Apartment Searching in Seattle | 1 Bedroom Apartment Tours + Which One We Chose!
It's time for some apartment hunting in Seattle! My boyfriend and I are moving out of our studio apartment into a 1 bedroom apartment, and I can't wait to reveal which one we chose out of the apartments in Seattle we looked at!
In this video, I'm talking you along for three 1-bedroom apartment tours in the Seattle area, reveal what rent is like here, and show you a sampling of what apartment rentals look like in our budget! I'm basically living out my dream of producing an episode of House Hunters, only it's Apartment Hunters. This is what I was born to do. 🙃
If you're curious about what apartments in Seattle are like, love a good empty apartment tour, want to see some 1-bedroom apartment designs, and could use some small apartment inspiration, join us on our apartment search in Seattle!
Video Transcript ↓
Well, trusty studio apartment, it's been real. But it's time to leave you behind…
This past week, my boyfriend Kobee and I started (and ended!) our apartment search!
That's right, we are going to be moving out of this precious studio apartment into a one-bedroom. 🤩
And yes, I am feeling all kinds of emotions about it because this studio apartment has meant so much to me. I've been living here for five years now, and this studio is like a dear friend to me.
But then I had to go and meet my dream guy, and it turns out that two people living in a studio is not ideal. So the dream guy, our lovely kitty Helo, and I are gonna be moving.
So in this video, I'm going to show you all three apartments we looked at in our apartment search and then reveal to you which one we chose!
And before we dive in, I wanted to let you know that you can now watch my free workshop, "Decorate Your Dream Apartment Without Spending Money on the Wrong Decor For You" whenever you want!
In this FREE, 1-hour workshop, I’ll teach you how to…
Discover your personal style so you can decorate a space that feels like YOU
Create mood boards to help you visualize what your apartment could look like before buying things
Shop for decor in a way that will save you money and allow you to buy things that actually fit your space and your personality
If all that sounds like exactly what you need to create the dreamy apartment you’ve been yearning for, click here to watch the workshop!
And now without further ado, I present our apartment search!
Apartment #1
Apartment #1 was in the Capitol Hill neighborhood here in Seattle, which is where we currently live. And as a matter of fact, Apartment #1 just so happens to be right across the street from us! It was honestly really fun to explore the apartment building in which I've been staring at people's cats in their windows for the past five years… Very surreal experience, haha.
So the rent for this space is $2,468, and it's definitely one of those sticker shock situations that make you cringe a little. But for what we're looking for in the area where are looking at it's just the reality.
When we walked into this space, it was immediate good vibes. This apartment had windows for days and was flooded with light and was just simply so pretty. The hardwood floors were pretty, the view was pretty... It just felt pretty!
And this apartment had a cute little balcony, which I didn't get a very good shot of, but here's what it looks like on the virtual tour of the same floor plan in this building. It's a tiny one, but a balcony is a balcony!
Another thing we loved about this apartment was the big kitchen. We have been trying our best with a 42 square foot tiny kitchen in this studio apartment. No dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and a tiny fridge. I think our fridge is shorter than me and I'm 5’3”. So this kitchen felt like a complete palace to us.
And then heading into the bedroom, I was absolutely thrilled because the hardwood continued into the bedroom. In our apartment search, we found that a lot of the time the bedrooms get carpeted instead of continuing the hardwood throughout, which I am… morally and ethically against.
Down with carpet, especially in apartment buildings! I do not want to inherit other people's stains in my space. I honestly just don't understand why carpet exists anymore. Like, not to be a bitch about it, but oh my God. 😂
So needless to say, I was very, very thrilled with the hardwood throughout.
But the bedroom is where we ran into the downside of this particular apartment. And that was closet space. The closet space in this apartment was… not good. It actually didn't even have an actual closet in the bedroom. It just had these two baby boys:
This presents a challenge because in our studio, believe it or not, we have two closets for some magical, inexplicable reason. And one of those closets is a walk-in. So for the past five years, I have been used to a lot of closet space. And now it's not just me - it's also a whole other human being who has material possessions as well. So this presents a big challenge!
And then the bathroom was a decent size, which was great to see. And it was also great to see that the hardwood, yes, continued throughout. So this apartment's hardwood game was on fire. 🔥
Another huge positive to this apartment building is it has the most beautiful gym I have ever seen in my life, on the top floor. I mean, I could get on the elliptical and literally stare at Mount Rainier. That's something I never would've thought I could do!
And then right outside the gym, the rooftop deck was stunning.
So all in all, we loved this apartment. It's right across the street, so that means a very easy moving process, relatively. It's in an area we already know (we love, LOVE Capitol Hill), it has the modern amenities that we were looking for, and a stunning gym. The only real negative was the lack of closet space.
Apartment #2
Apartment #2 was kind of our wild card in this apartment search because…
It was in the suburbs. 😯
I never thought I would be looking at an apartment in the suburbs because I have been a city girl since I left for New York City at age 18. So the idea of living in the suburbs is definitely a mindset shift! But at the same time I grew up in the Seattle suburbs, so in a way it would be a return to my comfort zone.
So Apartment #2 is in the city of Sammamish, Washington, which is about a half hour drive from downtown Seattle. And this particular Sammamish location was beautiful! It felt like the middle of nowhere - in a good way. It’s surrounded by trees, feels very peaceful, and it just feels nice out there.
The rent for the one bedroom floor plan we would be considering was $2,095, which is a pretty nice suburb-sized drop from city life. So that's an immediate plus with this apartment!
I was able to see two units that day, and they were both very similar. But they each have their own really pretty views, and I wanted you to see them!
One had this beautiful tree-lined view that would've made me feel like a woodland fairy, and that's pretty much something I'm constantly trying to achieve in my life.
And then the other view was a bit more open and you could see the mountains in the distance.
And I really liked both of these apartments! It's such a different pace and feeling out there. I felt so relaxed and surrounded by nature, and that was a very refreshing feeling.
Another positive with these apartments was the space. Obviously out in the suburbs, you're going to get more space!
And specifically the closet space was incredibly impressive. I swear there were like a million closets in both of these apartments. Closet here, closet there, closets everywhere! And compared to the first apartment, that was a huge plus.
Another huge plus with this apartment building is it was a block away from Chipotle. Proximity to Chipotle is actually a non-negotiable for me, so it was very nice to see that I could just walk down the street to Chipotle whenever my heart desires. 🙃
Also, the community area in this apartment building was hands-down the prettiest one out of the three:
So there were a couple negatives with this apartment building. The first one was not necessarily strictly a negative… It's just a question of whether Kobee and I are ready to leave the city lifestyle. A move to Sammamish from downtown Seattle would be a big lifestyle change!
So we really had to think about whether or not we were ready for that.
And then the second negative with this apartment building is the dreaded carpeted bedrooms… Unfortunately, every bedroom in this apartment building has this horrible, ugly carpet.
Can we just as a nation agree to outlaw carpeting? I just.. I hate it so much. 😑
And the third negative with this place is the gym, compared to the first apartment building, was lackluster, to say the least. I know it's not really fair to compare it to the absolute diamond of a gym that we saw in the first place, but yeah, the gym wasn't that great.
Overall, we really loved this place! And we were both very intrigued by the idea of moving out to a more peaceful, quiet, nature-filled area.
Apartment #3
Apartment #3, like apartment number one, was in the Capitol Hill neighborhood that we love so much. And the rent on this one is $2,413, which was definitely on par with Apartment #1 and a lot of the one bedrooms we were seeing online.
And you know what? I liked this apartment building too! We really didn't see a bad apartment in the bunch.
This one had a really cool kind of artsy lobby. so immediately when you walk in, it just feels cool. And it also felt like a very upscale kind of building.
When you walk into the apartment itself, it's a nice open floor plan, hardwood floors, a big kitchen.
Oh, and I should also mention that immediately to your left is a gigantic walk-in closet. So Apartments #2 and #3 definitely have Apartment #1 beat in the closet game, that is for sure.
When you walk into the bedroom, it's a little bit on the small side, which is very doable, but here's where the first kind of negative makes its way into the picture with this apartment…
There was the matter of this weird random cement column that made its way through the bedroom.
And while the column kind of added a cool industrial element to the space (I personally love concrete and I love the concrete ceiling in the bedroom) it would simply be hard to work around. That random cement column puts quite a few limitations on how you can arrange the space. So I wasn't a fan of that.
But then you turn around and you see another big walk-in closet. So the apartment gods giveth and the apartment gods taketh.
Apartment #3 also had a stunning rooftop deck like Apartment #1, with sweeping views of Seattle.
So the positives of this apartment building were that it felt really nice and upscale, the location we already know we love, it had a really nice city view, and the rooftop deck had an amazing city view.
The negatives were that weird cement column in the bedroom, and I didn't even mention this earlier, but the bedroom also had the horrible carpet that I hate so much. And honestly, this unit felt a little bit more dark and cave-like compared to the other two.
But overall it was a great apartment! Like I said, we really didn't meet an apartment we didn't like in this apartment search.
Alright, now the time has come for me to reveal our new apartment…
✨ We chose Apartment #1! ✨
We absolutely loved this apartment so much. It's the one that gave us the sparkly feelings that I always talk about when I talk about decorating an apartment. The sparkly feeling applies to choosing an apartment as well!
And even though the closet space is going to be quite an issue, I have some tricks up my sleeve, and I'm excited to show you how we overcome the lack of closet space!
We actually really considered the Sammamish apartment in the suburbs. Like I said, we were very intrigued by that lifestyle change. But ultimately we decided that we weren't quite ready to leave the city yet.
So Kobee and I move into the new apartment on March 1st, which is just three weeks away! I am so excited to document this whole process for you, so definitely stay tuned to my YouTube channel. Moving into this new apartment and then decorating it is gonna be quite a focus for a while!
Let me know in the comments below, which apartment did you like the best? Which would you have chosen? I'm very curious, because like I said, we really liked all three.
And if you too are about to move into a new apartment or you want to decorate your current one, I want to remind you that I have a free workshop that you can watch on demand called Decorate Your Dream Apartment Without Spending Money on the Wrong Decor for You!
It's an hour-long workshop in which I teach you how to discover your personal style, how to make mood boards to help you visualize how things might look together, and then also how to shop for decor in a way where you're buying that you actually connect with and that you actually love in your space.
What I teach in this free workshop is the exact method I used to transform my 500 square foot studio apartment into my dream apartment:
So if you want something that will help you get started on doing the same with your space, you can access the workshop here!
For daily glimpses into my small apartment life, you can follow me on Instagram @moda.misfit.
And for regular doses of apartment styling tips and small space decor inspiration, subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell to be notified when a new video goes up every week.