but i took pictures of my flowers in the days before the fire and flood

and the best flowers are the ones given by a friend..

armageddon in our apartment....

First fire, then water.
A fire broke out in the apartment next to ours yesterday, around 3:30. We're told it originated from an outlet--no word on whether or not the outlet had too many things plugged into it or not, either way, I'm fairly sure that an outlet that's up to fire code would trip before bursting into flames.
My boyfriend (we'll call him Mr. saves the day), heard our neighbor's smoke alarm, smelled smoke in the hallway and called 911. I was obliviously off at a friend's house, helping her paint her hallway at the time.
So the sprinklers in our neighbor's apartment are set off, the fire department comes and has to hose down the fire in her place, and then our apartment floods.
And we were the lucky ones...
It's not terrible...our place is smelly (think smoke and burnt plastic), and our floors are now dry but sticky (it's not like the water that flowed into our place, bringing bits of charred material from the adjoining apartment, was clean) and they may have to tear out our baseboards...but i'm trying to see the bright side of it.
With the exception of a couple of rugs that are ruined and our cats' fragile mental states, nothing was permanently damaged (though we haven't plugged anything in our entertainment center back in yet.)

On the very bright side, our stuff is relatively fine, our place isn't ruined (like our poor neighbor's) and the bedroom I'm doing the Cure on is completely normal.

Here's Mr. Saves the day wet-vac-ing individual Flor tiles...

























And here's us resting (and me drinking) in our furniture pile-up...

week 3...

I just finished reading the chapter for week 3 in the book...and I think I should put a critical eye to my style tray once more. I think I'm one of the people who tends to try to inject too much color, in varying families, into one room. I love color, I love picking it out, and seeing what looks good together, and while my colors go well together, I think I'm losing my room's peace. I have good cool neutrals, with blue and grey, but then my additions of brighter (and warmer) colors (red, mustard and pink) may throw the balance off and make my room feel too unsettled. After all, I am looking for peace and better sleep.
I don't want my room to lose its eclectic feel, but I also don't want it to be too stimulating. I think I may find a chair fabric in the same line as the yellow/grey one that is blue and grey, maybe the editing of that will help bring the room back to a cooler balance. The brights are mostly being incorporated in prints on the wall, which won't be huge. I should probably reconsider those red lamp shades too...
New style tray coming soon (oof).

one of my biggest challenges (and worries)...the CHAIR

I've had this chair for a very long time. I've gone through phases of thinking I should get rid of it. I 've also spent ridiculous amounts of time scouring every fabric website I know of to try to find that perfect fabric to make it wonderful. I gave up on finding "perfect" because I simply couldn't decide. I think this fabric will work...and hopefully withstand time. Am I crazy to pair this with my room color? I know it's a little kooky, but is it in a good way? If I have this in my room, with a decent amount of other gray things (pillows, rug, carpet) and a white bed, will I still be achieving the 80:20 principle outlined in Maxwell's book?

style tray...v. 2.0

Here is my updated style tray. I made some edits (based on budget) and shifted some of my color focuses. I realized I shouldn't use tons of red with this blue...just tiny hints (like the inspiration image). I want it to be cohesive but also not too "matchy" looking. What do you think? Did I achieve a delicate balance of eclectic style while still maintaining a cohesive look that has harmony? I usually have to restrain myself from trying to mix too many ideas at once (and then I water it down an use none of them)...I'm hoping I kept my vision and voice here without losing focus...I tried to be brave without going overboard.

week 2 (1/7) update

I finally sat down and put my room on paper and then made a new virtual floor plan. I moved my little digital furniture around for so long that after a while, I didn't know if I was improving the room or making it worse. I have trouble figuring out the "flow" of a room on my own. When I look at the diagrams in the book, they make sense and I understand the concept, but applying it to my own room is another story. With every layout I tried, I still always saw the flow stopping and pooling in the middle of the room. How can flow meander when your room has such limited space (and i know my room isn't nearly as small as some people's and yet they still make theirs work.)
I'm not sure if I achieved proper flow with this layout or not...and the only other way I saw to improve it was to remove some furniture, and if I do that, I don't know that the room can serve all the purposes I want it to.
Here's the new floor plan....does it work, or is it all wrong?

week 2 update....1

I'm feeling a bit behind this week...I've been making some progress with my style tray and I've mapped out my room (as is) on paper, but i haven't edited down my style tray ideas or rearranged my room digitally. I'm going to map out my room with a program today and post it later, along with a newly updated style tray.

Here's my to do list for the rest of week 2:
1. use floor plan tool to map out room and find a new solution
2. set a budget (that's going to be deflating, i think)
3. name the vision.... right now I'm leaning toward "Inspiring Peace and Direction"
4. build a shopping list
5. work on style tray, edit, revise, solidify room's look
6. add more things to outbox.

I feel like "Inspiring peace and direction" sounds a little cheesy, but it describes everything I want for this room. I'm not sleeping well, so I'm hoping to have a room that is restful and therefore instills peace (which will in-turn help with my chronic headaches.)
The "inspiring" and "direction" come into play because I want to be more creative on my own time...I spend a lot of time at work, creating other people's visions and after several years of doing that, I find that when i have a moment or an opportunity to create something for myself, my creativity is bone dry...like its been sucked out of me while constantly working on other people's creative visions.
This year is (hopefully) going to include a lot of changes in direction for me...not hopefully...It IS going to include a lot of changes in direction for me, and that change is going to require creativity and inspiration and a good night's rest or two...
So there it is, "Inspiring peace and direction" is my vision for the room.

style tray v. 1

week 1 update

So I sat in our room while I read the Apartment Therapy book (I figured that sitting with the "problem" would help me focus) this past weekend, and I have to admit that the more I sat there, the more anxious I became. I was thinking about the comments people have left on my flickr page about how to possibly rearrange the room and my head started spinning with the possibilities and subsequent issues...moving certain things into my closet would mean having to deal with my closet more, and dealing with my closet meant dealing with the bathroom....
I was suddenly really anxious about the prospect of having to do an "upstairs cure" rather than just one room.
I sat and read into week 2 and I felt better. I realized that, while I will have to make some adjustments to my closet and bathroom to help my bedroom reach it's goals, I don't have to know how it's all going to work right now. I have a tendency to get stalled by worrying about the end result rather than the steps ahead.

week 1 done list:
vacuumed room
removed sheets, bought and washed new sheets (organic cotton and bamboo blend)
washed duvet cover
vacuumed mattress
put on new sheets
dusted furniture
polished wood furniture
sat silently in room for (more than) 10 minutes
bought fresh flowers
completed Apartment Therapy "interview" in book

Apartment Therapy Spring Cure

so I've decided to embark on Apartment Therapy's spring cure. I'll be posting my progress, to do lists, etc. here...feedback and comments are welcome!