My First Apartment Tour

Well, it’s been almost three weeks since I moved back to Ohio and an apartment tour is long overdue! I’m sure some of you are new so welcome, my name is McKenzie and I am a sophomore at Kent State University majoring in Fashion Merchandising. This year, I am living in my sorority house (aka “the mansh”, short for mansion since it is significantly larger than the other houses here on campus).

The Alpha Phi house is actually an old apartment complex so our house is set up apartment style. Each apartment has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. It’s supposed to be shared amongst four girls (two to a bedroom) but one of our roommates stayed home due to COVID so there are just three of us this year: me, Griffith, and Emily.

So far so good! The place has come together beautifully and what started off as a rather ugly living space has turned into something extra cute and homey. Let’s hop into my first ever apartment tour!

The Living Room

Today’s post is extra exciting because it’s sponsored by IKEA! If you’re unfamiliar with IKEA, they are one of the most well-known home furnishing companies in the world. They carry everything from kitchen appliances, to affordable furniture, to comfy linens thanks to their sustainably sourced materials. My family and I have been shopping with IKEA for years so the fact that I’m able to partner with them today to bring my space to life is so special to me.

We’re starting off with the living room because this space is truly the biggest.

Let’s start off with the desk area. I searched high and low for the perfect desk and settled on the Micke from IKEA. I wanted something that wouldn’t take up a ton of room since it would be in our living room but something that was large enough for more than just regular desk purposes. After all, this is the space I use to get ready each morning and it’s also where I will be spending 90% of my days since all of my classes are online this semester.

I reused the lamp and clock that were in my dorm room last year along with the few containers that house my planner stickers and pens. As I said, this is also my vanity space so my makeup mirror and container sit on top of my desk as well. I’m able to keep all of my jewelry, desk supplies, and schoolwork within the shelves and drawers so everything else is concealed and put away in its own spot. I’ve organized with clear acrylic containers.

Although Giffith and I don’t’ have matching desks, we did go ahead and get the same white desk chair to keep the room a bit more cohesive. This wall was incredibly boring and we had the idea of a wallpapered accent wall from the beginning. Turns out wallpaper is expensive as heck so instead, my mom cut out dozens of gold vinyl polka dots with her Shilouette and we hung those up instead. These don’t damage the walls, are removable, and really spice up the room. I have two gold circle mirrors on the way to hang above our desks but besides that, this half of the room is complete!

Next to our desks we then have the “living area”. The only thing that came with the place was this big brown leather couch. It’s not the cutest but it’s incredibly comfortable so I can’t complain. We wanted to keep things rather neutral in here and I wanted versatile pieces that could work in future apartments too. The first thing being a coffee table. I got the Lack table from IKEA in the color Natural and it’s a perfect size. It doesn’t take up too much space but it’s big enough to eat dinner around in the evening. We have a couple of baskets underneath for extra storage.

The place really needed a rug. The Lindelse Pile High Rug from IKEA not only opened up the room but it made this space feel much homier. Our floors are carpeted but this area rug made all the difference. It’s the perfect neutral too so I know I will get good use out of this in future apartments. To bring our couch to life I grabbed mustard and gold polka dot throw pillows from IKEA and added an ivory throw blanket.

Behind the couch, we have a mini gold gallery wall to help fill the blank space. These mirrors were all Griffith’s from her previous dorm room. They add something fun to the room and we added our sororities composite photo and a cute magnet board to complete this area.

Emily brought a TV from home for us to use and we set it on top of this table that the previous girls left in this apartment. It ended up being the perfect size for a TV stand! Above this area, we have gold Alpha Phi letters and a mini garland for show.

The opposite wall is by far my favorite area of the entire apartment. Gallery walls are my one true love and I’d been envisioning this one for ages. This wall is actually painted a light gray so it made these prints from Desenio pop big time. I have a mix of black and white prints, some pops of color, and words of wisdom. Oh, and of course a few cows to make me feel at home.

My parents worked so hard on finding the perfect mix of photos and I am obsessed with how it turned out. The frames are from IKEA as well! I knew I wanted a giant gold mirror in this corner from the start. This baby was just delivered and is where I will be taking all of my outfit of the day photos from here on out. It opens up the room tremendously too! In the other corner, we have a gold floor lamp (the lighting in this room is god awful because we’re in the back of the house, ugh!) and an extra chair for friends to sit in.

We also hung a tension rod and white curtains from my previous dorm room to make this room feel more like a living room. I always recommend adding curtains; you’d be surprised how much it transforms the space!

Oh, and how could I forget, we have a few hooks by our door to hang our keys and masks from because it’s 2020 and we are obviously in the midst of a pandemic!

The Kitchen 

We do have a cook here at the mansh but she only provides lunch and dinner Monday-Thursdays so the remainder of the week we are left fending for ourselves. Thankfully, we have a pretty nice kitchen so it’s not a huge issue. We do not have a dishwasher or garbage disposal, but the rest of the kitchen is fully stocked with an oven, stove, microwave, and full-size fridge.

There is tons of cabinet space that we have divided amongst the three of us. I’m linking some of the kitchen appliances and dishes I brought with me that have been serving me well over the last few weeks. We added a calendar whiteboard for general sorority event dates and these cute wooden letters that spell out “YUM” but besides that, the kitchen is the same as when we first moved in!

The Bathroom 

I’ve been dreaming of a lemon themed bathroom for ages and it finally came to life this year! Griffith picked up a majority of the bathroom things so I did my best to find links. Our shower curtain is the cutest and looks awesome with the lemon slice rug and dishes.

My oh so talented mom painted the cute prints on the wall for us and Griffith had our handtowels monogrammed by a local Kent embroiderer. Our bathroom is such a step up from the dorms. It’s spacious, has tons of counter space, and the shower itself is actually really nice. I really can’t complain for a college apartment!

Griffith brought this six cube organizer from home along with the over the toilet storage unit. These allow us to organize our towels, bathroom products, cleaning supplies, and so much more. The extra storage space is so nice!

The Bedroom 

I’ve already filmed a room tour so if you want to get the full scoop of my sophomore year bedroom you can click here to watch. We were each given a twin bed and a five-drawer dresser but besides that, this room was rather empty (and ugly) upon move-in.

My comforter from last year was trashed so it was time to get a new one. Griffith and I agreed upon matching white ones along with white bed skirts (these make all the difference; trust me!). I was given these white and gold headboards last year for a brand deal and kept them specifically for this room. They look awesome and a headboard totally makes your room feel less dorm-like.

We wanted pops of gold and pink throughout the room so I’ve got lots of throw pillows and a pink throw blanket to break up all the white. We did however go with sheer white curtains to let the natural light shine through for my videos. Again, I can’t stress enough how much adding curtains will really transform the space! Oh, and of course I have a mini gallery wall hung up. Similar to the living room these prints are Desnio and the frames are IKEA.

I needed a nightstand so I got the Alex 5 Drawers from IKEA. I used the Alex 9 Drawers last year as my nightstand but left them home this school year since they were too tall for this space. I have just a few essentials on top of the nightstand and things like bras, socks, and undies in the drawers themselves.

Griffith reused this dresser and pink rug from her dorm room last year and they both really help pull the room together and give it such a polished finish. Sadly, I needed the extra closet space and could not keep my wooden dresser in the closet the way Griffith did, but oh well.

Our closet takes up one entire wall and we have the Bollolvon curtains in gray from IKEA on the rod to conceal this area of the room. I love using this as a background in my videos and the gray helps add some color to our rather white room. It’s so nice having all of this rod space after suffering from a mini wardrobe last school year! I’ve got gray bins for storage on the top shelf and keep my shoes on a rack down below.

Emily has a room slightly smaller all to herself however I don’t have any photos of it. I peek into it during the YouTube video though to show her mega bed + how she is using the space to herself.

Agh, I couldn’t love this space more and am so excited with how it all came together! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t already looking forward to furnishing my junior year apartment! I want to say a huge thank you to IKEA for sponsoring today’s post and for helping me turn to my interior design visions to life. It has been such a pleasure working together!

Make sure you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on the sorority house tour that’s coming soon! Thank you for all of the love as I enter this new stage of life.

With love, McKenz

Latest Post: August 2020 Favorites + Happenings
Related Post: Freshman Year Dorm Tour
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*This is a sponsored post. IKEA kindly gifted some of the prints featured in today’s blog post and video for reviewing purposes. You can read my full disclosure page here.