our VERY VERY humble abode

Against my better judgment and due to popular demand, I hesitantly display my apartment for the world to see. Please do not send photos to home makeover shows because even though it would be VERY cool to have someone redo our apartment, it would be even MORE embarrassing for them to see how poorly put together it is.

We start with the "Jr. Bedroom". This Jr. Bedroom came with doors, but because it was so inefficient with space we had them leave the doors off and we hung drapes instead. Also, it came with NO CLOSET so our super bought a closet from Home Depot (which I put together--see previous post).
Also note the chain in the center of the photo. We don't have a light switch. We have a chain. It is VERY cool. I don't have to get up to turn on or off the light! Try not to be too jealous.
Lyle's must have guitars and the cart that I use to purchase large items and for when I go to the grocery. It it unfolds and I roll it down the street like a stroller. It is very handy, but you MUST be careful because the cracks in the street can sneak up on you and make it fall over (tres embarrassing and YES, it has happened on more than one occasion).
I use the black hamper to hide the stuff under our bed since we don't have a bed skirt and I am not motivated anytime soon to get one. In fact, we were planning on getting a real bed headboard and footboard when we got here, but that is SO not happening anymore. To the bottom left is also Lyle's MONSTOROUS amp. He hasn't used it once since we've been here and almost sold it on ebay before we left, but got emotional and decided to keep it. I am SO nice for letting him, right?
This is so you can get a better idea about HOW jam packed everything is. We have learned to MAXIMIZE space.Directly across the bedroom is the loo. I swear, the bathtub is as big as outside of the bathtub. Which is good and bad. Don't worry, they didn't give us a new tub or toilet like they insinuated, instead they PAINTED the tub. They PAINTED over the grime and scum and sealed it all in! Nice. I cleaned the bathroom as best as I could. I HIGHLY recommend "kaboom" as a cleaner. Consumer Reports hit the nail on the head with this one!

The container store saved the bathroom for us! Of course we paid for it, but with our slanted floors these shelving units were perfect! Now I just need to make it look a little more put together? That is definitely on the BOTTOM of my list.The other "matching" shelf.

Placed just outside the bathroom is what I call the valet. This organized mess sits in a corner in our foyer. You see the shoes outside of the bathroom because I made a rule after I scrubbed the floors for 3 hours (NO SHOES WHATSOEVER in the bathroom). It has worked for a full week!The door that will keep the bad guys out. Seriously, we have to slam the door open and slam it shut because it is off balance as well. I'm sure it's annoying to the people who hear it in the building, but oh well. We're supposed to get it fixed someday (yeah right). We don't use the dead bolt because it doesn't work (oops).

To the right of the door is the kitchen. The fridge is to the left (out of the picture). The shelve is our "pantry". We have no kitchen table and the chairs. We're going to IKEA up the kitchen and get a fold up table which you will all be jealous of I know. One thing that really stinks is that we don't have a fan above the stove/oven so every time I turn on the stove/oven I have to open the window and take the battery out of the smoke alarm because it goes off VERY easily. Opposite view.

Maximizing our space. Really we need to use a lot more wall space in the kitchen. We're going to get wire shelves that bolt to the wall to free up space. I also got rid of SOME stuff we had because we just DON'T use it. I really hope to cook and bake a lot more while were here because I'll have the extra time and so many different ingredients to use to cook with.So this is the blue we went with and painted before we moved it. LOL...please also notice how our wedding photos are NOT in our frames still! Seriously though we are supposed to get the photos in the mail next week sometime so I will make the swaps soon. Notice our makeshift desk out of the stool. Also, Lyle's favorite chair to the left.The AC unit is in the right window. I need to get drapes for the windows I think to hide the ugly blinds (I put up). Also, the ugly heater to the bottom left of the picture. It's difficult to work the furniture into the room because there are certain things you JUST CAN'T MOVE.

The view of the bed from the family room.We are definitely planning on replacing ALL furniture with the exception of my credenza (which we will never get rid of) because it is too bulky and our couch is too oversized for the room. We are going to change our couch out for a sleeper couch so when we have company they'll have a little bit better stay (instead of an air mattress) and so we don't have to store it either. We're also going to set up shelving units for the wall that have a desk in it for Lyle to study better at the house.The rugs we bought from IKEA to hide the ugly sticky slanted floors.

Well, that is the pad. We're doing better with it than we were before. I will post pictures when there is a significant change in anything.

Next projects for September/October:

• Paint kitchen
• Organize and move the fridge
• Buy and put up ceiling fan in bedroom
• Buy and put (somewhere) fan in kitchen to get smoke out of the room.