OUR LONDON FLAT TOUR

Ok so if you have been keeping up with our vlogs (watch them HERE) you would remember me kind of moaning about this apartment when we first arrived. I’m KICKING myself for not taking before pictures of this flat. It really looked like a dive – haha! It was filthy and not homey at all but I always knew it had good bones to it. I was in such a rush to make it more of a home when we first got there that I totally forget to take any pictures – not that I want to remember that anyways 🙂 But everyone loves a good before and after photo.

Turns out all it needed with a women’s touch and a really good scrub down – top to bottom. If we were going to be here longer than just the few months that we are, I would do so much more with it – it has potential – but considering our short stay, we haven’t put much money into decorating it. We added a few fake flowers, rearranged the furniture, added a few knick knacks and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. It’s amazing what a difference a few flowers, greenery and properly arranged furniture can do to a space.

(this place is a short term rental that comes partially furnished. So I did not pick any of the large furniture pieces in this place)

This couch was one of our biggest problems when we arrived. It looked like it had been taken from the dumpster – no joke! It was gross.

Originally we had bought some flat bedsheets to put on it just so we felt comfortable sitting on it but I hated the way it looked. It was always messy and sloppy looking – it drove me nuts. So one day I decided to rip off the removable covers (they were a nasty brown colour) from the couch just to see what it looked like underneath – completely expecting it would be covered in stains. To my delight, it wasn’t! AND it was a lovely cream colour. Yes, we now sit on a coverless couch that is basically just canvas but it no longer makes me feel like my eyes are going to bleed. After all, this place is very temporary, so we really don’t mind.

Oh my goodness, once I had that brown cover off the couch – I could breathe again!

So Dramatic – haha!

But in all honestly, I’m the type of person that is completely affected by my surroundings. The rain, a dark dingy room, a gross couch cover – it all puts me in a really low mood and I can’t get a thing done. Everything needs to be bright, white and light!

Funny story : this apartment is actually up for sale at the moment so we have people coming in a out fairly often. After I had my way with the apartment – haha – and made it the way it is in these photos the real estate agent was shocked! He came in with a young female client who really loved the way it was set up and I think I made his day. He said “wow, this place looks so different now – it looks great!”

So do I get a cut of the potential commission for staging it for them? 🙂

These silk flowers I got off Amazon are one of my favourite additions to the room. I still remeber the day that they arrived and Ken came home from work – he said “oh my god, this place looks so much better now!”

Flowers and greenery add SO much life to a place. They really do make me so happy every time I walk in the room and see them 🙂

Don’t you look at this little corner and think ” whoa, I could get Sh*t done there”?

Well I sure do. As I mentioned natural light in a apartment is one of the most important things for me so having these floor to ceiling windows has been a dream. In combo with the all white walls, this apartment lights up everyday. It’s glorious! Couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m going to be sad to leave it!

This is a corner that I spent a couple of bucks. Not much at all, only what I was comfortable losing at this end of the summer. We are only here for a short few months so I wasn’t about to break the bank on things I was only going to have a few months. At the same time, I wanted a pretty little space for me to get ready in each day for 2 reasons. 1) Our bathroom doesn’t have any windows and terrible over head lighting which is a nightmare for makeup and 2) I knew I was going to be home alone a lot this summer so I wanted a little space I would decorate and have as my happy, pretty little corner.

So I did just that. The desk was already here we are arrived, I just moved it to the other side of the room where it is now. The acrylic box, pink jar and wooden plate are all from Tiger. The light up mirror is from Amazon.

It gives me great joy to get into my dressing gown after my shower and sit down in front of my pretty little desk to do my makeup and fix up my hair. It kind of makes me feel like I’m living in the 60’s getting ready at my dressing table 🙂

The bathroom was actually the cleanest part of the house when we moved in – thank god! No scrubbing on my hands and knees in this room.

We were pretty happy with the way it is so we didn’t add much to it. We bought bath and hand towels, as well as a bath mat. If we were planning to be here longer, I would have loved to add a bunch of Ikea small faux potted plants (like the ones in the kitchen in this post) to the built in shelving. It would have made it look much more put together and styled – but say le vie.

I almost didn’t take any pictures of the bedroom because it is VERY bland. It’s comfy for sleeping, but nothing to write home about. All I added in here was this faux plant I picked up in Primark for a great price. Not a big loss when we have to leave it behind. Hopefully the next tenant likes it 🙂

Does anyone recognize the grey blanket on the bed? It’s the same one from our apartment in Fontainebleau (See the post HERE and house tour video HERE). Yes, I actually packed it in our suitcases and brought it with us. Same with our bed sheets (minus the duvet) and sage green pillow cases in the living room 🙂 I can’t be without a white bed! We had a tiny bit of room left in our suitcases when we left Fonty, so I crammed them in there. I’m so glad I did because the ones that were on the bed were bright orange and red and I know I would have had to bite the bullet and buy white ones if I hadn’t brought ours along with us.

My favourite part about the bedroom is the big door that opens up to the balcony and the view from the bed. Both Ken and I love a city view while lying in bed 🙂

We are very lucky to have a small walk in closet. If we were back at home in Vancouver, this thing would be jam packed but because we still have another move up our sleeves, we have to keep things pretty minimal to ensure we can get it all in our suitcases. Lets face it, having a few extra dresses or purses with me is not worth having to drag another suitcase around the world, through airports, into cabs, up the stairs – no thanks! Living the minimals life for a while isn’t such a bad thing.

True to London, we have a very tiny kitchen at the front of the apartment. It sure is tiny but it has everything that we need and more. We have a good size fridge, a freezer (didn’t have that in Fonty), an oven (didn’t have that in fonty either), a dish washer (for the first time in about 5 moves) and a washing machine! All packed into this tiny room. I feel like I’m living like a queen with the dishwasher and oven! I actually didn’t even use the dishwasher for the first few weeks because I just kept forgetting it was there. I ended up hand washing everything thing and then thinking ” oh crap, I have a machine that can do all that for me now” – haha! Oops.

The grande finale. Saved the best for last here. This view is well worth the pretty penny we are paying for this apartment. Nothing beats having a little outdoor space (especially in the summer). The fact that we have a view of the water on one side and a city view on the other is incredible. On quiet nights, when I have the doors open, I can hear the sound of the waves crashing up against the walls of the Thames – it’s the best way to fall asleep.

Despite the rough start we had with this place, I really will miss it. Soon we will be off to our next location (which we will reveal on Instagram at the end of the month – follow me on Instagram HERE or @aandreaclare) and onto another adventure. We really hope we will land in London again someday, it has truly become our second home away from home.

Thanks for reading! I would love if you shared this post using the icons at the bottom of the post and tell a friend about my blog or Youtube channel – every bit helps 🙂

Xo, Andrea

PPS. I will be doing a full house tour video before we leave this flat – so make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel (it’s free!). You can subscribe by clicking HERE.

Click the video below to watch my most recent vlog :