Apartment Sweet Apartment

If you are pining for the good old days in the '80s, you will LOVE our apartment.  Hopefully the "after" pictures are better than the "before", but only you can be the judge of that.

Before:

Two of the four wall decorations in the whole apartment 

The third decorator item 

And last but not least

But the message written on the back of the horse picture redeems it: "Sometimes the thing holding you back is all in your head."

More challenges

And more

Don't touch the lampshade on the left....it's hanging on by a thread. Literally!

Too many choices. Please help me decide on the best combination.  (Everything in the next pictures was already in the apartment--except for the sage green pillows pictured below & the Navajo wall hanging):

This?.

How about pillows snitched from the couch?  

Ummmm.....probably not

How does this grab you?

Or this?

Maybe this?

Come on--you're running out of choices!

Every time I visit with one of our neighbors, I inherit some of their hand me downs. I'm not too proud to scrounge, but your dad rolls his eyes whenever I burst through the door with a new find.  I am determined  not to spend money on an apartment with an "eighteen-month lease".

And then there are the storage closets in the basement!  They are better than Goodwill since stuff is FREE! Again, your dad rolls his eyes.  But  I HAVE to decorate consistent with the '80s theme to keep it authentic.

After:

Are you ready?

Fall decor on tables, leaf garland on the balcony railing, and picture frame courtesy of the downstairs storage closets. Picture of Christ purchased from the neighborhood LDS bookstore: "This Is The Place".  Notice the lovely floral decor on the lamps is missing.  Just turn the lamp around, and there you have it--a new lamp.

Below: Pumpkins courtesy of basement storage room. Wall hanging from our trip to the Grand Canyon in August. Yes, we know, there are too many recliners for even one neighborhood, but we have to work with what we are given.

Below: Washington D.C. Temple picture: courtesy of Sister Plummer. Don't tell, but she kifed it from the basement wall and handed it to me. Family Proclamation picture courtesy of  Sister Bleak.  We brought the Salt Lake Temple picture from Portland.

Below: My favorite basement storage find. I had to pry a gigantic pine cone out of the vase part and replace it with the flowers. I think it's my favorite because it reminds me of Laurel.  She's totally in love with pilgrim figurines.

Below: Table centerpiece courtesy of Sister Bleak. Wall decor courtesy of basement storage.  Mirror original to the apartment.

Below: Cute bowls and "Home Sweet Home" plate found after digging through the kitchen cabinets. The small table used to be my nightstand until Sister Bruggeman donated an end table to the cause, which has become my current nightstand.

Below: The picture is pretty garish, but the frame has possibilities, anyway by 1980 standards.

  

Not too bad, is it?  The frame, silly!

The below ensemble is my pick. It was created by putting two black twin sheets together to make a bed skirt.  The black shams are the couch cushions covered with the black pillow cases which go with the black twin sheets. Pretty racy, if you ask me!

Below: Picture courtesy of Sister Payne.

Below: Picture courtesy of Sister Bleak. Flower arrangement and picture frame courtesy of downstairs storage. Cute family courtesy of cute family!

The remaining rooms:

Below: Flower arrangement courtesy of Sister Bleak -- I think.  I forget.

So there you have it.  Approximately twenty trips to the basement storage units and many visits to neighbors later, we feel like it's home.  I know I've spent too much time focusing on decorating, but with the temple closed, what else am I supposed to do?

Problem is, I will have to start decorating from scratch when fall is over.  I have already hoarded a few Christmas items, but so have other sisters, so I don't feel too selfish.

I almost forgot to show the front door decor.  It changes daily.