Apartment inspiration

First- I really want to apologize to everyone for being so absent lately. I’ve never moved my entire life to another state before, and I’m completely overwhelmed, exhausted and maddeningly busy trying to check off item after item on a seemingly never ending to do list, all while trying to get accustomed to an entirely new city and an entirely new job.

But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I signed and overnighted my apartment lease late last week and my moving crew (huge shout out to Phi Delta Theta at Kettering!) dropped my boxes, bags and bins off in my new abode this past Saturday.

This apartment is kind of exciting because it’s my first “real” apartment by myself. In the past, I’ve either lived with roommates, boyfriends or family members. I had a one-bedroom to myself for an internship four years ago, but I was only there for three months and only during the week. It was such a temporary stint that I never bothered to furnish or decorate my living room and only brought a bed and a dresser with me.

Since that internship, I’ve lived in a college party house with eight or so of my closest friends (miss you 1018!) and several two bedrooms with other roommates.

So, this apartment is a little different. I leased a one-bedroom within Chicago’s city limits, and I’m really excited to put my own personal touch on it. It’ll be a bit strange getting used to living by myself, especially in such a big city, but I’m already thinking about what I’m going to do with the (very small) space.

My last apartment was great in its own way, but a new apartment means a chance to completely revamp my space. And I’m excited! I threw away a lot of my old furniture, like my dresser and bookshelves, since most pieces had been moved so many times they were falling apart. There was no possible way that cheap particleboard would make it from Mount Pleasant to Chicago, so I’ve already started doing some serious furniture shopping.

Right now, I’m really loving fresh and natural elements, like hardwood floors, white walls and exposed brick. My apartment has hardwood floors and white drywall, so two of the three isn’t too bad! My new apartment has windows in every room and gets amazing natural light.

You can follow me on Pinterest to see some more of my style, taste and inspiration.

Pst, the following photos are not my apartment, just some inspiration photos.

I’m so lucky I managed to find a one bedroom in my price range, but it’s still pretty small! Therefore, I’m really looking to capitalize on flexible furniture, like folding chairs, drop tables and wheeling bar carts for my kitchen. I’m planning on having a lot of guests throughout my stay, and since my couch doesn’t pull out, I would love to be able to easily rearrange, fold and store furniture in order to fit an air mattress in my main room. In a dream world, I would just buy a new couch or futon, but I’m on a budget and there’s nothing wrong with the couch I have. Plus, it’s so comfortable.

Speaking of my living room set up, I wasn’t able to take my full sofa set, but I do have enough room for a coffee table and an entertainment center in addition to my full size couch. I took both my couch and coffee table from Mount Pleasant with me to Chicago, but the three bookshelves were poorly constructed and unable to come apart for the move. I’ve been looking into getting an IKEA Kallax- thoughts? I’m torn between the four section square, four section horizontal and eight section horizontal. Legs or no legs?

I also know that in addition to the storage I’ll get with an entertainment center, I’m also going to need a lot of shelving space. With floor real estate at a minimum, I’ll have to be looking up to stash things I normally would have kept in trunks or drawers. I ordered a chrome rack from Target earlier in the week, and since I only have a few cupboards in my kitchen, I know it will be getting a lot of use, just like the Ikea Vittsjo shelves I already own.

I saved a lot of my frames from my last apartment, so I’ll likely be putting my gallery wall back up, but with a few modifications.

And finally, I just ordered the Chicago version of this Ork neighborhoods poster to frame and hang in my living room. I’m super excited about it! I’ve loved it forever, but it just made sense to finally order it since I’m lucky enough to call Chicago home now.

I know I’m also going to need some rugs, curtains (my living room abuts the red line and my bedroom abuts another building – and my unit didn’t include blinds!), throw pillows and coasters.

I haven’t touched much on my bedroom or bathroom, but those areas are also in need of some storage solutions. In a strange and unlikely turn of events, my bedroom here is actually larger than my Mount Pleasant bedroom, and I have a huge (by Chicago standards) closet inside my bedroom. Almost all of my bedroom furniture has been recycled from my Mount Pleasant apartment, so don’t expect too many changes there.

Also, I really love my bathroom. It was recently redone and I’ve never had better shower pressure. I’m planning on updating some of the bathroom decor, since I’ve had the same zebra print shower curtain for almost 10 years now, but in terms of priority right now, it’s pretty low on my list.

There’s so much going on, but I kind of love it. I keep stressing out about putting my apartment together, so I have to keep taking a step back and reminding myself that the decorating is the fun part, so I really shouldn’t rush it.

I can’t wait to share my finished space with you! If you’re interested in seeing bits and pieces of it coming together, you can always watch my story on Snapchat at @RandiMShaffer.

What kind of elements make you giddy about your living space? Where do you draw inspiration? Any suggestions for home furnishings I should check out? Let me know in the comments!