Making Our Apartment Our Home: Kitchen

Today's post on our apartment tour is the kitchen (aka pain in the butt).  Okay, so agree with me that all apartment kitchens are kitchens from hell...they are all so small and crowded!  However, in comparison to my apartment kitchen when I was living in university housing, this is much better.  We at least have three sets of outlets, a bit more counter top space, and more cabinet space.  But after all the wedding gifts, the storage just wasn't enough.  That's why we implemented the coffee bar (which is just to the left of our stove in the dining area). 

We were able to stack a candy jar and the panini grill on top of the microwave - I'm sure we use it much more often when it is in sight than if we packed it away every time.

Above our cabinets, we hung one of the signs our friend made for my bachelorette party/wedding.  Those came in handy not only for wedding decorations, but for home decorations too!

Our friends made us the spoon hangers that we hung and currently have pot holders on.  Haven't decided what else would hang well on there, unless we get some oven mitts.

Oh, and did I mention that I love the orange and red poppy towels?

We asked for the tall glass canisters on the left for our wedding registry, and are really glad that we received them!  They are super helpful for keeping our often used dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, and brown sugar in.  Then of course we have the coffee pot (which is not on the coffee bar because we didn't want to worry about spills staining the carpet).

By the sink, I put some large rocks in a mason jar to hold our cleaning brushes.  Every once in a while I toss the jar and rocks in the dishwasher to sterilize them.

I'm really a fan of hanging things in the kitchen, so we have our measuring cups and spoons hanging from the cabinets.  One day when I have our own house, I'll definitely be implementing some exposed hanging utensils.  Maybe on a copper pipe?  Maybe I'm just dreaming now...

All in all, for an apartment kitchen, it works pretty well.  Behind the red curtain is the laundry area, as well as where we keep a utility shelf and the trash can (super crowded in there).  But hoping one day will allow for a larger kitchen!

If you missed the other posts from the Making Our Apartment Our Home series, you can see them all HERE!

Also, don't forget to check out the coffee bar post, as it is adjacent to the kitchen and offers us some extra storage space!

Making Our Apartment Our Home: Living Area

There's not just one thing we like about our apartment.  It is in a safe neighborhood that is close to most of the highways that can take you anywhere in Oklahoma city.  It is well taken care of.  They put brand new carpet in before we moved in.  They keep maintenance up so well that it's *almost* annoying how much they come do stuff.  One of the best parts - it is spacious.

That's what we like most - and needed most - in our living area.  Space.  

Pretty much every piece of large furniture in our living space is a hand-me-down from relatives.  With that being said, we didn't exactly get to pick pieces that fit well together on walls.  Instead, we have a long couch (that is a hide-a-bed), a recliner, and a rocking chair with an ottoman.  Let me just say that as far as arrangement goes, we didn't really have other options than how it is due to how things fit.

The coral chair and couch have been through several family members - most recently from my parents to me.
The white chair was from Tyler's parents.  We're really glad we have lots of seating!

As you can see, due to pathways and limited wall space in certain areas, we had to arrange the couch caddy-cornered so that the rocking chair and recliner could go on either side since they couldn't be too close to the wall or each other because of their extra mobility.

We tried our best to make the best use out of the lost space behind the couch and keep a lighted tree, a small table with a lamp for aesthetic and functional uses.  The table works great for drinks and is nice to have a lamp so close to the couch. We also keep a basket of blankets and Tyler's video game chair all hidden on the floor behind the couch so they aren't cluttering the place, but have easy access.

Sorry for the random jar - my goal is to at some point when I'm at the store to remember to buy some dum dum suckers to put in it so I'll have something to chew on besides my finger nails when we have LOST night at our apartment.  Bad habits, I know.

The couch isn't our absolute favorite piece of furniture - it doesn't work very well for actually "lounging" or sitting comfortably.  The pillows always get lumpy, and the cushions always come out.  I'm looking forward to the day we buy a different couch, but this definitely works for now for newly weds. :)

***Update***

We have since added this piece of art that we found at a yard sale...it is from Taiwan! (If you know me well, you know that I love that it is from Asia!)

Adjacent to the chairs we have the TV, which is next to the front door, so we have a shoe rack beside it.

I like to have bragging rights for that TV stand, because I bought it at a yard sale for $2.  That's a deal.
But now that it isn't just holding a TV and DVDs and has upgraded it's life to also housing all of Tyler's video games, it is getting to be a bit too small.

***Another Update***

We found this cool tree ornament at ANOTHER yard sale for just $2!  It is hanging above the TV stand.

On the separator wall to the kitchen, we have a console for the stereo and storage for board games and movies.  It is also a nice place for some decorations.

Next to that below the connecting window between kitchen and living is a little coffee table.  We have Tyler's chess set that I bought him in China, a painting of his grandpa's and some other knick knacks.  Eventually we want to have this framed...but have you seen the prices of custom frames?  Kind of ridiculous for a few pieces of wood and a piece of glass, if you ask me.

And that, my friends, is our living room!  Not much, but the best part is that it is spacious.  We still need to find or create some large pieces of art for our large walls too, but hopefully we'll be here a long time to work with it!

Missed the rest of the apartment series?  Catch up HERE!