Abracadabra!

Abracadabra… Don't you think it's the perfect name? The perfect name for a top secret apartment makeover! Mono went away on a business trip and while he was gone, I went to his apartment and gave it a makeover. A much needed one. :)

First, let me tell you what the apartment was like before. His apartment is one large main room, a kitchen with enough room for a large table, a living room and a sitting area, or whatever you want to use it for. There is a large bathroom and two bedrooms. So it is a pretty good size place. But everything was cream, no color at all. The walls were cream, the carpeting cream, the slip covers on the couch… The only color came from the wood of the cabinets and furniture, and the floors in the bathroom and kitchen. So with no color, no real style to it, I knew a makeover was needed. Sneaky girl I was. ;)

Now the apartment has really come together. I had a vague idea of the color I wanted for the walls, a bluish-gray, but I didn't have anything specific so the morning after he was gone and I knew the coast was clear, I drove over to Lowes to check out my color choices. I ended up finding a color called Abracadabra, which is a bluish-gray, like I was envisioning. It turns out it is a little bluer than I was hoping for, but I think it looks nice. So I got right to painting on Monday and spent the entire day cleaning molding and moving furniture, laying drop cloths, etc… I ended around 5:30 on Monday night (it was getting too dark in there to keep painting) and got right back to it on Tuesday morning. I didn't leave until I was finished. On Wednesday I went out to buy my accessories. I figured whatever I could find that day would work, and if I didn't find anything, then I would just have to make do. I had a pretty decent list of things to get, while staying in my budget ($200-$250).

List:
Paint
Fabric for curtains in the den, kitchen and bathroom
Black wooden picture frames (specifically one long one over the sofa)
Lamp
Coffee table
New dish drain board
New dish towels
New dish soap dispenser
Placemats
Piece (maybe a bowl) for the center of the kitchen table
Baskets for storage in the kitchen
Something large to hang on the kitchen wall
Piece for the coffee table (maybe a small dish or something)
Pillows for the couch and sofa

I had already gotten the paint, but everything else still needed to be bought… and found first!! I only had to stop in one place to find the perfect plaid fabric for the 4 windows in the main area, and a stripe for the bathroom. Each pattern and color goes perfectly in the rooms. I found a nice, 5 opening, long black frame to go over the sofa and filled it with black and white pictures of our families. I found a very nice lamp, coffee table (a little higher for my budget, but I looked everywhere - even the second hand stores locally), and two blue pillows for the couch. I had wanted more and a different variety, but my budget kept flashing in my mind! ;) I bought a new black, wire dish drain board, round blue place mats and two new dish towels. I skipped out on the baskets for storage for now as well as something to hand on the kitchen wall. I found a really nice bowl for the kitchen table and a set of black and white, tall mugs and 4 small plates of the Eiffel Tower drawn on it for the coffee table.

So shopping was Wednesday and Thursday was making the curtains and putting everything together…and then of course, the unveiling when he got home! I was so excited and I couldn't wait for him to see it. I was not sure what he would really think. I knew he wouldn't hate it, but I wasn't sure what his reaction would be… It was SO worth all the time and work! :) He loves it! And I had a lot of fun! :) I wish I could do this stuff more often. I can't wait until I have an entire house of my own to do this to one day. :) How much fun!!