Preamble | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4.5 | Original | 5
...packed with two adults, a border collie, two felines, computers, furniture, files, music, guest bed, dressers, books, bicycles, skis, camping stuff, yard equipment, a Costco membership, and all the requisite stuff of people who dabble in everything from sports to music to art....
OK, so that 1165 doesn't include the garage or the unfinished basement, but you get what I mean. It's small.
It was one of those "your house or my house or a new house?" decisions that two people have to make when they meet after having a few years under their belts. His place had more breathing room and more land, but was on the outskirts beyond some geographical hurdles. My place sported a location that fits a cycling and walking lifestyle, but it has space and layout issues.
We decided to hang out here while deciding where we
really wanted to live. Initially, it was temporary, but once we started looking at other places we started reexamining our 1165 finished square feet.
What we have here is pretty OK. We've got an over-sized garage, which is a rarity in this part of town. We have an unfinished basement for bicycle and ski work and for hosing off a muddy dog when it's cold outside. We have a small yard that's a blank slate waiting for a patio and a fire pit.
From the beginning the 1165 has been enough space to live within, but it's configured in an odd way and storage is tight. So, now we're looking at how we can re-jigger spaces. Trading an attic closet for a bathroom...closing off a kitchen doorway to gain more counter space...adding an egress to the basement for a guest room. They're all great ideas, but each is one dominoe falling toward the next. Grandma's china is in that attic closet. Granddad's tool bench would be better used in the basement.
So, we reshuffle furniture and pare down our stuff. It's causing us to really examine what we need and how our perceptions and memories color those decisions.
- The
feelin' Old
and squished Bag
- O$B I was tired of hosta anyway
