Parade of Homes

Aside from my workspace, I haven't shown you any pictures of the condo.  I'd been hemming and hawing for a while, trying to decide if it was "ready" for the interwebs--and then I saw A Bowl Full of Lemons Parade of Homes.

That was my motivation to tie up the final loose ends.  Spray paint a few things, re-cover those boxes, get a less hideous desk in my studio... I finished all of it (by the skin of my teeth, but done is done), and now things are officially ready for your eyeballs.

And keeping with the theme of the blog, I'll tell you the great deals I got along the way.

Behold, Casa Ronchetti:

Yep, that's the paper shredder. Keepin' it real.

Let's begin with the dining room.  This "room" is immediately to your right when you walk in the front door.

Not just any Steve Miller record, that's our song!

This pitcher lives on the hutch for a pop of brightness. I scored it at GoodWill for $3.

This is the half-wall between the dining room and kitchen.   The mirror caught my eye at GoodWill because it was already the perfect blue-green color.  Gotta love a bargain you don't even have to paint.

Dishes in the sink, because that's how we roll.

Pretty typical kitchen for a condo.  Small, only one drawer (seriously, who designed that?), and not much counter space.  But I like it.  Having so little storage keeps us from buying a bunch of extra gadgets we don't really need.

Have you noticed what's missing in these first two rooms?  Windows.  This side of the unit is along the hallway.  In fact, there are only three windows in the entire place and two of them are in corners.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Aww, yeah!  Work that florescent light!  These were a wedding gift, and are really the only accessories I have room for with limited real estate.

Here's the first of the three windows... in the corner!  On the other end of that same wall you can see his friend, Mr. Air Conditioner.  There's really not much I can do about those, so let's just ignore them.

This couch is great for napping OR listening to records.

I love the typography map above said couch.  How to avoid a custom frame for a weirdly-sized print: buy a regular frame and have them cut a special mat instead.

You wouldn't think that an entertainment center from Target would take 8 hours to assemble, but it does.

Ready for a close-up: a $6 vintage clock from a garage sale, cups from Anthropologie, and art I made from scrapbook paper.

Moving on to the last room I finished:

You've seen the old workspace, but this is the much-improved version.  The yellow chair was $12 (again, it came that way so I didn't even have to paint it).   Also, how cool is my new storage cabinet?

Here's the other side of the room:

It's a triple-function space: my jewelry studio, the guest room, and a library.  Whew!

The art blocked by the nightstand lamp...

...and the rest of my books. Because I just can't say no.

So there you have it.  Aside from our bedroom and the bathroom (which are nothing to write home about--YET), this is our entire condo.  Two people and a business in 850 square feet.  I hope you enjoyed it.

The next stop on the Bowl Full of Lemons Parade of Homes comes from Nicki at The Vintage Farmhouse.  Her post will be up promptly at midnight, so be sure you click the picture below to get some shabby/French inspiration.  Preview: she has a mirror in her kitchen.  And it's awesome.

And if you want to see the parade from the beginning, start with Toni at House #1: