Let me tell you the story of how I ended up in this apartment. The lease for my previous apartment ended mid August. At that time, I thought I was going to be moving to NYC, so I was looking for apartments in NYC, but I needed some place to stay in the meantime. It just so happened that my good friend Georgina had just moved into her new two-bedroom apartment in Philly and was still looking for a long-term roomie (she had an unfortunate situation in which her initial roomie backed out the night before they were supposed to sign the lease together). Until Georgina found someone, she offered her place for me to crash. It was supposed to be a short-term solution, but one month turned into another, I still hadn’t found an apartment, and she still hadn’t found a roomie. Then I decided I would stay in Philly for the next chapter of my life, and everything fell into place. I officially signed the lease at the very end of October and couldn’t wait to move in properly. It took us a long time to get here, but it was all worth it in the end, because we couldn’t have a more ideal housing situation. I feel so lucky that during this transitional period in my life, I get to live with one of my best friends from college.
Here’s an overview of my new room. I’m going to be starting with the daybed and taking you around the room counter-clockwise. Though this apartment is a two-bedroom and my previous apartment was a one-bedroom, this new room is a lot smaller than my old room (a converted living room) at about 10.5 sq m. It feels less than half as small as my old room, and it might actually be about the same size as my dorm room when I lived on campus as an underclassman. No matter, I’ve enjoyed the challenge of scaling down what I own, and in fact, it feels quite cosy!
I moved over most of my furniture from my old apartment, but I did make two new purchases. I got an IKEA Fyresdal daybed to replace my old IKEA Hemnes daybed (which I destroyed when I took it apart when moving out), and a Bed, Bath, & Beyond c-shaped side table to replace my old Walmart coffee table. The old Walmart coffee table was lovely (pictured in this post), and most people are surprised to hear I got something that looks so nice from Walmart, but with this smaller space, I thought a side table would work better. I love that I can pull it right up to the bed for easy access when I’m leaning back on the bed, and I can also move it away to give myself more space. The matching black bars look so good with the bed, and it also matches the old Walmart table, which I saved in the basement storage, so if I have a larger space in my next apartment, I could take out the coffee table and side table and they would work wonderfully together.
It gives me immense pleasure that this outlet fits so perfectly between the bars of my daybed.
Under my bed are books and boxes. I’ve been meaning to thrift cute woven organisational baskets, but in the meantime, this Glossier box has done well holding my external hard drive, extra wires/charging cords, and chargers, though I usually have my chargers out and am using them. The box under that is a decorative box with cute Parisian illustrations that I received from friends during my freshman year of college, and it holds photos, decorative stationary, and small trinkets. Unfortunately the box had a bit of a time in storage this summer, so I may have to retire it. If I ever get around to getting a new container, I might cut out the lid of the Parisian box as a keepsake and use it as wall art.
Under the other end of my bed are Muji seat cushions that I take out when I want to sit on the floor and an organisational container I’m using for laundry. Beside the bed is an actual laundry basket that I bought from H&M last year, but it’s so cute that I don’t want to contaminate it with my filth. Instead, I’m using it to store extra pillows, bedding, and stuffed animals. I also have a throw draped over my bed, which I got with the college bedding I bought freshman year. It doesn’t look very nice but it does it’s job, and it’s pretty soft and cosy actually. Maybe now you might understand why I included two throws in my November wish list.
Beside my bed is this stool that I use as a nightstand, and I usually put my phone and guitar capo on it. This stool was actually one of Georgina’s first woodworking projects in college, in which she took one object and turned it into another; she turned a four-legged chair into a three-legged footstool. Heh heh. Footstool. Geddit? She doesn’t like it and can’t help but see all its flaws — it was one of her first woodworking projects after all — but I kinda find the kitschiness charming, and I love it even more knowing that my friend made it herself. So I took it before she threw it out. I think that this will be a piece that I will carry with me throughout my future moves.
Moving along to the next wall of my room are these two windowsills, which I must give a shoutout to for providing me with the best natural light in our apartment! The windowsill on the left is thoughtfully decorated, and the windowsill on the right is just a place for me to put miscellaneous items that I reach for often, like my Invisalign, body lotion, essential oils, notebooks, laptop, and iPad; I gotta work on making it look better (cute woven organisational baskets!). Can we appreciate how well my bed railing fits against the windowsill though?
In between my windowsills I have my Staples whiteboard and Daiso corkboards, which you might recognise from my first apartment tour. I joke that you can tell that a short person lives in this room from the layout of the boards. I didn’t want to place the whiteboard any higher because it would be too difficult to write on, and I didn’t want the corkboards to be too high either, because I do see those boards as a dynamic part of my room that I will be constantly pinning things to. I might put a poster or some photos up in that empty space eventually, but I’m not in any rush to do so.
Pinned to my whiteboard is this Staples organiser that I swiped from my dorm’s Free Box when I lived on campus. In my old apartment, it sat on my desk, but I don’t have a lot of surface area to spare in my new apartment, so I pinned it to my whiteboard. It has small magnets in the back, but they aren’t strong enough, so I’ve additionally pinned thumbtacks. Sitting in my organizer are post-its, business cards, my favourite bookmark (the only bookmark I brought with me to college) (if my bookmark is sitting there, it means that I’m not currently reading a physical book or that I’m currently not reading at all LOL), whiteboard markers, and a cute crocheted strawberries and cream gifted to me by Mei x Ice Pandora.
Peep the crocheted soft-serve also gifted to me by Mei! Check out her shop y’all (◍•ᴗ•◍)♥
Just as I did in my old apartment, I have this lettered pennant handmade by my freshman year roomie’s mom pinned to my board. My freshman year roomie and I were friendly but not super close, but I still treasure this sweet gift. Her mom made each of us lettered pennants and pinned them on the board of our front door.
Bits and bobs: movie tickets, gorgeous napkin and sugar packets from Cafe Lalo in NYC, and cheeky price tags off purchases from my favourite thrift shop in Philly, Philly Aids Thrift.
Bits and bobs: pins and stickers by my dear friend Kat, some of my favourite small businesses in Philly, and from the Her Campus shop (a club I was part of during my senior year). I also have pins from that time I watched Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in NYC with Kat and Ann!
The books are actually Georgina’s, but she has more than enough books to store in her room, so I’m storing these in my room. She brought them from her apartment in NYC because she knew I was rereading the series :’) I brought out my butterbeer mug that I got from Universal Studios Japan to use as a bookend. To complete the aesthetic is a fake plant from IKEA.
But mostly, I use the fake plant to cover the wire trailing from the wall corner up to the diffuser sitting on the windowsill. Next to my Harry Potter display are my diffuser and essential oils, and next to that are memorabilia from college, including the mug we got as freshmen in our class colour, the champagne flute we got as seniors in our class colour within which I put my graduation tassel and honour cord, the lantern we got as freshmen in our class colour, and an owl mug I bought in Japan, which fits the theme because my alma mater’s mascot is an owl.
Continuing counter-clockwise around my room is my art wall.
The koala illustration is one my friend Rosalind drew for my birthday during our freshman year of college (check out her shop!). The owl lady postcard is a new one I received from Grace for Thanksgiving this year. It was our first Thanksgiving apart in three years, but I’m glad I got to see her when I visited Vancouver in October. I laughed so hard when I saw this postcard; it’s by Kyla Bourgh. The hummingbird print is one I bought for myself whilst browsing holiday markets this year; it’s by Sarah Ryan. I tried so hard to resist buying things for myself because I knew that I’d be spending a lot of money on other people, but this print was so beautiful and creative. I bought another print by this artist as a gift for someone else as well.
This layout is exactly the same as in my first apartment; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! If you didn’t catch that post, the mask is one I made during fall break of my sophomore year of college at Philadelphia Magic Gardens, and the elephant illustration is one I bought during Thanksgiving break of my junior year of college at NYC’s Union Square Holiday Market. Do take a closer look at the framed caption for a smile!
My beloved IKEA Pöang children’s armchair survived the move! My guitar sits on a stand beside it (sophomore year birthday present from my parents), and behind that is my uke (freshman year birthday present from my parents). This corner is pretty similar to my cosy corner in my first apartment, but there’s an additional Williams Sonoma pie basket, which Georgina gifted me for my birthday this year as a gag gift and I love it; all summer I had been going on about how I wanted to thrift a basket and go on a picnic. I still have yet to go on a picnic. Currently I use it to store my point-and-shoot camera that I never use, my polaroid that I need to get fixed, and lots of stationary. I think it looks lovely with the birch chair, acoustic guitar, and fake plant.
This three-tiered shelf from Bed, Bath, & Beyond also came along from my first apartment. It works perfectly with my c-shaped side table and daybed!
On the first tier I have dried lavender that I bought from a market at the beginning of senior year, an IKEA cutting board that I use like a serving tray, IKEA coasters, a music box that Grace and I made together in Shanghai, silver boxes I thrifted this summer to hold fine jewelry I reach for often, an aerium I bought at a holiday market this year (I’m paranoid that I’m killing it already), a candle, an empty Laduree box, a disposable camera that I need to get in the habit of using, and some snacks that I need to find a better place for.
The second tier is my Christmas tier. What will become of it once Christmas passes? It’ll probably just stay that way — an eternal Christmas ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )
The Christmas tier holds a vintage copy of Christmas stories by Charles Dickens that I’ve never read a page of, a large two-handled Costa Coffee Christmas mug, a Starbucks tumbler with a lenticular reindeer print, a Christmas mug I thrifted this past summer, eight three-wick candles from Bath & Body Works (whoops), a reusable Starbucks red cup that Georgina snagged for me this year, and crafty knick-knacks.
The third tier holds things I haven’t found a better place for. I do like having that black and white portrait of myself there though; Georgina photographed and developed it for her photography class in college. I’m not sure what to do about the other stuff yet (cute woven organisational baskets!). There are two hats sitting there and I don’t wear either of them much, so I’m considering getting rid of those. Besides that are coins, cards, and three pairs of sunnies.
Onto the final wall of my room are my closet and clothing rack. In my closet, I hang coats that I don’t reach for as regularly, bags that I’m not currently using, and nicer dresses that I’ve lately only been wearing for interviews. I stuck a hefty command hook on the closet door to hold tote bags, which I use for groceries.
My clothing rack holds clothes I reach for more regularly and fits perfectly between the door and the closet. I have my sweaters folded up in the hanging compartments because I don’t have enough hangers and because I read somewhere that it’s best not to hang sweaters anyway so that they retain their shape. Under the sweaters are the three pairs of pants I wear. Ever. Under that are various clothing I wear as pyjamas — not the most exciting to look at, but easy to reach for. Under that are socks and underwear, and under that are scarves and a beanie. On the walls enclosing the clothing rack, I have command hooks to hang caps and belts, mostly for space efficiency rather than for aesthetics. I also have my keys and umbrella hung by the door so that I don’t forget them leaving my room if I need them.
Yikes. I misplaced my first command hook and took some paint off the wall. Luckily I didn’t need to nudge any other command hooks. Those are staying in place until I move out!!
And there you have it! I’m not actively decorating my room anymore, though as you can see, I still have plenty of blank space to work with, but I kinda like it that way. For now, I feel like I have enough decor up to feel moved in. As for the rest of the space, I see it as an opportunity to welcome new things into my life, and I’m excited to see how this space grows.
Do you prefer decorating all at once or as you go?
PS: moving out of my first apartment
PPS: I’m giving Blogmas a go! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to see on the blog (ू•ᴗ•ू❁)