Making The Cut: Moving Edition
Executive summary: I usually take my time deliberating what to add or remove from my home, tweaking rather than overhauling, but a move is the exception. A lot of things are coming in and out at once as I prep for our new home, and only time will tell if I miscalculated or missed something.
We’re close to closing on our new home, and I’ve been busy planning and preparing so that our move and adjustment go as smoothly as possible. I admit that I’ve been on a little bit of a shopping spree lately, as the condo is noticeably bigger than our current apartment, and it would look pretty weird half empty. No one could question my minimalist cred while living in a 1br 800 square foot apartment with a family of four, but now we’re going to be swimming in space in a 2br 1300 square foot condo. In my defense, I didn’t “choose” this larger unit — most of the faculty housing is on either a lottery or take-it-or-leave-it system, and this is what was available if we wanted to be able to move before hubby starts at Stanford this summer. We are undoubtedly upsizing in terms of our square footage and belongings, but I’ve been trying to design our home to once again be as functional and stylish as possible with the least number of items … which is even more tricky when done remotely, as we don’t yet have the keys in hand, just the measurements I took and my vision.
This is what I’m basing all my plans on: a set of rushed measurements and a floorplan that I’ve noticed contains a few minor mistakes … but hopefully it’s close enough.
What’s made the cut (both our current possessions and new acquisitions):
Most of the things in our apartment are coming with us, as I've spent years curating our possessions to be maximally functional and efficient. (Examples: dishes, bedding, decor, stools, etc.)
Piano: This is the biggest (or heaviest) addition to our new home – I'm having my childhood upright piano moved from my parents' place 19 years after I left it behind to attend college. Obviously a piano is a luxury, but it's one of those things that makes a home feel permanent, ya know? That'll be nice, after 19 years of frequently being on the move.
Lounge chair: It’s been tight having only one small couch (technically a loveseat) between two kids who want to sprawl on it at the same time but don't want to touch each other. The living room (and our sanity) will benefit from having an additional seating option for the kids.
Padded bench: This at the request of hubby, who has suffered through four years of having nothing to prop his feet on when sitting on the couch. This bench will serve as an ottoman in the living room. See, I do listen!
Dressers: Hubby and I will have our own bedroom again (gasp!) and it's way bigger than we need. Part of my plan to utilize it efficiently involves acquiring two small dressers to flank the bed as nightstands, for holding clothes. Plus two lamps to go on top … I’m quailing at the thought of so much stuff, but at least lights are functional.
Armchair: Our too-big bedroom has empty corners to fill, so this is a solution that will provide an option for hubby to work at when he doesn't want to be disturbed every 30 seconds (i.e., in our room hiding from the kids).
Folding mattress and frame: We have a bonus "study" that I'm turning into a tiny guest room/ flex space. The grandparents would like something to sleep on that doesn't require them to be on the floor, imagine that. I don't want to commit to a permanent bed yet, so a folding mattress on a folding frame is the plan. Throw in a couple stools to serve as nightstands and we can start taking reservations now!
Hall tree and hooks: I am hooked on hooks – they are a highly functional decor item that I employ throughout our home. But in the entryway, I am trying out a hall tree to provide easily accessible storage to make the mad scramble in and out of the house with the kids a little smoother. Because opening a hall closet door eats up precious seconds in which the kids can get into trouble quicker than we can blink.
Curtains and rods: Our new place has a shocking 8 windows (up from 2 in our apartment), of which 6 need curtains. I've spent a fortune on the rods because it's so hard to find corner connectors to fit L-shaped windows, and I could only find one attractive but pricey option. I splurged on a whole set of rods so that they would all match.
There are other little items that I've acquired to fill our new space (e.g., runner and shelf for the bathroom, now that there are two!), and I sure hope I won't be overwhelmed by all the stuff in our bigger home!
What’s being cut (most are swaps, actually):
Dining table: I really like our tulip table, but it only seats 4, maybe 5 if we squeeze. I acquired it while we lived on the East Coast as a family of 3 (and our eat-in kitchen couldn’t accommodate anything bigger anyway), but now that we’re back near the grandparents again in CA, they’ve been visiting us on a regular basis. So I decided to swap out for a bigger table that can comfortably seat 6, plus added 2 more chairs. I feel craaazy.
Armchair: The kids currently have a glider in their room that has served us well through two infancies. But the rascals like to kick and swivel that glider so that it thuds into the wall. They only get stationary furniture now, so we’ll be swapping the bigger glider for a smaller armchair that they hopefully won’t be able to abuse.
Storage cube: We currently have a 4x1 Kallax and a tiered rolling cart to store the kids’ toys, games, books, etc. I’m upsizing to a 3x2 cube plus adding a large basket to give us a little more wriggle room. I’m imagining that the cart may be repurposed for storing clothes.
Toys: A move is the perfect opportunity to take some old toys out of commission … if the kids ever remember to ask for them, we play dumb, like “oh, where did that go in the move?” But these are toys the kids have outgrown and rarely remember, so I don’t feel like I’m damaging them too much by pulling a disappearing act.
Assorted art and decor: I’ve decided not to port over our mini gallery wall in the dining area. The pictures can go to grace hubby’s new office at Stanford instead. ;-) The art ledges and DIY tassel chandelier (the making of which I detail here) aren’t coming with us either. There isn’t a place that makes sense for them in the condo, and I don’t want to force an awkward fit.
There are lots of other small projects I’m planning for the condo, from painting to installing shutters to upgrading the light fixtures. I am constrained in that I’m not allowed to touch most things in here (e.g., backsplash, tiling, flooring, etc.) due to Stanford’s stringent rules on faculty housing, but I’ve had decades of experience now in renter-friendly decor, so I’m up for the challenge. I do wonder if I’ll feel that the space is too large, but as the kids get bigger (like, physically bigger), it’ll probably be nice to have a little room to spread out. I don’t want to give the impression that a 1br isn’t feasible for a family (because it’s been totally doable for the four of us), but more walls/rooms do give the kids the option of hiding away as they start to care about privacy in the future. Lots of people treat multi-family homes like they’re temporary, as if a single-family home is the be-all and end-all, but I vehemently disagree. I don’t think we’ll feel squeezed even when we have two teenagers at home (famous last words?) It also bears mentioning that a smaller, relatively cheaper condo gives our family more financial flexibility – I don’t feel pressure to return to corporate America to support our mortgage, and the ability to choose how I spend my time is invaluable to me. I wouldn’t trade that freedom for a bigger single-family home and proportionally sized bills any day. =)