A few pictures of my house, something that’s become a symbol of my transition into adulthood. My next house project is getting enlarged prints of my photos to hang around the house.
The first thing you see when walking in the front door is the breakfast nook. It’s one of the best features of the house, especially in the morning. Even though it’s on the south side, it’s extremely bright and sunny. The windows face a major road, so I usually have the blinds closed for a little privacy, or open them when I’m feeling social.
There are two pathways that lead into the kitchen: the breakfast nook on one side and the hallway on the other. It’s a rather narrow place, but there’s enough elbow room to do some aggressive cooking. Tons of cupboards and plenty of table space keep everything tidy.
I recently bought this dining set from EQ3. Most things from there are custom-made: I was allowed to chose the material and colour of the seats, as well as the metal finish and diameter of the glass. The first thing I did when I bought the house, before I had things moved in, was to have a dimmer switch installed here, and in the two bedrooms. I had the entire area professionally painted a neutral beige for a café feel.
Trolley took most of the living room with him when he moved out, so I’m still looking for pieces. It’s the one part of the house I’m not satisfied with yet. I’d like to purchase one more couch, and a bookcase to clean up that shelf. In the future I’ll be blowing up a few of my pictures for the walls. The TV is hooked up to the digital cable box, an HD DVD player, an HD Gamecube connection, and a laptop (which unfortunately doesn’t output DVI). The couch was also from EQ3, and the coffee table, probably my favourite piece in the house, is from Zone.
One of the oddities of the house is the fact that the bedrooms are in the basement. It really turns some home buyers off, but I didn’t mind. It’s nice to have some stairs; they act as a general partition between the work and rest areas, and have come to define non-student living for me.
Trolley used to be in this room. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. I may turn it into a guest room, a photo studio (which is doubtful, because of the red paint and how small it is), or a tai chi studio. Most likely the former, since it’s the only open-space large enough in the house for me to practice.
The bedroom is where I spend most of my time. It’s become a safety zone. The good thing about Ikea is that it’s so easy to match things in a set or series. I had the mirrors installed soon after I bought the house, and they hide an entire wall closet.
These are some of the most technically difficult pictures I’ve taken. A 1.6x field-of-view-crop-factor meant that I lost a lot of the wide end of my lens, and mixed lighting conditions made things especially difficult. I didn’t take pictures of the second bathroom or the laundry room. In the next series, I’ll get shots of the house at night.
The house changes it’s personality when it’s dark and moody.
Your house is scary-spotless. (I suppose it’s because you are presenting it to us.)
I thought mirrors in the bedroom were a feng shui taboo. ?
it’s weird, i only know you from your blog, but your house is exactly how i imagined your living quarters to be like. nice decor! i really like that red colour. and your sofa.
Gorgeous place. Love the intensity of color and simplicity of modern lines. Of course, that may not be surprising, since we shop at the same stores but you do to much better effect.
Holy crap your house is gorgeous. Almost exactly how I imagine my future house to be, only I’d have more stuff on the walls.
Gorgeous house; love the style of your bedroom.
@Xibee — I try to keep my house as spotless as possible actually. The only place that deosn’t stay clean very well is the kitchen stove. To be honest, I’m completely ignorant about the principles of feng shui, but I don’t know if I’d believe in them even if I did.
@kiddo — Someone told me the same thing once when they saw my room. People say they can tell a lot about me from the design of my blog. I’ve always liked simple lines and minimalistic designs.
@Pearl — I never really thought that the colours were intense until you mentioned it. Now when I walk from room to room I notice the distinction. I think almost everyone shops at Ikea for one thing or another, since they have such well-priced things. It’s too bad the quality has dropped significantly in recent years.
@Reno — I’m thinking of having more of my pictures on the walls actually, but I’m still testing different photo services for the quality of blow-ups. My camera is rather limited to 8.2 megapixels, so I’m trying to push the limits of how big the posters can be. I don’t think I’ve taken enough pictures that I’d be satisfied with having up yet either.
@Vi — Thanks!
I ‘ve actually just blown up a lot of pictures to 8X11 size, placqued them, and put them up in a kind of grid. The shape of the grid keeps it from being cluttered, and the size lets you keep the pictures within resolution.
I recently had some 8x12” pictures done and the quality is nice, but they’re still not as large as I would like. I may consider trying some sort of grid layout if I can’t push the limits of my megapixels to where I want.
Three monitors? Really? Your house is sexy.