Hello!

Hello blog world!  This is Jackie, and I've just signed a lease on a new (old) apartment with my boyfriend Steve.  We will be using this blog to document our experiences as we try to turn an old, very beaten up apartment into a home that we can love.  We're only renting, we're going to have to get creative.  This means that we just have to live with certain things - like the horrible dark purple-maroon carpeting in the living room and bedroom, the unfortunate cheap laminate cabinets and old stove and refrigerator.  What we can do, however, is make cosmetic changes like paint and cover up things that we don't like.  We'll be updating this blog with pictures and blow-by-blow accounts of all of the projects we undertake in this new apartment.

Before we get started, I'd like to tell you a little about Steve and myself.  I am 22 years old, just graduated from college (Parsons), and am currently working as a freelance illustrator and part-time graphic designer.  Steve is 24 years old and is starting his second year of graduate school in pursuit of his master's degree for history and American studies.  We have been together for 6 and a half years (high school sweethearts - aww) and living together for 2 of them.  We have a 4 year old tabby cat named Voldemort who is our (my) pride and joy, and as soon as we finish moving we hope to be adopting a dog.

We live in downtown Jersey City, NJ and we love it here.  Apartments are not cheap, however, which means in order to live in the area we love on a budget we can afford, our choices are limited.  Our goal is to make our cheap old brick basement apartment into a home, while still being able to save some money.

Our to-do list is already running pretty long, but we hope to accomplish everything we'd like to without spending a fortune and have an apartment we can be proud of.  So far we want to do the following:

 

·      Paint brick in bedroom

·      Clean carpets

·      Area rug for living room?

·      Carpet runner for entryway

·      Fix up cabinets and maybe paint

·      Clean up front patio

o   Maybe paint windows

o   Clean rust off gate and repaint

·      Repaint front door

·      Weed and Clean up backyard

o   Plant grass and flowers in yard area

o   Clean patio and grill area

o   Clean up vegetable garden and plant new stuff

Furniture To-Do List:

·      Repaint coffee table and end table

·      Repaint chairs and reupholster cushions

·      Reupholster couch cushions (restain wood frame eventually)

·      Curtains

·      Repaint dresser, headboard, and bed-side table

·      Some sort of shelving for bathroom

To buy:

·      Lamps

·      Patio Furniture

·      Bench

·      Kitchen Cart

·      Bar Stools

·      Shelves