An apartment tour is something I have wanted to do for a long time, as we have had to make some of the smallest spaces work since moving to DC. In my opinion small space living is very interesting to not only small space dwellers but also those who don’t do it and wonder how the people can live in less than 1000 square feet. Our current apartment is the biggest we have had since moving to the city.
Our first place was a 495 square foot studio in a high rise. We could never use the patio as the mosquitos were bad most of the year in the inner courtyard. The storage was amazing with a wall of kitchen cabinets, a large hall closet, a good size linen closet, and a walk in closet. The location was amazing, about a 5 minute walk to the NOMA metro station. We did not do and apartment tour when we lived there, which is disappointing as 495 square feet is bigger than it sounds.(The photos I have are not that great and from my phone.)
Our second place was a typical Capitol Hill basement apartment. The location was awesome, and we had great neighbors. The storage was really bad. Even with solid organizational skills it was tricky. While I do feel everyone who wants to live in DC should live in a basement apartment once, I was ready to get out. Even with full windows in the front and a walk out to a shared garden in the back, the space felt like a basement. It was musty, you could hear Fievel and his friends in the walls (mice), and everything had quirks. Our water ran hot when we wanted cold and vice versa. A tiny fridge that would not open all the way. We couldn’t use the shared garden as it was a mosquito infested swamp land. Most walls could not have a nail put in due to crazy wiring or concrete walls. Random ceiling heights… the list goes on. However, I did love walking the neighborhood and fell in love with Capitol Hill while living here. (Again, not a great photo, and again no apartment tour from this space either.)
Our current space is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath. It is located not too far from our previous apartment. I am a Capitol Hill girl now, and never want to leave. We have really appreciated being on the 3rd floor of a row house after moving from a basement apartment. While basement apartments in Capitol Hill are very common, a 3rd floor apartment of a 2 unit row house is less common. This rare find has most utilities included, a washer and dryer, a private balcony, a shared garden, a great street, great natural light, private attic storage, and so much more square footage with full 8′ ceiling heights. This mini apartment tour is to show small space living is fun and possible.
My whole person is really minimalist at heart. I love clean lines and simplicity. If we bring it into our home it must either serve a function or have a memory/ meaning to us. After being married for over 10 years, traveling, and living life together our accumulation of stuff/ art now makes me feel like I look like a maximalist.
Being confined to your apartment during a global pandemic is both excruciating and satisfying. (I also might add that being stuck inside for this long length of time, I am so thankful that we are not in a basement apartment. I am praising the Lord for a private balcony and 3 sides of windows). I am able to get so many things checked off my at home to do list, but that doesn’t come without me also wanting to do a whole bunch of DIY projects without the resources. With enough time staring at something, you can spend a whole lot of hypothetical money on it. The amount of things saved to wishlists, shopping lists, etc after my time in quarantine is laughable. Including the hilarity of ranges in price…So in lieu of more screen shopping, I decided to do not only an apartment tour but show some plans of where we hope to go.
We have lots of mini plans for this space that are seemingly on hold for now. As we are renters, we like to make plans for things that we could feasibly take with us or transition to a new space. (Though my hope is to stay here until we absolutely have to move to a larger space or we move overseas we have moved 3 times in 2 years. I am emotionally done moving.)
Plans include:
- The big one and top one on my list–TV Media Console/ Dog Kennel Combo: Dustin and I are planning to build a 3 door cabinet mid century ish TV stand that has 2 parts for the dog kennel and 1 for the media equipment. I am not wanting the dog kennel to look like a dog kennel. I want it to look like a piece of furniture, really a tv console/ buffet/ side board. Some inspiration photos (this and this) Don’t worry, the kennel side would have a metal kennel style back and when occupied would have the front false doors open. Kona only uses when she is sleeping at night. Here is our rough draft:
- Patio Re-Design: Right now we are using our REI camping chairs to sit out on the balcony these days. It works for now but I can see something really amazing out there someday….
- Kitchen: We have great cabinet space, however, we have to utilize cabinets as kitchen and pantry storage. We bought this shelf from Ikea and it has really served us well.
- Add Plants: while I would love to have a green thumb, my track record is horrible. Maybe fake… But I would like to hang some and also do a plant moment on top of the cabinets all the way across.
- Curtains maybe? Or an acrylic plant shelf?
- Living Room Refresh:
- Bring our chaise from storage to make our sofa larger
- Finish framing/ hanging some remaining artwork we have waiting
- Storage Ottoman (build, find, scavange) I would love to find a worn old leather one… but would also take a more modern look like thisor this.
- New Dining Chairs
- Scooter Storage/ Charging Station: I ride a scooter to work and would love to find a cool way to store/ charge it off the floor. I have seen this CB2 bike rack or this one from ARTIFOX . I think we could really do something that not only looks great but is super functional.
- Lighting: We need to figure out another light/ lamp for the space. I would really like to hang something from IKEA in the corner above the sofa. But really I have not decided.
- Bathroom Refresh: I like to have fun in the bathroom, and make it “light hearted”. We have a bathroom guestbook and look for funny touches like a photo of us hanging up… We will be maintaining this in our refresh. Things that are inspiring my current mood board: 1 2 3 4
- Remove extra towel rack (maybe)
- Get rid of over the toilet shelf: it was left from the previous tenant and is only serving a storage purpose.
- Figure out storage for what is left when shelf is removed
- Bedroom: Nothing big in here. We bought a PAX wardrobe on Facebook Marketplace that has been amazing and has served as Dustin’s closet.
- TV stand from living room to bedroom
- Figure out bedding and pillows (Dustin does not like a lot of pillows. So I have to consider very carefully…)
- Hang the guitar somewhere in the apartment
- Move TV stand from living room into bedroom.
- Move current TV Stand to “dining area”
For the record, Kona (who has always been a bit attached) has become a stage 5 clinger and really followed us around for the whole time. I felt it was an accurate representation of life at home right now. We are just trying to appreciate what we have, value experiences and memories over things. Hope you enjoyed our apartment tour, and I am excited to share as we complete some projects to continue to make this space our own.
Cat
