I left my heart in PA last weekend, it's true. I had the sweet pleasure of joining forces with the other ladies in my family to help my younger sister, Casey, settle into her adorable new nest - a quirky one bedroom apartment tucked smack dab in the middle of what I will affectionately call Mayberry, for those who remember the old Andy Griffith show. It's the sweetest little town full of even sweeter people. So happy for this new chapter in her life!
This was a full team effort with Cate managing phase one - the initial move from one apartment to the other! Equipped with two unstoppable forces of muscle, (my Dad and brother - Cate's husband), she managed to help Casey completely pack up one apartment and unpack into a new one all in the same day, (while poor Casey came down with a horrid stomach bug on moving day). My Mom and I came a week later, (this past weekend), to help figure out what items she still needed. For two years Casey had lived in a 150 sq ft studio apartment - 150 sq ft!!! That's like a whole new category of tiny homes! Moving into this one bedroom apartment, complete with a kitchen, eating area, and living room - truly feels like a giant leap up. This is a real apartment and we wanted to help make it feel like home.
So, let's look around!
You enter the apartment at the kitchen. It's not huge but very warm and inviting. Casey is a true hostess at heart with ready-to-grab glasses and snacks at a moment's notice.
The framed art is a verse printed on a hand painted watercolor - you can this and other beautiful prints from www.ashleeproffitt.com.
As you walk through the kitchen you enter a small passageway that connects all the rooms. There is ample room for a small dining table, but Casey had a vision of bar style seating here. How cool is that?! So, rather than search for the perfect size table, we just grabbed a pre-cut shelf at Home Depot and some metal brackets. We used drywall anchors to attach the brackets to the wall, and regular screws to attach the shelf to the brackets. Easy peasy and super cool! I want a bar counter...
Past the eating counter you walk into the living room...
...which, SURPRISE! has a permanent ladder slicing the room in half and leading to an attic. Luckily for Casey, it's a gorgeous ladder! Warm wood and black wrought iron rails...totally cool. We had a couple ideas for the ladder from a total book-keep, to an indoor garden, to growing ivy all the way up to the top...but ultimately, once we played with it, it seemed to make the most sense to just let it breathe. It's not a large room and while the ladder is a cool architectural piece, it seemed best to leave it alone. A few books pushed to the side make it functional, while a small piece of art pulls the visual interest out a little.
I wasn't the only one to benefit from Cate's brilliant taste this past month, (oh, I didn't tell you? I bought these chairs. :) Reveal coming soon!) - Casey got Cate and Caleb's old couch when they recently moved! Not bad, not bad at allllllll. Topped with a couple pillows in some of her favorite colors, and fresh natural wood lamps on either side, the room is instantly cozy and welcoming.
This gorgeous little coffee table belonged to our Grandma and was no longer needed when they downsized. Isn't that metal inset stunning?!
Naturally, while we were busily setting up the nest, we found a yard sale! The perfect pedestal table, (below), was waiting just for us, as well as a beautiful piece of art. I, myself, found a box of old dentist tools which I was HIGHLY interested in, but the ladies put their feet down. Who doesn't want to do their own dental work?! I still don't understand...
The lovely ladder, in all it's glory. I have to admit, every time I see this ladder I hear the last lyric to Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven', when he's singing in his broken, shrill voice, "and she's buuuying a staaaaairway to hea-ven."
The bedroom is as peaceful as can be and that light just doesn't quit! It seems to filter in every hour of the day.
These ladder shelves have been with Casey since before college and whats so cool is that with every one of her moves, they've had different arrangements! For this narrow space they are perfectly suitable bedside surfaces and fill the corners well.
It was so fun helping Casey settle into this new place as I learned so much about her aesthetic! She likes clean and simple, uncluttered, and open. While adding this desk and stool, (both from Target), was, in fact, putting more furniture in her room, it really functions to organize and hold house hold bits and bobs that were previously out in the open of her living room. Now her living room is far less 'cluttered', and this desk hardly calls for attention in the room as it matches her black dresser and is a clean and simple design.
The weekend was a success and we accomplished what we set out to do - help the youngest lady of our family nest - and we got to celebrate her 25th birthday! But, it wasn't ALL work. We know how to relax and make ourselves comfortable. In Home Depot. :)
And we braked to watch the Derby at a local bar! We missed our Cate, but she was visiting with her family last weekend at a little spot called the GRAND CANYON!
Mom, sister, me.
Spending this time together was such a gift! Thank you so much, Casey, for inviting us to enjoy and celebrate your new apartment with you! Looking forward to the next visit already!
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Thank you all for stopping by! Happy weekending!
