718 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 20:37:49 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2300718@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Embrace the paisley boho! <3 <3 <3 One of my missions in this move, besides the work project, is to restore the joy that cancer robbed from a certain guy last year. Whether our relationship works out & he convinces me to stay or not, I’ve given myself that assignment, hence my relentless upbeat mood during this move. ETA that sounds ridiculously self-sacrificing. Irl, it’s not that extreme. I could indeed schlep the mattress from one room to the next until more stuff arrives. The middle room is likely warmest/most cozy. Hmmmm. If I leave the bedroom in back, then the front room, which gets more light, sounds like the natural home for the light, airy pastels I’m planning for the living room, and the middle room more suited to the study. Thanks for mentioning lighting, Sal. Olive Green, great point about rugs and other ways to up the warmth and the cozy factor. I should at least good insulating curtains for whatever ends up being the bedroom, and window foil for everywhere. Thanks, everybody, for the ideas and enthusiasm. SarahD8 on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300714 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 19:43:15 +0000 SarahD8 2300714@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Exciting times! Maybe this is a more wishy-washy answer than you are looking for, but I guess my advice is to let it evolve as you settle in. You have very little stuff now, more is on the way, and it sounds like you're still on the hunt for some of the pieces you mentioned. So maybe just put things where it seems like they'll work best for now, and switch things up as you see how you live in the space. I mean heck, you could drag your mattress to a different room every night just to experiment with things. Embrace the paisley boho! My more concrete advice based on current, ongoing, drawn-out experience is that wall treatments can be a lot of work! (We are doing an Art Deco stencil in our main floor powder room, so, not temporary wallpaper but...getting everything lined up and so on is A Lot.) I am not sure I would invest a ton of effort in wall treatments that would have to be reversed on move out if I wasn't sure how long I was staying.... Olive Green on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300658 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 12:37:56 +0000 Olive Green 2300658@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Can’t visualize layout, but if this is the North East of USA? As the architecture suggests, its chilly. And the insulation and windows might not be great at keeping it cozy, so the furnishings and wall treatments might help with that. Dark green and the paisley would lend themselves to that, as would substantial curtains and rugs. Sort of English country cozy? Layered? Outrageous florals? Absinthe colours?  In a large urban area that stuff is easy to find at thrift or free cycling groups. And can be given back when moving, if this is temporary.  Congrats on sounding so energized during a transatlantic move, its a lot! Sal on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300640 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 05:07:47 +0000 Sal 2300640@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Exciting times Stag - I think for me the order of the rooms would depend on light and noise - and there might be a trade off in as the front room may have better natural light but have street noise In terms of the bike- I guess your routine and security would be my main concerns  - and if you need to lock the bike or not (my keyboard has stopped doing fullstops and commas whilst I have been away on vacation - my sentences will all have to end with !!!) Hope to sort it soon as it does not look very professional Anonymous on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300593 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 01:01:57 +0000 Anonymous 2300593@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Cool! Decorating is a lot of fun. I like the curtains and armchair fabric. Good luck tomorrow! Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300579 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:37:14 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2300579@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thanks for the ideas, Nikki! I’m pretty sure I want to stay in back, for the reason you mentioned on the other post—it will be quieter back there. I might let me son stay there when he visits, but he won’t be there enough to permanently devote a room to him. Anonymous on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300572 Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:09:12 +0000 Anonymous 2300572@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I am trying to visualize everything, Stag. There is a crafter on YouTube who used the living area as her bedroom and her daughter used the bedroom. It was very functional and cute. The front room might be large enough for your bedroom and office giving you access to front porch. Middle room could be living room with you utilizing the large closet. Enter through back door. Son will have bedroom and easy access to kitchen and living room. Or my visualization is way off I would wait for painting and papering until you get a better feel for the place. Very exciting! Stagiaire Fash on "Decorating the apt." https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/decorating-the-apt#post-2300555 Sat, 07 Jan 2023 23:02:58 +0000 Stagiaire Fash 2300555@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I move in tomorrow, with very little stuff, but more is on the way, and I want to be ready for it. The rooms, front to back, are porch, living room, dining room, bath, bedroom/kitchen. I’d appreciate comments on these decisions to make now: •how to use the living room and dining room? The layout of the front room seems easy peasy for the study, and putting my study/office/library up front so I can step between my desk and the hanging chair (on the porch) without breaking my train of thought makes sense, BUT so does having guests come straight into my living room, with the study further back. When my son visits, he will stay in the living room. If that is the front room, I can use the back door while he visits so I don’t go through “his” room except to get to the porch. •Use the one big closet, which is off the middle room, for clothes, or put a wardrobe in the bedroom and use the closet for “stuff”? There is a storage space in the basement. My plan before seeing the closet included getting a wardrobe (actually, I’d use simple wooden shelves with funky (brocade?) panel curtains). I might put everything in there for now, then set up the shelves/hanging rod/curtains when the rest arrives. •paint the walls of the study/office/library dark green, or wallpaper them, perhaps with the temp paper in the middle of this photo, or simulate a chair rail, with the bottom half the walls green and the top half papered? The walls in the front and middle rooms are fairly broken up by doors & windows, so I might only need 2 rolls of paper if I do the latter. Furnishings for this room will be IKEA Ivar shelves—pine wood stained teak color—full of books, an armchair upholstered with kente cloth very similar to <a href="https://pin.it/6KmGjCr" rel="nofollow">https://pin.it/6KmGjCr</a> , and eventually a large secondhand desk. Overall, it will be a fairly serious “masculine” look (I have massive problems with the values assigned to gender codings, but think they communicate what I mean clearly) •How to keep the living room from looking like a nursery? I like my silly curtains ( <a href="https://pin.it/7GIRz3x" rel="nofollow">https://pin.it/7GIRz3x</a> ) and they were indeed designed for kids’ rooms, but I also want grown men to be comfortable in that room. The plan so far is those curtains, then make ribbon curtains for the other window using the colors from the curtain tabs in pastel and more saturated versions, an accent wall with a huge paisley wall sticker (essentially wall paper) in more saturated shades of the colors from the tabs, a grey couch (the curtains have grey stars on them) with cozy throw blankets and pillows, and a secretary made from an old radio cabinet, where I’ll store bills and similar paperwork. The ceiling fan I’ll hang there is white with some fanciness on it, and I want lamps with crystals that throw rainbows onto the wall and floors. Is that too sweet to bear? •Store my bike in the basement, accessible from the front of the house, or in the entryway in the back? This has implications for traffic flow. For now, I will put simple cafe curtains on the doors to the porch. When my shipment from Germany arrives, if I’m using the front room as a living room/guest room, I’ll move those curtains to the French doors between living room and dining room, and hang my silly tab curtains above the porch doors. If the middle room is the one I’m using for the living room, I’ll leave the simple cafe curtains on the porch doors and hang my curtains between living room and dining room. Also for now, it looks like I’m sleeping on a mattress on the floor until I find a bed online. Reading up on the history of paisley, I learned that it was popular in the 1920s with wealthy young women who considered themselves boho, hanging out in their own scandalous apartments, doing cocaine, Absinth & the such. In the growing pains of its early stages, that might be what the apt will look like—yikes!