Though I had hoped Little Mango would come early, I have to admit there are quite a few pluses to her taking her sweet time. One of them is having the luxury of easing into our new home—figuring out storage, shifting furniture around, and putting some essentials into place. For a while, it seemed the configuration of our home was changing every day, but Marlon and I have finally settled into a layout that we like.
So here’s a little before-and-after to show you how we’ve traded the pristine emptiness of a new apartment…
for something a little more lived in… a little more “us.”
The idea was to stick to a neutral palette with a few pops of color and pattern. The wood of our wine crates, Indian coffee tables and daybed keeps things feeling and looking warm. Cushions are easy to swap out if I ever feel I’m in the mood for a change. I’m still looking for a skinny floor lamp to complete the living room—something that will almost disappear into the whole picture.
As renters, Marlon and I were always dying to paint our walls; ironically, now that we’ve bought our own home, we’ve decided to keep the walls bare and white. I like the idea of maximizing the light from these big windows, and we didn’t want to add too much visual clutter on the walls to what is essentially a small space. This is about as minimalist as we can get.
We ditched our chunky purple armchair for a slim white rocker from De Weldaad, a lovely vintage/industrial interiors shop on the Noordermarkt. I see many late-night feedings taking place in this chair!
We found new places for a few old things: Marlon’s paintings of people he photographed on our honeymoon in Rajasthan, and the vintage metal filing cabinet which used to be our hallway catch-all. Oh, and the globe I gave Marlon for his 30th birthday actually gets used as a lamp now.
It’s been really nice just to spend time at home, enjoying it as it is for what little time we have left, before it’s invaded by all the chaos and clutter of a baby! I wonder what it will look like a year from now?
