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Home Ownership
Mar. 27th, 2008 10:04 amTomorrow will mark our first full week here in the New Condo. And I have to say, I'm still in love with it, and despite the hell of moving and all the money that is flying out of our wallets on a daily basis, we don't regret doing this at all.
We're still living among boxes (Boxville, Boxhenge, Boxtopia), we still need to buy lights for most rooms, and I really should install some towel bars in the bathrooms. But the kitchen is mostly put away, and we have a functioning living/dining area. It's not done, but it feels more like home than the last place ever did. Also, this one is ours, which makes it that much better.
It's amazing what a bit of paint, a new light, and new floors can do. Even though we still have the same boring white melamine cabinets, our kitchen looks brand new, and all it took was a few small cosmetic changes. From being the room that was hate at first sight (and was almost the dealbreaker, I hated it so much), it's become my favourite place in the whole condo. I love spending time in there! I still want to hang my pot rack and change the door handles, but it's pretty much done.
The living room is shaping up, too. We're getting new bookshelves today, which means that I can finally unpack my boxes and boxes of books, and my new bureau arrives today as well, which means I can start putting the rest of my clothes away. In the old place, we had almost no closet space, here, my husband and I share a walk in closet. My side of the closet is almost twice the size of the one he and I shared in the old apartment. Oh, to be able to find clothes again! Our stuff was jammed so tightly into the old closet that I couldn't remove a shirt or dress without three other things coming with it. Putting stuff away was a nightmare, so I didn't bother. My clothes lived on top of the dryer (much to my husband's consternation).
At the old place, we couldn't use the dryer and the stove at the same time. We had a big switch in a cupboard that we had to flip if we wanted to use one or the other. It meant we sometimes had to choose between having supper or having clean clothes for tomorrow. Here, we can do laundry and cook at the same time. And, since the washing machine and the kitchen sink aren't connected, the kitchen isn't flooded when the washer goes into the rinse cycle. In the old apartment, the kitchen sink used to back up every time we used the washer.
The best part, though, has been going to bed at night, and hearing nothing. No stomping, no running up and down the hallway, no moving of furniture at 2am, no TVs, no marathon sex. Nothing. We can still hear our neighbours a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary or intrusive. Mostly, it's just hallway noise. In the last place, though, the constant noise was so bad that my husband would go to bed with earplugs in. Although I never really got used to it, I learned to just accept it. But that first night, when there was no noise at all? That was bliss, let me tell you. Bliss. I forgot what quiet was like.
As soon as I have the time (and I find the cable for my camera), I'll upload some before and after pictures.
We're still living among boxes (Boxville, Boxhenge, Boxtopia), we still need to buy lights for most rooms, and I really should install some towel bars in the bathrooms. But the kitchen is mostly put away, and we have a functioning living/dining area. It's not done, but it feels more like home than the last place ever did. Also, this one is ours, which makes it that much better.
It's amazing what a bit of paint, a new light, and new floors can do. Even though we still have the same boring white melamine cabinets, our kitchen looks brand new, and all it took was a few small cosmetic changes. From being the room that was hate at first sight (and was almost the dealbreaker, I hated it so much), it's become my favourite place in the whole condo. I love spending time in there! I still want to hang my pot rack and change the door handles, but it's pretty much done.
The living room is shaping up, too. We're getting new bookshelves today, which means that I can finally unpack my boxes and boxes of books, and my new bureau arrives today as well, which means I can start putting the rest of my clothes away. In the old place, we had almost no closet space, here, my husband and I share a walk in closet. My side of the closet is almost twice the size of the one he and I shared in the old apartment. Oh, to be able to find clothes again! Our stuff was jammed so tightly into the old closet that I couldn't remove a shirt or dress without three other things coming with it. Putting stuff away was a nightmare, so I didn't bother. My clothes lived on top of the dryer (much to my husband's consternation).
At the old place, we couldn't use the dryer and the stove at the same time. We had a big switch in a cupboard that we had to flip if we wanted to use one or the other. It meant we sometimes had to choose between having supper or having clean clothes for tomorrow. Here, we can do laundry and cook at the same time. And, since the washing machine and the kitchen sink aren't connected, the kitchen isn't flooded when the washer goes into the rinse cycle. In the old apartment, the kitchen sink used to back up every time we used the washer.
The best part, though, has been going to bed at night, and hearing nothing. No stomping, no running up and down the hallway, no moving of furniture at 2am, no TVs, no marathon sex. Nothing. We can still hear our neighbours a bit, but nothing out of the ordinary or intrusive. Mostly, it's just hallway noise. In the last place, though, the constant noise was so bad that my husband would go to bed with earplugs in. Although I never really got used to it, I learned to just accept it. But that first night, when there was no noise at all? That was bliss, let me tell you. Bliss. I forgot what quiet was like.
As soon as I have the time (and I find the cable for my camera), I'll upload some before and after pictures.
