So I have, unfortunately, been forced to rejoined the human, American "work to live," lifestyle. I was, however, completely blessed enough to get a job with the best company I have ever worked for, which is LOEWS hotels (the hotel brand, not hardware store {although I'm sure they are great as well}). It really is a place that values its employees and is SMART enough to play upon their employees talents (a hard concept to grasp, right). Anyways, I moved to the lovely (cough) area of South Beach to work at the incredible LOEWS MIAMI BEACH (no cough). So, I moved down the night before I had to work... these are the photos of my apartment when I first got here and the area as it is now.
Living Room
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| Before ... not quite the fabulous 305 life from the movies. Please notice that there is no cover on the light switch. |
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| After... I am obsessed with Moroccan prints and French Countryside pieces. Pictures of my travels served as a great collage in the room. The painting on the bottom right is of Paris, left to me when my grandfather died. He was stationed there as an air force pilot during WWII. The blank canvas' over the couch are there for me to get inspiration to paint. The multicolored pillows are from Morocco... at Epcot. Blue vase is from India (&HomeGoods) and the flowers from my beautiful best friend, Pri, for my 29th birthday. |
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| The books on the shelf were collected all over Europe at the various art museums I went to. Also, a few recipe books, a book on wine & my favorite, 'Catcher in the Rye." The map of the world, doesn't quite go with the room, but I like to keep my eye on the prize, and remember traveling the world is what I am destined to do. I also added a french style plate on the light switch. |
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| Candles are an important part of my apartments. I need an apartment to smell and look homey. Clearly, baked goods scents are my candle of choice. |
Sunroom Entrance
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| Before... The clothes on the French doors leading to the sunroom served as blinds, when I had none. Living on the first floor, it is not ok to take showers with the windows wide open. I clearly brought only the essentials for the first week of work... clothes and art. |
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| After... Now the clothes dry up on the doors. I was giving the amazing silver chair & art on the wall when my bestie, Christina, moved to San Fran. I also keep all my workout gear in the corner, including a stepper, weights and yoga mat. My hats are hanging on candle holders that are nailed into the wall. My other bestie, Niki, stole the captain's hat for me. |
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| After... yay for blinds! |
Kitchen
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| Before... My landlord had just redone the kitchen. Please note that there is no oven, because I sure did not before I signed the lease. I was told, from the first day, to NOT drink the water in Miami, hence the Zephyrhills bottle. |
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| After... I bought the largest oven I could at Bed Bath and Beyond. Because of my dear friend, Nikey, I got a wine rack and it is fully stocked! The olive oil dispenser is from Rome from my GA, Lauren. I have a little bowl from Japan (in Epcot) of sea salt, although I typically do not cook too much at home (working in banquets, we are always fed). I love the look of citrus in the kitchen. I have a lot of glasses and plates, but honestly I could live with one plate and one glass. |
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| I love magnets. |
Sitting area
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| Before... The table was left by my landlord. The bench has storage in it. Although, paint and all sorts of other things from my landlord are housed in one of them. The fish in the open area that leads to the sunroom was named "Vincent." I bought him when I started talking to myself, without internet or cable. Poor guy lived about 1 month. |
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| After... Still working on how to have the art on the wall look decent. 2 pieces are from Christina, along with my new vision board, visible from my couch and chair and one of my favorite paintings I have ever done, which was inspired the first time I came to Miami Beach. |
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| After... I have had time to mourn the death of Vincent (Van Gogh) and now have a new hydroponic fish tank (growing basil on top of it) and Vincent's (and before him, Humphrey Bogart's) old tank. (Jon) Snow and (Robert) Stark are the newest members to my household. The tank makes a really soothing noise right next to my pillows at night. |
Closet
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| Before... Angie (my landlord) ripped out the closet unit because it was not using the space efficiently and told me that if I picked out one I liked and installed it, she would just take it off the rent. So (see below) I picked out one at IKEA. I knew exactly what I wanted and it still managed to take me 3 1/2 hours to get out of there...worst experience ever! Since I wanted to make the apartment look better, I chose mirrored doors. I have a LOT of clothes, so lots of racks and drawers were necessary. This and the bench is the ONLY storage area in the apartment. You can also see, in the mirror, that I have a portrait of my grandmother hanging up. She's my guardian angel. |
Bathroom
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| The only option for my bed, unless I wanted a twin bed, was to squeeze it in between the walls of the sunroom. This is the only picture, which is "after," because there was NOTHING in this room before. It is the same length as my apartment but 60 1/2 inches wide (my bed is 60" exactly). I drilled the holes for my lights myself, with a cement drill bit. I really want a padded headboard, but it is one the wish list for now. The turtle painting on my wall is my favorite piece of art I have ever created. At night, especially with my new fish tank, it feels like I'm sleeping in the ocean :) |
This is the other side of the sunroom, looking from my bed. Right now it is a bit of a cluster, but my vision is to have a vanity/desk in here. I have to go to lowes (hardware) to get the other set of blinds. They have to be special ordered, but right now, a blue lace drape will have to do. I have the jewelry frame I made on the wall, along with my mirror and plants.
For now, that is my little apartment. 100 year old building and still kicking! (wish these were travel pictures)
