Welcome to Our Living Room

Moving into this new apartment has been a much longer process than I had expected. It takes much more discipline, determination, and teamwork than it has before. It's always been pretty easy for me because it was only up to me, and it was all my stuff. Now we both have things and different opinions and ideas on where and how to set things up. It's been so much fun to work together to make this place a home, but also takes more time and dedication.

All that to say, here is a tiny introduction to our living room! This post not only goes as an introduction to our new house (or just the living room, since the rest of the house isn't done yet!), but also as the final product "photo shoot" of our DIY dining room furniture. Here goes!

*Notice Milly napping in the background?*

This table we got for free from the side of the dumpster. I'm not gonna lie, it was in pretty decent shape for a free table. However, it's got some miss-matched screws, bolts, and nuts, and basically none of it matches at all. But I kinda like that, because it reminds me about how imperfect we are, and how the Lord often provides what we need (a missing screw) and not always what we want (a matching screw) to better display His power in our lives. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but oh well! It's a nice reminder for me!

All we did to the table was sand down and paint the legs. Eventually, we will sand and refinish the table top, but for now, it stays. Now you've met the table!

*Peep my sweet pup and hot hubs if you look really close*

Our next task after moving the table into the house was finding matching chairs. Our hope is to host people in our home often, so we knew we needed a bench, but wanted to find a relatively inexpensive set of dining chairs that matched each other so it wouldn't be too pieced together. Here is where you may have seen the sneak peak that took like 3 weeks to finish because of a variety of factors including a lack of appropriate weather, time, and energy. We got this set of chairs (3) for under $20, and painted them, distressed them, and put floor savers on the bottom. Then we searched and searched and searched for a bench... for WEEKS we went yardsaling (is that even a word?), antiquing, and flea-marketing (I'm just going with it!), but couldn't find anything. But then...

This beaut popped up on Facebook marketplace (which is a great resource if you haven't used it yet). This bench was handmade by a believer here in town who is just starting his little family and started really trying to sell his work to help prepare them for their little one coming soon. He is the sweetest man, and if you are local and need any high quality woodwork done, I've got THE GUY for you! This piece was what he called "thrown together", but it was so well-done that all we had to do was put floor savers on the legs and that's it!

Yes, my dog is a camera-hog, but he's cute and he knows it.

So there you have it! Our dining room furniture is so much fun to me. It's simple and it was cheap (YAY!), but it works perfectly for us! Now onto the living area:

Those of you who are super detail-oriented may recognize this ladder and the plants. Yes, they are from our wedding! Austin had the great idea of stacking the ladders ontop of each other to be a behind-the-couch table, and we LOVE how it looks!

I love how our little home is coming together!

In this season of change, it has been so fun to have little glimpses of things I had in my old apartment that are THRIVING here. It seems like an outward example of how my life has changed from before and after settling in here. I am loving how this basil plant (once just one stalk) has grown so much here that it has turned into THREE individual plants! Look at how bright green it is! I love it. (and yes, once it's a little more mature, we will be using it for cooking! Come over and try some!)

These little fig babies are another example of that. I've had the "parent tree" for almost three years with hardly any new growth. In just three months of living in this new apartment, it has grown so much I've already had to prune it, and it's pruned limbs are about to be ready to start on their own! Isn't God's creation so cool?!

More decorations from the wedding (and yes, I do realize I'm a crazy plant lady... But I love it, ok?!). I loved the little details of the wedding and spreading them throughout the house to be a constant reminder of the covenant in which we now live.

Well, there you have it, folks! The pups' bed is right next to the couch, and Milly basically lives her whole life there. Thanks for spending some time here and checking out our new place! Come over soon and see it in person! We'd love to have you!

-Lynsie Nicole