updated house tour: apartment eight

Here's an updated house tour. Our home as of January 28th. The latest house tour will always be available through the "house tour" tab on the top of the blog, but I'm also making it a post so that when we update the tour we don't lose the pictures forever, but instead can find them in the archives. Happy looking!

Welcome to our apartment! Last time I showed you around, this was the view from the front door.

It has since changed to this.

You still have a straight shot to everything. The doorway and the sliver of a "window" on the left lead to our kitchen, and there's a dining room where you can see the side profile of the chair against the far door. That door leads to our bedroom. That's the chair I reupholstered covered by a legit sheepskin rug I picked up in Scotland. The cork board I made is above the chair {it should be dropped a little now to center on that window}.

Last house tour was in December, so the right side of our living room had a Christmas tree taking up most of it, so this side of the room looks different... and a little empty {but reads way roomy in real life which is important when you're working with 500 square feet}.

Now that side looks like this.

The little basket by the door catches the mail and library books/movies that need returning. Other than that, the only difference now is the bookshelf {topped with our mice} that we moved over there {to get the chairs closer to the couch for less awkward seating}.

The left side has also changed quite a bit. Here it is a month ago.

And here it is today.

We've added the open shelving in the "window", the diy heart art, and the diy side table. I haven't made those throw pillows yet, but it's still in the plan. 

To finish off the living room, here are some details...

{No, updates for the kitchen yet, so I'm leaving the pictures} 

We don't have stainless steel appliances or granite countertops, but I love our kitchen. We probably won't change much about this side of the room, unless we get a new mirror. Oh, and that utensil holder in the corner is cracked... so we'll change that in the future.

I added this long shelf in the kitchen so that all the stuff it's holding wouldn't crowd up the counters. We keep our bills in that wooden tray so we remember to pay them. As a side note, we have cooked and eaten the pumpkins {they've been awesome for our cranberry pumpkin bread}

We scored those three mushroom cookie jars at a flea market for $8 total. That bookshelf next to the red cart is made from the drawers of Mrs. Nowak's childhood desk stacked on top of each other.

On to the dining room. The changes in here are pretty subtle, but I love this room more and more all the time. Here it is in December.

Here's the updated picture.

We've lost some of the clutter, which definitely helps. That's the desk I redid there in the back, but it's sporting our new office chair {not gonna lie. probably my favorite purchase}. Next to the desk is the giganormous mirror we added the frame to. In the reflection of the mirror, you can see our small "hallway" between the dining room and the bathroom {which hasn't changed}.

That's the pallet shelf we made. We keep the typewriter there for our guests to sign, and I love reading their notes. There's our owl umbrella holder {named Miss Elle}, but as you can see, she's missing her umbrella.

On to the bedroom! The only thing we've change in here is the chair in the corner, so those are the only pictures I updated. 

You walk in to the side of my dresser {and a rolled up rug that used to be in our Dining Room but would not lay flat without a non-slip-pad}. We have two large {unframed} mirrors on the wall with the window {free off craigslist} in need of some frames, a cedar hope chest{free} that desperately needs to be refinished, and a framed picture of the cavalier hotel {our second honeymoon spot} taken in the 1930s.

There's our full sized bed {we'd rather be snuggly then 5 feet apart} with our duvet cover. We keep an extra blanket on there when it's freezing cold outside. We added that window unit to keep us cool in the summer.

We wanted to add a reading/ sitting area, but I picked the wrong chair. Here's the before.

And here's the after.

I think it's a huge improvement. 

That is Matt's gooseswanduck Percy. Someday I hope he gets to live in a more prominent room of our house {like an entry way, to welcome guests} but for now, he keeps us company. I love having a full length mirror {like my Grammie used to have} and I hope that someday my children will pretend they can step through it into another world, just like I used to. My late great- grandfather made that side table {and we received it as a wedding gift}.

One last {updated} panoramic shot to finish the whole thing off. 

Well, now you've seen it. We'll continue to tweak it as we go, and I hope you keep up. :)

90% off

Today, I went through my drawers sorting my shirts by color {yep, really}, and ended up with two large bags worth of clothes to donate to the thrift store. I was also donating our old office chair which has been sitting in our living room since it got replaced by our new office chair.

When I carried my bags/chair into the donation section, a mirror caught my eye. A mirror with a Homegood's tag still on it. A mirror with the cardboard corners still on it. Normally thrift stores won't let you buy out of their donations until it has been priced and goes to the main floor. I've learned that it never hurts to ask. The woman working there said she'd give it to me for $5 cash if I wanted it. Original Homegood's price tag... $50. {happy dance}

I know it doesn't look like it in this picture {surrounded by a dark wood bookshelf and china cabinet} but I'm not really digging the dark brown. I imagine that someday she'll be painted white. However, I am seriously digging the texture/pattern. Here's a close up.

Now the price tag.

Original price- {before it went to Homegoods} $85.
Homegood's price- $50. Homegood's sale price- $25.
Price I bought it for still in it's original condition- $5.
That's at least 80% off. Or 90% off. Or 95.75% off... depending on how you look at it.

No matter what, it's a steal. :)

my style

I struggle with this. Lame, right?

Um, you're 21 years old {my birthday is in a month for anyone interested} and you don't know what you like?

And that's the problem. I know exactly what I like. I like vintage. I like cozy. I like texture. I like pattern. I like rounded. I like brass. I, who hate gold, love brass.

But... that isn't what I want to like.

I look at things like this... {younghouselove.com}

... and I love it. I want my home to look like that. That is a well put together room.

But then I look at these...

and {minus the footstool in the last one} I love them more. I wonder if all of those rooms could be a part of one house. Our house. 

Today, I realized my problem. It's a truth I've known about myself for a long time, but it struck me today afresh.

I hate being stereotyped. Regardless of whether I am stereotypical or not, I abhor being stereotyped. 

I'm homeschooled. "Oooooooooooooh. I see. School in your pajamas, eh? I bet college has been such a challenge for you. Have you been able to make any friends?"

I'm a pastor's daughter "Ah. Goody two shoes. Or rebel. Either way."

Hate. It just bothers me. Everyone is different. Everyone. Yes, stereotypes are made for a reason, but not everyone fits the mold. 

So, here I am. We have our first apartment and I have to decide where we are going with it. 

I have been called "boho chic", "shabby chic", and "American attic". 

But what I would like... when it's all finished {and even as we're working toward it} is for you to walk into our home and say...

"Wow! Everything is so "you"." 

And, no. We will not be painting chevron on anything or buying a fabulous farmhouse sink for this apartment.. Only tiny changes for now.

So, today I've decided that instead of working toward a "look"... I'm going to collect the things we fall in love with until I can say, "Whoa, I can see our kids growing up in these rooms." :)

The End

DIY hot plate

Sometime last year, Matthew and I went to a Flea Market that claimed to be "The Largest in all of Tennessee!" Yeah, ok. It was big, but not interesting. It was mostly vendors selling t-shirts or "never have to buy windows again!" windows...

The only thing I bought was a double sided fabric head band {that I've basically been waiting until spring to wear} and we left. Across the street {where we had to park our car} there was a store that sold a little of everything. Old doors, hardware, windows, and some furniture. I only had a couple dollars left to spend, so most of it was out of our "designated spending money for the trip" price point.

On an old mantel, there were a couple of mismatch tiles for a dollar each... I fell in love with one. You've seen it before, but I'm sure you didn't take much notice.

In our house tour for our kitchen, it was propped up next to the vase of flowers that Matthew bought me. See it? I know it's tiny, but you can check it out here if you want to jog your memory in person.

At first it was just a tile, but I'm trying to cut down on useless clutter. Insert Matthew's brilliant idea here: We make it into a hot plate.

When I finished making the cork board we had corks left over. Some were the normal "put in a bottle cork", but some were little... like this.

This project is easy-peasy. Just a hot glue gun, a tile, some corks... oh and some felt {so the hot plate will sorta slide across the table if we want it to}.

I traced the corks onto the felt, and cut out the circle. A little of hot glue attached the felt to the corks, and the corks to the tile. Viola {pronounced "wah-lah"}!

Whoa! Did you see how that tile just transformed into a hot plate? 

My favorite part of this project? The price tag. $0 {unless you count the electricity it cost to run the hot glue gun, but no one does that}. So, originally $1 {the corks and felt were gifts}, but today... nothing. :)  My kind of project.

Here it is sitting pretty with our other hot plates {owl one from the Knoxville Zoo $5, blue one $1 at a local thrift store}. I think it looks at home already.

tiny bathroom changes

When we registered {at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target} for bathroom stuff it was mostly for the normal "trashcan, tissue box, toothbrush holder, and soap dish" matching set. We also got a gorgeous shower curtain, but our shower here has sliding doors so that won't make its debut til our next place. I still very much love the color/style/shape we chose {a rounded, dark brown set} but.. here's what I'm learning about life...

Yes, it's about the look, but function should always trump style. Here's our old toothbrush holder.

Some of you can already see the problem. The problem is not the toothpaste stains on the inside. It is but it isn't. The real problem was the bottom the cup. I'm about to show you a disgusting picture... so shield your eyes {but peek... so you can see what kind of nasty we were dealing with}.

I honestly don't know how normal people deal with this problem, but the bottom of our cup would full up with "toothbrush run off" water. Is that water clean??.... yes? It should just be tap water and toothpaste... Do I want to hold the handle of a toothbrush that has been sitting in the remains of my last brush?

No! This required action. I cleaned it out daily for awhile, but that just seemed ridiculous. 

Today Matthew and I went to Lowes, gave them $6, and left with the very simple solution. A wall mounted toothbrush holder. Guess which one we chose. The only one they sell. {what does the rest of the world do?} 

Matthew attached it to the wall, and the problem is solved. Don't worry, you may look at the next picture without throwing up. 

Yes, I will still {obviously} have to clean this one on a regular basis, but I will no longer have to feel like my hand is grasping old bath water when I brush my teeth. That, my friends, is worth six dollars every day. 

new office chair

Back in July, we were on the lookout for an office chair. We had come to Knoxville with my childhood desk {redo here} but no chair to accompany it. I checked the local thrift stores one day and fell immediately in love with a chair. It had like an industrial science-lab vibe. Small problem. The dude at the thrift store was sitting in it... behind the counter. I still asked, "Is that chair for sale?" His reply was kind enough, "Sorry, honey. My wife would kill me." Oh, well. No biggie. It was only love.

So, I waited until Saturday and tried a different thrift store. I found a rounded wooden chair for three dollars and made that our "new"office chair. I liked it. Really.

Today, after our three mile walk to the post office, we wandered into the first thrift store I had mentioned. When we walked in the lady said, "Everything's half price." As we looked around, it made me think... "Everything?" I wondered if they were going out of business. I didn't bother asking, but I did make my way to the counter and repeat a question from six months ago.

"Is that chair for sale?"

"I don't see why not. How's three dollars?"

If she had said anything under $20 I would have taken it, but for $3 I ran all the way home to get my purse.

Ok, enough talk. Here she is.

I thinks she's gorgeous. There's more. When we flipped her over we found three things... 

1. The date "NOV 7 63" in a black stamp on the bottom. That's before my father was born. Awesome.

2. A sticker that made me very happy. This chair is legitly a science lab chair.

3. A sticker with instructions on how to raise and lower it. This one was the best. It means not only does my three dollar chair look amazing, come from UT, and qualify as vintage, she fits under my desk! Seriously exciting.

This is one of those things that I am like jumping up and down inside about. It's like I wanna call my mom and be like, "Check out our new chair! It's AMAZING! Three dollars! UT!"

But I won't. I'll just post this and non-chalantly hope that someone loves it as much as I do.