Home + Garden

Our Humble Abode: Living and Dining

On Monday afternoon, I spent a few hours cleaning our apartment. Because it was Valentine’s Day, you know??? Since everything was looking pretty much clean and cozy, I thought I’d share some more photos of our humble little abode. It isn’t much, but it is comfortable for our little family.

Our dining area has its own little nook. The pass-through window into the kitchen does come in handy when I’m unloading the dishwasher or serving food. I purchased the glass top dining room table and chairs from an old boss of mine for $100. Justin and I covered the chair cushions with new fabric (black with cream polka dots), and it gave them some new life.

I adore our china cabinet, which is from the Hemnes line at IKEA. I love that you can clearly see our glassware, plates/bowls/etc. in it, and the cabinet also features 4 drawers on the bottom, where I store other odds and ends. Also: the large painting makes me smile. I purchased it a few years ago to hang in my office at work, but when I left that position I decided that it would be perfect in the dining room! Win-win.

Can you tell that I like the color green? We already owned a set of white place settings before the wedding, so I registered for a “fun” set of bowls, plates, and napkins from Crate & Barrel that would give a bit of ‘pop.’ I also like to combine the round and square dishes, just for fun.

Then there’s our little living room. I managed to snag the red couch, coffee table, end table, and a matching red chaise (which is upstairs in our loft because it didn’t fit in our living room) for a whopping $300 off of Craigslist! Score. The huge painting above the couch is definitely similar to the one in our dining room, but I love it. The TV stand was free: a friend of my mom’s was trying to get rid of it, so we took it off of her hands!

Even though the room is rather small, the tall ceilings in our living room definitely make it feel 10 times larger. Thank goodness for that, because our little home is not all that spacious!

Of course, I can’t wait for the day that Justin and I can move into a home that allows us a bit more room (and um…has a large kitchen. I chose not to photograph that for a reason, because it is so darn tiny! Maybe one day I’ll share…and you’ll cry with me). However, I do enjoy our space and think it is a happy little home for the meantime! So…there you have it! Our humble abode…living and dining room-style!

Do you have a small yet cozy abode?

12 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Very nice job with your small space. We’re apartment dwellers too, except our place is MESSY! I love your art work.

  • I can cry with you right now because the kitchen is normally my most favorite room in the house, but in our teeny condo, it’s my least favorite! We don’t have a pantry so everything has to either fit in the cabinets or on this microwave stand we have. And I have VERY minimal countertop space. No decor, no cute stuff. Cereals have to be on the counter because of space. AH! I need one of those Ikea cabinets. We have more plates than we can handle (and all mismatched-terribly. Which irks me)

  • We have a pass-through window, too; I just love it! We also own the coffee table from the Hemnes line, which I also LOVE! We’re thinking about getting more pieces from that line when we move…I just LOVE Ikea!

  • You have such a cute apartment! I love the tall ceilings.

    Our place is pretty small too – 650 square feet! I think it’s worst in the kitchen, where you just need to straighten both arms to the side and you can touch both walls. We have so little counter space that I have to use our dining room table to roll out pie crusts or whatever.

  • No, and I wish we did. We rent a huge house, because the price was right, the area is great, etc. It’s really too large for two people, we have a lot of unused space, and it’s a bear to clean. I want a cute little cottage, one day.

  • Right now I am very blessed to have a GIANT kitchen (for an apartment anyway), and I am sad because we’re moving in about a week and it won’t be as large.

    Do you usually have the dining table set when you’re not using it? I have a friend who has a bunch of vintage Fiesta-ware in multiple colors and she leaves hers set all the time. I think it looks nice when you have fun dishes!

  • Our apartment is a little bit bigger than yours (same size living room though), but definitely not decorated as well as yours. The dining room is awesome! I would choose everything you picked for myself!

    And seriously, can we talk about your ever expanding skills? Now you can recover chairs? Come makeover my place!

Interested in Sponsoring?

Click here for sponsorship information and booking! Or send me an email at helpfulhomemade@gmail.com to discuss opportunities!

Browse Categories

my foodgawker gallery
my craftgawker gallery

Browse the Archives