Nearly a year in our apartment

Greetings friends.

So I thought it was time to give you an update on our apartment after having lived here for nine months now. Things are feeling pretty settled and although I would like to finish a few things and tweak things here and there, we are very happy living in this space.

 space.

I went around taking some photos with my phone to show my sister and thought the easiest way to share them would be in a blog post so she doesn’t have to download a massive email.

So please forgive the poor photo quality. It’s either this or nothing at the moment.

I seem to have trouble getting fingers to the keyboard if there are too many steps between!

My good camera doesn’t have fancy wifi connections.

 I wanted to show how cosy it is living here, so I deliberately left things as we live in them, rather than make it look picture perfect.

We keep it pretty tidy because small spaces demand it. (Apart from the dog hair, which is a never ending battle. Erk)

So this is the view as you walk in the front door. It has come out quite dark in this shot, but although we have no windows in the back half it receives a lot of reflected light and we don’t really have to put the lights on in the kitchen except for overcast days and at night.

The kitchen is to the right (you can just see the end of the bench) and we have a fold out dining table adjacent. This is handy for Cris to do his work and of course for dinners and card games.

Flowers for my birthday on the kitchen bench.

The view looking the other way towards the front door

I was a little disappointed the kitchen wasn’t more black but I may paint or decorate to increase the drama later on. Especially on the end wall.

Our bathrooms are lovely and black. Although it looks grey in this image. Floor to ceiling dark grey tiles adds great ambience when you shower by candlelight. It feels like a cave.

Our laundry in a cupboard. Which works perfectly. Even the tiny little sink. (Note the L and P plates magnetised to the sink wall ready at a moment’s notice for an impromptu drive.)

And here it is with the doors closed. You would never know all that junk..er.. valuable items were inside.

We managed to find room for my piano which I have been playing a couple of times a week so far. Much more than I did at our old house. Maybe because it is right there in front of you to remind you.

On the opposite wall we have our famous buffet where I used to take all my fashion shots in the dim distant past. Still going strong and holding everything from my music books to craft items, sewing fabric, dishes, books and candles.

We are very pleased with how the blue velvet chair is holding up against the dog fur. It really is a star in our room. Not just for looks but for a nice upright place to sit when you want comfort without slouching.

It also rounds out the sitting area so it feels like a conversation pit and not just a TV watching couch.

And here is said TV watching couch! A gloriously soft snuggly place to lie and watch the boats or talk to someone in the kitchen. We have even used it as a spare bed and it passed with flying colours. And it’s long enough for Miles to lie down flat!

Our balcony is a star. It houses most of our pot plants and is a lovely escape from the inside dynamic. It feels like you have gone into another realm with the double glazing and the city noises outside. But we’ve made it so cosy it feels like an outdoor living room. We spend hours out there. It also seems to keep a reasonably constant temperature except for cold nights when we have a fluffy blanket close at hand.

The view from our bedroom /office and studio during the day, never gets old. It’s always changing.

Collections from our life greet you at the front door on one side.

And on the other a fountain to help mask the city noises and provide a fun atmosphere.

I found this post in my draft folder from a few months ago. We are coming up for our one year anniversary in a couple of weeks. Can you believe it? No sign of wanting to move out yet, even though initially we committed to living here for twelve months. I’d say it’s a success. Yes!

The only two things I miss are having studio space and dirt. I’d love a little patch of ground to dig in that I can compost on and grow a few veggies. And I’d love space to spread my sewing and place to do dyeing and somewhere to spread paperwork and leave it. But that may come in time when the kids move out. But mostly we are set!

I hope you enjoyed this walk through. Things are always changing which I love, so no doubt there will be more cute changes in the future.

Til next time,

Keep on creating!

Love,

Jazzy Jack