New apartment: First impressions
Aug. 28th, 2013 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thistlechaserBefore I get to the apartment, a couple lessons I learned while packing:
1) Moving isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wanted to move out of my current apartment long ago, but I thought moving would end in tears and me driving my car off a bridge out of stress. It's not fun, but it 100% is doable.
2) A grocery cart/basket/wheeled thing makes all the difference. Not the kind you use at the store, but this one:
Instead of three or four trips between apartment and car, it gets reduced to one, plus it's still a lot easier. I bought one for about $13 on Amazon. Cheap as hell, but it's been more than worth it so far.
Now, on to the apartment. I hadn't been able to see the inside of it, since they were renovating it and construction was going on. We looked in through the windows, but that hadn't shown much. So today was my first good look.
It's much smaller than my current place. Enough smaller that even the little bit of furniture I have will be an issue. My current place has a large living room, large bedroom, medium dining area, and small kitchen. New place has a small living room, small bedroom, small kitchen. No dining area/no place to put my kitchen table other than in the living room (which will be full of my living room stuff -- a sofa, TV stand, and desk). The ceilings are surprisingly low too, which makes it feel even smaller.
The patio is nice, though being on the first floor isn't private at all. The sliding glass door is wonderful. The ceiling fans do wonders to keep things cool! (I never had those before.) Lots more windows + sliding glass door + ceiling fans = less AC use, I hope.
The bedroom closet might have been a deal-breaker, if I had known about it ahead of time. It has no rods for hangers, just shelves. Never in my life have I had a closet without a rod. I have a metric crapton of clothing, I really have no idea how I'm going to deal with this. (Even if I get a stand-alone rod thing, where would I put it?)
The shower might have been the other semi-deal-breaker, though I won't know for sure until I try it. It's even smaller than my current one (which is really small), and I'll need to buy a shower curtain (my current one has a sliding glass door to get in). I don't like shower curtains. :/ At least the rod has a curve in it, so the curtain will be out away from the tub a little/less likely to try to get busy with you while you're wet and naked.
Tons of outlets (electric, cable, and USB). The washer seems nice and new, though the dryer seems older than I am. Luckily I don't use the dryer much.
At 11 AM, there was a surprising number of people around. Lots of kids (very young, 5 and under), lots of dogs. The apartment across from mine has a yippy dog who barked every time I went by, but luckily once I closed my door I couldn't hear it. Some people had multiple dogs, including big ones. I can't imagine having more than a cat in these little apartments.
I've always said I had more space than I need in my current apartment, so less space in the new one shouldn't be an issue. (I just hope I won't trip over the cat box in the bathroom too often...) And, even with the lesser space, it does seem like the apartment is more aimed towards the higher end of things, which is nice. The stovetop is that kind with the smooth glass top -- no burners! Alas my new fridge is no bigger than my current one, and might even be a little smaller. The front is a nice brushed metallic color though.
So, all in all, I think it's an okay apartment. Once I have my furniture in place I'll have a better idea how I feel. However, thanks to Lesson Learned #1, I will certainly move out if I don't like it. (I'm paying a good deal more than I am in my current place, and after buying my car funds are suddenly tighter, so I wouldn't mind moving someplace cheaper.) My lease is only one year.
Edit: I think we need a new game. Porn Movie or Awkward Stock Photo/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
akwardstock? 
1) Moving isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I wanted to move out of my current apartment long ago, but I thought moving would end in tears and me driving my car off a bridge out of stress. It's not fun, but it 100% is doable.
2) A grocery cart/basket/wheeled thing makes all the difference. Not the kind you use at the store, but this one:
Instead of three or four trips between apartment and car, it gets reduced to one, plus it's still a lot easier. I bought one for about $13 on Amazon. Cheap as hell, but it's been more than worth it so far.
Now, on to the apartment. I hadn't been able to see the inside of it, since they were renovating it and construction was going on. We looked in through the windows, but that hadn't shown much. So today was my first good look.
It's much smaller than my current place. Enough smaller that even the little bit of furniture I have will be an issue. My current place has a large living room, large bedroom, medium dining area, and small kitchen. New place has a small living room, small bedroom, small kitchen. No dining area/no place to put my kitchen table other than in the living room (which will be full of my living room stuff -- a sofa, TV stand, and desk). The ceilings are surprisingly low too, which makes it feel even smaller.
The patio is nice, though being on the first floor isn't private at all. The sliding glass door is wonderful. The ceiling fans do wonders to keep things cool! (I never had those before.) Lots more windows + sliding glass door + ceiling fans = less AC use, I hope.
The bedroom closet might have been a deal-breaker, if I had known about it ahead of time. It has no rods for hangers, just shelves. Never in my life have I had a closet without a rod. I have a metric crapton of clothing, I really have no idea how I'm going to deal with this. (Even if I get a stand-alone rod thing, where would I put it?)
The shower might have been the other semi-deal-breaker, though I won't know for sure until I try it. It's even smaller than my current one (which is really small), and I'll need to buy a shower curtain (my current one has a sliding glass door to get in). I don't like shower curtains. :/ At least the rod has a curve in it, so the curtain will be out away from the tub a little/less likely to try to get busy with you while you're wet and naked.
Tons of outlets (electric, cable, and USB). The washer seems nice and new, though the dryer seems older than I am. Luckily I don't use the dryer much.
At 11 AM, there was a surprising number of people around. Lots of kids (very young, 5 and under), lots of dogs. The apartment across from mine has a yippy dog who barked every time I went by, but luckily once I closed my door I couldn't hear it. Some people had multiple dogs, including big ones. I can't imagine having more than a cat in these little apartments.
I've always said I had more space than I need in my current apartment, so less space in the new one shouldn't be an issue. (I just hope I won't trip over the cat box in the bathroom too often...) And, even with the lesser space, it does seem like the apartment is more aimed towards the higher end of things, which is nice. The stovetop is that kind with the smooth glass top -- no burners! Alas my new fridge is no bigger than my current one, and might even be a little smaller. The front is a nice brushed metallic color though.
So, all in all, I think it's an okay apartment. Once I have my furniture in place I'll have a better idea how I feel. However, thanks to Lesson Learned #1, I will certainly move out if I don't like it. (I'm paying a good deal more than I am in my current place, and after buying my car funds are suddenly tighter, so I wouldn't mind moving someplace cheaper.) My lease is only one year.
Edit: I think we need a new game. Porn Movie or Awkward Stock Photo/
akwardstock? 
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-08-29 02:47 am (UTC)The morning radio around here has a segment: porn movie or home improvement. Callers have to guess where the sound clip is from. It's usually obvious but amusing for those of us with dirty minds :)
no subject
Date: 2013-08-29 03:39 am (UTC)...and that's where my wireless keyboard died. I saved a AA battery out because my mouse eats batteries, but the keyboard takes AAA and those are long since packed. Luckily I had just packed the Wii's traditional keyboard, so I plugged that in to my laptop.
And mention of the radio show is funny! This is one of my favorite icons (came from a construction equipment commercial).
no subject
Date: 2013-08-29 02:47 am (UTC)Good luck! Adventure!
no subject
Date: 2013-08-29 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-30 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-30 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-30 11:24 am (UTC)Never in my life have I had a closet without a rod.
... that is so weird not having anywhere to hang things.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-31 03:22 am (UTC)And yeah, it's driving me crazy. What am I supposed to do with all my clothing?