{stick to a plan, man}

making a decorating decision (and sticking to it) feels so incredibly good. it's like eating the perfect cupcake after a month of strict dieting. but seriously, you really have to narrow down your options, eliminate the 'maybe' items on your list, and eventually weed out everything you can until you hit the final must-have item. this has been my journey thus far with my new apartment. i started off with a completely different vision, then realizing that my shopping options in germany are much different than those here in america, i had to consider exactly what is available to me there and use that as my starting point. as much as i'd love to, there is no way i am going to import a weinrib rug from new york to germany or some of the things that i love that are big and bulky and only available in america unless i pay a huge sum to ship it abroad. forget that.

new mirror for entryway.

in weeding through ideas, using magazines and a questionnaire i usually work from on client consultations (only i turned the tables and used it on myself this time), and then building inspiration binders and surfing the web non-stop, I decided on the look and feel of my new flat, narrowed down the color palette, and made some concrete decisions. when i first started i was all over the place. i was going to paper the hallway with wearster's trellis in kelly green and use graphic black and white wallpaper from ferm living in the bathroom with tons of pink and salmon in the bedroom, the kitchen was going to be yellow and white (i'm now going with gray on the walls and white glossy cabinetry with stainless appliances vs. a pricey retro flashback smeg)... yeah, total dysfunction junction. but i'm bringing my cow parsley just in case it calls to me and i decide to use it in the kitchen after all. but a few weeks of that and i started to apply my own advice, you know the stuff we so easily dish out but often cannot take. and this is how i was able to fine tune things and develop a definite plan. and now i feel excited and ready to leave in less than 3 weeks. i encourage anyone who hasn't fine tuned their decorating plan to do so immediately. it changes everything once you have that definite color palette and 'look' laid out on paper. then you know what you're going with and things magically fall into place. i want to share my recent order, in addition to the television that i'm on the wait list for over at amazon.de (look at him wanting me, all white and sexy.) meet my new entryway furniture. well, some of it. i have ideas for under the mirror, but i purchased the lilac rug, coat rack/bench (we have no hall closet), and the large gray mirror. i love this photo, i've been drooling over this gorgeous gray furniture for weeks, so i just gave in and ordered it today. the gustavian style is great. i will now mix in a little flea market and asian to the mix through other elements. i pinky swear that my hall won't look like a cut n paste version of this image though. i'm not one to copy a look because my personality just won't allow for that, i must customize everything and make it look like 'my' space and not that of a catalog or someone else's home. oh and i've changed my mind about the new light originally intended for the hallway. it's now going in the kitchen. it will be perfect in that space. i'm looking for something along the lines of a paper lantern for the hallway, perhaps patterned even... a little asian, anyone? the plus of this purchase besides really loving how it looks and functions is that it's constructed of real wood (not particle board), and it arrives together in one piece so i don't have to build it. i already know i'll have to build about 50% of what i'm buying for this place so i'm trying to take short cuts whenever possible... :) it also does not look like everything in the home of my friends in germany, they all have really slick young-modern styles that scream ligne roset and bo concept. and yes that look is beautiful but i really want something different from what they have.