Sunday, June 28, 2009

The New Digs


We got the keys to our new apartment today and spent the whole afternoon cleaning and bringing over some boxes. We are moving from a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment to a 1 bedroom/1 bath; a brand new building to a 50-60 something year old tutor style building. As we all know, times are tough right now and we have made the decision to cut back on our spending and save up some money to buy a house in the near future. We love our Chicago neighborhood so we are only moving 3 blocks away :) We are crossing our fingers that our first house will be in the same neighborhood, too.

So here's the tour:

This is the front door. Look at the archway :)


Coat closet.


Bonus closet to the right of the front door. It goes back few feet to the right of the picture. So much storage space!


Living room. That is the radiator under the window with a nice cover to hide it a bit.


The other side of the living room leading to the dining room.


The dining room with great built-in shelving.


The dining room and window that overlooks the walkway to a beautiful backyard patio.


Dining room/kitchen. Amazing built-in cabinets that will be great for extra storage and a way to show off my glassware and dishes.


The kitchen and back door that leads to a very small landing and stairwell down to the laundry room.


I'm happy to have a window in my kitchen.


Our bedroom and another radiator.


The other side of the bedroom and a door leading to the closet. Due to the lack of closet space, we plan on purchasing a wardrobe closet from Ikea and placing it against this wall. The one we have picked out have a bonus cabinet space that we will use to store bathroom towels.


The bathroom and a great glass block window that lets in lots of natural light.


This shelving unit over the toilet was left behind by the previous renter but we ditched it and plan on finding something new at Ikea.


This is another entry to the bedroom closet from the hallway in between the bedroom and bathroom. I think this will be the only door I use for the closet.


Murphy was a little scared in the place and didn't know what to think. Look at those wide eyes!


But she was pretty intrigued by the many windows to view the neighborhood from. (We are not allowed to have pets in our current building so we have to close off our windows so she isn't seen. Shoosh, don't tell anyone.)



While we cleaned, Murph looked for places to hide. This cabinet was her favorite place to curl up and observe.


She even tried to make this ledge in the closet a comfy spot. How's that workin for ya?


Stay tuned to see how where we place all of our furniture and how we repurpose some pieces in new spaces.


Friday, June 26, 2009

B is for Baby


This baby shower was featured on Hostess With The Mostess and I am in love with the theme and the color scheme. The shower was actually thrown by Lollipop Events & Designs.

The whole theme started with these invitations.


The table runner fabric was purchased on Etsy and yellow burlap was laid underneath and used as placemats.


All vases were found at local thrift stores.


Each table setting had a Baby Bottle Bellini (following the 'B' theme) and an individual coconut cake with a marzipan bee placed on top (a Martha Stewart idea).



Every guest went home with a good bag filled with candy treats all starting with the letter 'B.'

Too cute!


Back from Texas


I'm back from my mini vacation to Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I went with my mom and sisters to celebrate their 21st birthdays. We had such a blast together and really enjoyed the hot weather. It seems as though we have brought the hot weather back with us to the Midwest.


On our trek to from Austin to San Antonio we stopped off at the outlet mall to check out Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn.


I have never seen a store so big. It was like a warehouse!




Austin had these cute little metal campers where they would sell cupcakes, crepes or iced coffee.




Almost every restaurant had a patio area for outdoor dining.




We did some house drive-bys to pick out where we want to live next!



This house had the most gorgeous outdoor room above the carport. I can just imagine how breezy and relaxing it must be sitting up there under the fans.





This is my favorite!





All of us at the lake.


Happy birthday girls! I had the best time!



Thursday, June 25, 2009

Future projects


Just one more week and we will have the keys to our new apartment. My head is just spinning with new decorating ideas. Here are a few of my projects in mind:



I want to line my medicine cabinet with some fun wallpaper.



I also want to line the inside of my bar cabinet. I also love the different compartments and mini drawers in this picture. Maybe another project is in my future :)



I am on the hunt for some large baskets to put underneath my side board in the dining room. I see myself storing many fantastic table linens in them.








I am also on the hunt for a fabulous chandelier to hang above my dining room table. I might even look from something at a flea market and see if I can bring it back to life.