CheekyChicago

Stace – help! I moved in with my fiancé a year and a half ago.  We just combined all of our furniture and belongings  and don’t want to buy too much for our apartment since we do plan to move in the next couple of years. It looks like we are going to be in our “temporary” apartment longer than planned.   How can we make it feel more like home without wasting on items that won’t be useful in the future?  xo, Missy

Dear Miss,

Since I’ve seen the sparseness of your place, I wanted to get on this answer ASAP!  It was my weekend brain teaser, a new question for me, but I assume a common one for many co-habitating out there.

Let me walk you through my solution… It is really a simple RETHINK of how you approach this activity.

We have Home A = current condo.

Home B = your TBD home.

STOP thinking that the pieces you put in your living room in your Home A would be the pieces for the living room in Home B.  First, the scale will probably be completely off; second, that’s a lot of pressure to add to your plate!

INSTEAD, furnish Home A with pieces you would put in the extra rooms of HomeB; this way, nothing bought is disposable – in fact, it is multi-purposeful.

For instance:

1.  Replace your current couch with a sleep sofa, that can easily go into the Home B office for guests.

2.  Living room side tables in Home A can later move into a bedroom, either master or guest, to be nightstands.

3.  Be creative with your current coffee table; I’m using a great trunk now which can be many different things later on.

EMBELLISH your walls and shelving with your registered gifts.  No need to keep them in the C&B boxes in your guest room.  Put those vases and platters to use as decor around your home.  FRAME and hang pictures, invitations and mementos in the time leading up to the wedding.

BREATHE and just focus on a few key pieces that will change the feel of House A.  And (my personal two cents) maybe start with a bigger rug for the living room and a runner for the hall.  Just a thought… xo.

To find out about vintage shopping, click here.

To read more about Stacey Cohen and why she is so Cheeky, please click here.