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  1. You are very inspiring Brenda! As I've said before, I love the outside of the cabinets!! See, I told you they looked like placemats! I know b/c I used to have some like them. Just love the whole look of how you decorate them. I can't believe you aren't using the cabinets for something else, but I guess you don't want mice on anything. I wouldn't either. In the first apartment I lived in with first husband, we had a mice problem. They were coming in to feast on the bird seed we kept for a birdfeeder on our deck. One night we were sitting on the couch & saw a movement out of our peripheral vision. Darn if it wasn't a tiny mouse. In the end we ended up catching & killing…well, I can't remember, but it was a lot. No more birdseed in the closet.
    Anyway, back to your apartment…clever idea about the washer…does it take a long time to dry clothes? They have a similar concept for RVs that have W/D…has to hook up to drain of course & it takes a long time to dry. Seems like they never fully dry.
    I too, am impressed with your creativity. LOVE the cover over your porch…looks so inviting & I'm sure you get the blazing heat there as we do in Alabama. In fact, it's probably worse, as my brother, who lives in Texas, is always telling me. OUR heat is MUCH WORSE than YOUR heat. LOL…whatever.

  2. Brenda, I am SO impressed with your ingenuity! You have a great strength to make do and or figure out a creative way to make it work. I also LOVE your red touches, the red hanging cupboard and the red and white checks…so cheerful! You have inspired me, thank you! On a similar note, I wanted my old beige stove vent unit to match my other appliances but did not have the ready cash to buy a new one. At first I thought I'd get it repainted by an auto repainting shop (located an hour and a half away from my home) but my husband did not know how to take it apart, dismantle the electricity and vent and then reinstall. This is what I did….I bought two cans of appliance paint for $3.99 each. Then I hired my handyman Frank to dismantal, sand and repaint the stove vent his heated workshop. The entire project cost me under $35.00. Problem solved! It can be done!! Donna at the Small House Homestead
    http://smallhousebigskyhomestead.wordpress.com

  3. Your home is so lovely Brenda. I recall when you used the placemats and wooden utensils on your kitchen cabinet doors … that was so cute, colorful and clever. Can mice really get into upper cabinets? Yikes! Good idea you had to use alternate furniture pieces for food storage. Thanks for all the creative small space tips!

  4. You have done such a great job with your little apartment! I like your advice about looking at things in new ways. I also like the attitude you have about making things work even if it seems impossible. Your new bathroom vanity is pretty. Looking forward to seeing your new bathroom.

  5. Great ideas Brenda! I love how you let your home work for you, and how you think beyond how it was set up when you moved in. It always looks clean and cheery. Great job! ~julie

  6. You are a genius, Brenda! At 1300 square feet, our new house should feel spacious compared to yours but cramming in our stuff has made it seem like walking through a maze as we navigate. We've come up with some solutions but I love your inspirations. As always, it is books and dishes that I can't seem to let go of.

    1. Well, I had to give up a lot of things. Much of that was books and dishes. Hundreds of books. Probably as many dishes. But you have to just tell yourself it must be done and do it. For some reason it doesn't bother me much to do that.

  7. I love how you've updated and made these spaces personal. you're right, paint gives us the biggest impact. You're so fortunate to have management that allows you to make these changes. Up here you lose your deposit if you make any permanent changes to the rental space. LOVE the outdoor canopy, I'd love to have one, but we are so windy here (and up on a hill) that I don't think it would last long.

  8. I love your home and appreciate the ideas you share. Where did you buy your washer, that would save me some space and allow for more storage in my laundry room. Thanks for sharing your ideas!

    1. I finally found the info in my file cabinet. I ordered it from Compact Appliance in Austin. It is an LG ventless washer dryer. You would have to ask them what you need to order with it, like faucet adapters, etc. All told it was just under $1400 with a 3 year warranty, which is almost up. You can probably google it and find it in more places.

  9. I just love what you've done with your apartment, Brenda. I'm like you, even when I was renting, I never settled for things to be boring – I had to make each place cozy, warm, and welcoming.

  10. Brenda, God surely has blessed you with creativity! I am always amazed at what you have accomplished. I have been feeling a little down and not really doing much for my home lately, but I am inspired to quit letting myself get away with that. Time to get on with it and work on myself and my home! I have some tulip bulbs in the fridge and my sweet hubby moved a large bag of potting soil around to the front yard for me….time to get those red and yellow bulbs into the ground! Thank you Brenda for the inspiration. Blessings, Carolyn in Florida

  11. I also love your blue cabinet and the dishes are darling. but I am the most impressed with how you have found a solution for every problem and have make your place so personally yours.

    I am also very impressed with how the kitchen countertops turned out. That product is amazing!

  12. I have enjoyed and been inspired by reading about these projects in previous posts, but it is really great to have them compiled into one very motivating post today!! You are so clever. I hesitate to talk about my small home when I know it is double the size of your apartment. Nonetheless, it is a small house and I get frustrated by narrow living room, not enough light in some rooms, etc. etc. You inspire me to move beyond hesitation and fear of failure and I thank you for that. I love the columns where you talk about your life, your apartment, your ideas. You do find interesting stuff online to share with your readers, but your own stories are the most inspiring and interesting.

    1. I'll try to do more of these posts. I truly enjoy puzzles, and figuring out how to do things my own way.

    1. It's more than a lot of people have. I could live with less and be happy too. I try to make the most out of this square footage. I do what suits my needs. And I think using the same colors throughout somehow makes it look larger. Things just blend together that way.

  13. What do you have in your kitchen cabinets now that you have moved the dishes out? The blue cupboard with your dishes, which I still covet, is beautiful. You've done an amazing job.

    1. Nothing. I just leave them empty. I know it's a waste of space. But I'd rather err on the side of caution.

  14. Brenda you are so creative! I love my little 900 sq foot duplex and I'm busy getting it fixed up this year. My Mom and I bought new kitchen faucets on a Black Friday sale and the maintenance man put them in for us. Love it so much. I'm going to live here a long time and I'll make it as comfortable and efficient as I can!

    1. As I always say: Love it while you rent it. Some folks don't want to put money into a rental. But still, whether you rent or you buy, it's still your HOME! Unless you buy with cash, you're still paying a mortgage, and until that's paid off it isn't all yours anyway.

  15. Can you use your kitchen cabinets for books or boxes or other things that you store elsewhere? Why do the mice get in those cabinets, but not in the ones in the living room? Are they coming through holes from outside?

    1. The shelves in the living room are free standing. In terms of the cabinets in the kitchen, they get in from some source, but they haven't been able to pinpoint where. So obviously they're coming in from outside somehow.

  16. So many great ideas here, Brenda. You have done a wonderful job with your small space and with some creativity you really have made a cozy home.

    1. I actually like having to think up solutions. I would never want to move right into a "perfect" place. That wouldn't be any fun!

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