Hello. I’m new here. I figured I’d introduce myself and show you pictures of the apartment I share with my fiance and our cat.
We live in a small-ish (although we’ve upgraded from our first place, which was tiny) apartment in the Northeastern United States.
The living/dining room combination.
We hung that picture way too high.
New TV stand.
We’ve since added a small bookshelf to the right of the piano and moved our little mosaic table next to my desk.
The baker’s rack and credenza.
Limited counter space.
Our bathroom.
I love the rug.
We’ve since switched things around to add a desk. I should really update our pictures.
Lots of books.
She rules the place.
Our first tree.
Hints for first time apartment owners (especially those on graduate-stipend salaries like us):
Craig’s List is your best friend. Seriously. Our TV stand, the giant red desk, our bookshelves, our piano, our bed frame and our floor lamp all came off of CL at a fraction of their original prices. Don’t feel as if you have to settle for crappy stuff because it is second hand or because you don’t have a lot of money. Many people sell things in brand-new or almost new condition. Be patient and you’ll eventually see what you want. It took three months for us to get that TV stand. It’s originally from Pier 1 and cost over $100, I think, but we got ours for $35 and there isn’t a scratch on it. (We saw the same stand from another CL seller that was a bit beat up, but I politely declined. Two weeks later we got ours for less money than the first guy wanted.)
If you’re a looking for your first place, be aware of things like whether the apartment is on the same side of the building as the dumpsters (very smelly and noisy), if there’s any construction in the area or if there are railroad tracks nearby. These things seem obvious but it’s easy to overlook them. I didn’t notice the dumpsters when I moved into my first place and that entire year was a nightmare.
I’m looking forward to seeing all of your apartments.
