Moving on In | Studio Flat Tour

I officially live in my own flat! As of two weeks ago, I moved out of the flat I shared with my best friend and have moved into a rented studio flat in London. At £800 a month it’s a tad (okay, more than a tad) expensive, but still within budget so I’m happy!

And better yet, I’m only around the corner from my old place so I can still hang out with Freyja and the cat (Dorian!) whenever we’re free.

I made the choice to move into my own place out of a long-winded desire to live in my own space and also because I’ve been sharing with someone my entire life. I shared a room with my sister until I was 12, then obviously my family house until I was 18. When I moved to University I lived in dorms with 10 others and then a shared house with five other flatmates for two years. I moved home again and commuted for a year and then last August moved to London with my best friend.

My New Studio Flat

It was time to get my own space. At 23 I’m living the dream of having my own flat in London with money to spare!

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not big. But I have a sofa, my own bathroom, a full kitchen, a double bed, and a bit of floor space to do yoga or some shit (if I ever desire to start yoga).

Moving into a new place can often break the bank – you have deposits, holding fees, admin fees, and rent to pay upfront, but thankfully with savings and my birthday money – which was the week before – I was able to move in with a little cash to spare on decorating.

The Kitchen

I’m not going to show the whole flat yet as it’s not ready, but here are some pictures from the different areas and the hacks I’ve created to save space.

I only have two cupboards so to save space for food and drinks I’ve moved my dinnerware to the counter. The plate holder and mug tree are both from IKEA for £5 and £7 respectively. The plates were given to me by a friend and all of my mugs are either Disney or Harry Potter related.

Also to save space I found this great hack on YouTube for storing pan lids. So all of my pans are held within each other but there was no place for the lids, so using some command hooks I hooked them to the door of the cupboard under the sink. They’re secure, hidden, and easy to get to. Really good hack.

Spice rack! I love my spices. My family isn’t fond of spicy foods – pepper is hot to them – but I do enjoy a bit of spice in my life. This spice rack was £3 from IKEA.

Another favourite. I love mason jars and I love displaying things in my kitchen uniformly. I took these mason jars – £2 each from Wilko and IKEA – and filled them with things that take up space in my cupboard – coffee, hot chocolate, and pasta – and then using some Tim Holtz label stickers I’ve had forever I labeled each jar. These stickers are easily removable so if I want to change up the jars I can.

Living Room

So the ‘living room’ is a bit of an overstatement, it’s more of a living area. This is the area that needs the most re-decorating but that will have to wait until next month.

To decorate my comfortable but ugly brown sofa I’ve thrown some cushions and a Primark throw over it. So comfy!

The Bedroom

Again, a bit of an overstatement – the sleeping area.

The bed is really comfortable but a bit rickety. It’s an old IKEA bed frame that needs tightening a bit, but for now, it’s fine.

My bedding is from Primark. My cushion from Dunelm Mill and the Harry Potter cushion was a gift from my sister at Christmas.

The bed backs onto the window so I get an insane amount of natural light – one of my walls is basically a wall of windows – so I also get a bit of road noise. Earplugs and eye masks make for the deepest sleep ever though.

Above my bed, I’m starting a gallery wall. One of the best things about this flat is that I can do whatever I like to it: paint, drill halls, use blu-tac (the dread!), so I had to decorate.

The mirrors were already attached – and you can see the kitchen reflected in them – but I add the frames, leaves, polaroids, and bunting. This will grow as I see more pretty things but for now, most of these images are cut-outs from birthday cards, holiday snaps from Paris, motivational quotes, and Harry Potter related posters (of course).

The Library and Closet

Hahaha! Yeah… the doorway where I have a wardrobe, chest of drawers, and bookcase is probably my second favourite part of my flat. Mostly because it is extremely organised.

I had to seriously downsize my bookcase as my last flat had a bookshelf built into a wall which I filled with books AND I had this bookshelf. I think I did six trips to the charity shops with my books. *dies inside*

These are the books that survived though. I have an entire shelf dedicated to Harry Potter (duh!) and the rest are a mix of paperbacks, hardbacks, collections, and pretty books. With some shoveables at the bottom. Plus a few bookish ephemera.

The chest of drawers holds boring things like underwear, PJs, and jeans but the top has my perfumes, make-up, stationery, mirrors, and jewelry.

I’ve found my favourites when it comes to make-up now, so I don’t shop for it as much. I know what I like and how to store it.

This is my everyday make-up including eyeliners, mascaras, concealers, face powders, and lipsticks.

My trusty rabbit friend is back to guard my jewelry in my new flat. This gorgeous little stand holds all of my everyday earrings and watch. My necklaces hang off my bookcase.

Desk and Dinner Table

And last but not least we have my desk/dinner table.

The table came with the flat but I’m thinking of giving the table-top a bit of a new feel in the coming weeks. For now, though, I’m happy with it.

That’s my new studio flat!

Over the next few weeks I’m hoping to do more posts about the studio flat and my re-decorating/hacks for saving room but I’m really happy here so far. I feel quite adult and can add: moved into my own flat to my post of 10 adult things I do now.

I’ll be sharing more pictures of my studio flat on Instagram at EllesBellesNotebook if anyone is interested in seeing more as well.

Leave a comment if you have any questions and speak soon.

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