Well hello there, and happy Friday! Today continues the tour of our apartment, ten months in, no filter. I mean #nofilter. (I am so down with the online lingo). Anyway, because our apartment is so large, I had to split this tour into two parts, and today is what we affectionately call the back of the house...because that's what it is. There's actually a fire door separating the front public spaces from the bed and bath area. A friend even speculated, and on reflection we agree, that the apartment itself straddles two buildings. That would explain all the different floor choices. But whatever - we like a little funk. So here's some funk for ya, starting with the hallway.

Whelp, that's pretty exciting. We're still rocking the gallery wall, and even have plans to expand it by wrapping the chalkboard stripe around that back corner. Stay tuned. I think this shot gives a good idea of the layout: There's our bedroom on the left, Wes' is on the right, and Lou's is all the way down the hall on the left. The curtained area is Lou and Bret's closet. The stuff hanging on Lou's door is her mop and broom (which she asked for, swear, and also which she hilariously gallops around on and calls her "cleaning horses) and her collapsible doll crib, high chair and pack 'n play. That hot mess of extension cords will some day receive my attention, as will the blank spot on the right wall. A picture fell down and I have to fix it and replace it. It'll happen.

Next up, our room.

Without a doubt, this is my favorite room in the house. Mostly, this has to do with my mattress topper, not gonna lie, and then with the window fan that directly cools me every night, but also I think it is serene, and pretty, and it's me - it doesn't look like everyone else's bedroom, or like I pulled my bedding out of a bag (which there's nothing wrong with, but it's not my jam), and in general I love it. That said, there is something missing in those first photos.

Sure, it's a pain for Bret to get in and out of bed, but that's why beds have more than one side. And anyway, the addition of my little munchkin is well worth it. Still, Wes will have relocated to his own room when we get back from California (have I mentioned the 4-week trip we're taking next week?) and at that point I have some plans. Since this seems to be the apartment of accent walls, I'm going with it and want something on the back wall behind my bed. Something graphic and fun. I picked up another potential headboard-like item (I "made" that headboard by nailing an old ladder to some 2" x 4"s), and I want to bring in some abstract art above the bed, with more color. I love this color scheme, but it's very beachy. I want something a little warmer and more eclectic. So yeah. Planz.

Wes' nursery (slash my sis' room) is down the hall a bit. It looks pretty much like its reveal day, just more lived in.

Some stuff has already changed - different pillows, some new baskets. It helps to have basically the same color scheme throughout your house so you can trade stuff when you feel the change itch; I swapped some of Wes' stuff with the living room, and I plan to put the striped dining room rug in here when I get up the energy to all the furniture. I also just snagged some cute starry curtains from H & M home that I'm really excited about.

Lou' room is also pretty similar to the purple reveal.

As a gentle reminder, these photos are unstaged - this is her room with the ongoing tea party between those giant dolls, and the huge inflatable globe, from China, probably still off-fassing - but I love Lou's room. I think it really hits a whimsical note, and there's plenty of space for her to do her thing. Anyway, these pics are already outdated; I just updated her gallery wall and we're streamlining some of her stuff.

From Lou's room, you can look down the long, strange hallway that I've turned into an office. Of sorts.

So that's what we call a before picture. Clearly. I'm going to paint a chalkboard stripe down the wall, which will serve as my command center, and make things look nice. It's dark back here, so I only work here now when I'm filing things, planning my day or wrapping presents, but I think we'll use it more if it's a better workspace. From here, there's a our little laundry nook, which is actually refreshingly empty since I've cleared out so much closet space.

Boring, but who cares? It's not a priority right now. I'm glad our ironing board is no longer hanging from this door. Among other benefits, the door now closes all the way, which is nice since it leads to the bathroom. We recently revamped the loo, and I'm into it.

Sam's school of photography says: If the space is too small to photograph, take a picture of the mirror and hope for the best. No, seriously, here are more pics and a budget breakdown if you're interested.

And that's where we at! I'm so excited to get started on some other projects, especially since we're signing on for another year, but most will have to await our return from California at the end of September. Don't worry, I'm still planning to be here next week and throughout our trip - I just will be blogging about other awesome spaces! Thanks as always for reading and I'll see you Monday.