5 Problems and Solutions to Apartment Living

Last week was a pretty eventful one.  I was informed of a job opportunity, had an interview, and got it all in a matter of 2 days.  I am going to be the manager of our apartment complex!  I have mixed feelings about this, but have mainly felt excited and like it is supposed to happen.  I have been bored the last couple months and I think this is exactly what I needed.  I thrive on change I think.  I love our apartment and my life, but I just love to mix things up every so often!

So, we are moving September 1st.  Luckily it is just downstairs and the building next to ours.  Unfortunately it is an older version of our apartment (although we are getting new blinds) and the ceilings are a normal height.  I am SO going to miss our 13 foot vaulted ceilings :(  We also will have our own washer and dryer, but it takes up Allie's closet.

Here are a few of my ideas of decorating solutions to these problems:

1. Lower ceilings: mirrors on the walls to make it feel more open and I want to use lots of light colors/white in the main living space

2. Less closet space: put most of our stuff in storage (we get unlimited amount of this) use wicker baskets to store other things we use more often (on top of cabinets, on shelves, etc.)

3. Smaller windows bring in less light: sheers in the windows to bring in more light, use lamps in darker spaces

4. Ugly Counter-tops: There are lots of temporary options for this, I just am not sure what the best option is yet...granite tiles laid on top, large cutting boards, contact paper, tempered glass boards, vinyl adhesive tiles, vinyl tablecloth, or faux granite wallpaper...

5. A little less square footage:  This is similar to the solution for lower ceilings, but I will also be storing more of our furniture.  I will be arranging what we do use to keep the room feeling open by putting the big pieces closer to the walls and not cutting the room in half with the couch.

These are my ideas for color schemes right now:
Main living room: Gold and whites/creams along with some brown (and possibly turquoise)
Allie's Room: Browns (woods) and some accent colors (mainly turquoise/light blue)
Bathroom: White and black, along with some silver
Master Bedroom: Possibly Silver/gray and yellow, as in these colors:

Needless to say, I have a busy couple of months ahead of me: training for the job, going on vacation for a little over 2 weeks, then jumping right into moving and starting the job on Sept.1st.  I will try to keep my blog updated as much as I can, and I am definitely keeping Favorite Things Friday going, but please forgive me anything is lacking in my blog for the next couple months :)