Welcome to Rose City Abode!

If there's two things you must know about me in this introductory blog post, it's this:

1. I love old houses in an unhealthy way.
2. The only time I find pink acceptable is when blossoming cherry trees are involved.

If you would have told me when I was in high school that the first place I was going to live once officially leaving my mother's was going to be a rented 1973 condo with rose carpets, I probably wouldn't have spoken to you ever again.

Seriously. Like never.

Somehow, that's exactly what happened in December 2010. I found a 1300-square-foot condo for $900/month with heat, hot water, and sewer included--in Connecticut, which seemed just as unlikely as moving to such a new place last renovated in the early 90s. Remember those southwestern Adobe patterns in pastels, Santa Fe nouveau? That was happening in the bathroom upstairs.

I can't make this stuff up.

And lo, I packed up and moved to Norwich, CT, "The Rose of New England" in a week. (The "Rose City Abode"!) All of my furniture had been picked out to match the space I had come from--a 99-square-foot room with 70's wood paneling...I could almost hear the same echos of disgust--but at least that old room had blue carpets, and blue is my favorite color. (Yes, you read correctly: 99-square-feet! There will be a future post about that too.)

Rose wall-to-wall carpets in every room of the condo, save the bathrooms, entrance, and kitchen.

The living room. 

 Up the staircase. 

 This bedroom.

 That bedroom.

ALL THREE BEDROOMS.

The horror!

As a renter with no intention of blowing any part of my budget on something that's not mine, I wasn't going to change a thing. The carpets stayed. The bathroom stayed. The doctor's office wallpaper in the master bedroom stayed. I just decided to decorate around it. My couch was sage green. How could I save this from nose-diving off the cliffs of gag-me girly?

Despite the fact I had been living in a room that was 9'x11', I had been stock-piling furniture in storage for years. Just as I love old houses, I love old furniture.  I also had some decor from a booth I used to have at a local indoor flea market. In fact, you could have argued that more stuff in my booth was not-for-sale, just eye-candy designed to draw attention to the stuff I was selling. I had a huge floor vase thing full of peacock feathers that I would sell individually, but when I left the flea market I had about 30 left of 100.

This $40 art deco sideboard doubled as a counter at the flea market, and the peacock vase is in the corner.

I had moved in 10 days before Christmas, and not only did I decorate, but I hosted Christmas dinner for the first time ever, and a housewarming party.

Christmas 2010

For having lived in the space only ten days, I didn't do a bad job! Objects of note:

• The tablecloth was imported from India, with hues of black, greens, pinks, and blues, to match the furniture, carpet, and peacock feathers.
• Yes, I used a cedar chest as a coffee table, but we're not all perfect.
• I wonder if I will ever see this room so nice ever again.

Now that Christmas is upon us again, I can't believe that I've co-existed with pink carpets for almost a year.