Making Restorations: apartment

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Leaving our Loft

Does anyone remember those 90's after school specials featuring twenty-somethings living in their trendy lofts in the big city? Because I do, and I always told myself that I would do that someday. And now I can say that I have!

We've recently moved into a house in the suburbs, but we spent the last bit of our twenties living in a waterfront loft. It was tiny (700 sq ft), but what it lacked in space it more than made up for in with it's modern touches, waterfront views, and proximity to downtown. I will absolutely miss starry nights on the rooftop, kayaking from our private dock, watching giant cruise ships sail past our living room window, and being about to walk & bike to our favorite local hangouts. So I wanted to document a few quick photos here of what life looked like during this season of life.

Surprise Moving & Mold during a Pandemic!

So we moved!

And what a surprise that was.

Let me explain...

an autumn weekend doing all the things

Hello Monday!

I can't believe it, but I'm actually glad to have the week started, mostly because my week is so structured. Meanwhile this past weekend was a hectic one doing all the things to get our new place in shape.

We made 3 separate trips to Home Depot. We also went to Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's. We got our storage unit cleaned out and organized, re-planted our wedding succulents, shampooed the rugs & sofa, put up new storage shelving in our closet, organized our place, and cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. It was kind of a lot and exhausting and we are still not quite done with our place yet. Even with so many errands and chores, there was some fun mixed into the weekend. We got pup to the dog park, managed to get into a little hocus pocus, enjoyed coffee breaks on our rooftop, went out to eat a few times, and did a little shopping at Anthropologie during their 25% off weekend where I fell in love and went home with this adorableness. Here's a few snaps of our weekend.

a peek at our place

Since signing the lease for our apartment together back in July, a lot has happened. I left the country twice ✌🏾, sat for a portion of my licensing exam, and spent my summer quite literally drowning in work. So decorating wasn't exactly at the top of my to-do list.

Over the summer, I only spent weekends at our new place since I was still finishing up one last term at the dental school. Finally, right at the end of September, I was able to move here permanently with starting my rotations. Now that I'm here on a daily basis, we have been able to make some real headway so I thought I'd share a peek at our place while it's in progress. Here are some snaps all from my iPhone for now until this place is ready for a full blown apartment tour.

DIY "no sew" tufted headboard

I haven't had a headboard in years. As a poor college student that grew up to be a poor graduate student, spending money on something like a headboard always seemed so frivolous. I meant to get one, but it never seemed like the right time to spend that kind of dough. Besides, me and my mattress were doing just fine with a simple bed frame thank you very much. But when I moved into my new grad school apartment, I decided it was time. Adults have headboards and I was finally ready to join the club.

In my complete naiveness, I budgeted $200 for the endeavor, only to find that I hated everything in my price range. Metal and wooden headboards weren't even a consideration. No, I wanted one of those nice plush fabric ones instead. You know the $600+ ones. All I wanted was to be able to sit up in bed comfortably without having to drop half a grand or more in the process. Is that so much to ask? Well apparently it is.

And I couldn't bring myself to settle for any of the $200 options unless I loved it because do you know what I could do with that kind of money? I could pull off a long weekend in Chicago, or go air ballooning in Napa, or camping in Vermont for $200, so there was no way I was spending that on some crappy headboard that I didn't like. It was starting to look like I was going to be without again. And then I realized that there was another option. Why not make one myself, it can't be that hard right?

And you guys, it really isn't. I've never done anything like this before. I don't have a garage full of power tools or any sewing skills. But I built (with the help of husband of course) this free standing headboard and it's perfect! So here's a little tutorial on my easy ~~no skill~~ no sewing required headboard.

grad school apartment

Grad school is such an odd place to be in life. Gone are the days of being perfectly content to share cheap furniture with 3 other roommates. You're older now and have a desire for nicer things and your own personal space. Right now, I'm trying to balance wanting all the nice things with the reality of living on a student budget. Thus, my place is furnished with thrift store finds, lots of IKEA, a dash of Target, and a whole lot of DIY projects.

I've been living in my grad school apartment for a few months now, so it's about time that I finally share an apartment tour. With our crazy travel schedule and all the work that grad school entails, it has been hard to find time to work on the apartment. So I kept wanting to wait to share until the place was "finished", but our homes are a reflection of our lives and this place will always be transitioning and changing. Even though I still have a few big projects to do, I want to remember it as it is now, so here goes.....

home sweet apartment

I'm right in the middle of getting settled into my grad school apartment, but last weekend I was back in Boston to visit the husband for our 3 year anniversary. Getting to return to the cute apartment that we used to share together has me feeling all sorts of nostalgic.

window sill garden

happy first day of spring!

We're expecting snow tonight, but it's supposedly spring so today we worked on our window sill garden. We spent 3 hours making a huge mess, the pup broke a clay pot, and I managed to get a cactus spine stuck in my arm {tweezers to the rescue} BUT it was worth it to see the finished product. If it's going to be cold and snowy outside, then we will have to recreate spring inside.

Just because we live in an apartment doesn't mean that we can't have a garden. First up was replanting our amaryllis and tulip bulbs. The amaryllis are done blooming for the year, but I'm hoping the tulips bloom just in time for our Easter table.