{our new Chicago place: in progress}

{taken when we first arrived into our new place}

Somehow we actually survived driving a 26 foot moving truck and a car all the way from LA to Chicago and we are now just getting settled into our new place after arriving here last Wednesday.  Moving is always a long process filled with multiple trips to Home Depot or Ikea, searching through countless boxes for the cord to connect your tv and debating paint choices.   We have gotten all of the boxes opened and unpacked and most of our furniture assembled, but we still have a ways to go before I would consider our new home to be complete.  Some of the projects on our to do list right now include painting almost all the rooms (especially the bedroom since our DIY headboard currently matches the blue wall perfectly), setting up our fauxdenza and hanging all our artwork. 

 {our new tree-lined street and ivy covered building- you cannot even imagine what a pleasant change this is for us coming from the concrete metropolis of downtown LA}

 {supplies for my black & gold bathroom- the mirror is from Ikea and it is currently on my to do list to be painted gold}

 {the Malm dressers set up as night stands awaiting their overlays.  As much as I loved making our previous nightstands, they proved to be way too small to hold more than a small glass of water and a tiny lamp. Robert Abbey Delta Lamp from right here}

 {a new houseplant from one of our Home Depot trips}

{supplies for our "fauxdenza" tv stand.  we are still  trying to find a good resource for the wood top- if anyone knows of a good (not sketchy or creepy) lumber yard in the Chicago area I would love to hear about it!}

I'll be back with updates on these project as we start crossing them off our list!

{corner closet}

The built in closet that came with our loft is absolutely wonderful except that the closet rod was installed a lot lower than normal and my floor length dresses end up dragging on the ground.  This wasn't really a big deal up until recently when I bought 4 new long dresses for some of the wedding related events coming up.  I have seen people buy small rolling clothes racks to house or display extra clothing, but I didn't want to lose a ton of our floor space in an already small bedroom.  After some brainstorming while wandering around Home Depot, we decided to install a bar on a 45° angle in the corner of our room right outside the closet.  For about $30 in piping and 15 minutes of labor, I now have a bar that is high enough to keep my long dresses from getting damaged.