Your Apartment’s Living Room: Creating a welcoming and cheerful space

It’s been a long, cold winter and you’ve been grateful many times for the coziness of your new apartment. Sipping a cup of steaming soup at the breakfast nook in your neat-as-a-pin kitchen; luxuriating in the hot shower that heats up your little bathroom nicely; snuggling under the covers in your dreamy bedroom – all these comforts have been yours in recent weeks.

You’ve been busy at work, and happy so far with your escape pad, so – admittedly – the living room has served all this time as little more than a passageway to the bedroom.

But then nature intervenes. Suddenly you look up one morning at blue sky through branches laden with delicate buds. The breeze is gentle as you slip out the door, and your walk to work is an adventure in newness. Spring has arrived!

The next morning, you wander out into the living room and, remembering that the view looks out on the building’s courtyard, you open the curtains for the first time since moving in two months ago. Sure enough, a profusion of color and light rewards you as the drapes part. You stand a moment, breathing it in.

When you turn back to the room, though, a less attractive sight presents itself.  Not that you’re impulsive or anything: you just know your mind. And your mind is telling you to take the day off and rectify this situation right now. Not even pausing for breakfast, you attack the piles of boxes, books, bags, and bobbles, sorting and organizing and finding everything a home.

When the space is clear of most of the little clutter, you take a deep breath and eye the furniture. There’s a sofa, armchair, hassock, and entertainment center.  You are careful to use leverage, more than muscles, as you maneuver the entertainment center against the far wall, angling it just right so it’s shaded from the window.

Fortunately, the couch is close to the opposite wall already, and you wedge it in easily. Now, where does the armchair go?

Hmmmm. You realize this first arrangement isn’t going to work. Your go-gettum attitude still intact, you make a beeline to the next-door-neighbor’s apartment, and beg some help. The cheerful young man (he’s a driver for UPS) is happy to oblige, and together you wrestle the entertainment center clear across the room to where the sofa had been. The sofa and armchair, then, are angled towards each other against the opposite wall, making the room seem almost circular.

Hey, this is going to work! You thank your helper (his name is George) profusely, and offer him a glass of tea. George is working on putting together a crib for their brand new baby, though, so he declines the refreshment.

On the way out the door, he spies a tube of removable wall decals, and asks what it is. You’re thrilled to tell him about the products, and show off your own applications in the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

After George is gone, you collapse on the couch and survey your newly created domain. Most of your early-morning nonstop energy has fizzled, it seems. You wander over to your computer, and start putting together a list of friends to invite to your apartment-warming party.

But first, you go to the WallCandy® Arts site and order up a few goodies as a thank you to your helpful neighbor.  He’ll get a kick out of decorating the crib with them!