Our One Year Apartment Anniversary.

Guess WHAT! At this very same time on this very same day of last year, Jarryd and I were moving into this apartment! We have officially lived in this beautiful space for exactly one year! Ein jahr. Un año! {Wow, I don't think I've ever actually written in Spanish on my blog before--that's a first! I don't even speak it...}

Anyway! I can't even believe we've been in this apartment for a year. The time has flown; yet at the same time, it feels like we've lived here for five years. You know?!

I was showing Jarryd photos of our apartment from a year ago of when we first moved in and it was pretty shocking to both of us. Well, it's no "Extreme Makeover-Home Edition" or anything, but to us it's felt like a pretty impressive transformation.

Because of my love for documenting the chapters of my life, I decided to take some photos around the apartment FIRST give the place a good cleaning {haha--just being real here!} and then take photos of our apartment now in July of 2016!

So be forewarned, the changes are nothing radical, OK? Don't get your hopes up, friends. We're not made of money over here. :P And that's the whole thing, there is SO much I wish I could do to this space furniture-wise, picture-frame-wise, area-rug-wise, fake-plant-wise {because I kill all of the real ones apparently} and other useless-small-home-decor-wise but it all comes with a cost. Jarryd and I are both people who'd rather spend money on experiences than attainable objects. Example: we'd rather spend money on going on a date night, or buy plane tickets/train tickets and travel than save up to buy the perfect dining room table set. {Actually, to be REAL frank, I am perfectly content spending all of our money on groceries and baking supplies; I find life so boring when there's no good food around!} That's just us and it's a plus that we are both that way!

Most of the time when we do start buying furniture, it's because we have reached the ceiling of our "I'm-so-fed-up-living-without-having-a-_____" meter. That's how it went for our new end tables. We hated not having places to put our drinks and food beside us while sitting on the couch watching a movie so we finally caved. And I'm so happy we agreed on the style of end tables because I'm in LOVE with them. Mmm! :)

That's not to say we don't plan on buying furniture in the near future. In fact, we've got a little list going on. We need something for the front entrance to put our keys on and such, and just to fill the empty wall we have. {On a normal day we like to fill that space with an old bag full of trash there as a reminder to take it out :P } We also have been eyeing some grey sectional couches with a real high seat depth. Sigh....we'll see.

Anyway, below I've provided you with some Before {July 2015} and After {July 2016} photos of our apartment. Enjoy!! :)

BEFORE: The View Dining Room/Living Room

AFTER:

BEFORE & AFTER of Hutch in 2015:

We can't forget about my crazy hutch! Last year, I wrote a blog post about my DIY Hutch Makeover {If you missed it, Read it HERE!} and added it to Pinterest. As of today, July 2016, it's been Pinned 228 times! How cool is that?! I know to some professional Pinteresters' that number is just smidgeons in comparison to their numbers, but to someone who isn't even passionate about DIY projects, that's pretty good! {I've done 2 DIY projects in my whole life, and I am just fine with that haha!}

AFTER:

I really do love this pale blue beauty. It's definitely the most unique and characteristic piece of furniture we have in our place.

BEFORE: The Living Room

AFTER:

Yeah, yeah, I know we need something to happen on the wall behind the couch. Give me another year... :P

How cute are our end tables?! They have a glass top with gold legs, and they're huge. Like they could probably hold 50+ cans of pop, glasses of water, and mugs of tea if need be. {NOT that I've tried it before or anything...}

Jarryd had enough of having the coffee table in front of the couches, so he moved it in front of the window. I'm not totally sure what purpose it holds, but it's not the worst looking over there. As long as no sunlight is blocked, I'm happy. :)

Plus, with the coffee table by the window we are able to show off our new RUG! It's sheepskin!!! {Faux of course}. But it's so white and so soft and so feathery looking, we just love it. I pray that it stays this way forever. <3 {Please don't change little rug, we love you just the way you are!} We were just so glad to be done with our old rug.

This is where all the magic happens. Well, kind of. I'd say 90% of the magic happens in the kitchen, and 10% happens on this "espresso" desk that I use to take photos of the magic I made that day. ;)

This isn't the prettiest looking space...in fact it's too "busy" looking for my liking; our "tv stand" needs alot of work. And yes, I record Hallmark movies...every weekend...but who doesn't...right?

A closer look and focus on the end tables. :)

BEFORE: The View of the Dining Room/Kitchen

Much has changed here! 1) We 86'd our dining room table set! Honestly, we hardly used the thing. It was more for storing stacks of books and papers, than it was for eating! {We like to eat at our kitchen island or on our couches}

2) That rolling chair absolutely does NOT belong there. That looked so terrible...

AFTER:

We bought barstools!! It was SUCH a good investment! We also cleaned up the space above the fridge, added some decor pieces/it's where I store my rotating cake stand. And that corner of the kitchen unfortunately is incredibly dark even during the day, so we bought some LED strip lights from IKEA and it has changed everything. It actually makes me want to work in that space now.

I went on a bit of a fruit haul on my last grocery trip...Mangoes, watermelon, avocado, apples, yellow peaches, and yellow squash {which is actually from my in-laws}.

 BEFORE: The Kitchen

It's quite bare looking...but the counters are very shiny!

AFTER:

SO much has changed here!! 

I bought that beautiful marble piece at a local thrift store and I am in LOVE with it. If only I had marble countertops...hehe.

 BEFORE: The Master Bedroom

AFTER:

The BEFORE looks better than the AFTER, am I right?! I'm not a fan of dark curtains at all, but with our new jobs both Jarryd and I wake up between 4 and 5 AM, which means we're in bed by 8:30 PM, which means now in the summer it's still bright outside when we go to bed! SO, I had to buy black-out curtains. So sad...their darkness doesn't suit my style-personality at all!

Anyway, our Master bedroom decor is the least of my worries. It's really just for sleeping, you know? BUT we did buy fancy new 700-thread-count grey sheets. We love them!

AND that king-size white blanket is SO SOFT!

BEFORE: The Spare Room {"The Spare Oom"}

Before this was just our storage room, really. You know, the room where you just throw everything?

AFTER:

I seriously love this space when the couches are set up like this. They're not the comfiest of couches, but they look so stylish! And that chaise lounge is the best place to sprawl out on after a long day at work.

And here is the spare room with the couches turned into a bed! Nothing matches in this room, which drives me nuts, but it's a work in progress. Like I said, we spend our money other places...

So, there you have it: our second apartment that we have lived in for one year and we absolutely love it! There's nothing like moving into a never-been-lived-in, brand new, with brand new cost-efficient appliances. {If there's one thing, just ONE thing I would change, it would be to have more windows. There's only 3 windows, and they're all facing the east. I'd love to have just windows everywhere!}

My family is coming to visit in just over a week, and we are super excited to host them and are just downright thankful that they don't have to spend their nights in a hotel! YAY! :)

Thanks for reading, friends! <3