Time keeps slipping through my fingers.

It has been almost a month since we moved into this apartment. As always, the longer we live in a place, the more flaws we notice. In a rental apartment there are some things we cannot really fix ourselves, but aren't considered a real problem by the community management. Some bumps from patch jobs on the walls? Excessive use of white caulk? Obnoxious vinyl tiles in the entryway and kitchen? Ick. These are things I either have to live with or find a way to mask them. There are a few things here and there that need help and will be fixed, though. A few cracked tiles in the bathroom, issue with the bathroom ceiling, etc. I might even be able to get them to replace the countertops in the kitchen. A previous tenant used them as both an ash tray and a cutting board at some point. Classy, right?

Enough chatter about the problems with the place. Since I haven't had the time or money to do very much in the way of primping and decorating here yet, I relish the little things. I wanted to share two pictures with you. The first is a little wreath I made for my front door. The door is junk, so I thought I should put some lipstick on the pig. I snagged a few things from the teeny amount of remaining clearance Fall decor stuff at Michaels a couple weeks ago. The wreath was pieced it together in about 10 minutes time using the flowers, ribbon, and scarecrow lady from Michaels, and a plain wreath I'd purchased at Dollar Tree a while back. I'm not entirely happy with it, but my husband loves it. He is even kind enough to claim it looks like the kind you can buy pre-made in the stores. Aww.

Tada! I might save this one and make it look nicer so I can use it next year.

I picked the colors for it from the clearance mums I snagged at Walmart for $1 apiece! They were the most beautiful shades of magenta and orange. I snagged a small yellow pot, too, but it lived in my bedroom until recently. I wasn't able to cover the basic plastic pots or replant them, though, so this picture isn't entirely impressive. There is a good bit of landscaping I want to do out front. Oh, Time, why can't I have more of you?

The pops of color help brighten the place up a bit.

So, there you have it. Here is my sad little display of Fall decor that cost about $7 total. There are still three weeks or so of Autumn left, so I might add a cheap rug at some point. If I do, I will show you. :)

A new chapter begins.

Despite only living in my current apartment on the bottom floor of a 1920's house (don't get too excited, it had been remodeled  enough to lose 70% of the vintage charm when they converted it into a duplex) for a year, it is time to move. My current landlord wants to rent the space to his cousin, so Tony (my husband) and I had to go find a new place to live. We ended up finding a new space that will give us more room to breathe. We moved from a two bedroom 840 sq. ft. apartment last year to the current one bedroom 559 sq. ft. place. Needless to say, we are excited to have room to breathe again. We signed the lease and got the keys and this Saturday is the big move-in!

Here is the layout!

The downside of returning to an apartment complex from an old (despite the damper) house is decorating a space that has no architectural character whatsoever. Unless you count hideous soffits, and I don't. This blog will be my space to show how I turn a bland boxy apartment into a home. Welcome to 716, everyone. Please take your shoes off when you come inside. 

The front door looks kinda gross and is in need of help.