Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Design Dilemma {Update}

I've made a little progress on the former wet bar situation in my new condo.




 
 
When we last spoke (here) about this little space it was looking pretty sad. 
 
 
The former owners had taken out the wet bar (see the plumbing?) and put in a sweet makeshift "desk" using a piece of plywood covered with peel-n-stick stainless steel sheeting.  So chic :)
 
The walls were also very yellowish.  You can see my paint samples sitting on the mantel.  Not yellow. 
 
 
Everything has since been removed from that little niche, the walls painted a crisp white (BM Distant Gray) and I bought this little chest that fills the space nicely and provides some great storage.
 
 
(sorry about the crappy iphone photos)
 
 
You guys gave me a lot of great ideas for the space and some of them are still very strong possibilities. But I needed to get the living room sort of finished and this works for now. 
 
 
 
 
 
Many of you suggested shelves...like some rough, natural wood floating shelves like these:
 
 
 
 
 
My {adult} kids voted for a bar like the one below.  Shocker ;)


 
 
 
 
But since the space is right next to my bookcases where there is already a lot going on, I decided that adding shelves so close to the bookcases just wasn't right for me. 
I need clean and simple.
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
I shoot a lot of photos around town...if you follow me on Instagram, you already know this.  These two below are a couple of favorites from the beach at Pacific Palisades and the Hollywood sign on a cloudy day.
I ordered a couple of prints and had some custom mats cut at a local framing shop.
 





 

Far from professional, but I like them and I think they look nice in the space. 



So there you have it. Design dilemma solved for now.
 
 
 
 
 
 


  You know I'm not a designer, so I can't really call it "styling", but I'm always "restyling" (aka changing stuff around) here, so it hardly ever looks the same for very long.  I change my mind a lot....do you?

 
 
 
 
 
 
Hope you're having a great week and as always,
thanks for stopping by.
 
 
#notaprilfools
 
 
xo
 
~Karen~
 

 
 


16 comments:

  1. Hi Karen, I love what you did with it. I love your photography, too. I think personal photos are the best.

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  2. Hi there- I wanted to offer a couple of suggestions for your consideration. If you painted just the back wall of this wet bar space, it would really set off the white chest of drawers and framed photos nicely. Also visually, it would be good to vary the height of the objects on the drawers so I would suggest replacing the candle sticks and putting a tall lamp there instead. I thought this was pretty http://www.pier1.com/Serena-Table-Lamp/2156820,default,pd.html?cgid=table_lamps#cgid=table_lamps&nav=left&start=1 and no, I don't work for Pier One! :)

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  3. I agree....less is more since it is next to the bookcases....a good solution to the problem:)

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  4. This looks really pretty and I love following you on Instagram.

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  5. Clean, unobtrusive and gets the job done. Just how I like my cocktails. ;) (It looks really nice). :)

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  6. I love seeing your photos on Instagram and think they look great here!

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  7. Looks like a great solution! Always nice to find spots for extra storage. I also love that you framed some of your favorite instagrams! Love seeing shots of your city :)

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  8. Karen, I love interesting little niches like this - they add so much character to a house, don't you think? Even though they can be a challenge to style. I like what you've done, your photos are fantastic and the matting is fun. It seems the perfect spot for fresh flowers!!!

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  9. What a pretty transformation and great for extra storage!!

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  10. Looks nice -- you might be interested to know there is a company that manufactures decorative overlays specifically for Ikea furniture. They have something for every line that's made, including yours, which is Malm. They're not inexpensive, but that shouldn't matter as you have only one small dresser......check it out; you'll find it interesting.

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  11. The chest fits perfectly! Looks lovely.

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  12. I love what you did! The dresser fits perfectly!!

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