Happy News: We Have an Apartment!

Such exciting news—Frank and I have an apartment!

He went to visit it last week and sent me pictures. Then, knowing my love for Pinterest, he created a Pinterest board to get me all excited for living there (as though I wasn't already excited enough!).

Here's the outside; it's on the second floor of this little four-apartment building. We even have a little deck!

Here's the front entryway. We have a little (non-working) fireplace!

I'm envisioning creating a little entryway like this next to the door:

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Most of the walls are exposed brick...

which has led me to pin a million photos of exposed brick. I'm dreaming of something like this:

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Aren't those "floating" shelves amazing?

I also adore this look ... although something tells me our tiny little bedroom isn't going to be quite this glamorous. :)

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Then there's the kitchen. Oh, I have such dreams for the kitchen. It's a teeny little space but we both love to cook and we can't wait to get our hands on it and really make it shine.

Here's what it looks like now:

Oh, that microwave. What an awkward location. We want to buy some industrial shelving like this, and put the microwave on top:

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Then we'll use the rest of it for gorgeous, open, functional storage space.

We also want to expand our counter space with this awesome kitchen island:

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We've been having fun looking around the internet for awesome pieces and adding them to our Pinterest board. Slowly but surely, we're planning to make this apartment the coziest little nest.

My biggest dreams are for the fireplace. Here's how it looks right now:

Eh, you know. It's fine. Nothing to write home about.

But just imagine what some pillar candles could do. Something like this...

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Isn't that dreamy? Add some nice art or a mirror above the fireplace, and that little spot won't know what hit it. :)

This picture is my very favorite of all the "apartment dreaming" ones. It captures everything we envision for our place—exposed brick, huge bookshelves, pillar candles in the fireplace, and a simple homey feel.

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So, there it is. We have our first apartment! We really will have a "little house in Chicago" at this cozy place, and I'm so excited to decorate it and settle in together. I don't feel so worried anymore. The dreaming and planning has set in, and it's the best feeling in the world. :)