A little over a month ago, when I was home in Munich for my birthday, I went to IKEA and bought some new furniture for my apartment. I had gotten all the basics when I first moved here, but there are still improvements to be done here and there, such as the lack of couch table in my living room or the lack of pictures on the wall in my bedroom.

My parents finally got around to dropping off my furniture at my apartment this past weekend (as I don’t have a car), and I spent most of Sunday afternoon and Monday evening assembling it. Until now, I had thought I wasn’t any good at assembling furniture but it actually went pretty well. So let me show you around to see the changes I made to my apartment.

I finally bought two DVD shelves to put all of my DVDs in. As it turns out, I have space for about one more DVD before I need a third shelf. I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to place the shelf to the left of the wooden beam but luckily it worked out perfectly. Before, I had some DVDs in my TV shelf and the rest of them in a cardboard box so this is a huge improvement.

I got a new Expedit 2×2 shelf, which is half the size of the one I have in my office. As you may have noticed, even though my living room did not look like it was missing any furniture, I had no storage space whatsoever there. I was not sure where I would put it but the space right by the window works perfectly. Seriously, almost like it was custom-made to fit into that precise corner of my living room. I have not decided yet what to fill it with, but I am so excited about finally having storage space in the living room. I am using one of the pitchers I bought at the flea market in June as a bookend for my cookbooks, and the other as decoration on top of the shelf.

I had not planned on getting this dresser and originally wanted to put the Expedit shelf in this corner, but it was 50% off during IKEA’s midsummer sales, and I simply fell in love with the design so I had to get it. I think it looks super cute in my living room. On display on top of the dresser are another pitcher and the wooden tray and coasters set that I also got at the flea market that weekend.

As I had no more space for the chair in my living room, I moved it into my office. I was also considering putting it into my bedroom, but didn’t have the space there. I put it right next to my book shelves thinking that it’d look so inviting to just grab a book and sit down for some reading. I also got the little side table for the little couch (which converts into a mattress) for guests to use as a bedside table. You can see the vase I got at the flea market here. I am planning on buying some plastic flowers to put into that vase.

I just made some small changes in the bedroom. I got a new chair for my dressing table as the back of the plastic one I was using broke. A while ago, (unrelatedly) I also decluttered my dressing table and moved a lot of beauty products I don’t use regularly to my closet. It makes such a big difference and the table looks so much neater. I also got a new trash can which is actually the same one I had before, except it’s white, which I thought would be a little less obtrusive than the previous one which was red. I also got a new bedside table, which is actually the same one I had before except it’s not pink! Tiny improvements, mostly in color, but so worth it!

I loved my living room before I had the new furniture but I really love it now. It’s super cozy and definitely my favorite room in this apartment. I still need a couch table but it’s hard to find one that I really like (and can afford). But other than that, I am happy with the living room the way it is.

Now I have a question for you guys: I am not at all a fan of having power cords all over but there are some corners where the cables just keep adding up (notably one of the corners in my living room and under my bedside table). How do you handle this? Any secrets you’d like to share as to how to hide cables from view in your apartment?