multi-year makeover

I wish I could afford a decorator and have my entire apartment re-done to perfection. But  that will never happen. So instead, I am doing it slowly, step by step, inch by inch, year by year. Starting with the living room.

I begin in June 2017. 

I buy the all-white Margot table from Dune Furniture. I first saw this table at ABC in 2009 and wish I had bought it then, when it cost a lot less than it does now.  

I then spend another six months before finding the right Annie chairs from Calligaris. I give my round blue Oriental rug underneath the table to my mom, and spend another five months before finding, and purchasing, a new rug at Homenature (my favorite furniture store).

The Lazy Point sectional sofa and pillows that I later buy from Homenature don't arrive until July 2018, though I fell in love with the sofa a full year before.

I am also slowing framing photos I took of the four seasons in Central Park. So far, I've only framed Winter (in December 2017) and Summer (a year later), and love them both.

When I start re-doing the big stuff, the eyesores stand out more prominently — like an ugly water cooler and my in-house intercom. So I replace both of those, and the new ones make me happy (it doesn't take much).

I eventually still need a new chair, coffee table, lamp shade, reading lamp, big plant, rug and color —lots of it — so that my living room doesn't look too clinical.

I imagine it could take many more years to finish. And then there's my room and my son's room — my son who doesn't live here anymore though much of his stuff still does.

But doing a re-do in stages has its upside:  it makes me appreciate each new piece all the more.