What to do when your creativiness and passion is against you?
I live in a student appartment where changing the light bulb is the biggest change you're allowed to do. Before that I lived at my grandma's who hated every little change I made in the house. (Ok, I admit. At that age all the changes were not that "sophisticated".) So, I just gave up at some point. Moreover, I'm a student with no extra money in the pocket so I wouldn't even be able to make any changes now or buy some nice stuff to make the appartment look better. But still all the time I have this creativiness and passion pushing me to do something. Some time ago I found a solution to my frustration that was getting stronger and stronger. I travelled to a dreamland.
I started imagining makeovers to houses and appartments that were familiar to me: the ones me, my relatives and friends have lived in. First I drew only layouts on paper but then I downloaded a simple program, Google SketchUp, and did some 3D models out of the layouts. However, this program is 1. free 2. not designed for interior design so the pictures aren't very good. If I had put more time on them, they would've looked a bit better but I didn't see any point in that. I already spent quite a lot of time and like this, they already do give some kind of a picture of what has been going on in my head. Hopefully soon I will get a better program.
My first project was the appartment I live in now: student appartment with three bedrooms, big kitchen, loo, bathroom and balcony. The appartment is around 75m² (807 Sq Ft) and my room which is the first one from entrance is around 14m² (150 Sq Ft). I didn't add any furniture because the appartment changes all the time when new roomies come and go. I am the only one who tends to stay.
My makeover is made for me and my boyfriend or then to some other couple with similar taste. Only one bedroom remained. The one in the middle became a living room and my room is turned into a workroom (or office/library) where I can paint and do all my little creative projects. Kitchen is changed quite a lot and bathroom is made bigger. I also changed the place of balcony door to create more clear lines and dining area. The floors are mostly laminate flooring but in kitchen there are tiles (bigger than in the picture) that go with the colour of the laminate. The walls are white or close to white but in bedroom and living room there is one feature wall in each. In kitchen one wall is black: it is painted with school board paint so you can write menus of the week or some good recipes on it. This is something I absolutely love and want in my future home one day!
Kitchen. I wanted to keep an open kitchen but still make it more seperate: wanted one big space stand as two distinct ones but at the same time didn't wanna lose the spaciousness either. So, I changed the order a bit. Also colours and material of the counter top are changed and there are more appliances: a freezer and a dishwasher, also the fridge is bigger.
Bedroom. I like black and white but in the bedroom I wanted to have light and warm colours so I chose different shades of beige to go with the white. I also wanted to have a gas fireplace and something I've dreamed of since I was little. It's this little place in front of window: a soft bench where you can read and drink coffee or something or look outside, my own dreaming and thinking place. In bedroom there's also storage and a door to bathroom.
Living room. I removed the door and created a window (without glass). This makes the room feel more spacious and also if we have friends over and I'm cooking, I'm still able to chat with them. The curtains have bit "bling", sequins to make it more interesting.
Work room/office. Nowadays I always struggle with not having enough space on desk so of course here I put a very long desk. I also removed the little window which didn't really seem to have any function and put a board where you can have all important little papers and notes. There's also a little couch and lots of storage in the room. Above the couch there are photos in black frames. I saw a picture of the couch a long time ago in some magazine but there it was yellow. I loved the design and shape of the couch so much that drew it myself. Did it with colours that go better with my style and I absolutely love it.
Bathroom and loo. I put dark blue/grey tiles to floor and grey tiles to walls in both. In bathroom I changed the shower curtains to a shower door and added a washer/dryer combo. I removed the sink to keep the room functional and not too stuffed. In loo I only changed the place of towels and put a round mirror.
Balcony. I put glass all over the balcony because it is very windy at times and in the winter there is snow. I also put curtains (bamboo or so) to add privacy since there is a busy street on that side of the building. There is a bamboo matt and nice furniture as well.
Hallway. I added storage to the entrance where you can put coats and shoes and stuff like that. Now it is a big mess especially in the winter with big coats. The doors of the closet are mirrors to make it more spacious. The big round rug between dining area and living room joins the two rooms together. The round shape actually is all over the appartment: round rugs in bathroom, loo and hallway and round mirror in the loo. This unifies the appartment and makes it a coherent whole. (Of course there are other stuff, too, that make it coherent: colours and other shapes for example.)
When I finished the makeover and showed it to my boyfriend, I started thinking. Am I really that boring? The appartment is BLACK AND WHITE. Where's all the colour? But this is so me and I love this kind of design. With little details and items, the appartment becomes more personal and not boring at all - in my opinion of course. Others love colour, I love black and white. At least in this appartment. I have done other makeovers as well but those I will post later. Maybe then you will see a bit colour, too.
