Personal Space

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."

(Maya Angelou)

Almost a year ago, I posted details and photos of our new apartment in "The Big Move", including the outside, the empty inside, and the furniture we purchased. As I had mentioned, I planned on sharing an update on our apartment life once we had settled in, but realized I never did. I thought about splitting it into a few separate updates, but I might as well fit everything into a super-long summary post. So here it is, an "after" from the "before".

Bedroom

The bedroom is small, with an even smaller closet and a single window, and fits a queen-sized bed, 2 complementary-but-not-exactly-the-same nightstands and lamps, and a corner and 2-door wardrobe to serve as extra closet space for yours truly. It's simple and quiet, and the only sounds we hear are church bells, or birdies outside when they sing with extra cheer.

Light, neutral tones are calming

Korean lacquered box with inlaid mother-of-pearl -- a gift from my uncle and aunt
(I also have a larger one from my mother-in-law) -- and my journal

Extra storage with full-length mirrored door

A look inside my wardrobe unit

Towels, handbags, jewelry, clothing, cosmetics, and a few friends

My mirrored corner wardrobe unit holds hanging blouses, cardigans, dresses, and skirts. Sam's clothing is in the regular bedroom closet, we keep our coats in the outside closet, and I store out-of-season apparel in zippered underbed boxes.

Bathroom

The bathroom is very basic, with a sink, mirrored medicine cabinet, toilet, and bathtub. We installed 3 floating wall shelves to hold bath products; a 2-door wall-mounted cabinet with shelf, since the medicine cabinet is very shallow and doesn't hold much; and a small towel rod for our watermelon-y coral Kate Spade Larabee Dot hand towels (the platinum grey bath towels hang on an over-the-door towel rack). A canvas print adds more color to room.

Basic sink and mirror as the starting point

Gifts of fragrance, lotions, and scrubs on added floating shelves

We needed additional storage options

Full view of our added cabinet and towel rod

Monet Nympheas canvas print and Hookless white waffle shower curtain

Hallway

Immediately inside our apartment is a wall-mounted shoe cabinet to maximize space (also holding our wedding cake topper, which I didn't know where else to place). A few steps down the narrow hallway towards the living room is a mini gallery wall of framed photos. I'll eventually add to it since right now most of the photos are wedding-related, which I know is a little lame but we don't have other nice photos yet.

Slim-profile wall-mounted shoe cabinet by the door

Hallway, facing out and facing in

Heading towards the living room

Mini gallery wall, a work-in-progress

Some family photos

Living Room

The hallway leads into the living room, which contains our TV, sofa, coffee table, and a few decorative elements. Before I got married, I lived a very low-tech home life, without cable, internet, even a smartphone, but those things were necessities for my husband. I still don't know how everything works -- TV, cable/Wi-Fi, Blu-ray player, and Apple TV -- but I use my iPad every day (the latter 3 were gifts).

TV/media console against Popsicle Sticks wall art

Sofa with chaise lounge in front of windows

Living room with a glimpse of the kitchen

Colorful embroidered and canary yellow velvet throw pillows

Blooming calandiva, wedding photos, and abstract floral canvas

Dining Area

The living room has somewhat of a built-in room divider, which allows us to partition the space and have a slightly separate dining area, even though it's really the same room. We have an extendable dining table with chairs, a stacked set of folding bookcases for cookbooks and other items, and we bought a buffet with hutch top after moving in because we needed more storage than what the kitchen provided.

Dining area at end of living room

Decorative items on bookshelves

Shelf with wine bottle corks and books

Cooking and craft books (Can you tell by the way it's organized
that I worked in a bookstore?)

Dining table and chairs

Lamp and red, clear, and blue vase stand

Hutch and buffet (flanked by Cher and Dionne)

Nicer glassware, dinnerware, serving pieces, and my ceramics

Kitchen

Last but not least is the kitchen. It's small, with very limited counter space, so when prepping and cooking, I place cutting boards on the stove top for more surface area. We installed a wall-mounted pot rack, a microwave oven, and a paper towel holder for convenience, and bought a dual trash/recycling can to make it easy to sort recyclables.

Where we whip up breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts

Stovetop = Countertop in our kitchen

Nice to have a window, even if it faces a building

Requisite rice cooker, and an ultra compact dish rack

Cutting boards, utensils, spices, and at least 5 types of hot sauce at all times

Wall-mounted pot rack with shelf

So there you have our humble abode: simple and comfortable for this space and stage of our life together. What do you think? Next time, I'll share more close-ups of the kitchen -- or more accurately, of meals made in the kitchen -- in my spring food post!