I left my heart in... Newark NJ

Well, hello everybody! If you'll allow, let's take a little trip (in our minds) to a lovely city called Newark, in the glorious state of New Jersey. Are you all there? GREAT! Just in the center of town is a big Art Deco building, in which lives my brother and sister-in-law.  As I've already blogged about, they have recently decided they want to be closer to the action and are moving into the big city: New York. 

Before they leave their gorgeous Newark apartment, and shift their "stuff" to a new home, I want to share with you some pictures of their amazing vintage, funky style. My brother is an artist and so are many of their friends (and of course our family as well).  So most of the art you see was made either specifically for Joe and Molly or they know the artist personally.

Like all of us, Joe and Molly love IKEA. I adore their Expedit bookshelves jam packed with books, records, plants and pictures. They also have the Lack coffee table with a wicker storage bin.  If you haven't noticed, there is a cardboard Rhino on the wall above the TV.  My brother has an affinity for taxidermy.  (I don't know where he gets it from.)  Since Molly is not super keen on having dead animals littering the house, she thought this was a happy compromise and gave it to him as a gift.

The skateboard hanging below the star was painted by my brother and was flown across the country being shown at art exhibits until it landed finally on their wall.  Sadly, due to the glare, you can't see the giant pixelated birch forest print hanging on the wall, but you can see their steal of a couch that they got from Jennifer Convertibles!  Don't forget the antique sewing machine table that they use as an end table. And just in the corner you get a glimpse of their little kitchen table that we talked about and they are going to replace.

This is their second bedroom being used as the office.  (Hi brother!) They have a fantastic metal vintage teachers desk and sewing chair.  They've also made a wall size photo collage of random artifacts from their life together. And of course there's a couple of toys for their two adorable kitties: Gezibelle and Chicken Bone.

And finally, we're at the master bedroom.  My brother painted this accent wall a soft blue color and free-hand painted these fun, funky plants and birds.  The branches just on the side of the bed (there is another one on the other side as well) are actually the trees that flocked the stage at their wedding.  Molly also found this blue vintage steamer trunk that she uses for storage and it looks so darn cute! I love this creative retreat!

Well there you have it folks, an homage to Newark and how you can make a totally unique apartment out of a cookie cutter one.

Stay tuned to see how this dynamic duo rearrange all their things in their new apartment!!