Today I'm going to give y'all a little tour. If you all lived in Charleston, I'd just invite you over and brag about all of the little things that we love about this place. But I'll settle for a few pictures and descriptions of our first home together and why it's so great.
For starters, I'm just very proud of my husband for providing this place for us. I don't think I realized when I was growing up just how much time and effort goes into literally "putting a roof over our heads". He has sacrificed, budgeted, and worked crazy hard to find a place that he knew I would love, and it's just a physical representation of all of the ways he supports me. I'm such a proud wife.
Secondly, living hours and hours from everyone you love is freaking hard. Like, "cry yourself to sleep and eat ice-cream for breakfast because you're so lonely" kind of hard. But then I wake up and eat my cereal in a bowl that someone we love bought us, my feet stay warm on the kitchen rug that our best friend Jessica gave me at a wedding shower, I light a candle that I won at a white elephant party back home, I cuddle up in a blanket from my in-laws, I search through the recipe book my mom surprised me with, and literally all day I go through our apartment surrounded by stupid little things that are pretty much priceless to me because of who gave them to us. Stuff is just stuff. But here, our stuff is a visual representation of all of the people who have loved us, who still love us, and who got us here.
And last, but certainly not least, this is the first place I've ever lived that really feels like it was prepared for me by God. Although we felt a definite call to this city, it is still completely foreign to us. However, this little apartment is like an oasis. The way breeze blows perfectly through when we open all the windows, the way the light fills the living room in the afternoon, and the chirping of crickets we can hear from woods across the street are all little things that just kind of comfort me. And they feel purposeful. They make it feel like God is here living with us too. And that's pretty amazing.
--BEDROOM--
We wanted our bedroom to be simple and super comfortable, so we stayed with whites and greys and a few of our most prized possessions. Here we mixed the luxury of West Elm (wedding gifts) with the utility of IKEA (budget friendly).
This print from BWPrints is one of my all-time favorite things. We also keep our vows here, and a great book about marriage that inspired many of those vows. Also just a cute little card given to me by my husband that reminds me that my kids will be 1/8th Japanese.
Austin likes to display some travel books, a bronze elk, and the handmade clock that his best man gave us as a wedding gift (seriously one of the coolest gifts ever).
--BATHROOM--
Bathrooms are weird, so we decided to mix it up and have a little color in ours. Here we went for really fluffy towels and some hip natural soaps so that our guests (and we) might actually enjoy their time in here. Literally everything in this room is from Target.
--PORCH--
This is one of our favorite spots. Austin bought me this patio set as a Christmas gift after he heard me gushing over how cute and small it was a few months ago in IKEA. It's a tiny space, but it's a tiny space that was thoughtfully prepared for me, so I love it.
--KITCHEN--
This is where I will learn to cook instead of eating Zaxby's and Panera for every meal. Maybe one day soon I'll even break in the KitchenAid mixer. But until then, I love all the little details like the Save-the-Dates on our fridge and the splashes of color here and there.
That huge hunk of wood is a cutting board gifted to us by our favorite ski-bum and it's where we do everything.
Austin got me this recipe box a couple of years ago and it has slowly (and I mean slowly... like 10 recipes) filled with family recipes as I've learned to make them. I also love this Charleston map print, which I bought the moment Austin signed his job offer at Boeing.
--BREAKFAST BAR--
We were really spoiled when we were gifted these adorable barstools from Target and table settings from West Elm. Add in the cake stand that I've always wanted and my favorite house plants and you have a perfect little morning spot.
Henry has somehow survived the journey across state lines and now has a companion.
--DINING ROOM--
This room was really put together by my husband. He found us this table "damaged" in the Macy's clearance section for like $200. It's beautiful and expands for whenever we have more than two. He fell in love with the bench and bar-cart (really a bathroom cart) at IKEA, and voila! We have a lot of our married dates here, and hope to have many friends join us around this table.
Austin's "bar-cart" topped by a painting of Maroon Bells, where Austin and I went on a backpacking trip.
A gift from our friend Jessica's trip to India, making our entryway feel a little more official and a lot more homie.
--LIVING ROOM--
This room is the heart of our home and kind of a dream come true for me. We fell in love with the blues and greys when we walked into a West Elm last year and I basically just stole my ideas from them. Also a lot of furniture from Wayfair, where you can get great deals if you do some searching.
Our West Elm couch was WAY out of our price range, until they mis-printed the price in a catalog and we got $1000 off (best day ever). That coffee table is faux marble and who would even notice?
This is our miracle jar. We add to it when we notice a blessing, and keep it around for the times when we forget just how much the Lord has done for us (the blessings are currently backlogged until I get more cute paper, but don't worry, the jar will be overflowing very soon).
That open space on the right side of the room is what we like to call the "guest room" because it's the perfect amount of room for some guests!
So that's our little home! I'm sure it will get much more messy after a few months and maybe we'll spill on the perfect white bedding or the pillows will go out of style some day, but I really love this place. My prayer for it is that it will feel like home to us and to whoever may visit, and that Austin and I would use it to learn the art of hospitality.
Settling in,
Kelly
