Palisades home

My new home in the Palisades is a basement apartment of a cute yellow Craftsman style house. The owners fixed up a beautiful basement apartment with wonderful features such as hardwood floors, white molding, security system, soft-close cabinet doors, heated tile bathroom floors, and so much more. I really really love the place.

The Palisades is a wonderful neighborhood. MacArthur Boulevard is wide and winding with a grassy median and tall trees on either side. I hear they have their own 4th of July parade. The Palisades is 10 minutes from Virginia, 10 minutes from Maryland, 10 minutes to 495, and 10 minutes from downtown DC. There are plenty of high-end restaurants I've been dying to try, namely DC Boathouse (at the end of my street), Et Voila!, BlackSalt, Sur La Place, and Bambu. Leave it to me to have already scouted out the best restaurants! I live right by Fletcher's Cove and the Capital Crescent Trail and the C&O canal towpath, so I plan to run on them as much as I can! And one of the best things is my commute is 30 minutes now, instead of an hour. Did I mention it's FREE too? Well, besides the gas I use to drive my car about 3 miles round-trip everyday.

On Instagram, I recently posted this quickie pic of our living room, which is not complete. It presents a few challenges. I LOVE the furniture, but they fade right into the walls. At least the sofa does. It needs some serious contrasting, texturizing, and decorating. Here are some ideas I am thinking:

-long cool grey drapes on the window behind the sofa
-warm brown cowhide rug on the floor to add warmth and contrast
-furry throw
-colorful throw
-gold toned pillows
-My Cezanne print on the wall

Here are some interiors that are inspiring me right now:

1. Using blues as an accent:

2. A no-rug possibility:

3. Possibly my favorite look, though I would use a cowhide rug instead:

After putting together a quick mock-up with borrowed materials, here's our first attempt:

I think grey drapes would really help the sofa to stand out. The cowhide would look a little better if it was lighter and had more variations. The orange/yellow/grey throw I love, but I'm not sure it will go with my green/blue Cezanne print. The sheepskin is not quite what I had in mind, since it is a rug and not a blanket. But have you seen how expensive even the faux fur blankets are?? Even at 20% off at West Elm, they are still around $100, and those are the only I've seen so far that I like. Also JCPenny has an amazing sale right now on Jonathan Adler products. I'm going to buy a few throw pillows for this sofa and my bed. Plus with their Friends and Family event coming up, I'll save even more!

I guarantee it will be a long time before this is all put together...decorating is EXPENSIVE!

10 Things Monthly: October + Bonus!

Moving really helps put things in perspective about what's worth keeping and what's not. So here's what I got rid of during my October move:

1. Curtain rod - donate
2. Frame - donate
3. Bed risers - donate
4. Mat - recycle
5. Mat - recycle
6. Shoes - donate
7. Bag - donate
8. Bag - donate
9. Frame - donate
10. Post-it notes - recycle
11. Lanyard - donate
12. iPhone cord - trash
13. Sleeve liner - donate

14. Table - donate
15. Mirror - trash
16. Plant - donate
17. Printer - donate (already counted this the month before!)
Plus, as a house we are donating another 50 or so kitchen items. Our dining room is lined with bags of stuff to donate. Off to a great start!

My Maggie October 2014

I'm a little late for October, but here are some songs that come to mind this time of year. This playlist starts out a little wild to gear up for Halloween parties and ends with some ethereal, nostalgic stuff that for me evokes walks through misty wooded paths. I just moved to a new place that is a couple blocks from the Potomac, and I can't wait to get use of the Capital Crescent Trail and the C&O Canal tow path. Hopefully I'll experience plenty of the brooding, damp October weather, along with the crisp, sunny, spectacular fall foliage. I can't decide which I love more.

This October marks the My Maggie Playlist 3-year anniversary! Here are links to 2012 and 2013. I'm still obsessed with last year's.

Don't forget to listen to this month's playlist in order! The first song is at the link below. It's my favorite right now.
http://grooveshark.com/s/Ladykiller/3iaTX8?src=5

Then this song is number 4 on the list.
http://youtu.be/547l8I9qaf4

The rest are on this fab Spotify playlist.