House Tour: The Before
/An apartment is rarely more than a temporary home (unless you live in Manhattan), and this one will be no different. The whole idea behind moving was to cut down on our expenses so that we could pay off more debt and increase our savings for a down payment on a house. Our stint here will be just a little mark on our timeline of homes, but oh what an adorable mark it is! I croon over this place every day - mostly the living room, which has no art up at all yet and is still just as cute and homey as it can be. Is it weird to have a crush on your living room? If it is, tough noogies. There's no stopping what's going on between us.
Navah's just amused by it now - "yes, yes, you're right - it IS very cute" she'll say without looking up from the computer. But I just know one morning, she's going to wake up and think to herself "What the...? How did I end up in the cutest apartment in DC?" And then she'll turn and see my shining face, and it will all become clear.
I'm stalling, I know. I've gotten so attached to this place in such a short time, and I'm feeling shy about the reveal. After all, it's not even designed yet. And there are unpacked boxes and piles of pictures and tangled cords all over the place. Just remember, this is The Before. Deep breath.
Here goes.
Standing in the front door. Ignore the scary mass of cords.
I wasn't lying, right? You can tell already.
Incidentally, I didn't notice that white part of the brick until I took this picture. We'll have shelves there eventually, so it shouldn't be too noticeable. And maybe I can clean it?
Let's head toward the hallway.
But first, turn around and glance back over your shoulder. You know you want to.
You wish you were coming over tonight to watch a movie, don't you?
Before we head into the kitchen, let's take note of these extraordinarily useful built-in bookshelves built right into the space under the stairwell that leads up to the second floor apartment.
And now for the kitchen.
And yes, that's a combination washer/dryer underneath the toaster oven. We didn't realize until now how nice it is to much on some toast while you do laundry.
It's a galley kitchen, but this little window into the living room (showcasing our sodastream) keeps it from being claustrophobia-inducing.
The kitchen does have one tiny little problem. Actually it's a tall problem. The kitchen's built for a giant. Even a normal-sized person like myself has to step on the highest level of a step stool to even reach my pinky onto the top shelves.
But as concerned as I was in the beginning about the height problem, a few weeks here have proven that it's not really that big a deal. We put the stuff we use less often at the top, and the rest of the kitchen is so awesome that it makes up for having to pull out the stool every now and then. Just look at this amazingly deep drawer and the pull-out shelf that has transformed my relationship with tupperware.
And we'll move along the hallway to the bathroom. It's a tiny affair - it might be difficult to tell in these pictures that the walls are a pale blue.
Yes, that's a waterpik on the sink. My lady is for serious about dental hygiene.
Small or not, the bathroom has a shining glory.
I know!!! The first time I saw that chandelier, I knew this apartment was special.
Okay, I'm warning you. It gets a little messy after this.
The bedroom.
That doorway leads out to our little back patio and yard.
We have just enough room for Navah's dresser, and she's got this closet. Apparently sharing with me was too much for her to deal with because she kept gleefully exclaiming about having a closet to herself as she outfitted it with her clothes.
My closet on the other hand? That's another story - one that involved my being completely overwhelmed today at the Container Store.
You see, the space that will be my closet used to be a work space at the back of the bedroom. Our friends (who lived here before us) had a little drafting table and chair in there. We needed the space as a closet and having it as working space didn't really make sense for us. So we wanted to change it back into a closet (which it had been prior to our friends living there). My landlord had some pieces for an elfa system that had been in there before, but not enough to actually outfit a closet. Hopefully I'll be posting soon with a completed closet reveal! As for now, thank god for wardrobe boxes.
And...I guess that's it. Our warm and happy little temporary home.
Katie
Navah's just amused by it now - "yes, yes, you're right - it IS very cute" she'll say without looking up from the computer. But I just know one morning, she's going to wake up and think to herself "What the...? How did I end up in the cutest apartment in DC?" And then she'll turn and see my shining face, and it will all become clear.
I'm stalling, I know. I've gotten so attached to this place in such a short time, and I'm feeling shy about the reveal. After all, it's not even designed yet. And there are unpacked boxes and piles of pictures and tangled cords all over the place. Just remember, this is The Before. Deep breath.
Here goes.
Standing in the front door. Ignore the scary mass of cords.
I wasn't lying, right? You can tell already.
Incidentally, I didn't notice that white part of the brick until I took this picture. We'll have shelves there eventually, so it shouldn't be too noticeable. And maybe I can clean it?
Let's head toward the hallway.
But first, turn around and glance back over your shoulder. You know you want to.
You wish you were coming over tonight to watch a movie, don't you?
Before we head into the kitchen, let's take note of these extraordinarily useful built-in bookshelves built right into the space under the stairwell that leads up to the second floor apartment.
And now for the kitchen.
And yes, that's a combination washer/dryer underneath the toaster oven. We didn't realize until now how nice it is to much on some toast while you do laundry.
It's a galley kitchen, but this little window into the living room (showcasing our sodastream) keeps it from being claustrophobia-inducing.
The kitchen does have one tiny little problem. Actually it's a tall problem. The kitchen's built for a giant. Even a normal-sized person like myself has to step on the highest level of a step stool to even reach my pinky onto the top shelves.
But as concerned as I was in the beginning about the height problem, a few weeks here have proven that it's not really that big a deal. We put the stuff we use less often at the top, and the rest of the kitchen is so awesome that it makes up for having to pull out the stool every now and then. Just look at this amazingly deep drawer and the pull-out shelf that has transformed my relationship with tupperware.
And we'll move along the hallway to the bathroom. It's a tiny affair - it might be difficult to tell in these pictures that the walls are a pale blue.
Yes, that's a waterpik on the sink. My lady is for serious about dental hygiene.
Small or not, the bathroom has a shining glory.
I know!!! The first time I saw that chandelier, I knew this apartment was special.
Okay, I'm warning you. It gets a little messy after this.
The bedroom.
That doorway leads out to our little back patio and yard.
We have just enough room for Navah's dresser, and she's got this closet. Apparently sharing with me was too much for her to deal with because she kept gleefully exclaiming about having a closet to herself as she outfitted it with her clothes.
My closet on the other hand? That's another story - one that involved my being completely overwhelmed today at the Container Store.
You see, the space that will be my closet used to be a work space at the back of the bedroom. Our friends (who lived here before us) had a little drafting table and chair in there. We needed the space as a closet and having it as working space didn't really make sense for us. So we wanted to change it back into a closet (which it had been prior to our friends living there). My landlord had some pieces for an elfa system that had been in there before, but not enough to actually outfit a closet. Hopefully I'll be posting soon with a completed closet reveal! As for now, thank god for wardrobe boxes.
And...I guess that's it. Our warm and happy little temporary home.
Katie
