CathInTheCity

Cath’s Tips For Remodeling Apartments

39 Comments | Apartment

If it’s one thing that’s constantly on my mind, it’s the remodeling of my me and my boyfriend’s new apartment!! I’m sooo excited, I can’t even tell you!! I’m looking for pretty things for it all the time, but I’m so picky. I want it to be perfect!! I want it to be the perfect reflection of who I am, without it being too girly. My boyfriend has put me in charge of everything esthetic, he just doesn’t want it to be too rough on his wallet, which is very understandable. As I’ve told you, I got all the furniture in january. I worked at a furniture store, so I got a lot of discount, which was great! I also learned quite a few things that can come in handy for you guys, so I thought I make a little list of my best remodeling tips!

– Be smart when it comes to timing of your furniture shopping!!! Seriously. I was totally flabbergasted every single time I sold a couch from the months february-may, and september-december. I just wanted to scream to the customers “What’s wrong with you?? There’s always a huge sale in january, and a huge summer sale from june-august!! You’ll get this couch for at least 20% off if you just wait a couple of months!!!”. I mean, I can’t believe that people don’t think about that! Every single piece of furniture is always so much cheaper during the sale. Furniture is a big investment, and most of the time something that isn’t needed asap. Therefore, be smart everyone, and try to wait until the sale to buy new pieces. If you desperately need a couch, I’m sure someone has one you can borrow until you get your new one. Big money can be saved!

– Realize that you can’t receive the new pieces the same day that you order it! OK, fine, maybe at Ikea.. But most places, things needs to be ordered, especially couches. Always have in mind that you’ll probably have to wait at least 8 weeks for your new couch, and sometimes as long as 16 weeks. Especially the Italian couches take forever to receive. Always have that in mind. My dining room chairs that I ordered in January actually just arrived a few days ago. So it’s important to be aware of that. I saw so many people who bought couches they really didn’t want, just because it was in stock. Not a good remodeling move! If you want a new dining room table to be ready for Christmas (very common as people want new tables for christmas parties, new year’s ++), I’d order it at least in September.

– Always check online stores before buying anything in the store! What I love about online stores, is that they don’t have the same expenses as regular stores. This means that they can offer much better deals! I think I’ll be ordering from interiørkupp.no and gulvdeal.no. Ellos also offers a lot of cute and super cheap decorating pieces.

Pieces from Ellos (ad link).

– Find a theme! I think it’s very important to have a theme in your apartment. Personally, I prefer to have two or three themes, because I really don’t like it when everything is super matchy matchy. The theme I’ll be going for is modern meets shabby chic meets love. The last one sounds cliché, but I promise it’ll be cool!! I have some amazing ideas, can’t wait to show you!!!


– Paint! This must be one of the easiest ways to completely change your apartment. Personally I love white walls. Our apartment has a wooden panel on every wall, and that doesn’t work for me.. Poor boyfriend, he has to paint it all while I’m in NY, haha. But seriously, painting your place can make such a difference!! I’m obsessed with all white walls, and one wall in a completely different color. Imagine a completely white apartment, with one black wall with lots of white shelfs on it. So cool!!

– Ask furniture stores for damaged items. I was soo lucky with this one! The store where I worked got a shipment of cute coffee tables, but the paint was so bad, they couldn’t sell them. I got it for free, and my mom painted it in a glossy white, and now it’s perfect!! My mom and dad bought the prettiest dining room table ever, but there was something wrong with the hooks underneath, so they got a new one. I talked my boss into letting me keep the old one, and fixing it was sooo easy! 15.000kr saved!  Of course it’s different since I worked there, but if you ask for damaged furniture, you can probably get a reeeally good price, but just make sure that the damage is fixable before you buy it! The stores actually prefer to sell those items, because it costs so much to throw it away (container space), so you can get a really good deal on this one! Remember to ask if they have something in the back, the damaged pieces are most often not displayed in the store.

Our dining room table.. I won’t be using these chairs though.

– Be creative! Want a walk in closet, but can’t afford all the supplies? Be creative! Buy a super cheap wooden broom, detach the stick, paint it white/black/silver/gold and hang it across your wall. There are so many creative solutions you can do, the sky is the limit!


The chairs we got.. Love them!!

– Use accessories and books as decoration! If you have a dress you simply love, get a bustier and have it on display in your apartment! I’ll definitely be doing this with my new dress from Barneys (which you’ll get to see later tonight). I’ll have it in my walk in closet, like a piece of art! If you have a favorite necklace, hang it on your wall! If you don’t wear it a lot but just think it’s pretty, frame it and hang it in your living room! I want to get a vintage pearly Chanel necklace just so I can frame it and have it over the dining room table. Also, books is a great way to decorate your place! Go to a flea market and find lots of old and pretty books, and stack them on your coffee table! I just think it’s so cute..

Did you like my tips? :)


Photos via weheartit.com

Comments

  1. Geder meg skikkelig til å se hvordan du dere får det hjemme (hvis du har tenkt å vise oss da, selvfølgelig). Ut i fra deg og stilen din så kan det jo ikke bli annet en fantastisk :-)

  4. I would love to see some pictured inspirations? Or can you recommend a website? Where did you get all your inspirations?? I know deviantart.com is pretty cool.. you can just type keywords into the search like “living room” and then just click through the results.. deviantart is such a great place for inspirations :D

  6. Love it! Meg og mamma har faktisk gjort det samme! Jeg har en hylle der jeg har mine nydelige sko som er altfor høy til at jeg kan bruke de, men var altfor nydelig til at jeg ikke kunne la være å kjøpe de ;) De er a piece of art!

  10. Ååå we want more of this! :D Jeg og kjæresten tok over et 60 år gammelt hus for 2 år siden som vi pusset opp og gjorde det slik vi ville ha det :D Vi har prøvd å beholde den gamle stilen, da det ikke passer med en super moderne look i et så gammelt hus, men gjort nytt og fint! :D

    Jeg endrer ting heeele tiden enda og jeg er nå i gang med å bygge om soverom/walk in closet. Skal male og kjøpe noe småtteri så blir det nok store forandringer bare av det :D Interiør er så gøy!

    Fun fact: Når jeg bestilte meg sofa, gikk jeg ut i fra at det kom til å ta åtte uker, men så tok det bare 2-3! haha, vi hadde jo ikke noe plass å sette den på det tidspunktet;) Butikken oppbevarte den heldigvis da :D Så, noen ganger kan det slå begge veier :P

    Gleder meg til å se huset deres:):) Tror du vil komme til å inspirere like mye på denne fronten som på fashion:)

  16. Wow jeg skjønner at du har lært mye av å jobbe i interiørbutikk! Jeg henger opp ting på veggen min jeg og. For eksempel de sorte converseskoene mine fra 9-klasse jeg ikke kan gå i lenger fordi de har revnet helt rundt. Også har jeg hengt opp yndlingskjolen min som jeg har elsket i mange år, men som mamma krympet(!!!!!!!) i vask… Nå henger den på veggen og er kjempefin.

    Også har jeg et smykke jeg fikk av en gutt til 15.årsdagen min. Jeg kan ikke bruke det, men har ikke hjerte til å kaste det eller legge det i et smykkeskrin. Så det får henge på veggen :)

    Rommet mitt er veldig personlig. Skoene mine står i bokhyllen. Bøkene mine ligger overalt osv. Jeg elsker det! Klarer ikke følge en spesifikk stil, jeg bare… henger opp små deler av meg og håper det blir fint.

    Takk for tips – nå gleder jeg meg helt sykt til jeg skal flytte ut å pusse opp mitt eget sted :D

    PS: Kjæresten din har bare godt av all malejobben ;)

  21. Har selv flyttet inn i hus sammen med kjæresten, og startet helt fra bunnen når det gjaldt å pusse opp og kjøpe møbler. Mitt tips er loppemarked. Dessverre er det ingen sure thing når man drar på loppemarked, og man bruker mye tid på å se på dritt. Men så plutselig finner du gull! Har innredet hele huset på arvegods, loppemarked og finn.no, og jeg elsker resultatet :) Har enge hatt lyst til å bygge om walk in closeten min, men hatt lite råd! Skal definately bruke kosteskafttipset ditt! Gull verdt ;) THANK YOU :D

  23. Blir kjekt å se hvordan hjemmet ditt ender opp!! :) Holder litt på med det samme. leter etter leilighet i storbyen og leter etter inspirasjon til hvilken stil jeg skal gå for! er nok sikkert bare en lek når man ført har bestemt seg :) Lykke til :D

  28. Hei! Kjempe bra med interiør tips! Jeg og kjæresten skal kjøpe leilighet sammen, så dette er helt topp for meg:) Liker forressten veldig godt bloggen din! Fikk øyene opp for den forrige uke og nå leser jeg hver dag! Digger stilen din og syntes det er veldig spennende å følge deg i New York. Elsker den byen selv og når jeg leser blogen din drømmer jeg meg bort;)

  32. Utrolig mange gode tips, som jeg helt klart skal ta med meg videre og huske på når tiden er inne for meg og min kjære til å pusse opp og innrede vårt eget hjem :D Fikk også noen gode idéer selv, i mens jeg leste dine tips.. :)

    Og jeg merker at jeg virkelig gleder meg til å se bilder av deres leilighet! :D

  35. Kjempe masse fin inspo :-) Takk!
    Lurer på hvor du fant bilde med de turkise “barkrakkene” og hvor de sorte stolene dere har bestilt er fra? :)
    Flyttet for et og et halvt år siden og har kjøpt ALT utenom spisestue stoler, de hadde vært perfekte!
    Takk for en hverdag med masse inspo, i alle mulig retninger. Du er super flink!

Leave a Reply