Renting Convert

For a while, I wanted to own a home. I wanted to buy house so that the husband and I would have something which was ours. When we paid our monthly payment, it wasn't just going to a company. Nor would it feel like we were throwing money out because we would be paying a mortgage, which would mean that in the end we would own something rather than not keeping anything. It's kind of like the difference between leasing a car and buying a car - with one you own it and with the other you have to give it back.

The other reason I wanted to own a home was because I would be allowed to do things to said home and no one could tell me otherwise. I could paint, I could garden, I could put as many holes in the walls as I wanted because it was my own. I could try different things over and over because it's mine and I don't have to get clearance with a landlord.

I also want to say that I hate corporate apartments. They feel sterile. You can't add color and I've found that they are difficult to make them feel homey. No matter how many lamps I bought, I've never felt comfortable in a corporate owned place.

Last year, when we knew we had to find somewhere else to live otherwise we would be homeless, we started hunting Craigslist. That's where apartments are listed here, especially ones downtown. I wanted to find a house to rent, because by God, if I couldn't buy one we would rent one.

The one I wanted fell through. We could never get a hold of the company to show it to us and then it was rented. The next place we looked at I fell in love with. It was teeny apartment, maybe 500sqft, but it had a sense of home and a sense of community. The guy who managed the apartments lived on site and he was just awesome. You could tell he loved his tenants and he cared about the place. He would also allow you to paint and do whatever you wanted. Plus cable was free.

The husband wasn't a fan. It was a very small apartment with an unbelievably small kitchen. It had a mini-stove, and the husband was not going for it. We turned him down. Finally, we decided to contact this place that only ever listed studios hoping we would find something we liked.

The first apartment we saw in this complex was a gorgeous one bedroom, third floor walk up. It had a claw foot tub, stained glass windows, a beautiful murphy bed, a dressing area and best of all a farm sink.

The husband didn't like it.

The next apartment we looked at about a month later was a one bedroom under construction. The only redeeming quality it had was a gigantic kitchen with two sinks and built in booth seating. The husband didn't like that one either. That was okay because I wasn't sold either. As we were leaving, the owner said, "Well, I have another apartment that just opened up. It's a two bedroom first floor. The people who lived there before really didn't take care of it..." We thought, what the hell, and walked with her to go look at it.

Today, I paid month 12 of our rent and we're getting ready to sign a two year lease.

12 months later, I have made that apartment home. We've painted, and hung pictures, wine holders, hooks, and curtains. We've bought a dining room set, found a papasan chair, and built shelves. We've downsized and have learned to cook meals for 10+ people in a galley kitchen. We hung plastic to keep the cold out and used Window ACs to cool us down.

And this weekend, we're going to work on the coolest part yet. We're going to put in a garden.

I can't wait to show y'all.

Home Improvements

We live in an apartment. 

It's a beautiful apartment, really, but it's not a house.

For a long time, I felt that in order to make a home a home it had to be house which I was paying a mortgage on. 

And then, I changed my mind. Once we got out of the scary, sanitary corporate owned apartments, I really was able to make our home a home. 

And it doesn't take much, really. 

A little paint. 

And a lot of love. 

And maybe a trip to Ikea in Frisco.

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 3}

See Part I here and Part II here.  

And now... the finished project.

Drum roll please...!

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 2}

See Part I here and Part III here. 

When we last left our heroine, you were left thinking about the ickiness of our room. The yellow/white walls. The dirty, crampedness.

So, then we painted.

That chair took 20 minutes for the husband to move into the room. There was no way he was moving it out.

The husband and I have very different painting styles.

He had to paint the ceiling area. I'm far too short.

Isn't that a lot of blue tape?  And the bed made a fantastic staging area.

I bet you've never painted in heels before, huh? I think it just might catch on.... maybe.

I could add the finished product here... but I'm not. That's another long post. So! Come back Monday and see how it all turned out!

Redoing the Bedroom {pt. 1}

See Part II here and Part III here.

For the last 6 months, I've wanted to paint our bedroom. It's not a bad bedroom, a bit small, no closet space. But it was white. We have beautiful woodwork throughout the apartment, but someone got happy with the white paint and painted over all the wood in our kitchen and in our bedroom/hallway. It felt awfully institutionalized.

I originally wanted to try to scrape the white paint off. And I thought about it until I pulled off a piece (did I mention it was old paint too? probably lead) and it was about 1/8 of an inch thick, with more white on there. So, that plan seemed like it wasn't going to work. Then, I decided I wanted a blue/gray color. a) because it's calming and b) it would look really good with the white "trim." Husband got on board once we went to go look at paint colors.

So, this past weekend I was on fall break (meaning instead of getting a week off for Thanksgiving, we get Monday and Tuesday off in mid-October). On Monday, we painted.

Before:

Our bed.  I created those canvases above the bed with this as inspiration. As someone who often doesn't feel crafty, I'm really in love with them. Folded up there on the right hand corner is our wedding quilt.  We used it during the ceremony in lieu of a unity candle and it's always on our bed. Probably one of the first things I'd grab in a fire. For real.

Corner of the room.  Husband spent about 20 minutes getting that chair into the room.  And  the cat lives in that window. 

This is my vanity/make up getting ready place. Our bathroom is tiny. Teeny-tiny. Without any storage.  We don't even have a toilet paper holder. So, I had to get creative with getting ready space. 

Then, finally, probably the most shameful part of the bedroom. The one where you kind of cringe anytime someone asked for a tour. Our "closet" area.  See that tiny door? That's supposed to be out closet.  It houses Chet's {hanging} clothes and that's it.  Most of his clothes lived under the bed or on the bottom of the white drawer thing. My {un}mentionables live in that suitcase. And my folded clothes (cami's, sweats, etc) were living in the white thing. Everything else lived on that crappy, crappy hanger thing from Target.


Since this is getting ridiculously long, I'm going to pause for now and do homework.  Tomorrow, I shall show you our painting!