Re "decorating"

I've been living in the same apartment for going on three years now (which happens to be an adulthood record for me! Normally I don't last more than two years in a given space.), and I've gotten tired of looking at the same furniture in the same spots. Since I can't paint (or  I'll just have to repaint again when I move ... in May?) and I can't afford massive amounts of furniture, I resorted to what I used to do in high school ... rearrange the furniture!

And, boy, did I!

I completely rearranged the living room, the kitchen/dining area, and my bedroom. And I already love the change. (To see the place before the changes, check out this post.)

The bar (still stocked) is now where the dining table used to be.

And the baker's rack with some soft lighting (because the lighting in this room sucks!).

My new "spacious" living room. Although Cecilia the Fur still dominates the space.
Thankfully she is only indoors until it warms up. I can't believe how much she has grown in five years!

The dining area is now outside of the kitchen.

 I've also decided to make a more conscious effort to keep my bedroom a "sanctuary" space. Someplace I can go that's comfortable and easy and "me." It's not totally there yet (I need some art on the walls and a bit of tweaking with the lighting), but she's getting there.

Because I have no bedside tables anymore (you'll see in a later pic), I need one of my serving trays in the bedroom.
Which I kind of love the feel of. Adds to the "relaxation" vibe I'm trying to build. 

The old church pew my parents gave me works perfectly here.
Hopefully I can prevent it from being a "catch-all" (which it has already started to be but only because I'm not done yet!

I love it. Ahhh .....

No bedside tables means no place to stash my books and my glasses.
Thankfully, the church pew has a hymnal rack on the back which holds my books and glasses PERFECTLY. 

I want my bedroom to be like that last picture all the time. Candles lit, cozy blankets, a good cocktail (my special blend, of course), good books ready for reading ... Maybe if I can make this happen on a regular basis, I'll stay level and stress-free. Right?

The whole house needs some new artwork added, and I've got a ton of my own photographs to put up. I just need to decide what and where and all that jazz. But, for now, I'm happy with my "new" space.