I haven’t posted my own home tour because I hate the idea of showing ya’ll one of the (many) unfinished rooms in my apartment. The problem is: I’ll probably move out before I ever actually “finish” a room the way I envision. Sigh. The truth hurts.

So instead let’s call this the evolution of my living room. I’m always adding pieces and moving things around, the design equation continually changes.

These are pictures of my  living room as it was for most of the winter.

The chest against the bird wallpaper wall was a cast-off from my friend MK, which I covered in butcher’s wax, painted a bright turquoise, then rubbed away some of the paint to make the piece look a little older. The original plan was to add feet and change the hardware but… then came Spring.

So here’s where we are now.

You might remember the fire extinguisher is a Sentimental Salvage. The framed piece above the couch was a poster I got for free outside a concert by my favorite band, The National.

One night my roommate said that we needed a fireplace. Aiming to please, I stripped and painted an old white shelf (that I stole from my brother’s NC bedroom), repainted it a glossy black and flipped it on it’s side to make a “faux” mantel.

BC doesn’t get this concept. Neither does Pete. They both realize it’s best to just humor me.

The repurposed medicine cabinet mirror (found by my friend Meredith on the streets of the Lower East Side) that was on that turq chest in those winter pictures was set behind the middle column of the mantel.

I filled the three vertical spaces with books because I have yet to build the wall of salvaged wood shelves to the right of this wallpapered space. But for the time being that space is filled with whatever I could find that could be hung on the wall! The leaf print was a handmade birthday gift and the gold mirror is “salvaged” from my mom’s house (eventually I’ll move it to the gray wall where I think it will really pop). The chicken wire frame I made at 3am one Friday night…

Ah… the chair was purchased at a delightful antique shop in Soho which has since closed. I couldn’t afford it but was totally in love. So I held my breath, handed over my credit card, placed the chair in the back of a cab, and I’ve not regretted it for a moment.

Looking down the hall into the living room. What’s that you see?

It’s my new clogs from Holland, purchased at the Elephant Flea!

OK truthfully -

Is it ridiculous to hang shoes on a wall by the front door?

And what do you think of the faux mantel?