I asked Lena to choose a rug for the living room area, based on the colors of items we already have.

This 19-year-old rug has a story; when Lena was four, she did many drawings of her favorite tv and movie characters in bold colors. I decided to transfer those drawings on to a rug for her room. Since then this rug has been moved from one room to the next around our home, from her college dorm to two different apartments. It now finds a home here still in good condition, and with a color scheme that works well with the others.

For the living room area Lena decided on the rug Grounded Blue from Tam Wim’s Chromatica Collection, to compliment it I added a Sea Floor Blue from Tam Wim’s Shoreline Collection. www.tamwim.com.

Two rugs from two different collections that share some similarities in colors and a play on shape and pattern.

The same concept with a dining room, the Sea Floor Rug, the playful design with scalloped borders works very well against a parquet floor.

In this apartment, the place to make a whimsical yet elegant statement is the dining room area,

when you open the door, turn on the light, the first thing you see is this delightful teardrop capiz chandelier I found at CB2.

IKEA, dividers, office and pull out chairs, a flat filling cabinet, a dresser, coffee table, and a sleeper sofa, all from our favorite Swedish furniture store.

Someone might say the “IKEA era” ends around age 34. I don’t believe it! Once you know how the system works (i.e., the ability to assemble a piece of furniture without having one screw left over) you realize you’ve become a pro, you don’t get intimidated by it anymore.

I always find a few things I like there….

We have something to pass along…...

And some memories to share….