Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | Outfit Details
Sweater: Cents of Style // Pants: H&M // Necklace: Made By Mary // Earrings: Kendra Scott // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Watch: Arvo Wear // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Slippers: UGG // Blanket: Saranoni // USA Play Mat: Camp Castle Play Mats
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | The Old Apartment
I talked about this last week, but the old apartment was much smaller than the new place. MUCH smaller. Walking in the front door of the old place, you walked right into the kitchen. That kitchen was amazing. For how small the rest of the space was, the kitchen was huge. There was a huge island and lots of storage. I miss that kitchen honestly. On the other side of the island was the living space. The living space was weird L shape but we made it work. There was not a lot of room for Jackie to run around, which was fine for the first year we lived there. As she got bigger though, the size of the space really got to us! You can see more about the kitchen and the living space in the old place in these posts:
How To Take Advantage of A Small Space
What I Have Learned From Living In A Small Space For A Year
How To Create The Perfect Wall Gallery
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | The New Apartment
When you walk in the front door of the new apartment, there is an entry way and a hallway down to the kitchen. Jackie loves to run to the end of this hallway and have us chase her. The laundry is also in this hallway so having the extra space for that has been really nice. We also have a place for people to put coats & shoes when they come in.
The kitchen is definitely smaller in the new apartment. Half of the island is open space so there is not much I can do under there for storage. I did try to put a few things I was ok with Jackie getting into under there but she would just sit under the island and throw that stuff as far as she could. You can understand why those things were moved. There is a nice pantry in this kitchen which helps with the smaller amount of storage space. We did have to get creative with where things went in the kitchen and using extra plastic shelves, but I think we are making it work!
The family room is my favorite part of the entire new place. There is so much space! We of course kept an office space so that we have a desk to work at when we need it. We did switch out the bookshelves that used to be in Jackie's room and put them out in the family room instead. I added an ottoman for storage and because it made the space feel more homey without taking up too much room.
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | Command Center Pillar
You may have noticed the giant white pillar in this space. This is pretty common in our building, we even had a pillar in the old place. It did not stick out as much as this one does though! I decided to use the pillar has a command center as well as a divider between rooms. We debated about pushing the couch up against the window or leaving it aligned with the pillar so Jackie could play behind it. We decided to give leaving the space a try and now we can't believe it was even a debate. Jackie loves her little space behind the couch and we will often find her hiding back there or watching people in the plaza below.
For the actual pillar, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best kind of material to use. We had a small white board in the old place where I would keep my to do list but I wanted something that fit the pillar better and something for Jackie to use as well. I found this magnetic chalkboard contact paper and I knew that was what we needed to get. Jackie loves magnets and I found them all over the old place, especially the kitchen since we kept them on the fridge. Since they are in her play area now, I don't trip over them nearly as often!
I wanted to get chalk or chalk markers that I liked but I was also comfortable letting Jackie use in the future. Chalk seemed out of the question because Jackie likes to bend things to see how long it takes them to break. I knew I would have chalk and chalk dust everywhere. After lots of research, I found these chalk markers that had lots of really good reviews about getting them off walls and out of furniture. I have been able to clean off the chalk boards and anything else with baby wipes and the makers come off just fine!
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | More Home Tour Posts
You can read more about our new apartment here:
Family Room & Kitchen: Now Vs Then | Shop the Post
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