A real apartment

Welcome to a quick tour of my home. 

Its not a house. I can't paint the walls, I can't change the layout, I can't really hang too much on the walls either.

But what I can do is make it fun, work, and look super cute. 

I have been trying to get ideas of apartment decor online, but everything seems to be a studio 

apartment that they revamp and can paint everything. 

I thought I'd do a post about a real apartment with real decor problems. 

I am in love with the idea of living with less but there is a balance

that I find myself struggling with. Which is what in the world to keep and 

what to get rid of. 

Is it this time of year or is it just because I moved that I want to organize so bad?

Is anyone else feeling it? 

Our apartment is a spacious 2 bedroom (approx. 1,100 square feet) 

We have a laundry area (which you will NOT be seeing today)

2 bathrooms (so spoiled I know) 

Here is the master bath which holds 95% of all bathroom things because Thayne can 

get into the cabinet in the other one. 

When we first moved in I immediately noticed a HUGE storage problem the only storage that 

came with the apartment is that vanity which has two teeny tiny drawers. Can you see them? So we went out and got this beauty...

I know its not much. But it is so functional and holds so MUCH!

P.S. I got it from Wal-mart and also the shower curtain which brings some life and color into this otherwise very white bathroom. Too bad no one ever sees this bathroom.

Still have our robes hanging on the back door.

All our bathroom "stuff" fits in here. I wont show you the nitty gritty details of the cupboards yet...

(Give me a break we haven't even lived here a month yet)

But here is a very helpful thing when organizing a bathroom: remember that you have too much.

Seriously! I had about 10 different bottles of lotion when we moved here and I thought I was doing good. Most were on the emptier side of life. Here is a little solution for that.

This is my travel kit. We go on weekend trips and long trips all the time. This is so handy 

because all I have to grab as far as bathroom supplies when we leave town is our glasses, toothbrushes, and razors because I have everything else that we could possibly need ready to go. 

I highly suggest getting one together. For the lotion problem... 

See those bottles I have out? I just did a lotion collection bottle, a shampoo one, ect. All those

hotel ones I kept "just in case" were driving me crazy and almost empty bottles that I 

couldn't throw away. Less things, more easy to find what you actually need, more organized. Trust me its a beautiful cycle. 

Out of the master bathroom you will find our room... its long and narrow. 

We put our desk in here so Adam can study uninterrupted by me and Thayne.

We also downsized most our office stuff. That was so wonderful. Before we had 

a wall of a desk and somehow we filled it with stuff. Love this desk so much better.

Haven't gotten everything up on the walls yet. But we hung the curtains. 

Curtains help so much in making a place feel like home. 

Not very exciting but my nightstand.

My ikea organizer I am using for my favorite scarves.

Blah these pictures of the closet didn't turn out so hot. I will have to retake some later...

Yes I know we are spoiled by a huge walk in.

ikea baskets for our sweaters, snow gear.

My "nice" shoes aka not enough room out front to hold these ones.

better picture of the desk in our room. Adam keeps it nice and clean. 

This is my kitchen... its tiny. Look close at all the cabinets. where in the world is there space for food? 

Ta-da! This shelving unit is my open pantry. Its not perfect, Martha Stewart would probably not approve but it works for us. I hold extra appliances on top and then have some baskets that I hold like things. I have a ikea step stool to help me reach everything and also so Thayne can help in the kitchen. I choose cream colored baskets because I can use them through out the whole house. Then I can buy the same type of baskets and not have to worry about it not matching a different room if I take it out. 

My kitchen island (wal-mart) also helps with my lack of counter space and storage. I keep most my baking supplies in there. I also managed to squeeze some fold out chairs for extra company. 

I no longer have a knife block (don't have room) I use this ikea magnetic strip to hold my cutting knives and they are very much out of Thayne's reach. 

  

Our entryway. Shoe racks are the way to go. I have our most commonly used coats out. 

See the baskets? They work everywhere.

Here is a room that still has a lot of work. Where the love sac is, is where the desk was. I am going to have to probably rearrange and get another chair to make this room work. Another ikea buy is the entertainment center. Again I am not doing any close ups yet... 

I need to figure out how to decorate the book cases better.

Well thats our apartment so far. I have been learning lots about apartment living. This will be my 6th year of apartment living. With hopefully only 3 more to go. I am enjoying the simplified lifestyle and 

feel like I have plenty of room. We will see when baby #2 comes along. 

I will have to show Thayne's room off another day. He is sleeping like an angel and I am enjoying the blogging time :)

How to make your kitchen stuff apartment friendly

I have a small kitchen and a small budget.

But every time we move it feels like I could fill a whole room full of kitchen labeled boxes.

But every move I feel like I get rid of a ton of stuff!

I used to complain about my small kitchen (especially when dining space is small)

but now I'm not only learning to cope, I'm learning to love my small kitchens. 

This is our kitchen we have right now... Super open and at first glance seems pretty spacious. 

Which really it is for a second kitchen in a house. 

How we made it work. Right by the stove was the microwave.

Now we have the kitchen aid. It added a lot more counter space.

Now microwave is right by the table. It uses up counter space that was hard to use anyway.

Now there are a lot of cabinets in this kitchen but only 4 drawers. Compared to our last place that felt like it was all drawers.

Now that you see the space this is what I have and don't have to help make it work.

I bought this restaurant style shelving unit to help with even more storage. 

Its right next to the fridge.

I realize that not every space can fit something like this but get creative. On the top I have gifting stuff. The next one down games, extra heavy food, 72 hours worth of water, more kitchen stuff, camping, ect.  

Storing/cooking/freezing food. These glass snap wares do it all. 

Very multifunctional, very good looking. I can use them for serving

as well and store sauces in the small bowls. 

What I don't have: tupperware, plastic containers. 

They always melt in the microwave and get nasty. 

Pyrex mixing/measuring bowl 

I love this for so many reasons. Its pourable, It has a lid for storing. What isn't there to like?

What I don't have: seperate serving bowls (note this isn't the only mixing bowl I have)

I used to have some very nice big fancy bowls for serving food. If I mixed in them the bowl would 

damage. So I quickly got rid of those and now stick to mixing/serving bowls. 

Dish ware for year round. 

In this picture I'm trying to show you a chip in these dishes. When they chip its really not that bad. 

Which was actually why I bought them. The dishes I had before when they chipped it was so obvious.

These ones almost seem like chips are ok.

They work all year around and are nice enough for everyday and special occasions.

Cute storage.

I love these containers and at $1.00 a piece I couldn't pass it up. These act as decoration and store my sugar.

Also important is this little nook. I use it to store dry beans, pasta, brown and white rice. And Fruit!

Also important to apartment kitchens is child safety. I like these clamps because you don't instal anything and can move around with us.

This is the pantry. You can have a ton of food and live in an apartment. You just need less kitchen tools.

More of a list of dos and don'ts

Do have: cast iron pan

Don't have: Tons of cheap pans 

Do have: A blender

Don't have: bullet, and all those other things they say you need to chop and grind

Do have: enough mugs for a week (I like my hot chocolate)

Don't have: A mug for every plate I own (yuck)

Do have: manual can opener

Don't have: electric (just takes up space and constantly breaks)

Do have: Crock Pot, Rice Cooker

Don't have: unnecessary appliances (think about what you cook the most)

I hope this is helpful. I feel like you get a lot of kitchen stuff when you go to college and get married. 

If you are thinking about downsizing its great. Much easier to find things 

and keep track of everything. More important though is multifunctional. 

Small spaces need multifunctional.