Howdy y'all!

For my first post EVER, I want to introduce myself and what I plan to do. If we're going to have a cozy little friendship here, then I don't want to be a stranger! First things first though, you should know I do not have a Southern accent nor do I speak in slang or use "y'all" in everyday conversation. However, it creeps into my writing a lot, and for that I do apologize to...y'all. (And if there are any bonafide Southerners out there reading it, I extra-triple-cherry-on-top apologize and please correct me if I use it wrong).

My name is Cassie. I live in Kansas, smack dab in the middle of the US. It can be very cold, very hot, very boring, and very country. But it can also be very beautiful:

(photo courtesy of KS Dept. of Wildlife and Parks).

I live with my lovely man, B, in a tiny little one bedroom apartment. Our apartment is small. Like really small. Like less than 1000 square feet, one bedroom, itsy bitsy bathroom that you can barely turn around in. Hence the name Teeny Tiny Design. Here's a (very very) rough blueprint of our apartment, made me yours truly in MS Paint...yeah, pretty professional, I know.

I'll do a more detailed one by hand that shows where our furniture is and scan it in later. But even from this horrible rendering, I think it's pretty easy to see that while the layout is nice, spacious is not one of its qualities. The bedroom has a queen-size bed and a desk, and that pretty much fills the space. The bathroom is so tiny that you have to back out of it unless you turn around inside the tub (seriously). I don't mean to sound all negative though. There are some things I really love. For one, the kitchen is not a galley kitchen, like many other apartments' kitchens. Though it doesn't have a lot of square footage, it does have room to move around and lots of cabinets and a dishwasher. The dishwasher is especially important because B and I are capital-L Lazy when it comes to chores. Without it, we'd probably eat off paper plates and drink from the bottle. We also have a walk-in closet, a nice balcony, and a closed-off laundry room so I can shove our mountain of dirty clothes (see above re: capital-L Lazy).

Talking about how small our apartment is and how lazy we are has made me depressed, so prepare yourself for a gratuitous cat photo of our adorable kitty, Tabitha. She's 2.5 years old but still looks like a kitten (which I totally love).

Her Christmas photo in a pet outfit from Target.
I know, I'm horrible for shoving her in it. But it's so ca-yooot I can't resist!

I used to think that I would wait until we had a house that we could rip up and paint and do whatever we wanted to worry about decorating it. But I can only live with stark white walls for so long! Although our apartment is almost-nearly-just-about decorated, I change little things (and sometimes big things) constantly. I'm one of those people that will wake the neighbors at 3 AM because I decided the bed just had to be on the other side of the room right now. I end up doing a lot of DIY projects and crafting because my decorating budget is practically nonexistent (though if B had his way, it would be definitely nonexistent). I'm a student; and while I do have a full-time job, after our bills, there's not much left for extras. So while I'd love to own this gorgeous sofa from Pottery Barn:

At almost two grand, it's completely impossible. What we have instead is this one. I love the color and shape, but it's very saggy (hence the extra cushion on top). It's also stained up and ripped up (thanks a lot Tabitha). But for only $150, it's decent and has lasted us almost 3 years.

I was going to take a straight-on photo so that you couldn't see how lumpy the extra cushion is. But I figured, what the hell, let's put it all out there. So you now know my secret shame...well, at least one of them. I'm on a constant Craigslist hunt to find a better one though. However, when your parameter is "less than $200," it's hard to find something that isn't 70s plaid or a giant floral print. I have faith that I'll eventually find the diamond in the rough though! Besides Craigslist, we do a lot of thrifting. I mean a lot...as in the people at our local thrift stores know me by name. While we find great deals, we sometimes have to sacrifice a little of what our ideal is and make do with what we can afford. I plan to share some of our best finds, along with my DIY and crafting projects. Maybe even a tutorial or two...who knows what I'll try my hand at.

Whew! That was a long one. Hopefully you know me (a bit) and what I plan to do. I'll be back later in the week to share some of my favorite items in my home, a more detailed floorplan, some inspiration photos and blogs, and my Christmas decor as I take it down.

XOXO darlings,
Cassie