When I purchased our condo in 2010, like many first time buyers, my money went towards my down payment and some renovations. At the time, there wasn't much left over for furniture but I was tired of the furniture I'd used during my years of renting and I wanted something a little more gown up and... me.
With Corey still in university, we were shopping on one income: That's when our love of Craigslist began and since we had style but not much money to spare, (after gutting our kitchen and replacing the floors) we made a game of finding unique and well made (sometimes designer) pieces and trying to work them into some kind of cohesive theme. My cousin founded an amazing home décor blog called StyleNorth. I remember reading at the time that he had a large orange flokati rug in his living room. It was so shaggy and different that I couldn't help thinking that it would be a great piece to work my room around. I browsed Craigslist for weeks and the odd one came up but they were usually too expensive or not colourful at all. Finally one day, we found this cute little red number and the seller explained that it had been a gift from her in-laws when they travelled to Greece but she had never cared for it.
From there, we found two glass coffee tables, which allow more floor to be visible and keep our space feeling open and airy, as well as a fabulous retro chrome lamp (which we now love after hours of polishing), vintage chairs, some old bowling lanes which we made into an entrance bench and a table for my office as well as a large painting which I painted myself. The eclectic style allowed us to display some personal keepsakes such as a large Trilobite fossil and soapstone carving from my grandmother and an old suzani I've always loved. It was so nice to be able to display these items without worrying about whether they match the room.We ended up furnishing most of our home that way and we now have fabulous vintage hanging lamps, a church pew in the dining room and many other treasures. We kept our walls light so that we could display our art without worrying about the wall colour detracting however, I think we may be a little more adventurous in our next home.
Apartment Therapy's "Room for Color" contest is one of my best sources of inspiration for my home and we are honoured to be featured this year. Check out our entry and make sure you vote!
