While I was growing up, my family lived in a small duplex in the Eastwood area on the north side of Edmonton. We didn’t have much money, and our house wasn’t big, but it was enough for our family of five.
I never really understood why all my friends had such big and nice houses compared to ours, and from that early age, I always dreamed and wondered what it would be like to have a place of my own. I was obsessed with teen shows and movies that showcased the female lead characters with big rooms. They always had the pink walls, pink sheets, and giant floor length mirrors. I was eventually lucky enough when I was around 12 years old, that my parents had finally gave in and decided to let me paint my own room. I of course went with a baby pink color, with hot pink hearts on the walls. I loved it. After becoming obsessed with Girls Next Door (so not appropriate for a 14 year old to watch) and loving all of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends rooms with the baby pink walls and black furniture, I harassed my mother to take me out to Walmart so I too could get black furniture to compliment my baby pink room. I loved my room. And I loved trying to keep my room up to par with the female lead characters in everything I saw on TV.
My dreams of owning my own place never went away. Though I was very satisfied with the decor of my room, the design of the living room and kitchen was at the mercy of my mother. Though I do love my mother to bits and pieces, she has the worst taste in furniture and decor. She did eventually decide to have the white walls in our house repainted, and I was the one put with the task to pick the new color! I was overjoyed, and ended up picking a light beige color for our entire top floor. My parents loved it!
Fast forward to when I was 23. I was a year in working 60 hours a week at two jobs. And I had finally saved up enough money to make the move to my own place. As I don’t drive, I wanted to be in an area that was easily accessible to amenities. So I had scoured the internet for nice apartments on either Jasper Avenue or Whyte Avenue. I ended up finding a brand new, just completed building, the Station on Whyte, and instantly fell in love. The building was modern and had such a style that I could not help but love. I quickly scheduled a viewing with the building manager, and we ended up just sitting in her office and talking for an hour about our lives. She ended up approving my application on the spot without calling my references (my parents) and scheduled a move in date within the next week. I was on cloud nine.
By the next week I was 50+ Pinterest boards deep for inspiration for the new place. And I had already gone to IKEA half a dozen times picking up a handful of things at a time. Everything was meticulously thought through for the decor of my new place, so it had taken me quite a while to get everything together. I had ended up moving in with no furniture because I was so picky and could not settle for anything less then my Pinterest inspirations.
A lot of my friends never understood why I was so meticulous with my decision making of furniture and small decor items. They had just assumed that I was extremely picky. But none of them really realized that this had been something I was working towards since I was young. And I was going to make sure that it was going to be perfect.
I ended up going with white modern styled furniture I found on Amazon and IKEA to compliment the grey walls and white trim in my apartment. I could not have been happier with the look and decor of my own little apartment. To this day I am still adding bits and pieces with new inspiration that I find on my Pinterest boards. My decor changes as I change, and I love that I have the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want.
My apartment does not just reflect hours of my Pinterest boards. It reflects my dreams as a young child of wanting my own place. It reflects my own creativity. And it reflects my years of hard work saving up for that moment. There was no better feeling then standing in the middle of my finished living room, knowing that every bit and piece of it was an extension of myself.
(P.S - My mother ended up having some sort of mid life crisis and painted our childhood house in purple and pink stripes.. I am so glad I have my own place.)
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