New apartment

We're moving mid-February to our new apartment. It is a clean slate to work from, and I am happy we have it. What we know is that it works within our budget, it is safe for me to spend lots of QT alone in, and it is empty. Blank slate.

I wish I had interior designer friends.


This is the living room. Wonderful crown molding and a fire place, and also the freedom to paint whatever colors we choose. The problem, for me, will be the choosing.

French doors and the dining area. It's bigger than it looks in the picture. I hope. :)

The kitchen. It's nice and roomy, for sure. You also get a peek at the laundry nook. If there is one thing I wish was different about the apartment, it would be the oven. It looks so silly. Like a panda bear. I wish it was all white. Maybe that's obsessive.

Bedroom 1. We're not sure which room we'll take as the master. They are identical in size and the layout is similar save window placement. The bathroom attached to this bedroom has a large linen closet, so, I think it would make more sense to choose this one. We'll see when we move in. I am so thrilled about all of the great sunlight this unit gets!

This terribly awkward picture doesn't show you anything except two doors. Let me explain. The door on the left is actually the French doors you see in a post above. The black door is a large storage area we'll use to keep Aaron's Star Wars can collection in :) It is a really large patio with enough space for a grill and some patio furniture. For me, that's going to be so much fun! I grew up eating most of our meals grilled, and my family ate outside year round because of the temperate East Texas weather.

So, that's a few pictures of our new digs. I wish I had taken more. Oh well.

Anyone want to offer up suggestions for decorating tips? Paint colors? Free interior designing for newlyweds? I joke, I joke. I'm hoping when my mom comes to visit she and my sister will be able to help me sketch out a vision. I am trying to be really reasonable in expectations for our new place; I heard yesterday that newly wed couples spend the first 5-7 years of their marriage trying to establish for themselves what their parents currently have. Knowing that this is also a time when marriages need the most nurturing and are also less financially stable is a scary situation if you (I) (we) let it become one. So I'm making a vow to myself to stick to my budget, and if I really want (insert furniture item here), I'm going to have to shop less, cut out the frivolous stuff (coffee, new fingernail polish, etc) and use the extra in our budget to save for whatever it is I want. I know this isn't a novel concept, but writing it down helps me make it attainable.

But if you don't dream, you can't plan, right?