our new apartment! yippee!

So, I pretty much love the apartment we’re living in here in SLC. It was a craaazy process to snag it, but here we are! When we visited back in April, we thought it’d be no-problemo to find a decent in apartment in our budget in the downtown area, especially based on things we had seen on various websites and craigslist. WRONG. The “problemo” turned out to be our little 40-pound cohabitant named Gretchen. Almost NONE of the apartment complexes we looked at accepted dogs. Everywhere we looked we saw dogs, dogs, dogs, yet we couldn’t figure out where the heck they were living. After much discouragement and many, many blocks walked, on the last day we happened to check craigslist and saw a listing for an apartment in the top floor of an old historic house and wait for it… wait for it…. THEY TOOK DOGS! So we jumped on it immediately. We showed up and took a mini-tour with the guy who was still living here at the time (literally the whole thing lasted 5 minutes) and called the landlord Judy and set up an appointment to apply. We knew we had a little competition, so we took Debbie’s advice and offered to pay a little more rent (because comparatively speaking, it was on the low end for what we were looking for to begin with). Well, money talks, and we got the apartment! YAY! 

This place has everything we could have hoped for. Original hardwood floors, original fixtures like the kitchen sink and the amaaaazing clawfoot tub, tons of windows, great view, and fabulous location (on State Street, a couple of blocks down from the Capitol Building, in an old, gorgeous neighborhood, a few blocks from EVERYTHING downtown, as well as parks and trails and public transportation, oh my!). Since we’ve been living here, I made Jamie promise that wherever we live from now on, be it apartment or house or whatever, it has to have charm galore. Don’t get me wrong- the apartment complex we lived in back in Knoxville was nice. Brand new appliances, carpet, paint, etc. But maybe a little too… sterile and box-like. And we had filled it with furniture that was much the same. Don’t ask me why I went that path, of choosing stuff that was really modern and neutral and whatnot, but it was all impulsive and not really…. me. So a few months ago, I started replacing pretty much everything we had purchased less than a year earlier. We sold our couch, our table and chairs, our coffee table, and all all sorts of other stuff, and I started obsessively checking craigslist and local vintage stores for some unique finds. Jamie spent a lot of time rolling his eyes throughout this phase of mine. :) But the patience paid off, and all the money made and spent actually evened out really well. So I consider it to be more of a trade. Sort of. 

So to sum it all up, I feel like this apartment is so much more homey and comfortable and my style. It’s wonderful. Without further ado, the results:

 

First, the porch. Obviously Gretchen has acclimated well. :)

Table and chairs, Target. Red cushions, IKEA. Gnomes, taken from my parents’ neighbors after they moved away and left them behind.

 

Marigolds!

Window box, Home Depot. Table, repainted inheritance from my Aunt Amanda.

 

 

I love that there are two doors that go out on the balcony: one from our living room, one from our bedroom.

 

The bedroom!

Furniture and curtains, IKEA. Comforter, Urban Outfitters. Green sheets, Target.

 

Tiny? Nah. I call it COZY.

 

 

Gretchen goes where the camera goes.

Kangaroo fur on the wall, a souvenir from Dave to Jamie awhile back. (It’s not my favorite thing in the world, but considering I control 95% of the decorating process, Jamie is uncompromising on his “manly” accessories. In a way, it’s kind of growing on me.)

 

Gotta keep the classics close by for nighttime reading.

Vase, a wedding present.

 

We have not had to turn the A/C on ONCE since we’ve been here. We leave the windows open all the time, and since we don’t have any close neighbors who can peek in, we can leave the blinds up too! And I mean, who would want to cover up the view anyway?

 

More inheritances.

 

Behold, the Queen of the Castle.

 

And this is the kitchen/library/keeping room….?

Shelves, lamp, and Audrey art, Target. Curtains, IKEA. Rug, Urban Outfitters. Black leather chair, Friends Antique Store. End table, Living Vintage. Kitchen table and chairs, craigslist.

 

Old Coca-Cola sign, Nostalgia. Red metal cabinet, IKEA. Vintage hospital cart, Friends Antique Store.

 

 

Chest of drawers, IKEA. (Actually meant to go in the bedroom, but as there is absolutely no extra space in there, we have to walk a little further to get to our clothes in the morning. The bonus is that it can double as a serving buffet when we need it to. That is, if we ever make friends here. :) ) Handmade green bowl, wedding present from the talented Barron Hall.

 

Wedding images a la Andy Armstrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bathroom! Clawfoot tub! Gorgeous blue tile everywhere! Big window! Looooove it.

 

 

Rug, Urban Outfitters.

 

Audrey poster, McKays. Art print for Copeland, Mae, and The Working Title Show done by Leia Bell. (She’s the sister of Brian Bell of Weezer, and the daughter of Dr. Bell, a professor at UT that Jamie took a pop culture class with. That’s how he found her work on the internet and bought this print for me because it had 3 of my favorite bands on it. Little did we know at the time that Leia actually lives here in Salt Lake, and the show advertised was at Kilby Court, one of the most popular venues in the city. So cool!)

 

 

Living room/office/my husband.

Couch and chair, craigslist. Coffee table, end table, and office chair, Living Vintage. Aqua bowl, Target. TV stand/dresser, Knox Area Rescue Ministries. Desk, IKEA. Aqua lamps, T.J. Maxx. Aqua fan, antique market in Knoxville.

 

“Call Again” poster, McKay. Curtains, Urban Outfitters.

 

Aqua vinyl chair, Living Vintage.

 

Starburst clock, Living Vintage.

 

This is where all the magic happens…. :)

 

Hanging lamps, Living Vintage.

 

And last but not least, looooove my vintage cameras!

 

So, that’s the grand tour! Hope you enjoyed it…. but just because you’ve seen pictures now doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come see it in person…. :)