We're renters.

This is our third apartment together. A while back I showed you how we lived. I went through a really long phase of wanting a house, not an apartment. Like really bad. I just loved the idea of having a driveway to park my car, possibly even a garage for those cold snowy mornings, having people over for cookouts, and spending time on the patio, sitting on the front porch, and painting the walls, and not paying a pet fee for animals who don't even cause any trouble.

But this week, I have to tell you I've never been so glad to be a renter.

You see... when you're a home owner, I'm told -- you have to take care of your home. Duh. So, say for instance, your washing machine breaks, and leaks all over your bathroom, ruins the walls/flooring behind it, as well as the baseboards on the sides, and ruins the carpet in the adjoining bedroom from all the water? If you're a home owner... you have to deal with that. You'd have to call someone who fixes things, and pay for it to be all better so you could do your laundry and not step on a wet carpet.

But you see... when you're a renter, I know -- this is what you do (via email, if you're lucky):

"Hey, our washing machine broke and is leaking. Thanks. Photo attached"

(turns out this photo only revealed the visible damage and that it was much worse behind. whoops)

But this is why renting is so great. We didn't have to do anything. We told them the problem and they came to fix it. Everything is better within 24 hours, and the painters will be here tomorrow so that it's not noticeable that something happened.

What are some other times renting is worth it? When there's a bat in the apartment (it happened) and when blizzards hit and the roof leaks (remember Nemo?). There's nothing better than knowing you're not responsible for things when they go badly and being able to seal up your wallet since it's not your problem.

So, while I love the idea of decorating a whole house and having privacy and maybe more space and being able to say we "own" something -- I think I'm comfortable with apartments. I mean, I still have real estate apps on my phone, and still love looking at houses in the area, and stalking home decorating blogs on pinterest but I don't think we'll be changing our renting status anytime soon.

I just don't see a need...

Home Tour: bathroom.

Since we've been here for a year and plan to stay for at least a bit longer I thought throughout the week I could show how we live. Or what we're working with.

Monday: our kitchen.

Tuesday: our dining & living room.

Wednesday: our bedroom.

Today: our bathroom.

Keep in mind, interior decorating and photography... not my expertise. It's also rarely this clean, we love bright colors, and Apollo may or may not make an appearance in some of these photos.

It's pretty plain.
But plain in a bathroom is a good thing.
The shower curtain is all pulled because Apollo climbs up it like it's a jungle gym.
It's also really hard to take pictures of a bathroom and not see your reflection in the mirror.
We have two doors in the bathroom, one leads to our bedroom and one leads to the main part of the apartment.
So I guess it's kind of like a master suite.
But not really.

Tomorrow, I will try to post about our second bedroom/office/craft space/music room (we're multi-functional). But it really depends on when the sun sets and whether I'm able to take pictures or not. :)

Home Tour: our bedroom.

Since we've been here for a year and plan to stay for at least a bit longer I thought throughout the week I could show how we live. Or what we're working with.

Monday: our kitchen.

Tuesday: our dining & living room.

Today: our bedroom.

Keep in mind, interior decorating and photography... not my expertise. It's also rarely this clean, we love bright colors, and Apollo may or may not make an appearance in some of these photos.

So, our bedroom is still really plain. We need help.

But I have big plans. Or at least a vision.

Our bed is from Ikea, as are the nightstands. 

They may or may not be put together with wood glue since Ikea gave us the wrong pieces/tools.

I've overtaken the dresser and almost both closets.

But we'll just say mine is the closet on the left. :)

Tomorrow: the bathroom.

Home Tour: Dining & Living Room.

Since we've been living here for a year and plan to stay for at least a bit longer I thought throughout the week I could show how we live. Or what we're working with.

Keep in mind, interior decorating and photography... not my expertise. It's also rarely this clean, we love bright colors, and Apollo had a really hard time keeping away from me while I was taking pictures. So if you see something that looks like a cat sculpture please know we don't actually own those, and it's really her.

Yesterday: our kitchen.

Today: our dining & living room.

The instagram canvas tutorial can be found here.
The dining room is less of a room and more of a table and chairs.
The signed guitar was the guestbook at our wedding.
The canvas print above the book shelf is a picture taken from our Puerto Rico trip.
The canvas print above the fireplace is a picture taken on our honeymoon in Ireland.
Both are from easycanvasprints.com.
Go there now. They always have deals. And usually send you $10 gift cards as a thank you.

Tomorrow: our bedroom.

Home Tour: Kitchen.

We've been in our place a year this week. We can't believe it. Sean's very excited that even though the one year anniversary of living someplace is upon us... we aren't currently living among boxes and packing for a new place. He's pumped to be staying here for longer and that our lease extends through May.

I can just tell.

I'm, also, very excited that we're not moving. I mean, renting a truck and maneuvering it around snow banks and trying to carry heavy boxes is not fun. Oh wait, I don't actually participate in that aspect of moving. I'm more the "oh, that box goes in here" or "uhh, I think a little to the left would look better" type of girl.

Since we've been here for a year and plan to stay for at least a bit longer I thought throughout the week I could show how we live. Or what we're working with.

Keep in mind, interior design and photography... not my expertise. It's also rarely this clean, we love bright colors, and Apollo had a really hard time keeping away from me while I was taking pictures. So if you see something strange... it's most likely her tail.

Today: our kitchen. 

I know our Christmas wreath is still up. That was one decoration I missed on Friday.

Oh, and I didn't take a picture of our sink, but rest assured... we have one.

Tomorrow: the dining & living room.