My Starter Story

I'm coming up on one year of living in my first post-grad apartment, which is hard to believe. New York City based real estate platform Urban Compass reached out and invited me to be a part of their Starter Stories series. Urban Compass is a real estate platform that connects folks searching for apartments with the neighborhood that matches their personality and taste for finding NYC apartments. I wish there was a similar service in Tallahassee; it would have made finding an area of town I want to live in so much easier.

After I landed a job in town, I had two weeks to find an apartment, purchase furniture and move from Valdosta. I scoured the Internet, took apartment photos with a grain of salt and booked appointments for a Saturday afternoon. One was partially-subsidized housing which was still over my budget, one was beautifully renovated but in a horrible neighborhood, which left the third option looking like the stand-alone winner. 

Although it's small, it's my own (Here is what it looked like before I moved in.) I've enjoyed the past year making it feel lived in. All of the prints I collected while I was studying abroad now have permanent homes on my walls. From the Paris scenes, to my DIY world map, to the maps of Paris and London metro, it's not hard to guess where my interests lie. 

Also, since it's sunny and 70 practically year round in Florida, a porch/patio of some size was a must. It's practically an extension of my living room and makes me forget that I can vacuum the entire space without unplugging it.

Here is to another year of slowly continuing to make this space my own.  What did you enjoy most about your first apartment?