Creative Entertainment Centers

In your new apartment you’ll need a sure-fire way to place your TV and entertainment appliances in your living space with style and easy access.  Consider some of the following ideas to make your living room interesting.

This Play Plasma TV stand created by Cattelan Italy is a super-modern way to store your entertainment equipment.  The simplicity and cleanness of a glass feature makes this an easy choice with modern decor.

We like the simplicity of this modern entertainment center we found at Spacify.

Is your apartment not so modern in furniture design?  There are numerous options out there to make your TV center look stylish and be functional as well.  This Toscana Corner TV Console is great find, and has angled back panels to fit snuggly into any vacant corner of your living room. From Ashley Furniture.

Another Ashley Furniture find. X-cess 60″ TV stand in a sleek dark finish.

Media console from Studio 455 collection at Thomasville.

Need to save space?  Consider a wall mounted TV center with shelves to set up your flat screen and other media players.  (You may have to ask your landlord for the okay before mounting).

And here are the coolest TV stands that we wish we knew about sooner.  These simple modern colorful MOR Colorado TV stands are fully customizable  at the MOR Furniture website.  You can select a size to fit your living space, and choose from 33 colors to express your creative entertainment design style.

If you are looking to rent or are ready to move into a new apartment check out your Renters Corner at the top of this blog for useful info on making your move easy and stress-free.  Also check out Apartments i Like for more renters news and useful articles.

Unique Bar Stools

Many apartments have service counters or bar areas within the kitchen/dining rooms for serving and eating.  Making this feature of your Allentown apartment can be a fun creative way to show your decorative expression.  I found some incredible examples of uniquely designed bar stools to enhance your apartment, like these retro zebra print bar stools found at Etsy.com.

Eli Comtemporary bar stool in orange suede from http://www.1contemporary.com.

Ultra modern bongo bar stools will add great conversation piece to your Allentown apartment.  These are from Ibebi, found on http://www.trendir.com

Your Allentown apartment might be enhanced with these Rio bar stools for a perfect modern expression…found at Furniture Italia.

For a more classic look in your Allentown apartment…this swivel bar stool in black from http://www.barstools.com

And who can resist 6, 7, and 8…sculpted with black and white fiberglass by Bulgarian designer Svilen Gamolov?

We just wonder how comfortable they can be to sit in?…but what wonderful conversation pieces they’d make in your Allentown apartment.

If you are looking to move, or looking to move to Allentown Pa, use the Renters Corner at the top of this blog for information on making your move stress-free.

If you are a landlord and would like to like an available apartment in the Allentown area (and other Pa areas also) please visit Apartments i Like for more information on listing.

 

Celebrity Kitchens

Ideas for apartment’s kitchen can be found everywhere, and where better than from some celebrities, who have the best decorators design their kitchen spaces. Here, which I couldn’t resist, is Ashton Kutcher’s never used bachelor home which he purchased before meeting his wife, Demi Moore.  Recently he put it back on the market after heavy remodeling by himself and his father.  Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

Ben Stiller and wife, Christina have a great kitchen with high contrast of color, with black and whites and deep warm wood color to balance.  Their Spanish revival mansion is in the Hollywood Hills. Photo: Elle Decor

Decorator Kevin Haley designs for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Meg Ryan, and Cameron Diaz…so of course his kitchen has to be pretty cool.  We think so. Love the antique style blue stove and the animal print to balance out this clean toned space.  Photo: Everett Fenton Gidley

With celebrity in mind, I came across this movie set kitchen that is just fabulous with a true lived-in feel.  From the movie It’s Complicated, this relaxed kitchen was designed by Jon Hutman.  Photo: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

Finally, celeb Kristen Bell has a fun, comfy and fresh kitchen. Love the white with yellow and orange highlights.  The sage throw carpets add a nice balance. We think the pups are cute too.

Use some of these cool ideas to enhance your own kitchen space in your new apartment.  If you are going to move to a new apartment, check out our Renters Corner at the top of this blog for helpful info on how to make your move and settling in easy and stress free.  Apartments i Like has more information and Renters News to give you ideas also.

via: Shelter Pop

Creating a Chic Bedroom

Moving into a new apartment can be a life-changing experience…and when we’ve settled in we long to make our new space feel like home.  Our main sanctuary has always been the bedroom…and this room should not simply be the place where you let it all hang out, rumpled, tossed, and cluttered.  You can make your bedroom a real chic get-away with a few ideas I’ve found.

Keeping it simple is key to a comfortable space and this Newcastle Bed frame and nightstand are simple, elegant and chic.  Priced around $450 for both pieces at JC Penny.com.

Add more chic with the floor…

The shag rug is definitely still in style and a softly chic way to pamper your toes.  Consider placing one next to your bed for fun and comfort.  www.inmod.com

The simplicity of a glass lamp adds instant glamor and chic to your bedroom. I love these Eva Colored Glass table lamps I found at Pottery Barn for $99.00.

An easy touch to make a bedroom romantic and chic are votive candles.  A set of 8 of these scalloped votive glass candle holders add a nice expressive touch.  These can be found at Lamps Plus.

I love the simplicity of this bedding…White always looks fresh and clean, and can be highlighted with soft colors for added chic.  Here: Harbor House Dots coverlette and shams I found at The Home Decorating Company.

The final tip for making your new bedroom space chic is to de-clutter your bedroom!  Always make your bed, like your mother said. It really does make a difference to come home to a neat and smooth welcoming space.  Keep side table objects to a minimum. Use the drawers of nightstand for books and incidentals.  Keeping your bedroom neat and the floor space free from unnecessary objects is the best way to add chic-ness to the bedroom of your new apartment.

If you are looking for a new apartment or moving, check out the Renters Corner at the top of this blog for useful links to make your move easy and stress-free.
Apartments i Like is a great place to start.

Feeling Blue

Got the winter blues?  Hopefully not the emotional blues, but we’ve got the design blues here.

The trend of the color blue and all its many shades of emotional bliss is still in full swing when it comes to decorating homes and apartments.  This wonderful blue living room idea we found at See the Spark opens one’s eyes to the possibilities of using blue to enhance your apartment.

Blue of course is unlimited in shade value, as we see in this powder blue retro kitchen and breakfast suite designed by Brandon Barre.  Shades of blue can be too numerous to name, but here are a few: azure, beryl, cerulean, cobalt, cornflower, cyan, indigo, midnight, navy, Prussian, Robin’s egg, royal, sapphire, sky, slate, or steel blue.

Love these “ocean” blue glass dishes found at New York Classic Party Rentals.

And the meaning of blue: Blue is calming.  It was named the color of the year in 2008.  Blue has qualities of stability, spiritual and mystical when combined with purple, and mysteriousness.  Dark blues are associated with intelligence, unity, integrity, stability, and being conservative.

Though, this wonderful bed design is far from conservative.  Found this lovely idea at Home Decoration Collection.

Easily add a touch of blue to your outdoor table with these blue plastic martini glasses that look amazingly like real glass from City Liquidators.

Ah, a piece of perfection in a blue designed home.  Clear glass chandelier with blue silk shades and blue Murano glass crystals.  Murano Imports.com.

To adorn your walls with blue beauty, consider a painting in blue tones to enhance a blank space.  This painting is by Megan Sax.

Feeling blue can lead to endless decorating ideas in your apartment.  Consider the color blue to enhance you space and create a calming, stable, and inviting environment to live in and share.

If you are looking to rent a new apartment, moving can be a hassle.  Check out the Renters Corner at the top of this blog for useful links to help your move be easy and stress-free.  Apartments i Like has useful info for renters and landlords.

Decorating with Flowers

So you’ve moved in.  All your furniture is in place.  The refrigerator is stocked.  You’ve put the books on the shelves and the TV and stereo in their place.  And a few cool prints adorn your walls.  Yet, your apartment seems to be missing something. A certain flatness still reigns.  The answer may be as simple a vase of flowers.

Fresh cut flowers can add color and life to a plain room, expand your vision, and bring a sense of peace to your environment.  If you love this idea, and love flowers, I would suggest you start collecting little by little a collection of different size and shaped vases and bowls.  Magically, a flower arrangement will transform your new apartment into a comfy home.  Consider some of the following ideas when starting to decorate your new apartment with flowers.

Love these bulb vases here.  Found this at Picsdecor.

Flowers can  highlight a kitchen space.

Silk or paper flowers are not out of the question…always look good and are low maintenance. Use them, especially if they look as good as these we found at Thoughtfully Simple.

Consider flowering tree branches in a large decorative vase to bring out a large blank space in your room.  This idea we found at Rockybella.

Don’t forget the bedroom….a small arrangement just for you….

Refreshing greens and white….from Apartment Therapy.

Enjoy decorating with flowers to bring joy and life to your new or old living space.

If you are moving or looking for an apartment check out our affiliate website Apartment i Like for ideas and information to make your move easy and stress-free.

The Art-full Carpet

I’ve been coming across more and more designers using carpets that make a statement, the more unusual the better….and I call these carpets art carpets.  Consider one of these unique creations to spice up your Allentown apartment living room.

Love this area rug.  Using an area carpet to cover cold hardwood floors can be more than just a way for your tired feet to feel comfy, it can actually work as a piece of art and totally reinvent the living space in your Allentown apartment.

The two designs above, and the one below can be found at Locoav.

And why not try out more funky designs to make your Allentown apartment an expression of your personality.

Love this one from The Funky Rug Shop.

Cozy and softly colored new art damask rug from RugsCentre.

Add color and fun to your Allentown apartment entrance way or hallways with one of these carpet runners.

Or add stylish flare with a rug like this one; area rug by Surya found at
Rug Studio.

Adding art-full designs to the floors of your Allentown apartment is an easy way to express your creativity and give your living space a spark of interest.  Area rugs give you many options to show your new apartment style.

If you are looking for an apartment in the Allentown Pa. area or are a landlord with an available apartment check out Apartments i Like for info on renting, moving made easy, or listing an apartment to rent.  And click the Renters Corner at the top of this blog for useful information to make renting a new space and moving a stress free endeavor.

Cool Interior Design by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz

Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz is quite a stylish and influential designer of today and has been named by House Beautiful as one of “America’s Most Brilliant Decorators.”  Here we can see why. This private residence in Sagaponack N.Y is subtle modern beauty.  “In all of his projects, he captures an unusual sense of openness and light through the use of color, materials, architecture, and the unexpected integration of fashion in a rather timeless style.”

“Interiors should be elevated into living works of art, environments in which the intrinsic human desire for comfort and beauty are naturally aligned.” – Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz

Benjamin has designed for famous clients such as Lenny Kravitz, for which he’s done four residences, Mexican author Laura Esquivel, Mark Siliger, Michael Fuchs, and media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose residence we feature above.

And of course I have to feature a design by BNO that represents pink decor in a most fashionable sense. Charming and quite lovely.

The designer’s work has been featured in numerous books on design, magazines, and television programs, such as HGTV, Style, Fine Living Network, and E!  He has appeared in a documentary series on the BBC for the TLC Network.  His first book, Emotional Rooms, The Sensual Interiors of Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz is available in stores now.

You can find out more about

this talented interior designer

at his website:  BNO Design

Romantic Apartments from Around the World

Love the simplicity and homey feel of this romantic apartment in Venice that overlooks the Grand Canal.  via: Venice Apartments.org

The marble…the furniture….the flowers….all speak of romance….found in this luxury condo in Vallejo, California.  via: American home guides.

My favorite in this selection….a Paris apartment found on writer Claudia Strasser’s blog The Paris Apartment.

A cool, luxury London flat that feel comfortable and romantic. via: HouseTrip.com

Simply romantic…this New York City apartment bedroom with simple tones and comfort. (Okay, so the anchors may not speak romance here, but we still like it!) via: House Beautiful

Coco Chanel’s Paris Flat

With Valentine’s Day approaching we are feeling romantic, and this Paris flat is a grand example….

The original 31 Rue Cambon is the flat above the Chanel Boutique. This luxurious flat retains the decor chosen by Chanel herself and is used for photo shoots and press interviews.  Simply beautiful…and romantic…

Via: Apartment Therapy