Moving In: Part 1

Hey, all!
We have definitely made some progress with moving in over the course of the week or so that we've had the place. Aaron has all of his stuff in here, and I have most of mine. What we're waiting on now is the washer, dryer, dresser, and living room seating pretty much. And of course, my big TV.

So the last time you saw the apartment, it looked a little bit like this:

Clean, empty, and waiting for all of our stuff. Well... it definitely does not look like that anymore! Now it has boxes everywhere (granted a lot of the stuff has been unpacked, some furniture, and even a few decorations. Want to check it out? Well even if you said no, too bad. The pictures are still going to be in this post.

So here is the place a few days ago, after Leah and her dad took time out of their Easter Sunday to help me move some stuff into the house with their nice big car and truck (super shoutout- for real, thank you so much; I wouldn't be able to be sleeping here if it wasn't for you guys).

Stuff was kind of just...everywhere. I made sure that the bedroom was at least cleaner though- I need at least one space that isn't totally chaotic (and to be honest, I don't want a huge mess to be the last thing I see before I fall asleep, and the first I see when I wake up- no thank you).

Well over the past few days, I've been able to unpack and get some stuff where it actually belongs. But most importantly, I was able to decorate. A lot (and I'm talking probably around 60-75%) of my boxes were full of just decorative stuff that needed a home on the walls. Some of it finally found that home today, and I can say that I am super happy with most of the results.

The first wall I tackled was the small wall in the dining room. Hannah came over to be a second set of eyes and arms, so that I could make sure I liked stuff from every angle, every distance. So, we got to work with a smaller space first.

On this wall, I have a small kitchen cart that provides a little bit of extra storage and counterspace. You can kind of see it in the dining room picture above, to the left of Aaron (but here's a link so that you can see it a little better, or buy your own if you'd like, it's seriously fabulous).

The problem with this wall though, is that there are several strangely placed things we can't remove (i.e. the doorbell, the thermostat, and a phone jack). So I wanted to incorporate them into the decor so that they weren't the first thing you notice on the wall. What do you think?

This shelf can be used for cookbooks, and the hooks can hold grill accessories, keys, towels, whatever we need handy. And the cute little envelope can hold bills, letters, or recipes. The "Home" plaque I bought last summer with Allie at ShopKo, and the metal/wood letters I found in the cheapy aisle at Michael's for about $5 a piece this fall.

I also have a couple of other things up in the dining room. First thing up in the apartment was this bad boy (I have a love for clocks that drives everyone crazy- in the old apartment, if you were quiet, you could hear nothing but ticking, a loud thunk that resonated through every room).

I also hung up this nautical mirror near the back door. I had originally planned to have a shelf underneath, much like the entryway showcased in a previous post, but the space is too narrow for the shelves that I own. The metal turned out to be a lot more blue than I had originally thought, but luckily, it fit perfectly in with the colors I'd like to keep sprinkled around the apartment.

Then we tackled the entryway with some simple baskets and a message board. I didn't want this area to be too cluttered, but I did want it to have some function.

And finally, the living room wall. Chelsea stopped by for dinner too, and all three of us were absolutely in love with this wall. It was ridiculous. I started with the shelves. I got out my brand new power drill (a still unused Christmas gift from Aaron- he bought me a full tool set that I'm in love with), some anchors & screws, and my Ikea shelves & brackets, and went to town.

And boy, did they turn out great (if I do say so myself)!

I even managed to incorporate some of Aaron's decor. This Packers Team Vehicle was something that his grandparents bought for him when he was younger. In the frame on the wall, we have his "title" and Certificate of Authenticity to match. I think that it oddly fits well with everything else I out up there today.

I also put out some simple decorative pieces, like this blue coral and a white ceramic bowl I bought at a garage sale last summer. I like its bizarre texture, and it ties in with the white ceramic collection I have going.

On the top shelf, I have a simple white seahorse (Michael's), a frame (Target fall clearance), and a coral lantern (Target dollar section).

I also unpacked some more of Aaron's knick-knacks, including his World of Warcraft character model (circa level 70) and his Guild Wars 2 collector's edition.

Last but not least, I finally got my lamps that I've been waiting for. I originally had bought this lamp about a month and a half ago, but received a defective one, and was unable to exchange it. I had to return it and completely reorder it. I am so excited about this stupid lamp, and even more excited that it actually fit together correctly this time.

So there was a little bit of progress made today, but we still have a long way to go! Hopefully I'll keep up with this pace and everything will be in place shortly. Maybe by next week's post, everything will be settled!

I hope everyone had a great Easter! For my birthday, my mom, grandma, and I went to Olive Garden and sipped some peach bellini and sangria. Sangria= grody. Peach bellini= great!

Have a good week, the weekend is sooner than you think!