Cheap Thrills: DIY Design Inspiration

This post is dedicated to Todd Oldham and Amy Sedaris, my two biggest DIY design and craft inspirations. No doubt many of you have noticed the "Back to School" specials are going up in stores everywhere. It's time to squeeze the last bit of fun out of summer as we gear up to get back into the scholastic groove. Personally, I loved going back to school, mostly because of the shopping it entailed. I still run out to the store and load up on notebooks, pens, pencil cases, and colorful paperclips. I still scoff at wide-ruled paper, because really... we're better than that,  people. Beyond the regular back to school supplies, the college crowd has to contend with their housing situation - door room, sorority/fraternity house, new apartment, etc. Setting up a whole new space for yourself somewhere other than your family home can get expensive, but you still want to make it as comfortable as possible - what's a Whoreder to do?! Don't worry, I've got your inspiration springboard right here...

Insta-Collections! with Cavallini & Co.

My all time writer crush Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera collecting butterflies. 

Lepidopterists for life, yo.

I'm going to fill you in on one of my favorite secrets of internet shopping for classy home decor. No, it's not this sexeh "foot" stool that's more Myrtle Corbin than Marie Antoinette, this big ass wine bottle bar, or even the Potty Patch (although, I have had a dark moment or two in my life where I totally thought I needed this astroturf atrocity for Tino. Don't judge me). It's none of these. Try to hide your disappointment, friends.

You see, when my boyfriend and I moved into our current apartment, I set a few rules for myself when decorating the place in a tasteful (as possible) manner: 1. Keep my clutter and "collecting" under control. 2. No more bringing in "treasures" from the curb (but let's be honest, if something is super amaze, it's coming with) and 3.) Invest in some new, larger scale wall art which, since we are adults, should be framed (no, this does not include my tattered OK Computer poster from highschool or Casey's Grindhouse/Deathproof movie poster, as endearing as they both may be).

Etsy Treasury: Mad (Men) House

I love the modern, almost sci-fi look of Mid Century interior design. Orbs, abstract shapes, earth tones, and atomic starbursts, ooo.

Here's another Etsy Treasury full of 1960s housewares and beauty accessories, all for $50 and under: Mad (Men) House

Apartment Life and My Industrial Revelation

A few months ago, my boyfriend Casey and I moved into a new apartment. Like, a real apartment. I'm no stranger to apartment living and I have loved each and every one of my past humble rented abodes in their own special way. There was the one bedroom in California that I shared with my dear Heather. In separate I Love Lucy style twin beds, at night we talked across the small bedroom like girls at a sleepover, the hum of the 101 outside of our window. Then there was the 3rd floor of a Victorian brownstone that I shared with girl friends in Jersey City. This old apartment had a definite "Miss Havisham" charm with it's cracked plaster walls, ornate fireplace mantles and stained glass skylight. But, the skylight leaked in the rain as well as the bathtub during certain showers. Oh yes, and this was apartment was next to an abandoned church, an empty lot littered with busted tires and needles, and a bodega that one summer was actually missing an entire wall (for serious, really missing a wall).

Then there was my last apartment, a "garden level" one bedroom next to an awesome but very rowdy gay bar that had nothing "garden" about it unless you're talking about the ants and spiders that also called it home. But this new apartment is different. It's charming but also functional. There's old but pretty parquet floors, tall ceilings and windows, two white architectural columns in the bedroom, a claw foot tub that doesn't leak and subway tiles in the bathroom. There are actual closets to almost completely disguise my "collecting" habits and to stack towels and blankets (something even the nicest urban apartments don't always have). Oh  yea, and it's across from a park that is complete with a gazebo, twinkle lights at night and a dog park (and the occasional hobo or two, but who's counting?). It's not perfect but it's damn sure perfect enough for me.