nothing to do with triathlon and everything to do with.. furniture?

One of the more exciting parts about moving is deciding what to keep and what to throw away. It's a given that you'll probably have to buy some new stuff or replace some worn out stuff. The problem that I am having, being that I am moving in a month, is that I don't have any money to buy any new stuff.

The only new thing that I am getting is a giant IKEA bookcase, and that is courtesy of my parents. It's going to be my room divider/major storage area - so doubly useful (if I can actually put the thing together).

Some other things that are high on the priority list are: microwave (because the apartment doesn't come with one), wine glasses (because who wants to drink wine out of a plastic solo cup?), and 2 stools or chairs for the "breakfast nook." After talking to my parents, I was made aware that they actually saved my microwave from when I lived in Syracuse a few years ago, so now I don't have to go out and buy a microwave! A guy from work told me that he has tons of extra wineglasses and would be happy to see if he has a set of 4 he can give to me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the stools. What I don't want to do is go buy some crappy, ugly stools because they are cheap. It's a small apartment, and I'm going to have to look at those stools (or chairs) every single day because the breakfast nook is also in the living room. I'm not sure exactly what I am looking for, but I like these, and these (so expensive).. I'm leaning towards stools over chairs because they take up less room.

In dreamland, where Fiona shits money, I would love to replace my living room furniture (the couch and chair that I currently have belonged to my parents and are at least 15 years old). Don't get me wrong, I have the most comfortable couch on earth but it is really ugly and is starting to look super worn out. But, couches are expensive. I also don't have end tables. I have a 2 drawer wooden filing cabinet that "acts" as an end table (that's where the lamp sits). My coffee table is handmade by some dude and was $25. The other lamp that I own is one of those dorm room floor lamps with 5 bulbs that you can bend to point in different directions. At least the cups are white and not multicolored, but it's still pretty embarrassing.

I have nice bedroom furniture, but that's because it's the bedroom set that my parents bought me when I was a little kid.

At some point I'm going to have to pull it together and furnish my apartment like a "grown-up" but for now.. it's going to have to be bits and pieces here and there. I don't necessarily care if all of my furniture "matches" (since I am really not the matchy-type).. but I would like my pieces of furniture to reflect my taste and personality. I like bold colors, I like originality, I am a bit of a hippie so I like "rustic" types of wooden furniture pieces in natural colors (nothing painted). Even though the bookshelf that I am getting is from IKEA (mass marketed box-store furniture = yuck), I feel like it reflects my personality: it's enormous and it can hold TONS of books/DVDs which are both something I really like, and I knew I wanted one the minute I saw one in someone else's apartment. I want to find the same thing with stools.. something that I really like that I will want to keep when I move, not something that I buy just to have for now. I am done buying things that work "for now" so I may even just hold off on stools until I find some that I really like.

This is what my current apartment looks like (the living room). That is where my bike typically sits. You can see my super-comfy but ugly, ugly couch and matching chair set.

Even without the bike, it is pretty cluttered, but is MUCH cleaner looking. Unfortunately, there is really no inconspicuous place for me to put my trainer in the winter (and in the winter I tend to just leave my bike on the trainer because it's a pain in the butt to keep taking it off and putting it back on) so it ends up in the middle of my living room. This is a BIG goal for the new apartment - get the trainer in the corner, against a wall, SOMETHING so it's not the freaking centerpiece of my home. I would also like to get that chair somewhere where I will actually sit in it - I NEVER use it where it sits in this apartment, and stuff (clothes, my coat, workout gear, etc.) gets piled on top of it.

I am also getting rid of a bunch of furniture. The bookcase (the shelves of said bookcase are only being held up by the books underneath it), the red chair, the cat condo, the 2 DVD racks, and my computer desk and chair (which are not in this picture, they are to my immediate left in this photo, to the right is a gigantic closet) are all going into either the garbage (the bookcase), storage (red chair, computer chair, desk), or sold on craigslist (Fiona's cat condo - she's going to be pissed because she LOVES it but it's just too big and it makes me look like a cat lady).

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is, other than the fact that this is what I have been thinking about lately. I signed my lease on Monday, I get my keys Feb. 9th, and then I can start moving stuff in! It's going to be a big change in my life, albeit a very positive one, which is why I am spending so much time thinking about it. So I just thought I would share (and I welcome ANY decorating tips, reorganizing suggestions, cheap/nifty storage ideas, or tiny apartment stories that anyone has!).