Studio Apartment Tour!!

Here's a peak into my new apartment! The renovations turned out great! The location is perfect. I am so close to everything and I can walk to restaurants and bars! I want to give a big thank you to my dad for coming down to visit this week and hanging up all my shelves and picture frames. One day I will get the courage to try and drill things in the wall myself. I was surprised how well I hid all of my stuff. It took a lot of organizing, but everything fit. It is finally coming together and feeling homey, I love it!

Yes, I kept that dresser that I thought was so ugly...it actually works out perfectly as my TV stand. 

It was not too big and it stores a lot of clothes. I need all the extra storage that I can get!

My nice view of a brick wall....

My couch is actually a hide-away sofa bed! So if I have visitors over, they have a place to stay. 

(AKA, Shelby's bed for the last month)

I am so glad that they created an "island" for me with an over hang. My bar stools work perfectly

and  I was able to return the table that I got. My "pantry" is also stored in the cabinets underneath it.

Note that there is no dishwasher or microwave....that took some getting used to.

Thank god for these shelves that store all my extra stuff. 

Oh the struggles of no cabinet of drawer space.

My closet that holds a ton! It needs major organizing though! 

I am obsessed with the waterfall sink.

The headboard that I made myself!! 

Moving Weekend!

Success! I am able to write a blog post, meaning...I successfully set up my internet all by myself! AND that my apartment was done on time!!! My first night in my new apartment was on Thursday the 2nd. Being the organized person I am, I thought I wouldn't go to bed that night without unpacking and putting everything away. Obviously, after actually seeing how much stuff I had to go through, it didn't happen. Not to mention, I worked a full day and didn't move until 6, so I was exhausted. Shelby & I went out for dinner that night to fuel up for the long night ahead of us, and were able to build my couch, place furniture and get a few things put away.

Let's just say, I am sitting here on Saturday, with boxes still not unpacked in my kitchen. It has taken awhile to find the perfect spot to put things in such a small apartment. Not going to lie, when I first moved in, seeing all of my stuff in the space, I panicked a bit because of how small it is. After organizing some things, it honestly it fits everything I have and is the perfect size for just me. Once I get everything put away, I will post more pictures of the inside. I am very happy with the renovations, it looks waaaay better than before!

My sister Shelby is staying with me in Cincinnati for the summer, so moving into this small of a place with 2 people temporarily, has been interesting. I made us dinner last night, our first meal in my new place! Naan flatbread, pesto, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and garlic infused olive oil drizzled over it, super easy & so delicious! Of course I paired it with a bottle of wine I bought in Canada.

After pizza, we took a break from unpacking and went to the Reds game. Every Friday night the Reds have fireworks after the game. There was a special show last night since it is 4th of July weekend. Despite getting killed by the Brewers...we had a great time! 

My goal is to have everything unpacked and put away by Sunday night. An apartment tour will be posted in about a week once I am able to finish hanging things on the wall, etc.

Have a great 4th of July!!! 

Moving Time!

Let me start off by saying, I have no idea how my parents moved sooo many times...especially with children! It is exhausting! Most of my time these past 2 weeks have been consumed with moving stuff: setting up electricity, wifi, renters insurance, etc. I was a bit ambitious and went out to buy my own router and modem for my internet instead of paying monthly to rent TimeWarner's router/modem. The budget conscious side of me said it was a no brainer to save money in the long run, the tech savvy side of me is not sure if it will be a smart decision to set it up myself...so we will see how that turns out!

On a more fun note, I have been doing a lot of shopping! I can not stop raving about the store At Home. I am not sure if it is just local, or where the other locations are. It is about the size of Sam's Club but the inside of Home Goods with better organization, if you're following me. As you can tell by my cart, I hit the jackpot with pillows and some furniture. Speaking of furniture, I have not really bought much, except for a few little things. The stand in my cart is either going to be a nightstand or an end table for my "living room". I also bought a dresser from Goodwill and redid it, not really loving how it looks. The handles were indented in so I couldn't change the knobs so spray paint had to do. That dresser may be going in the closet where no one can see it. I Googled the brand of dresser and found out the bigger version of that antique was going for $4000 on Ebay, I should've just sold it!!! I found another little table which I may use as an entry console or a TV stand, but I have a feeling my TV may look funny on such a small table. It was in the damaged section of At Home so it was super cheap...and oddly, I could't find any damage (it will probably fall apart one day), so I repainted it and changed the knob. 

Funny story: so I ordered a couch to the house I am living at now, which is a duplex. I got home from work and saw a huge box on my porch, it looked a lot skinnier from the driveway. When I actually saw the box up close I had no idea what I was going to do, I just wanted to get it in the front door and leave it at the bottom of the stairs. The problem was, the box was about the size of the entire space at the bottom of the stairs. My struggle...how to shut the door. I had to shove the box half way up the stairs awkwardly in a dress with one arm/shoulder/thigh while the other arm tried to close the door behind me, not the mention that the stairs are much steeper than regular stairs. I might have forgotten to mention this was a 135lb box since I just had to order a couch with a sleep away sofa, so it really was a couch and a twin bed. Let's just say, after a few curse words, sweat and a miracle, it is finally shut. Proper lifting mechanics were thrown out the window, today my back is killing me! This must be what it is like to live alone, oh joy!

Honestly, the majority of packing I have saved for this weekend, so I have a fun weekend ahead of me. I don't know why I have been dragging my feet with it, I just hate living in this half packed house.  I have been driving past my apartment building like a stalker making sure the renovations are happening and I did see they were working in it. Last night I reached an all time low and almost got out of my care and peek in the windows, but I told myself how psycho I was and drove away. I will just have to be patient and believe the property manager when she said it will be done next week. She did schedule a meeting with me for next Wednesday to get the keys (so I am assuming it will be done on time!!), so I will be able to move in all my little stuff Wednesday. The movers are coming Thursday night to move the rest of my boxes and furniture. I am stressed, sad about leaving my current place, but most of all super excited to have a place of my own and start this new chapter of my life! Stay tuned for more updates once I am actually moved in!

$20 DIY Headboard

My bed now currently does not have a headboard. For the past year, making my own headboard has been in the back of my mind to do, however, I never actually got around to doing it. I have been taking large boxes home from work to use as packing boxes for moving and came across a super large heavy duty one. I thought it would be the perfect size for my headboard and I just got in the groove to complete it!

I have a full size bed, so first I drew my design on the cardboard with the correct dimensions. You can really do whatever design you would prefer. So many options!

I then used an X-ACTO knife to cut out the headboard. After that, I used batting from Joann Fabric to cover the cardboard and make it cushy. I wrapped the batting around the back and used a mini stapler to attach it. I doubled the batting to make it a bit thicker than just one layer.

I did the same thing with the fabric that I chose as I did with the batting. I picked a grey, jersey/stretchy type of material. When it rang up at the cash register it came up as jegging material. I would suggest a knit, jersey type material because it was easy to pull and stretch as well as it did not have any wrinkles. A thicker material would have been a lot more difficult to attach and give a tight appearance. I also noticed a lot of other fabrics in the store attracted a lot of lint/hair. I used my mini stapler to attach the fabric as well (too easy!!).

After that, it was done! It still looks a bit plain to me, so I may add some pearled push pins to give it a quilted appearance. The best part about this project, the price!
     -Batting on sale for 50% off: $7.99
     -Fabric on sale for 40% off: $14.00

There you have it! Super easy and cheap headboard! I don't know why I put it off for so long. I am super excited to put it in my new place!