Moving in and Decorating!

Well we are [mostly] all moved in! Sorry it has taken me so long to get this post up, but it sure has been a long week and a half!!  Moving went very well and was pretty much painless.  On Tuesday the 3rd, Rowan came over and orchestrated the tetris like job of cramming 1 bed, 1 mattress, 2 kitchen chairs, 1 arm chair, 2 dogs, 1 rat, and 12 boxes of clothing etc, into 1 van.  She did a fantastic job, I really could not have done it without her!  Mom and I headed out the next day, Wednesday the 4th, and arrived in Chicago in record time.  We got here around 4 and after Jeb arrived, we began unpacking and painting!

I decided on the color scheme for the apartment after falling in love with this print by Kate Birch at Michaels Crafts (you can view her Etsy site here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kebirch): 

I decided the print would be the focal point of the apartment... which I decided to paint a soft gray, with accent walls in a vivid blue that matched the blue in the painting (I chose Benjamin Moore Gray Cloud and Fairytale Blue).  Within the room I would add pops of yellow, blue, and white... all pulled from the print and giving the room a bright, fresh, feel.

The painting went VERY smoothly and we had everything painted in no time at all.  The next day we drove out to Ikea and purchased an ADORABLE and Oh-So-Cute leather loveseat that perfectly matches the leather armchair I brought out from MN -thank you so much Dad and Rose for your wonderful gift cards, they really helped us to be able to get the loveseat we wanted.  Jeb was wonderful about helping to jam the loveseat up the stairs and through our mini door and then I got to have fun decorating!

Here are the results (it's a work in progress):

On the left is our front door, when you first walk in you see our bed and to the right (where I was standing) is the living area:

:

This is the view from sitting on the bed (with the front door to the right, and the hallway to the rest of the apartment to the left):

The corner of the living room, you can see our makeshift TV stand (I am looking for a cute white one on craigslist).  The hallway the leads to kitchen, bath, and closet, is just out of the frame to the left (right next to the head of the bed (*note: the lampshade is actually adorable with a sheer floral pattern...you just can't see it):

Our fantastic loveseat, the Kate Birch print, and some adorable throw pillows (my favorite, I got them from Etsy and they match the yellow in the print PERFECTLY!!):

Pepper spends most of her day sitting on those throw pillows... watching all the dogs playing in our courtyard, she is such a hoot:

But she really does have a great view, our windows are shaded by 4 trees!! It really does feel like we are in a tree fort:

This is the hallway, which is stationed between the head of the bed and Jeb's giant TV, it leads straight to the kitchen, but to the left is our fantastic closet and to the right is our bathroom:

The closet is SUCH a lifesaver in this small space...plus I had a blast getting to let out my [not so hidden] love for organizing:

The bathroom (thanks Mommy for my adorable shower curtain and matching towels.  And more importantly, scrubbing the entire place so I wouldn't be scared to touch it):

And then there is the kitchen.  It's tight (in the actual kitchen area) but we have found a good spot for everything!  It's a little messy in the pictures tho, since Jeb's friend Mikie was over for the night to do some work with Jeb and so I was baking apple crisp (yum!). The kitchen area is to the left of the hall and contains cabinets, stove, sink, fridge, and back door.  The eating area is to the right and houses - rat cage, table (needs to be painted white) and chairs:

 

The chairs are one of my favorite finds, I got them from goodwill for $10.00 and repainted them (they were an ugly sea-foam green):

And that's our apartment!!!  I am having so much fun here, I really love the neighborhood and have even done some exploring on my own (it really is so safe and beautiful).  More on that later though!  As of now, the apartment is almost done...I am waiting for some more Kate Birch prints to arrive (I ordered them from Etsy).  We picked out 4 prints and will hang 2 over the bed and 2 over the TV.  These are the prints we ordered:

Then I want a more official white TV table, as well as a small white side table for the couch.  I also need to hang some curtains around the bed (sheer white curtains with a floral pattern that matches our lampshade) and paint our kitchen table white!  But once that's out of the way, the place will be pretty much finished!!

I'll put up pictures of the neighborhood later, as well as some fun shots of my adventures with Carlyn and Rowan who are coming out tomorrow and Monday to keep me company while Jeb is away building a house in the slums of Mexico!  

Thanks so much for all of your support, I am having such a blast here but I sure do miss you guys!  Thanks especially to Mom for driving me down and putting so much effort into cleaning and decorating.  If anyone wants to send me mail, my official address is: 

2906 N Mildred

apt 1P

Chicago, Illinois

60657

It's Official!

As of 4/12/2011 it is official, we have our apartment!  Jeb went into the management office yesterday to sign the lease and they faxed it to me so I could sign as well.  It is all very exciting and official feeling now.  We have apartment 1P, it's on the raised first floor, with a nice view of the courtyard.  There is nobody bellow us, which means we can stomp around as much as we please!  The apartment (2900 N Mildred) is on a pretty block with lots of trees and is within walking distance to Wiggly Field Dog Park, Trader Joes, Petco, Michaels, and Lincoln Park Zoo!  It seems like there will be lots for me to do, even when I''m first there and am uncomfortable riding the el and going too far on my own (I'm a wuss, I know).

The apartment is ours as of the first of May 1st and Mom is driving me down on the 4th!  We will be cramming everything into Jeb's family's van and Jeb will meet us at the apartment when he is released from his finals.  The van will be pretty packed what with - Me, Mom, two dogs and a rat (Raja, Pepper, Cricket), kitchen chairs and table, comfy arm chair, bed and mattress, all my art supplies and clothing, and all the artwork and rugs I have been collecting for our apartment.  It might be tight, but I think we will have a blast!

Now that finding the apartment is out of the way, I can begin to focus all my attention on the many DIY projects I have for the apartment.  The first project I'll be tackling? Hand dying the couch, armchair covers, and rug.  All to match our color-scheme of course!