It’s been one of those weeks where it seems like every day is just bleeding into the last, a cycle of streetcar/desk/streetcar/couch/streetcar/desk/streetcar/couch that has been just wearing me out. In fact, it seems like life has been so large and so small all at the same time lately, and so I decided to get out of my head and just paint. The design is based upon a popular Kathie Winkle pattern, kind of interpreted in a folk/Concentric-circles-Kandinsky style, all freehand.

I think for the next step I’ll add more thick line patterns around each side and up and down the legs. Afterwards I think I’ll add white in the unpainted sections, as a sort of “negative” paint, which should dry pretty transparently and show the wood grain too.

The table is just an old IKEA table I’ve had for a while that I’ve always been meaning to stain a nice dark brown… looks like it won’t be matching my custom Horse fabric chairs anymore! Unless I maybe paint those white… nah.

But I have to admit, our tree looks wicked with the black garland, and assorted black bulbs. Especially since instead of an Angel with have T-Rex popping out there on top (I’m going in with a “not-sacrilegious” conviction on that one). We added some boughs and pine cones to the decorations around the window, along with our light-up cross from Value Village.  My wrapping is done, and my Christmas cards are mostly in the mail. Can I take my holidays yet? Please?

Besides keeping my wife from buying up the entire store, my usual IKEA ritual is to grab at least one bag of DAIM candy once we’ve finished up our shopping trip. Sure, sometimes I’ll try to avoid them, but their bright red wrapping calls me like a moth to a flame. Now, I’ll admit, Daim basically a Swedish Skor bar, but it’s smoother, and somehow more amazing. You always start by unwrapping the crackling red wrapper, then you get that first, soft, chocolate outer layer, and then you crunch into that crunchy toffee layer — it’s a satisfying experience. Good thing I don’t drive, or I’d be tempted to just make weekly trips up to IKEA for cheap meatballs and candy. Lots and lots of candy.

But if you ever find yourself getting a BILLY bookcase or EXPEDIT for whatever reason, please grab me a bag. Or two. Or three. Because Halloween is coming or something like that.

(Photo by Ian Muttoo)

One find that we’ve been experimenting with is are these metal boxes, which were previously used as clothing storage for swimmers. They’re very industrial/locker-y, and up close are barely rusted up, but very aged. It appears they were made by a company called “Lyon,” and come with a loop of string and a brass tag to keep track of their “numbers.” We grabbed eight of them from “Smash” and are still figuring out where to go.

They look alright on the METRO, but I still think we need to add some kind of back covering or something else to the unit to make it really gel in the bedroom. However, I love the way they fit in the expedit, and I’m tempted to move out some more books to get a couple more shelves in there.

The next big storage project we need to take on next is the music gear. So far we’ve got a couple hangers, but we really need to find some kind of big storage shelf to hold all the misc. stuff like pedals, drum machines and more. Pass them along if you have any ideas!

With this challenge, I often find myself inspired by the great Toronto design blog, KITKA, who are always making me jealous of their amazing vintage finds and their ongoing danish-inspired cottage renovation. They’re always spying on great trends and designs, and I can’t recommend visiting their site enough!

With that said, one of the recent updates we made to our apartment was finally clearing away all the black IKEA storage boxes out of our windowsill, which were great for privacy, but kept out too much natural light. Instead, we re-potted a combination plant that our friend Amanda gave us earlier this year which we’ve successfully kept alive for many months. We put them in this trio of clay planters that we found by chance at Canadian Tire while hunting for a replacement air filter (in our little apartment, we go through them a lot).

One of the techniques we’ve used in the past for decorating our apartment is using simple, bold coloured items to bring some eye-catching detail to our pad, and attract attention to the bright objects instead of our seas of beige walls.

I’ve always loved royal blue (black is still my favourite colour… even if it technically isn’t one), and after spotting this painted lawn chair outside a Leslieville antique store, I was inspired to keep my eye out for something along these lines.  Our clay pots work exactly the way as the blue chair, and really give a sense of vibrancy to the green of the plant and the sun-soaked concrete that lies outside our window.

Stay tuned for more post about interior design ideas for little apartments, and if you have any design blogs that I should add to my Google Reader, please pass them on!