New Apartment: Entry, Hallway, and Dining Room*

Okay, dear readers, it's time for part two of my home tour!  If you don't remember part one, where I led you through the layout of the rooms, it might be helpful for you to go back to reread that.  This post isn't about how I've styled my new apartment - in large part because I think that living in a "styled" home isn't really living at all; it's just co-existing with blog-worthy vignettes - but rather how I furnished it and why.  I don't have tons of space to work with here and the apartment is definitely still a work in progress, but I love how it's turning out and, based on your comments from last week, you do too!  (Thanks, by the way.  That really means a lot.  Now, when are you all coming over for dinner?)  I also thought it was important to follow up on the post I wrote back in early April about how I wanted to be over the Ikea-and-hand-me-downs phase and into the investing-in-quality-pieces phase of home decor.  You all gave me a much-needed reality check in the comments, and this post is proof that you were absolutely right.  My furniture is from everywhere, and I'm actually even going to include how much I paid for things - as far as I can remember - so you can see how much of a high-low mix I've got going on.  It's not part of a coherent design vision, it's not curated, and it's definitely not styled - but, all together, it makes my apartment a home.

(By the way, this is the part where I apologize for my photos.  When I figure out how to do lighting and editing and other mad photography skillz, I'll let you know.)

So let's start with a welcome!  The mat in front of my door is from Target.  It was definitely not a priority, in terms of what I needed to buy in the first few weeks of moving in, and if I'd had the cash to throw around I would have bought one of the funny dog-related mats (like this one or this one) but I liked the geometric pattern and the colors and it was on sale for $9 so I really couldn't resist.

We then move into the entry, which is awkwardly large.  When you walk in, you're facing a console table, bought at least a decade ago from Saah and kindly donated to me by my parents, and, above that, a mirror that had been in my childhood bedroom.  I got the four little votives while in college and picked up the two white and black vases, both of which are chipped, on clearance at Target a few weeks ago.  (The cardboard box under the console holds Charlie's poop bags. Glamorous?  Moi?  You are too sweet!  And next to that are the Official Dog Walking Flip Flops.) To your right on the wall are wall hooks I got for $18.95 at Joss and Main recently, and they hold Charlie's leash, his unused harness, his towel, and my umbrella.  Perpendicular to the right of the wall with the hooks is the door to a massive empty storage closet, and there's a 6'10" long wall parallel to the wall with the hooks that is, at the moment, totally bare.

You exit the entry into the hallway.  The door to the coat closet is on your right, the doorframe into the kitchen is ahead of you slightly to the left, and the hallway stretches out towards the left leading into the bedroom.  This photo was taken from the bedroom doorframe looking down the hallway to the coat closet; the bathroom door is on the right side of the hallway just inside the photo.  The bench (and cushion) came from my late grandmother's apartment and the rug was $29.99 from Bed Bath and Beyond.  The pretty mirror above the bench from some of my recent Instagrams is from my maternal grandparents via my mother.

Now, let's go through the kitchen into the dining room.  The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore Tucson Coral 005 - I was super nervous about it when I gave the maintenance guys the go because I've never done anything so bold before, but I love it!  The clock was another Target find at $24.99, and I got the Ikea BJÖRKUDDEN table, originally $99.00, for $40 on Craigslist.  I love the tablecloth, which I found last weekend on another trip to Target for $14.99.  Mom had the two chairs at her sewing table in the basement, though she can't remember where we got them and I can't remember where they were once used, and generously gave them to me.  The pretty planter, by the way, holds basil, parsley, and thyme, and was $12.99 from Target.  Last but not least, the mat that Charlie's bowls are on was from Bed Bath and Beyond and cost about $7.  (Charlie will only drink out of a ceramic bowl.  The other plastic one I bought - because I got two when we first brought him home, one for food and one for water - is still at my parents' house for when he's there.  He is such a diva!)

So that's part two of the house tour, dear readers!  We'll go through the living room and bedroom next week, and then I'll do an art post once everything's up on the walls.  (I'm not sure how long that will take...)  You don't get to see the bathroom beyond this right now, but I will say that the tension rod shower caddy I bought from Target is the most useful thing I have ever owned.  Do let me know if there's anything you want to see or know more about - or anything you don't want to see or know anything about - and I'll do my best to oblige!  Now, let's sit at the table with our coffee and have a chat, shall we?

*Edited for accuracy by my mother.  Obviously.