The Third Floor

When Justin and I moved in together in the summer of 2006, we both had grand plans for the third floor of the condo.  Just as all men are hardwired to want a man cave with a bar, Justin was no different.  Sports posters went up along with a dart board and his collection of special Budweiser bottles (I still haven’t figured out what makes them special but they exist none the same) found a prominently placed home.  I saw the third floor as the perfect space for my collection of books and a quiet place to write and perhaps also a place to set up my sewing machine and prove my status as domestic goddess.  I filed the room with my books, carried up my sewing machine and set about trying to decorate around sports posters and Budweiser bottles.   It was a disaster!  

Well, as time would prove, guys don’t generally like to carry beer up two flights of stairs to watch sports when there is a perfectly good couch and TV mere steps from the refrigerator on the first floor and my attention span isn’t generally long enough to make it up two flights of stairs either.  The space quickly became the catchall for items that didn’t have a proper home and the occasional guest crashing spot when we had parties.   

The time had come. We were running out of room in our main living areas.  We had to turn the third floor from a space into a room and not just any room, but a multi-purpose room (part tv room/guest room/etc).  This continues to be a work in progress hence the title of this post.  I am about to show you, my dear, sweet, non-judgmental readers the messiest room in our house.   

When you walk up the stairs, the first thing you see is that pile.  Stuff that probably belongs somewhere else or at Goodwill gets stuck here.  Now, I’m not exactly a candidate for the next episode of Hoarders (yet), but I do fully admit that I have a problem.  That’s the first step, right?  

Neuman is not a figment of your imagination.

I tried to tackle redesigning the space myself.  The placement of the TV always bothered me (not to mention how strongly I dislike the spaceship looking stand it is sitting on) so  I spent a rainy Saturday turning that particular corner into this:   

I moved all the books into one thrifted bookshelf and moved the TV to another wall.  I was also able to give two of my early refinishing projects (my turquoise table and chairs) a home.  I loved how the blue in the table matches the blue in my husband’s travel maps.   That is where my personal inspiration and motivation ended. 

Now, if you were me, and I was looking at these pictures on YOUR blog, I would say, “Uhh…where is the messy part?  You tricked me!”  Yes, maybe I did.    

Wa-BAM!

Except this is what it looked like THIS morning.  Yeah, things just got a bit more real around here, didn’t they?   

I was stuck so I enlisted the help of another blogger, who is also a dear friend, Robyn of A Modest Life with Grand Ideas. When you go to a party and you see that one woman who is the eptiome of style and grace, THAT.IS. Robyn.  She can sense new trends in her blood and she is a wiz at styling spaces.  I gave her the following bits of information: 1. We wanted the room to be functional but stylish, 2. We wanted to keep the “Modern Beachy” theme that we’ve got going in the rest of the house and 3. Not completely kill our savings.  She did not disappoint.   

Click on the picture for shopping info!

The only tweak that I might make is that I’ve fallen head over heels in L-O-V-E with this West Elm Day bed and I think it would be great up there.   

West Elm's Overlapping Squares Day Bed

The third floor is one of my Fall projects.  I’m taking Robyn’s list of ideas and hitting the thrifty shopping trail.  Stay tuned for updates as the space under goes its magical transformation!    

-Kate