2100 to 440

If you ever need to downsize your living quarters by, say, 80% or so, here are some tips on how to do it :)


First, have a huge garage sale. Sell a lot of your stuff.


Next, leave about half of the stuff you have left at your parents' house and your grandparents' house. Plan to sell most of it later.


Then, sell your regular kitchen table to a good friend, and exchange it for the smallest card table you can find that three people can still fit around.

Then, start storing things anywhere and everywhere you can...on top of the fridge,

in "drawers" on top of the microwave,

on top of your kitchen cabinets,

and in totes in a big shelving unit that is really supposed to go in a garage or something.

Next, throw away all of your DVD cases, CD cases, etc, and combine everything into a few DVD "sleeve" holders.

Keep only one large piece of furniture (like a couch). You may have to take it apart to get it in your new apartment door.

Also, take advantage of any free storage area people will give you, like this storage cubby we were given

which came in very handy for some stuff that we didn't know where to put.

If you don't have a bathroom in your apartment, store your cosmetics and toiletries items in your bedroom closet.

And that's how you successfully begin living in an apartment that is approximately the same size as your previous deck.

In all seriousness, though, Aaron and I are so content here. It is freeing and fulfilling to get rid of a lot of material possessions and try to live a little more simply (not that we don't still have a lot of work to do in this area!!).


Here is a little tour of our apartment that is beginning to feel like home. It consists of three rooms.


The first room is a combined kitchen/living room/dining area. Here is that room from one direction, looking toward the kitchen:

and here's that same room looking from the kitchen area into the living room side:

The second room is our bedroom:

And third is Ivy's room:

We're learning that what makes a home a home is not the size or things in the home, but the people who live there. I'm pretty sure my dad told me that awhile ago, and I probably didn't say it exactly right, but the same idea is there... so this is now our home, and we love it! :)