the house tour (Pt. I)

po·ten·tial (n): the expression of possibility.

this word, potential, has become my theme for all of my latest adventures in decorating. it starts with something you see at a thrift store or yard sale and you notice its got something. not style or pizazz. but potential. and suddenly thats all that you're able to see. what this little "something" has the potential to be. its so great. ever since the roomies and i found out where we were going to live this year on campus, we've been planning, dreaming, buying, and thinking of ways to turn this grungy old campus apartment into a home. we've tried hard to find the apartments potential. im happy to say that we are finally all moved in here on the beautiful campus and im ready to start showcasing some of our hard work. our place is small with limited space but i am really proud of what we've been able to do with it. today will be part I of the house tour (including the front room, my desk area, bathroom, and kitchen) and sometime within this next week will be part II (which will include the bedroom, roomies desk areas, the front yard, and dining area). you may have noticed a tag i have put over to the right ------> titled "the house"... this tag will be placed on all posts relating to our new home and any decorating projects i decide to take on.

(fyi, this post will contain alot of photos and explanations so i wont be mad if you just skim over and dont read it all, but i mean it'd be sweet if you did)

well, welcome! here we have the front room. this is the view you have right when you walk in the door. you probably recognize our canvas artwork and yellow table from this previous post.

directly to the right of what you're looking at is the wall where our 3 desks are lined up against.

and you may recognize THIS blue table from a previous post here dedicated to just that. add a coke bottle with a sunflower and WA LA! the perfect end table.

so i must take a minute and highlight our couch because it just way too cool. so we were having a difficult time coming up with something small enough/comfy enough/perfect enough for this couch space we've reserved. but THANKFULLY shea's awesome dad has been here all weekend helping us out (a ton!) and he found this convertible futon type thing at target. so we went and took turns sitting on it and looking it over. we were all in agreement that it was a little too low to the ground and the metal legs made the whole things look a little too cheap and modern for our style. as we were talking this over, shea's dad was like "oh, well i can replace the legs and make it taller AND cuter..." seriously?! he was speakin to our souls. THIS is the target site for you to see what it looked like before (shown in brown) and guess what, we didn't even pay that much for it, saaaaaaale!). but do you see what i mean? just a little too "bachelor pad" for us. and we came back from the rest of our shopping to find THIS! our lovely little couch/futon with wooden legs (which we can paint if we want to). its just too perfect and many many thanks goes out to Mr. D for all of his efforts not only on the couch but the entire apartment.

here is my desk. if you are standing where that first photo was taken, it would be directly to the right. so basically its the furthest desk from the couch. am i making sense? probably not. once the roomies are all set up with theirs, i will post a photo so you can see its actual positioning.

ive got plates hangin, all the bestie photographs, polaroids, a jar full of buttons, and vintage books. what more do i need on a desk? homework? real books? naahh.

so now we are entering the kitchen. this is the little opening that you see in the first photo to the far right.


its got these retro metal cabinets that im obsessed with. (stay tuned for a magnet project im working on) randi brought these awesome yellow sugar/flour containers which fit perfectly in their own little corner.

we found this completely comfortable and cute rug at ross for like $6... also perfect.

pretty decent cabinet storage. this cabinet is so colorful and organized filled with yummy plates and towels. i just love it.

this is the back right corner, where our microwave conveniently sits on its perfect shelf under the also convenient towel rack (all thanks to Mr. D again!). and don't forget about those cute kitchen utensils over in that jar. is it weird to like the way kitchen utensils sit in a jar? probably.

i am also completely obsessed with this 27 CENT wall hanging that i purchased at a pay by the pound thrift store. 27 cents, come on. thats so cool. and it fits perfectly with everything in the kitchen.

so thats it for the kitchen but dont worry because we are moving right along into the bathroom. you enter this through the bedroom which you will see in a later post. there isnt much going on here yet besides the totally 70's shower curtain and the anthropology towel that matches perfectly.

in the above picture it kinda looked like the shower was right there but nope! its not. the toilet and shower are in their own little room off of the sink/counter area.

i bought this old 70's record titled "praises" at the thrift store i worked at last semester. i never found a use for it until now. is it odd to have an old worship record above the toilet? i mean i dont think so. anyway, it says "from Christ for the nations" and thats pretty rad.

i think this brings us to the conclusion of the tour, part I at least. while we have limited space and not alot to work with, i am so pleased with how everything is coming along. we've found the potential of the space that we do have. like i said, hopefully a post will be coming in the next couple of days with more thats not quite ready to show yet.

classes start tomorrow. oh wait, schools not all about having a cute dorm room and hanging out with friends? what?

bummerrrrr.

how is everyone? i feel like ive been a real space cadet the past few days. i hope you are doing SO well. but let me know, ok?

-steph

(hgtv wannabe)