Day 3 of the Apartment Challenge

If you're a newcomer to this week's little series, please see Monday's post first and then Tuesday's post for background. I'm moving to a new apartment ( a studio this time) and experimenting with a new look, giving myself an imaginary budget of $2,000 to come up with something for fun. I'm discussing a different area of the apartment each day.

We ended yesterday with a total of $1,302.8.
I'm including the kitchen and dining areas in one today, for obvious reasons. Most studios have tiny kitchens, and I don't even know if I'll be able to fit a little table and chairs into a studio apartment. But, as emphasized previously, this is after all a fantasy studio which may therefore hold unpractical amounts of furniture with ease!

Thus, this quite passable copy of the Tulip table by Eero Saarinen, to be found at CB2, is too cool to pass up. It costs $149.



I think it would be fun to pair with these sleek chairs from IKEA. What do you think - too matchy matchy? I like the idea of finding differently-styled wooden chairs, perhaps in a light oak or birch, from a flea market or thrift shop but I'm afraid to look for something vintage like them online because if I fall in love, I'll have to sit by and watch as they are grabbed by someone else. They cost $34.99 each. It would cost $159.96 for a set of four.


I also really like the Linus chair in this room. It adds a bit of texture (which, as you probably noticed, I am big on) and also continues the theme of beige and white. What do you think?


Anyways, on the table would be these fun flora placemats from elsewares (in a beige toned wood with white flowers, see?), $48 for a set of four.


I would pair them with a very simple set of square white Charmor dishes from IKEA (click here and here). I loved the idea of using the Pantone set from Fishs Eddy, but I decided to go with the IKEA set to save money. $31.88 for four place settings.



To add more visual pop, I would add these bright fun melamine salad plates from elsewares which repeat the square shape and add color to the table. $24 for four.


The classic, super-cheap Pokal glasses and fornuft flatware set from IKEA complete the set. $6 for six glasses and $9.99 for flatware, both from Ikea.



I would place this copy of a vintage botanical print, "Le Thé," on the wall behind the dining table. Maybe it's too "cute" to put a food-related poster in a kitchen (I considered placing it by the couch) but in the end I kind of like it. What do you think?
It costs $36 from one of my favorite quirky Parisian shops, Deyrolle.


Our final total for the day is $1,767.63. We're almost done!

Again, I would love any and all constructive feedback on this mini-series. It's something new I'm trying out, so even if you wanted to say that you don't think it's successful I'd like to know.