Skip to main content

Turning a Box into a Home.

Our first two years of marriage was spent living in an apartment. Husby and I are from small towns and decided to move to the big city after we exchanged rings and vows. We chose an apartment smack dab in the middle of the city and became quickly annoyed at traffic, noise and basically all the hubbub of city dwelling.

When we decided to build our house, we chose a suburb. We are now 15 minutes out of the big city and could not be happier. It is quiet, peaceful, serene….and there are trees, pastures and rolling hills of green! It’s beautiful and I would never trade it for buildings, cement and parking lots ever again. We live on open roads where we can drive as we please without being bumper to bumper and a massive headache to boot (I hate that term – “to boot”, but it makes me laugh a lot). We pass farms, horses and tractors on a daily basis and it instantly calms me down after a long hard day at work. There is just something so soothing living away from the hectic ways of the city, and I think I’ll always be more of a country dweller. After all, I grew up in the country and you love what you know.

I knew that we would live in the apartment for quite some time because husby was working as a Forensic Scientist with the local Police Department and applying for Medical School. We did not know where we would end up going for Medical School, so buying a house immediately was not the wisest decision. So, we waited. For two long, frustrating years. Apartment dwelling is most definitely NOT my favorite thing in all the land.

Since I knew we would be there a while, I tried making it as homey and comfortable as I could. I wanted it to feel like a home…not just a place we stayed for the time being. I worked hard to make that 800 sq. foot box look and feel like a place you wanted to come home to. It was a task, but I was very pleased with the results.

How's about another walk down memory lane? :)

Take a peek into our old apartment living room. Wasn’t it just lovely? I look back on these pictures and smile. So many wonderful memories were made in that little place. Memories that I wouldn’t trade for the world.



And here she was at Christmas time. :)



If you are waiting on your "dream house" before you decorate and beautify it....don't. You live where you live right now, so cease the day and make it beautiful! Live in the moment - not for the future. If there is something you always wanted for your home, or how you always wanted it to look - tackle it now! There is no better time. Don't waste your life waiting until the right time, or a better house. You can make what you have beautiful on a budget. Trust me, I did it! :)
I am a modern day homemaker with a passion for family, cooking, celebrating, decorating, travel, and memory making! The Lord has blessed me with the desires of my heart in my husband and our two sons. We recently built our dream home and cultivating a loving and happy haven for my family is where I find so much joy.

Comments

  1. What good advice! I never decorated the first house my husband and I rented because I knew we'd be leaving it soon. Even now I hesitate to "bother" painting, etc. because we talk about adding on or moving someday in the future. You are right though. We should make where we are now the best and most comfortable it can be. Why not?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree. I'll never consider my home someone else's by questioning something I want to do with it because of resell. It's mine at the moment and therefore I'm going to decorate it in a way that "I" enjoy!

    Great advice :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. great advice! and i love the pictures of your family room...beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great job!!! We are currently in an apartment and not loving it. We are thankful God has blessed us with a home, though.

    Your apartment looked amazing! GREAT job!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree! My husband and I lived in a very urban area for 3 years while he went through grad school at Yale. We knew lots of friends who treated the city and even their homes as just temporary dwellings - so why bother? But those "temporary dwellings" were their homes for 3 YEARS! I'm happy to say my husband and I made the most of them and really learned to love our home and our big city. We bought our first house last week and, like you, we moved into the suburbs. I love it here, but I still wouldn't trade those 3 years of city life for anything!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What abeautiful apartment. It's lovely and I agree don't wait, it's not worth it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your apartment looked just lovely.

    I agree with you about making where you live into a 'home', however it's sometimes not so easy. The house I'm in now needs so much work; and work equals time and money. My Better Half travels almost 50% of the time, so when he's home he doesn't always feel like working on the house. I know it will all get done eventually, but for now it doesn't feel like my home.

    Toodles~

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's beautiful! I stumbled in from the Pioneer Woman Cooks comments (yours was the last one I believe before mine, and your blog's title caught my eye), read your blog's description, and loved it!

    I'm getting married next June, my fiancee will be working toward a PhD, we'll be moving to a different state...and into a box. Thanks for the tip; you had (and I'm sure still *have* in your new home) a lovely living room!

    I'm sure I'll be back! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

May the Lord bless you and keep you safe today! Thanks for the comment, friends! :)