A Charming Attic Apartment Full of Thrift Store Treasures

Name: Mona, her boyfriend and their cats Minnow and Sushi
Location: Central District — Seattle, Washington
The basics: 1 year, rented — 600 square feet

Mona and her boyfriend have created the perfect attic hideaway. Full of excellent thrift store finds and a surprising amount of light for Seattle, it is the kind of spot that folds you in.

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I live with my boyfriend and our two cats Minnow and Sushi on the top level of an old Victorian home in the Central District neighborhood in Seattle. I like to refer to the house as a “geode,” because it looks rather rough and worn on the outside, but once inside, it’s been very beautifully restored by our talented landlord. Our apartment features a wide, open floor plan and a spacious patio area, both things we absolutely wanted when we were apartment hunting! Luckily, this was the second apartment we looked at and right when we walked in, we knew we were in love. We put the deposit money down minutes later.

What is your favorite room and why? I love our living room/kitchen area. It’s perfect for entertaining guests because as I prepare meals, I’m able to chit chat and interact with them thanks to the open floor plan. Both rooms also have skylights, which are so key in Seattle and make for great plant growing light!

Also, our living room came with a fantastic stained glass window piece which I lovingly refer to as our “vagina window.” It’s my very favorite thing in the apartment.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I would love for our teeny tiny dark bathroom to magically gain about 200 square feet in space and suddenly sprout some windows.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? We found the orange velvet rocking chair in the living room for a whole 99 cents at the Goodwill Outlet in Seattle! It’s funny because we saw the EXACT one at another thrift store the day before for $30 and decided to pass on it. When it popped up across town 12 hours later for a fraction of the price, we knew it had to be ours!

Mona’s words of wisdom: I really don’t like when you walk into a home and it looks like a West Elm, IKEA or Urban Outfitters Home show room. Don’t get me wrong, I think these stores are really great, but I actually use them more for sources of inspiration. I comb through their websites and walk through the stores to find what pieces I like and will then hunt down similar items at thrift stores, yard sales, or on Craigslist or eBay. It’s kind of dorky, but I love pieces that tell a story, and buying things second hand really does this. I take after my mom who is an expert yard sale-r. She would wake us kids up at 6:00 AM every Saturday and drag us to all the yard sales in town. I hated it then, but now, 15 years later, I find myself doing the exact same thing (except to my poor boyfriend!)

Thanks, Mona!

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