Walled In

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We are going to close on the Artist Bungalow any day now. Yesterday John and I looked inside the Artist Bungalow to confirm that the renters completely moved out. The Bungalow is empty, just waiting for us. We have a list of house projects to complete before officially moving in. I am sure our list will grow once we get back inside the Artist Bungalow and see what everything looks like empty.

One of the first major projects is to paint. Some of the rooms are painted colors I don't particularly love, others are too dark for the small space, and others could just use a fresh look. Wallpaper has been on my mind lately. I have actually toyed with the idea of hanging wallpaper. I don't have my finger exactly on the pulse of home design, but I know wallpaper is a fad of a few decades ago. I feel like we may see it come back in style here soon, though. I have seen so many neat wallpaper designs. After tossing around the idea of committing to wallpaper I decided that I don't have the time or emotional energy to hang wallpaper well right now. My alternative has been to try my hand at stenciling. Stenciling is a commitment but less so than wallpaper.

Here are some fun finds from Etsy. Thoughts?

I Want the Pits

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I have less than a week left of maternity leave and we are about to close on the Artist Bungalow. This is kind of chaotic timing. I am trying to strategize packing and the decor for the Artist Bungalow before returning to work next week. Strategizing basically means I have been browsing Pinterest, IKEA, and various design websites. Very productive, yes. I have yet to put anything into a box. I actually don't have any boxes yet; if only looking around the Internet would produce packed and labeled boxes.

In one of my searches I came across an article about conversation pits. Growing up, my friend's house had a conversation pit. Even though as a child I did not fully understand the concept of retro, I knew her house was a throw-back. It was so fun, yet bizarre, to walk along the top of the couch. I always wondered if anyone ever accidently fell into the pit. My friend's brother was a sleep-walker. For this reason I believed the pit was a major liability, and I was shocked by how indifferent my friend's parents felt about the subject. Liabilities aside, I do find conversation pits endearing. I doubt I will ever have one, but I would love to go to a house with a cozy conversation pit. For some reason I feel like conversation pits are probably only found in Southern California or South Florida these days. I secretly hope the pits make a comeback.

What are your thoughts about conversation pits? Doesn't this one look so comfy?

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Furniture Finds

I have been MIA for the past couple of days. The days quickly slip past me, especially since I am coming to the end of my maternity leave. Also, anytime the weather is as nice (and so strange... 75 and sunny in February?) it's hard to stay inside long enough to post something.

Yesterday John and I officially put in an offer on the little "Artist Bungalow" around the corner from us. I am still shocked that I am in the stage of life where "putting an offer on a house" if part of my dialogue. If everything goes through with the Artist Bungalow it will be very exciting. I am happy that our first home will be one that is small and creative. Our goal is to always stay small. I never want to have a house that I am forced to buy more furniture in order to fill it.

Since the Artist Bungalow is on the smaller size, we have to be very deliberate with our furniture and decor. This is a fun challenge. Today I bought a fun couch. We found it on Craigslist. Since John was at work Lucy and I had to go alone. I know, I know, never go on Craigslist ads alone. I was somewhat freakish about planning my escape if the seller turned out to be a wacko. I spoke with the dude who was selling the couch yesterday on the phone, and I made sure to make some small talk so I could find out more background information, just in case John needed to report things to the police. Even while I was looking at the couch I kept prodding for more information. Now I know where dude graduated from, where he works, and that he is having a hard time maintaining his saltwater fish tank. The fish tank conversation was more out of curiosity, but who knows, maybe it could be useful information. As I was gathering some hard facts I realized that if homeboy decided to kill me it would all be useless, given the fact that I would be dead. In the end, though, the seller turned out to be a stand-up guy who has unfortunately accumulated too many couches to fit in his townhouse. He's a banker, but not super attached to money. I talked him down to $65 for this comfy couch.

Now all we need is to move into the Artist Bungalow.

The lighter marks are actually stripe designs. I am guessing this gem was designed in the very early 80s.