It’s been a while since I’ve update you all. So, here goes!!
My husband and I moved into our “new” little apartment on January 28th. Actually, we’ll be the resident managers there. We will get a free apartment in exchange for services rendered. Prices being what they are in California – extremely high – we decided that this would be a great way for us to stay on budget and build up our savings once again. We also decided that whoever got the “outside job” with benefits would do that, and the other would be the full-time apartment manager. Well, I landed the “outside job” – with a local university, and it’s only 8 miles from where we are living! This is my 2nd week hand I love it! It pays pretty well and, of course, we now have our medical/dental benefits and more. Thank God!
It’s been quite an adjustment for us both. We moved in on the 28th and both of us started our jobs the following Monday. There was no time to even take a breath! In addition to this, my husband is trying to adjust to living in California. Having grown up and lived only in the southeast, it’s certainly an adjustment. Like he said to me the other day “If I were 22 years old I’d be thinking ‘Wow, this is really cool!’ But, I’m not. I’m 54 years old and, quite frankly, this is a bit scary!” Well, I can certainly understand.
As some of you may know, from reading my blog, we had to sell all of our furniture. We flew to California, and it would’ve been way too expensive to ship all of it here. We were 5 weeks with my parents while we looked for an apartment management and a 2nd job, and we didn’t want to have to pay shipping and storage for furniture when, really, we could just find something once we settled in. That having been said, its a good thing we didn’t ship our furniture because our place is so much smaller than we’d anticipated. Our furniture wouldn’t have fit! I find myself with a new decorating dilemma – trying to figure out what WILL fit in my tiny living room! Ours is a 2-story townhouse-style apartment. Living room, dining room, kitchen and ½ bath downstairs; 2 bedrooms and a full bath upstairs. I’m not kidding, this place is SMALL!
I'm going to be using these as inspiration for a possible set-up for my living room. I have a window similar in size, and on the smaller wall, to the ones these photos. Also, the longest wall in my apartment is similar to these, and where sofa would sit.:

Talk about time...a good friend and her husband are moving out of their home this weekend, into a smaller place, and didn’t want to sell their living room furniture. We talked and it now appears that we’ll be able to use (store) it. What a great arrangement! At first I wasn’t sure if I would be happy with their furniture (style), but I also don’t have a huge budget right now for furniture, so how could I afford to even be picky? Well, as it turns out I think their furniture is quite nice. They have very nice taste! While it’s not exactly “Shabby Chic,” it is a very attractive style and can certainly be transformed with the help of some cottage style and/or shabby chic-like accessories and touches. The color of the sofa is a pretty herb green . Clearly, it's very easy to work with in terms of color because it's a neutral. It’s got a nice shape to it and has nice back and throw pillows. It’s quite comfy-looking! In the meantime, I can save up some money and keep my eyes peeled for items I really like, and take my time doing that so that I don’t make any costly mistakes. I will see about taking some photos – before and after, maybe. I’ll be able to use her coffee and end tables, too.
My husband is insisting on a recliner. Did I say that I HATE recliners? They just don’t fit into my whole “cottage/Shabby chic” look! Ah well, but life and marriage does involve some compromise so, …I think I found one that we can both live with. The color is in the wine family. I think that color will go well with the green.
Currently, our dining room looks like a home office. Actually, it doesn’t even look THAT nice! I dare not touch or move anything for fear of my husband totally losing it! You see, it’s HIS orderly mess. I’m trying to be patient, and this long weekend I hope to set aside some time to focus on moving his “office” upstairs into the spare bedroom. At first he didn’t like that idea, of having to go up and down the stairs to get whatever he needed. I think I’ve convinced him that we can keep a nice couple of expandable folders and file box (Shabby Chic style), and other absolutely necessary items downstairs by the kitchen counter. He’s not quite convinced yet, but I must have the opportunity to show him rather than just explain it to him. It’ll all work. Of that I’m confident!
I'm thinking of this for inspiration for our dining room. It's a lot narrower than the one in this photo, but the set-up could be similar:
The only thing I’ll really need to purchase right off, besides his recliner, is a unit to house our 32” TV. Yep, it’s a big one! I’m hoping to find a used armoire-style one, via “Craigslist.” I really don’t have room for a wall unit. In the end, I hope to end up with a cozy little room—one that makes you feel welcomed, rather than one that appears to be to big for it’s space and overflowing into the “hallway.” Do I even have a hallway? Soon, I hope to have our little apartment looking more like our "cottage of content."
Well, there you have it. That’s my update as of today. Thanks for stopping by, and thank you ALL for your kind, encouraging and lovely comments regarding my blog. They truly bring a smile to my face! Happy cottage blogging!