Well, hello there! I'm actually going to show you what our apartment finally looks like! We received the rest of our furniture in late December, so our place is nearly completed. All that's left is the small things: lamps for our bedroom, pictures for the bare wall in our bedroom, a place to hang the girls' artwork, etc. The majority of the big stuff is done. Here's the grand tour of our bedrooms, with photos so you can see the progression over time.
The girls' bedroom:
Mid-late October, when we first moved in. Noel slept in our room, Lane slept on the pull-out couch in Shannon's office, and Shannon and I slept in the living room on the floor (on a paper-thin foam "mattress" from the "bed" in the couch).
Late October. We bought a bed frame locally and it was delivered the next day. Note the foam mattress from the pull-out couch stuffed into the bed frame.
Later October. Our friends took a trip IKEA (7 hours away) and came back with some furniture for us! The girls got a dresser and a shelf (and basket) for their toys.
Mid-November. Lane's mattress arrived! And we bought another basket for the girls' toys.
Late December. We purchased a shelf to hold fragile things, as well as things to keep out of Noel's reach. We hung hooks for Lane's dress-up clothes she got for Christmas. In early December we moved Noel's crib into the room, about the same time we got black-out curtains hemmed.
Late December. Pictures are finally hung.
Diaper center. Out-of-rotation books and blankets are in the cabinet, as well as extra disposable diapers and a fan.
Still to come in the girls' room: the bed is a daybed, so the bottom pulls out. It won't hold a regular mattress, so we'll buy some large pieces of foam and cut them to fit. We won't need to do this until Noel moves to a regular bed, so next fall or early winter. We'll also buy her a comforter, (hopefully) matching duvet cover, and pillow and case. I'd like a large basket of some kind to hold the diapers instead of stacking them, but honestly I'm hoping Noel is potty trained by next December, so I may not even bother with a basket specifically for diapers. And I'd like a different light fixture, as the one that came with the apartment is hideous. And maybe a rug one day. But for the most part...it's done.
Our bedroom:
Mid-late October, a few days after we moved in. Some friends let us borrow their air mattress.
Late October. Our friends brought us a bed and two nightstands from IKEA.
Mid-November. Some other friends went to IKEA and brought us back a chest-of-drawers for our room. Noel's pack-n-play has been moved and she naps in our room. We ditched the hideous curtains.
They also brought us back a "full-length" mirror that's only about 3 feet long. I used it there, as it wouldn't work as an actual full-length mirror, and our bathroom has no power outlets, which makes it hard for me to fix my hair in there.
Late December. We hung pictures on the wall. We purchased a mirror.
Early January. The mirror is hung!
Still to come in our room: If you look closely, you can see spots to the right and left of the mirror where holes have been drilled in the concrete and anchors put in. I'd like to figure out something to cover them up, but I'm not sure what to do. Maybe some kind of lantern that holds a tealight candle or something? Any ideas out there? The wall across from our bed is completely empty. I'd eventually like a lot of photos on that wall...some on canvas, some in frames, etc. I want lamps for our bedside tables. Curtains. And while I'd love a fun chair instead of the pack-n-play, we still want more babies, so I have a feeling somebody will be sleeping in our room for at least a few more years. I'm also ready for a new color scheme in our room. I want some warm red, I think. Oh yes, and I'd like a light fixture in there.
So there you have it. Our bedrooms, nearly complete. Any suggestions out there for how to make them look even better? I'm no interior decorator, but I'm so happy to finally be in a place where I get to decorate how I want to, buy furniture I like, and so on. It's so nice to feel like my home is actually my home.
The girls' bedroom:
Mid-late October, when we first moved in. Noel slept in our room, Lane slept on the pull-out couch in Shannon's office, and Shannon and I slept in the living room on the floor (on a paper-thin foam "mattress" from the "bed" in the couch).
Late October. We bought a bed frame locally and it was delivered the next day. Note the foam mattress from the pull-out couch stuffed into the bed frame.
Later October. Our friends took a trip IKEA (7 hours away) and came back with some furniture for us! The girls got a dresser and a shelf (and basket) for their toys.
Mid-November. Lane's mattress arrived! And we bought another basket for the girls' toys.
Late December. We purchased a shelf to hold fragile things, as well as things to keep out of Noel's reach. We hung hooks for Lane's dress-up clothes she got for Christmas. In early December we moved Noel's crib into the room, about the same time we got black-out curtains hemmed.
Late December. Pictures are finally hung.
Diaper center. Out-of-rotation books and blankets are in the cabinet, as well as extra disposable diapers and a fan.
Still to come in the girls' room: the bed is a daybed, so the bottom pulls out. It won't hold a regular mattress, so we'll buy some large pieces of foam and cut them to fit. We won't need to do this until Noel moves to a regular bed, so next fall or early winter. We'll also buy her a comforter, (hopefully) matching duvet cover, and pillow and case. I'd like a large basket of some kind to hold the diapers instead of stacking them, but honestly I'm hoping Noel is potty trained by next December, so I may not even bother with a basket specifically for diapers. And I'd like a different light fixture, as the one that came with the apartment is hideous. And maybe a rug one day. But for the most part...it's done.
Our bedroom:
Mid-late October, a few days after we moved in. Some friends let us borrow their air mattress.
Late October. Our friends brought us a bed and two nightstands from IKEA.
Mid-November. Some other friends went to IKEA and brought us back a chest-of-drawers for our room. Noel's pack-n-play has been moved and she naps in our room. We ditched the hideous curtains.
They also brought us back a "full-length" mirror that's only about 3 feet long. I used it there, as it wouldn't work as an actual full-length mirror, and our bathroom has no power outlets, which makes it hard for me to fix my hair in there.
Late December. We hung pictures on the wall. We purchased a mirror.
Early January. The mirror is hung!
Still to come in our room: If you look closely, you can see spots to the right and left of the mirror where holes have been drilled in the concrete and anchors put in. I'd like to figure out something to cover them up, but I'm not sure what to do. Maybe some kind of lantern that holds a tealight candle or something? Any ideas out there? The wall across from our bed is completely empty. I'd eventually like a lot of photos on that wall...some on canvas, some in frames, etc. I want lamps for our bedside tables. Curtains. And while I'd love a fun chair instead of the pack-n-play, we still want more babies, so I have a feeling somebody will be sleeping in our room for at least a few more years. I'm also ready for a new color scheme in our room. I want some warm red, I think. Oh yes, and I'd like a light fixture in there.
So there you have it. Our bedrooms, nearly complete. Any suggestions out there for how to make them look even better? I'm no interior decorator, but I'm so happy to finally be in a place where I get to decorate how I want to, buy furniture I like, and so on. It's so nice to feel like my home is actually my home.
That looks great. We've been in our apartment 3 1/2 years and it doesn't look nearly as put together. I keep saying we're only here "temporarily", although I guess 3 years is longer than we've stayed in any country at this point.
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