The next few posts are probably going to be "around the apartment" posts. My boyfriend moved in with me a few weeks ago and we have finally gotten the apartment looking somewhat presentable. I moved into this apartment when I started law school and am now on my third roommate. Now I know that you might be thinking that I must be hard to live with, but I promise I'm not. My first roommate was a good friend from college and she moved back in with her mom to save money because she wants to buy a house (I'm jealous--I want a house). My last roommate was a friend from law school and she moved in with a mutual friend of ours who needed a roommate. Boyfriend was looking to move anyway, so it worked out well for us. Rearranging after this move was way different than before, because now the whole apartment is mutual space instead of each person having their own distinct space. Plus boys, at least my boy, is no help in the decorating or organizing department. On top of all that, we are on a very limited budget, so it has forced me to get creative.
With the exception of a few cheap pieces from target, all of my furniture has been free hand-me-downs. While I love free stuff, it means that none of it matches. So here is where my creativity came in:
This chair used to be in my bedroom but is now in the living room. I got it free my last year in college from an older sorority sister. It is pretty comfortable but it is a lovely shade of pink that has seen better days. We originally inherited it with a chair and love seat that were so ugly they were cute.
You can see the chair in the background of this picture and I am sitting on the couch. (Note: this picture was taken the morning of my college graduation, thus the outfit. My father takes lots of pictures but never tells anyone is he about to take their picture, so in 90% of them the subjects are not paying attention and usually look slightly ridiculous. For example, in this picture, I believe I am talking to my mother.) I miss the couch. It had a chair in the same fabric. We got rid of them after we moved out of the duplex because we didn't need them and they were ugly, but every now and then I wish I still had them.
Anyway, back on track. So the pink chair is kind of ugly and certainly doesn't match any sort of decor I am trying to create. It swivels but doesn't lean back or anything so I decided that it needed a slipcover. But my budget disagreed, so I had to keep thinking. Next to the orange print, it didn't seem so ugly, but I didn't think hunting down the old furniture two years later was going to go so well. Then I was cleaning out my car and got an idea. I had a twin sized red sheet in my trunk that was originally bought to be a toga for a homecoming event in college and since then had been hanging out in my trunk in case I ever needed a picnic blanket. I decided it would make a perfect slipcover.
Oh I also don't really sew and wasn't sure I was going to like it all that much, so my technique pretty much was to drape the sheet over the chair and gather it up on the sides so you couldn't see any pink. I used safety pins to keep it in place. It's not the prettiest, or most polished, but it was FREE and it is better than the pink. It also stays in place really well.
One day I will be able to buy nice furniture that actually matches. Until then, I'll stick with slipcovers made from sheets. :)
Thanks for looking!
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