After picking out Caesarstone countertops and sanding down floors, you’d think decorating would be done. But, decorating doesn’t stop there…and while I love a good throw pillow, I needed a little professional help. Enter A Quarter Past Creative, a Hoboken-based creative agency that focuses on interior design for residential, commercial, and pop-up stores. Now as with Hoboken Handyman and the majority of posts on HG {unless noted otherwise}, this post is NOT sponsored — I haven’t been paid any amount of money to showcase AQP or any of the brands I mention below. I just wanted to share another step in the daunting process of buying {and decorating} a home!
Anyway, I digress. Here is how A Quarter Past Agency helped me with the surprisingly large task of decorating a one bedroom apartment thus far:
1. Helped with Yellow + Gray Living Room Inspiration
Before:
A mish mash of old furniture from renting for several years … and a blue hue from a bit of work being done on the exterior of the building. Lovely. I knew I wanted a grey sectional perhaps and some pops of color — yellow is usually my go-to, but that was about it. We ended up purchasing a gray sectional from Raymour & Flanigan on our own, but then were clueless what to do next.
After:
The lovely owner of AQP, Sloane, thought that finding two yellow chairs would be a great way to close off the living room and tie the colors together. I loved the idea! We just couldn’t find chairs that were an exact fit. But, as fate would have it, I was at IKEA when I found these bad boys which were the perfect measurement — in red—then found out they also came in yellow! It looks a bit orange in the pic, but it’s actually a yellow.
The painting on the wall is a $200 Home Goods {Edgewater} find by an Australian artist, and the pillows are a mix of Target + Home Goods. The white fur throw is Pottery Barn, and the white blinds are from Select Blinds. Curtains from Home Goods, and we actually found mercury glass curtain rods at Kohls {believe it or not!}. Glass table is a hand-me-down from our old apartment. Frenchie not included.
2. Created a Cafe Table and Chairs Area {from an empty space of nothing}:
Before:
{Literally just a white wall}
You remember this post, right?
After:
These oatmeal-colored chairs Sloane found at Modway {going for a bit of a modern feel}, and the white tulip table is {believe it or not!} from IKEA. I would have NEVER found or known to put this look together myself…so I can’t take any credit, even though I’m in love with my little office space. Sloane measured each area and checked and re-checked the measurements of all of the furniture to make sure it would fit {something I never do}. The Hoboken original artwork on the wall is by Ricardo Roig and framed at Tresorie in uptown Hoboken. The white flowers are from Home Goods and are F-A-K-E! Crazy, right? Oh, and the decal on the computer is from Etsy. Again, frenchie not included.
Hoboken Handyman helped hang these frames, curtains, curtain rods, and mounted my TV, FYI.
3. Painted this DIY desk – before & after:
One night, sloane came over with paint brushes and wine. I supplied the {Mexicali Turquoise} paint and Mercury Anthropologie nobs, and we went to town! Such a fun upcycling project with my old desk.
Et voila! Will the real Pierre please stand up?
4. Sent links to furniture, pin boards, and color schemes. AQP also helps with event planning and creative design as well as spatial design. Sloane has a knack for knowing exactly what a room needs. And, the best part is she is honest and polite. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll tell me, but she won’t make me feel like my opinion doesn’t matter — it’s more of a gentle, “yeahh, that’s probably not going to work,” which I love. She is awesome. She also sent me a ton of crucial emails with links for each part of the apartment {so I could easily compartmentalize what I needed to order/look for during my furniture treasure hunts — my FAVE part, obviously}.
Exhibit A:
So helpful with links!
All in all, it was so much fun working with Sloane. We still have a few parts of the apartment to work on {bedroom, storage area, and now that the TV is mounted — finishing up the living room}, but she literally helped me turn our stark condo from a “house into a home,” as cliche as that sounds. To get in touch with her, click here.
I just love decorating. And Home Goods. What is your favorite part of moving into a new home?
