sheryltramontano's Profile

Like most people here, I agree with nobob's layout!

-With the bed placed by the closets it will not only give you easy access to your closet from your "bedroom" but will also give you a little more privacy, so when guests enter your studio, the bed is hidden from view around the corner - which I think is pretty important to do when given the opportunity. In that layout above it would be one of the first things seen when entering the space.

-Putting the table nearest the kitchen makes most sense for functionality and it also will be a nice visual when entering the apartment rather than two large bulky fabric items (couch and bed).

- Having the living area at the end of the unit near the windows (and balcony?) will define the space more and also let light in and make it easier for you to gaze out the window from your couch. Also accessing the balcony from a living room type space rather than a bedroom space seems like the better option.

-Placing the TV on the same wall as in your diagram, just shifted over to be part of the living space, will also give you the bonus of being able to view the TV from the dining table, which could be good for entertaining.

Would love to see the space once you've figured it all out and furnished it!

Friends!

I guess it depends on your age and where you are in your lives, but as a young couple just starting out and moving into our first home, we relied greatly on the help of friends.

Not only did they graciously help us move from Apartment -> Storage in extreme heat, followed 1 month later by moving from Storage -> House in pouring rain....they even stuck around to help us clean, unpack, take down wallpaper, paint, tear up carpeting, install new quarter round, bring us food AND got us very generous housewarming gifts. If your friends say no to helping you move, you need new friends =]

But if you're too lazy to even participate in the move yourself, or return the favor later, then hire someone!

Thanks for all the tips and comments! Impatient me started this project this weekend and so far its coming along great. It eases my mind that I ended up doing a lot of the things mentioned in these comments!!

I will definitely make a detailed tutorial of our project and post it on my blog for all the see! Stay tuned.

We did leave the wall between the rails exposed. We used 3/4" D x 3-1/2" W pieces of Pine purchased from Lowes. 3/4" was the thickness of our exiting base molding, so this will make it a very clean flush connection. For the chair rail we just purchased more of the same Pine wood to put horizontally along the top. We may add some decorative trim or a shelf if we think it looks boring.

To install we used Liquid Nails for the rails (which worked great) and some 3" finishing nails for the chair rail into studs. We filled in the seams with some wall finish so there is no gaps between the wood and the wall, and sanded any excess once it dried.

We are all primed and our next step is to paint. We decided on a bright white semi-gloss since our wedding china is a bright glossy white.