L.A. Transplants Settle Into a Sleek Seattle Apartment

Name: Leticia and her husband
Location: Belltown — Seattle, Washington
The basics: 3 months, rented — 990 square feet

Leticia and her husband moved to Seattle without a ton of furniture. They chose to see it as a golden opportunity to invest in pieces they loved with an eye towards minimalism.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband and I are L.A. transplants and we share the 990 Square foot apartment in Belltown, Seattle. Coming from Los Angeles we were impressed with how much bigger and newer the rentals are up here, and that got us super excited during our apartment hunting days. We moved into this home with our clothing in suitcases and nothing else, seriously.

On a pretty tight budget, we had to source all the furniture and decor pieces we needed ourselves. We knew for sure we would go a more minimalist route. From previous experiences we knew that owning too many items would leave us both anxious long-term and would make our bank account feel pretty empty inside, haha. It was a hard and rewarding experience to furnish an empty apartment top to bottom.

I have to admit I was slightly worried about making these decisions together as a couple. But it turned out our taste blended well together and we agreed on most things.

What is your favorite room and why? My living room is my favorite child. It’s where I sit to read late at night with a glass of wine. It’s where I drink my Thai iced tea in the morning and watch the sun rising through the buildings around me. I’m in love with how the natural light wraps everything up inside and how the pieces we have create a harmonious and soul-warming feeling.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I would ask the genie in the lamp to have poured concrete floors. That shining sleek grey tone is just unbeatable.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? The last two things we got for our place were rugs. One was a gift from my mom, hand-made by herself, a 7′ round white crochet rug with bohemian vibes that is just eve-ry-thing you could ask for.

The second rug was an awesome find at our local West Elm. An 8’x10′ that had such a major discount that day, that we just couldn’t let it pass. We had to return the rug we had purchased just days before to make room for this new beauty.

Which fictional character would be most at home in your place? I like to think Betty Draper on her wilder days would fit here just fine.

Leticia’s words of wisdom: Fill (or not) your place with as many things as you feel comfortable maintaining. Get only items that you really love and if you can’t have them yet, just wait. Take lighting seriously, and plants too. More importantly, take pictures of every single receipt!

Thanks, Leticia !

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