August Style Cure from Apartment Therapy. Day ONE

This August I have decided to do the Apartment Therapy STYLE CURE:

Here goes, First challenge is relatively easy;

Fill in a questionnaire: 
The questionnaire can be found here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/atads/2013StyleCureInterview.pdf

1. List your favourites in each category:

Actor: Johnny Depp.

Actress: Meryl Strepp.

Artist: Mark Ryden (http://www.markryden.com/)

Writer: J R R Tolkien.

Music: Macklemore's Rapper: "Thrift Shop", "Wing$",  "Same Love" and "Can't hold us".

Restaurant: Tulsi (Indian restaurant).

Automobile: Mini. The old school ones from the 70's.

Movie or Television Show: Moulin Rouge.

Clothing (pieces, designers or stores): Pagani / Glassons. (It's a tie!)

Furniture (pieces, designers or stores): This is a tricky one for me. I'm trying to upgrade the furniture, but it's expensive and time consuming. As a result I have quite a bit of stuff made from MDF and it's on the cheap end of the scale. Ideally I'd like to get a whole bunch of New Traditional type stuff.
(I like the lines and styles of the traditional things, but Dan also likes the more modern pieces.)

2 Choose three words to describe your personal style: Eclectic: I have items from thrift shops and more expensive items (like shoes).
On the edge of the Hip Hop culture. (I love hip hop as a dance form).
Conservative yet slightly Rockabilly: if I could rock the 1950's look all the time, I would.

3. Think back over all the homes you have lived in, both as a child and an adult. Which 
rooms would you choose as your favorites and how would you describe them? 
Favorite room from a childhood home and description: A toy/ storage type room my dad built one weekend in the wall of our shared bedroom (Sister and I shared a room). Our bedroom on the 2nd floor had a void in the wall where the angled roof came down, so dad and some friends cut a hole in the wall and put a floor down. That's where we stored our soft toys and it made a great hiding spot!
Favorite room from an adult home and description: A spare bedroom at the end of the house. I made it into my art studio. It had great light and was very private because it backed straight onto a very large park: Pukekura Park (in New Plymouth, New Zealand).
TIED WITH: Our current bedroom: although I feel it still needs just a little bit of love to make it perfect.

4. Whom do you consider a role model? My Boyfriend Dan.

(Props to those who get the Macklemore reference here).

What three adjectives describe the qualities that you admire in this person?
That he is accepting of whatever I throw at him: no job, no money.
That he is kind.
That he is hard-working to help ensure we keep a roof over our heads and that he succeeds in his occupation.


5. Every home has areas that are “just right”. Which three spots or things in your 
home do you feel are beautiful and feel proud of, right now, as is:
1. My DIY shelf I created from a set of old drawers which had seen better days.
2. Art that I've created around the place. (Paintings).
3. The pin-board I put up a couple of weeks ago, in the lounge, showing off my photography.

6. A month from now, at the end of the Style Cure, how would you like your friends 
to describe your home?
Even better arranged & even more homely!

• Then, afterwards, analyze your responses: Go over your answers and make some connections to reflect upon.
  
  Questions 1 and 2 work together to help form a picture of your style - do the choices feel connected and consistent or varied and eclectic? Which of the words that you chose for question 2 could also be used to describe the majority of your favorites in question 1? What are the outliers? Example: Are you into the classics or searching for what's next? Do the offbeat notes or items in a space make the room for you or simply make you uncomfortable?

Eclectic with Modern Traditional. 

The offbeat things that just don't work in the space don't stay there long, they're not comfortable pieces or designs so they get moved out quickly. One example is our couch. It folds out to a sofa bed thing and it's really uncomfortable as a couch as well as a bed! I'd love to upgrade it at some stage... but it's also the BF's loved piece of furniture. Need to convince him that it's seen better days and can't be around forever. 

Questions 3 and 5 are different ways of connecting with what you find pleasing, comfortable and beautiful. You've tapped into your preferences in both a memory-based emotional way and in a practical, observational way to form a picture of a room you will enjoy spending time in. Example: Bright, simple and sparsely decorated sunlight-filled space or moody, happily cluttered, knick-knack embracing rooms lit by candlelight?

The spaces are eclectic-ly cluttered with pieces on every surface. The walls however are pretty sparse, we have posters, prints, and a lot of canvas' hung but they each have space around them. They're visually pleasing. Some of these surfaces *are* a little too cluttered so I may work on that.  

• Questions 4 and 6 are both about your aspirations and therefore can help to form a direction and goals for your Cure in terms of what you want your room makeover to provide to your homelife. Example: You'd like your friend to say "everything works so well together!" can be translated into a goal of "putting more thought into coordinating pieces". Think about the ways your aspirations can lead you - will they translate into going for better overall organization or finally embracing a more fearless use of color?

Overall better organisation. We moved in to the space around 7 months ago and it still doesn't quite feel like home. On the whole it's 70% home but not quite. Some things just feel a little out of space. However considering we're renting as well we cannot change some of the things - the horrible carpet which is stained, the paint colours, the white-ware, they have to stay. We can't change them.
Our items can be changed however, so I'd like to open up the entry way and declutter things. 

We don't have that table and so many chairs now. So that helps. 

The white trolley things looks better now as well. 

 

The blue smaller table with 2 chairs. 

One chair is now over in the lounge, so it doesn't look so crazy with 2 chairs for one table-space.

The competition/event can be found here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-style-cure-is-coming-sign-up-now-to-update-decorate-a-room-this-august-192191?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DAILY+8113+-+The+Style+Cure+Begins&utm_content=DAILY+8113+-+The+Style+Cure+Begins+CID_05905176652bf7e72764972daf1be485&utm_source=email_newsletter&utm_term=although%20I%20hope%20you%20are

Day one starts here:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/day-1-fill-out-a-style-interview-apartment-therapy-style-cure-192586?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DAILY+8113+-+The+Style+Cure+Begins&utm_content=DAILY+8113+-+The+Style+Cure+Begins+CID_05905176652bf7e72764972daf1be485&utm_source=email_newsletter&utm_term=interview%20questionnaire