Living in 600 sq ft

"Since 1950, the average new house has increased by 1,247 sq. ft. Meanwhile, the average household has shrunk by 1 person."

(For more fun facts, click HERE. It's actually a little outdated, since it's from a 2005 article, but just google the topic to find lots of information. Oh! And click HERE to check out where we got our cute painting.)

We currently live in a detached apartment converted from a 2-car garage. Part of the space was left unfinished to serve as storage and a workspace for our landlord (my brother-in-law). The actual living space amounts to 600 sq ft. This includes a living room, a narrow bathroom with a shower/tub combo, a life-saving linen closet/pantry/catch-all, a cute kitchen, a bedroom "area", and a walk-in closet/laundry room.

Since there's just two of us (and the dog, of course), it works. Sometimes we do feel cramped, of course. I really just think that's because we have too much STUFF, not that we don't have enough space. Although, it would be fantastic to have room to actually sit down at the table for a meal.

When we look at houses, with the idea of buying one someday (maybe this year??), I wonder about the size. We've kind of settled on 1500 sq ft as a minimum. We'd like 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Is that crazy? One bedroom would be for us (and the dog, of course), one would be reserved for guests, and the other would probably serve as an office. Not that either one of us really "work" at home. I guess it would just be a place to stash the laptop and my craft stuff. Maybe that's where we could fit a piece of exercise equipment, too. (Anyone wanna buy me an elliptical machine??) The 2 bathrooms would be ideal for when we have guests stay over. But how often would that happen? Once or twice a month, tops?

I probably scare my husband when I think about living in a small-ish space when we move. I just worry about the costs of heating/cooling, plus the upkeep, plus the money it will take to fill these rooms with furniture! Plus, I dunno. Small = cozy. And it's hard not to spend time together when you don't really have anywhere to escape! :)

Game Time

Someday, I'd like a playroom for my (future) kids. And on the floor, I'd like this rug...



..but on the rug, I'd prefer a Lab over a Dalmatian, of course!

Scrabble is the best!

The rug is available here.

Must-haves

If we were to buy a house today...what are some things it must have?

1. A garage. Preferably two.
2. A nice backyard, one conducive to entertaining. Even if we have to put in a deck or patio.
3. An open-feeling.
4. A basement or storm shelter.
5. A good location, of course! We still have no clue regarding the area where we want to buy, but I just hope it's convenient for everything: visiting family, work (for both of us), a couple stores, church. It's not fun to spend lots of time driving every day.

The Spring Cure

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with apartmenttherapy.com.

I love the beautiful photos and learning about new products or ideas.

I hate that there's so much content it's hard to keep up with and the fact that a lot of comments are snobby or rude.


However, I did receive this book for Christmas and will be participating in the so-called "cure".



I sure hope it helps -- Mr and I need motivation to live here longer!

The Pop In

Mr and I popped into a couple of open houses today.

The first one intrigued us both a little. It's located in a decent area, and it's very close to where I may end up working in a few months.

$120,900
4 bed, 2 1/2 bath
~2000 sq ft
The hall bathroom had double sinks and a swinging door separating them from the toilet and bath. I would definitely change the swinging door into one that was a saloon-style. Those are so fun in bathrooms.The kitchen, like most of the house, needs updating. Almost everything is original to the house (circa 1962). The second oven, which you can't see in the photo, is a lovely turquoise that matches the sink. Actually, I kinda like the sink. We would have to basically re-do the entire kitchen, though, and that would cost a lot of moolah.

We said if the price were closer to 100 grand, we'd make an offer, but we're not really serious. We don't even have 20% of that saved yet!

Breaking Ground

I've always loved houses. When I was younger I wanted to be an architect or an interior designer. Too bad I grew up and chose a different career.

Fortunately, there's always room for creativity at home.

This blog will hopefully serve a few purposes:

• encourage me to improve upon our current living situation
• document our journey into homeownership
• keep organized design ideas for future use