Smaller Space

Reality is setting in that we are moving into a smaller space. Holy crap!

From where I sit and blog every morning in the living room, I can see the entire living room, dining room and hallway leading to the bedrooms and the main bathroom. The other thing I see is light coming from large windows everywhere, something we will have to get used to not seeing in the new place, especially not having windows in the bathrooms. I suppose that means that during the summer when we hardly ever turn on a light here, we’ll have no choice but to do so there. Ugh.

Okay, so it isn’t all bad. Less yard to take care of, since the front yard is a rock garden with minimal plants and the backyard only has a small patch of weeds to keep down. I just wish we could start moving stuff in next week instead of a month from now so that we will be able to sell off or donate what won’t fit into the new space. That or maybe call my sister and get measurements of her house so that I can play with the dimensions on the computer. Alas, I know that once we start packing there will be piles of stuff to get rid of, hence having a garage sale before moving will be inevitable.

Actually, the more I think about downsizing, for the time being anyway, the more I welcome the challenge. Besides the obvious dilemma of trying to figure out how to even fit a queen size bed into the master bedroom, the kitchen issue must also be raised. As my husband and I were talking last night I told him it will be interesting trying to get used to having less cabinet and counter space, to which he asked, “That place has less counter space and cabinets than we have now?” He didn’t notice, but it is true. Since the kitchen is identical to my sister’s, I know for a fact it has about a third less cabinet storage and the counters are four square feet smaller. However, with it being a dining room and kitchen combination, that means the dining room table will be in there as well, which will have its own plusses and minuses. I’m thinking it might be a good idea to look into the portable kitchen and island concepts at IKEA to extend the counters a bit, but I’ll see if I can simply make more space by getting rid of stuff we don’t use first and using what we already have for extra storage, such as the large wire shelving unit we have in our current kitchen to store most of our small appliances when not in use.

I guess the only way we’re going to figure this whole downsizing thing out is by doing it. If only the waiting game were over.

Possibilities

Just when it seemed that apartment living with a Great Dane was inevitable, a house possibility arose. Hopefully it’ll work out.

So yesterday, after getting a tip from someone at church that his brother was looking for tenants for his rental house, my husband gave the guy a call. Over the phone anyway, this house meets our requirements: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, under a thousand a month, and pets okay. Then the guy even said, “and plenty of room for chickens!” Okay, so, looking for a house that we could take the chickens with us wasn’t a priority at all since we knew that our friend (and my boss) would take them all if needed. However, this is a total bonus. That and the house backs up against a forest so no neighbors behind us. Double bonus!

Now I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, the shit to hit the fan, and the tinks to miss the pot. Saturday we’re going to meet the guy over at the house even though there are currently renters there moving out at the end of the month. Hopefully, even though the house is smaller than we currently are living in, and the yard is much smaller than we currently have, it will still work out. Honestly, I’m guessing it is a lot like my sister’s house layout-wise. And with a double car garage we should be able to store more of our stuff we currently have in the house in there instead. And if it means we will have to get rid of stuff, damn. This is the perfect excuse to purge our belongings and sell off our excess… except for my extra sewing machine I still want.

Possibilities, possibilities. Sometimes I find it difficult to not get my hopes up. But perhaps this time I won’t be let down. I know I’m not as Irish as I used to be (really long story) but I hope the luck of the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day will be in my favor.

The Eventual Move

I know that we are moving out of the house. So why is it that I still feel so attached to it?

Looking around the house, I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that we have to move soon. Part of it might be because we haven’t done any packing yet (I’m not the only procrastinator in the house) but another part might just be because we’ve been here so long. I mean, we moved into the house the first day of September in 1997. Yes, the same day that Princess Di died, which we found out while listening to the radio during our last big haul from the apartment we were living in before.

Over the last thirteen years we’ve accumulated quite a bit of stuff. The unfortunate part is that we got rid of the stuff we no longer wanted to make room for the stuff we did want, which means a majority of our current collection of home and garden things were acquired to be permanent (or semi-permanent) replacements, most of which we’d have to get rid of if we move into an apartment. That sucks balls. And don’t even get me started on the amount of fabric and crafts stuff I’ve stuffed my craft/guest room closet with, as well as under the futon, armoire, side table, work table, wall unit, bookcase, on top of the bookcase and wall unit…

We wanted a deck for so long and finally a few years ago made that a reality. Last year we finally got a patio set that isn’t an embarrassing conglomerate of white plastic chairs and mismatched table and umbrella. Of course, we only replaced the table after a windstorm knocked it over and shattered the glass top. More than likely that set will have to go. Along with all of the various flower pots, barrels and… I’m going to stop listing stuff we can’t take with us. Because you know what? It’s just stuff. Stuff can be replaced.

I wonder if after we find a new place to live and start moving our things out of this house whether or not my attachments to it will begin to cease? I mean, is it really the house I’m attached to or the memories we’ve made in the house? It’ll be interesting to see the house empty again like when we first walked through it. I remember the sense of awe at the amount of space we had, even though it was the same square footage as the apartment we were living in. I guess there is something about a house with lots of large windows, a garage and large yard to make someone as claustrophobic as me feel not so closed in. Alas, reality better set in soon. This isn’t our home anymore. It’s just a house.

Stuff

With the move only a couple months away, there are a few things to think about. Of course, the one at the top of the list is that we’ve got a lot of shit.

I mean, let’s face it, any time you move it is a time to purge what you no longer need or use or want because, well, why would you want to take it with you to your new place? When we moved into this house we really didn’t have that much, however after over thirteen years we have acquired quite a bit. Yes, we’ve had garage sales and Goodwill donations once a year and gotten rid of a lot of junk, but we still have a ton of stuff we use regularly that I don’t think we’d be able to fit into a new place, especially if that new place is (GASP!) an apartment!

Ideally we’d find a duplex or a rental house with a single or double car garage we could use as storage. Heck, there are some apartments that have garages too, which would also be good for storage, but not so much for a Great Dane. Okay, so it’d be fine for her but more work for us to have to make an effort when she needs to be let out to go potty. I guess the thing is, we will need to downsize no matter what because there is just way too much stuff in this house as it is, and it’d be quite doubtful we’d find something larger for the amount we can afford to pay in rent. Alas, I suppose it will all come down to wherever we find ourselves a new place to live.

Of course, the plan is to be able to move a couple weeks before the house sells at auction, or as more likely the case, reverts back to the bank because it is highly unlikely to sell at all in this market. That way we can take our time moving stuff in and be able to figure out what will not fit, which will then be sold in an estate sale type deal. It’ll be April, so I’m sure people would totally appreciate being able to shop inside the house rather than just a damp and leaky garage. Ugh… the thought of moving at all seems particularly daunting, however.

I suppose the best way to look at it all is that it is just stuff. Replaceable. Obviously there are some things that we can’t part with for sentimental reasons, but a majority of it is simply material, which in my craft room closet, this is quite literally the case! If I were a smart person we’d start packing stuff we know we want to keep but won’t use before we move. Again, this is if I were a smart person, but alas, I’m a procrastinator, so it’d be a miracle if anything even got boxed up in the first place.