My how time flies. Apparently it’s already been two months since I last left you with any sort of update on the condo. By my calculations we’re approaching the 22 week mark of when I first started on this journey which is simply scary to me. That also means I’ve been a homeowner for nearly 5 months at this point!

When I wrote my last post about the condo, I was in a state of dismay. It seemed like every day something new was breaking, and if I wasn’t already at the condo, I was rushing back to it hoping the place wasn’t falling apart. I basically spent the first month questioning what I had gotten myself into and wishing I had decided to buy a a place rather than just rent. For now, *fingers crossed*, things have finally stopped breaking, at least on a daily basis, and I’ve been able to spend the past 2 months getting things livable. I’m naturally interested in finding efficient, organized solutions, so every day I find a new thing to tweak or fix. Nothing like actually living in a house to find out all its quirks.

The Living Room

One of the first things I did after moving in was pick up some necessities from IKEA. Most of what I bought were odds and ends for the kitchen, but I picked up some throw pillows and a sheepskin for the pink chair in attempts to pull the room together. Since taking this picture way back in December (Note: the Christmas tree…) I’ve moved the pink chair to the other side of the sofa, which has made it everyone’s favorite chair now that you can actually see the TV from it.

There’s still a ton on the list for this room:

• Find artwork. The blank walls are driving me insane much faster than I anticipated.
• Purchase a larger TV. My 42″ TV worked fine in my bedroom, but it looks minuscule in my Living Room. It will eventually be mounted to the wall.
• Assemble the remaining Besta cabinet for additional TV storage – I have one remaining cabinet from my former bedroom’s wall unit to repurpose, and it will work perfectly next to my TV stand for more storage. I’m just waiting for any nearby IKEA to restock the feet that match what I already have. I already have one set of 2, so I only need one more box. Sadly they’ve been out of stock for months at this point and I’m worried they’ve been discontinued.
• Up for debate – a rug. While I love the way rugs anchor a room, I don’t love how the catch dust. I’m not sure if I’m willing to give up the ease of sweeping for a rug.

The Kitchen

The old black dishwasher that started leaking unexpectedly has been replaced with a new white one, and the mice-chewed wiring was replaced for both the garbage disposal and dishwasher. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I was to have a working dishwasher. My nights are no longer spent washing dishes. I did have to buy a lot more dishes and silverware though because I started running out of things before the dishwasher was full. (Worth noting, the day this picture was taken, the dishwasher had just been delivered hence the dishes in the sink still.)

Another ongoing project is the cabinets. Little by little I’ve been lining them. I was so shocked at how much better the guest bathroom vanity looked lined, I had to snap a picture. Life without cabinet doors and drawer fronts has also been an interesting one, especially with my OCD. I had been planning to wait until the weather warmed up to paint them at my mom’s house, but I gave up and started bringing them back home to paint in the dining room. As of today, I’m happy to report that all drawer fronts except for one that needed to be repaired have been reinstalled. I’ve also started on the cabinet doors. I can’t wait to see what the bathrooms and kitchen look like with all the doors back up and the new hardware installed. It’s no Pinterest worthy dream kitchen, but for the $200 I spent, the before and after will be dramatic.

 

The Entry Way

Thanks to all this winter weather, it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I desperately needed to do something with my entry way. Coming home with wet boots meant taking my shoes off at the door, carrying them to the fireplace (the closest place with tile), then walking back across the room to hang up my coat on a hook I hung on the coat closet door, and dropping my work bag somewhere in the process. And because my unit has a second bathroom where the coat closet would normally be, my unit’s coat closet is actually about 10 feet into the condo around a corner making it useless for storing things I need when heading in or out. So here’s my plan:

• Hang up hooks on the angled wall by the front door paired with a boot tray so that I can hang my outdoor things up and take my shoes off on the way in. I plan to hang a Welcome sign above this too.
• On the opposite wall, I’m going to purchase a Hemnes Shoe Cabinet. I don’t necessarily plan to use it for shoes but rather odds and ends like sunglasses or outgoing mail. I may stash the throw blankets that live on my sofa during the winter or when people stay over there too.

As of today, I’ve added some mirrors to the wall right by the door and a boot tray, both from Target.

 

Other updates not pictured:

• I’ve started repainting the louvered doors for both the utility closet and laundry closet.
• I repaired the trim that was damaged when bringing the washer and dryer back in.
• I replaced all of the interior door knobs (all 4 of them) from their mixture of brass and chrome to a satin nickel finish.

And last but not least, the cats have settled in nicely and spent a lot of time lounging around (well at least the boys lounged around). Skyler quickly took to watching the birds out the back windows.

 

Stay tuned for more updates.