Subtle Updates at Orlando’s

Hey guys, Its Emily, real quick. In case you are new to the blog and are wondering who the hell is this dude, Orlando, here’s a recap of our relationship: Orlando was my assistant/sidekick on Secrets From a Stylist (RIP) and then became an associate designer that worked with me on design projects for close to 4 wonderful years where we became very close (like sleep in the same bed while traveling, close). He used to write posts on the blog but then HE LEFT ME to become the West Coast Creative Director of HomePolish. I threatened to tell everyone that he is gay if he quit, but that didn’t stop him. Clearly he never respected me and didn’t think I’d have the balls to do it! Ha. So everyone, Orlando is GAY. There. Hope you like your new fancy job.

Anyway, now and again he takes over the blog (I have nothing to do with the design or writing), and he’s practically the only one that I let do this. Orlando has special non-team Emily blog privileges because I love him and he’s very hilarious. So check out his blog, check out Homepolish, read the last post he wrote here, and then read this here post:

Dear Emily’s Readers,

As you may have noticed, my place has been getting constant makeovers lately. By now you’re probably sitting at your computer wondering if all I do is give myself home makeovers and yes, the answer is yes. But also, as some of you know I went through a fun breakup last year and when my ex ran out the door with my bloodied heart in his hand he also took some furniture (because it was his, not because he’s a jerk). Anyway, for the past year my place has been a hodgepodge of whatever random pieces of furniture I could find lying around in the gutter so I decided it was time to spruce things up. Because you can only live like a hobo for so long before you start to feel like a hobo.

I started by swapping out my giant aqua painting for some beautiful drawings I commissioned from Erika Gragg, which I framed using an easy service called SimplyFramed. I also swapped out the rug for an awesome graphic rug (Which we are giving away! Well not the same one I’ve been dancing on, but a new one that looks the same. Enter here!).

I gave up on my hand-wrapped coffee table and swapped it out for a more sophisticated, simple option that allows light to pass through and makes the room feel much more open. Also, I got rid of that orchid because all its blooms went away. Sidenote: What are we supposed to do about orchids? Like mine bloom and then they never bloom again and I keep them around because they’re still alive but they become a huge burden for me, like, emotionally because they never bloom again and they make me feel like a terrible person for not being able to make them bloom. My boyfriend (not the old one who ran away with the furniture, the new one who looks like a Ken doll) bought me that orchid and I felt sad about getting rid of it but he was all “GET RID OF THIS” and so I hid it outside behind a banana plant so that it would still get watered but felt guilty about it like I was abandoning a baby. Anyway, I hate orchids now. WHY AM I STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS?

Pretty obsessed with these 80s inspired lamps from Target. Also look at them side tables HI SIDETABLES.

These drawings provide the tropical twist I’ve been craving lately. And since they were made by a close friend I am reminded of love, friendship, and togetherness. Actually pretty much everything reminds me of love, togetherness, and friendship. Except that song “Rude” by Magic, which makes me want to rip my ears off my head and throw them in a well so I never have to heart it again.

This little area is one of my favorite updates. Basically because everything on that bookcase (and the bookcase itself) is from a thrift store, a flea market, or was handmade (with the exception of the throw and the “It Wasn’t My Idea” print). You can read more about this garbage vignette on my blog. I put that umbrella next to door not because I ever need an umbrella, but because I have not given up hope that someday it will rain again in California. I love rain so this drought is totally bumming me out. Mainly because I love to be inside eating soup, thinking about guys, shopping, and the mall while it’s raining, wet, and cold outside. Oh and also because if it doesn’t rain we are all going to die, skeletons, parched, in the beating dry sun.

I snagged this “It Wasn’t My Idea” print from The Thing Quarterly and it makes my life like a hundred times better every day.

Some chairs want pillows, some chairs don’t. My awesome mid-century chairs were all “no thanks” but I found a nice small scale pillow that they didn’t balk at which makes them look much less harsh and aloof than they actually are.

This crab is an ashtray. I don’t smoke but for some reason I have to stare at it at least once a day or I hate my life.

If you follow me on Instagram you might recognize some of the photos that I carelessly flung (read: maniacally arranged while foaming at the mouth) into a basket.

The rug’s pretty rad. Sometimes when my boyfriend doesn’t pay enough attention to me I nuzzle it and tell it that it’s my only reason for living and that no one understands me the way it does.

This poor mid-century architectural rendering (which Emily and I found at Long Beach Flea Market a while back) was sitting in my closet for the past six months so I rescued it and hung it above my television. Which is awesome except sometimes I get too distracted by its beauty to watch television. In other news all I watch lately is the original “Melrose Place” on Netflix because it’s so crazy and I love all their crazy clothes. Fact: 20 year olds today dress exactly like they did in the 90z. Other fact: All those people on the show are supposed to be like 22 except they’re all like high power executives and business ladies in awesome power suits. This is where I got my ideas about what it was supposed to be like to be an adult. Which is why I was so disappointed not to be running my own advertising firm by the time I was 23.

So there you have it! My new, improved living room! Like Renee Zelweger’s face, the change is subtle, and hard to put your finger on. But it’s different, better, more mature and prettier than it was before, more respectable somehow. Like it went from Tara Reid to Helen Mirren overnight. Okay I’m totally not even talking about my living room anymore now I’m literally just talking about Renee’s face BECAUSE I’M STILL OBSESSED WITH IT. I think she looks awesome. And like a totally different person. Kind of like my apartment. Which looks the same, but different somehow…

Love,
Orlando

PS: Homepolish Magazine is hosting a Giveaway of my new rug! ENTER! >>>

PSS: Full resources and more info on the project can be seen here.>>>

Photographs by Sean Gin Courtesy Homepolish