Making Our Apartment A Home

Prior to leaving Florida, I knew that making our furnished apartment feel like our home would be important to me since we would be living there for the next 15 months.  

We were pleasantly surprised by how nice our apartment was.  This is pretty much what it looked like when we first arrived- minus the picture over the sofa.  (The original picture was a bright orange/pink print and after three weeks of living here we asked if they had other available pictures- they kindly switched them out without any hesitation.)

I keep moving the faded fake ficus tree around- not much I can do about it.

Since we didn't drive our car (it's a 40 plus hour drive), I was limited in what I could bring.  What better way to make our place feel like a home than a few family photos?

I brought some other meaningful items- a candle, a vase, a painting, a couple of cookbooks, and our Christmas present from our children,  iPod speakers and an iPod full of music especially selected for us.

I've purchased a few items to help create more of a homey feeling- a throw to cuddle up with on the sofa and a few house plants (I hope to get a few more).  When we were in Florida last weekend, I grabbed an unused lamp base and packed it in a duffle bag hoping that it would arrive in one piece. It did- and I purchased a lampshade last night at Target.  We moved one of the tables from our bedroom and placed it on the other end of the sofa to help with the inadequate lighting.  I've also replaced most of the lightbulbs in the existing lamps to help with the dull lighting (I have this thing about good lighting!)  I hope to buy some pillow covers for the sofa pillows in a fun print (or maybe Allison can make some for me!).

To help with the lighting in the kitchen I found this cheery little lamp at Marshalls to go with my sweet painting.  I hope to add a small plant to this space.  The kitchen had most everything we needed; we brought the important items- a coffee grinder and a Brita water filter.  I also brought a couple of new hand towels I found on sale at Anthropologie.  Unfortunately, I can't keep them out because Walter thinks the pom-poms are a toy.

 

The apartment came with the white duvet cover and I brought the floral cover from Florida.  I found the pillow shams on clearance.  To replace my bedside table, I stacked a couple of shipping boxes and covered it with a sheet.  I have a few more of my favorite items beside our bed - the little angel and a special blessing box.

I've been wanting some flowers for our balcony since we arrived.  It just seemed so sterile and uninviting.  On our way home from church this week I spotted a nursery and  we got a few flowers, herbs, tomato plants and pots.  This little project allowed me to practice "leave it" with Walter - a command he supposedly learned in puppy training.  He got to practice it quite a bit.    

  

He was such a happy puppy playing with the box!

And I got to everything planted-not much color yet, but hopefully soon.

If I had to pick one thing that makes our apartment feel like home- it would be Walter, nothing like a sweet loving puppy!