The Living Room/Office

Heres the latest addition of the tiny apartment. I have the apartment to a point that I am really happy with. Things are organized, functional and dare I say even pretty. I have another Gretchen original design idea with the living room area. The two bookshelveson the outside of the fireplace and tv offers the look of an entertaiment center. We have the media storage on one wall and on the other books and art supply type stuff. Something I did was give a bookshelf per child for their personal books and special things.

There is something else I can't stress enough. If you run across a console /sofa table get it! I have had the  two I have for like 3 years. I never keep anything!! My family will tell you. You can do so much with them. Such as the storage I have in the one above behind the couch.

We have a couch and chair. What more do you need.

Here is the office area. It worked out well and it also feels fluid.

So theres the office living room. I'm very happy with it. I aspire to organize and get my 3 storage units loolking good and functional.And the fun part will be I will have great before pictures.

Survey of the Week

This week has been very interesting for our family. My husband has not worked much however he also has shingles. And they are so bad that when he finally went to the doctor they said it would have to run it's course. It's very painful for him but he simply keeps of rowing. He has also decided to go to school to obtain a degree in criminal justice. This I am so very excited for him. He has also obtained all the funding as well.

I had my wisdom teeth removed and now I think I'm fighting a stomach bug thingy. Our oldest son has been a bit challenging. Being 16 and experiencing life's cruelest moments at an early age are part of his problem. It is hard on us as well. We want so badly for him to succeed and to not end up living under a bridge as Chris would say. He doesn't see that but perhaps some day he will. We just pray and get back to basics to keep our family on a straight path.

As we have prayed for others and for our own needs I can't help but be aware of the answers. Our landlords have 2 new tenants that will be moving in. They are truly honorable people who would give and give with no thought for themselves and so we have desired for them to have a full building of good reliable tenants. We have a single mother and her son moving in next door and a single lady moving in underneath us. And another woman has expressed interest in another unit down stairs. These things make me happy. Perhaps a unit full of women would give my huband and sons the opportunity to serve and care. Perhaps some lifelong friendships will be made as well. Or maybe we will here a broom being beat up from the downstairs cause we are being too loud. we shall see. Well my pain pill is kicking in and I have waited all day for this. Goodnight.

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Installment 3 of The Small Apartment and the Big Family

This is the kids room. Now officially I had said in my first post I would work from one end of the apartment and work my way forward. So I just skipped the living room and office by going here. But it's my blog so whatever.

The first photo is Cindy and Chrissy's bunk. Cindy is on the bottom and has curtains all around her bunk. There used to be a bed wide curtain that ran the width of the two sets of beds but do to a 3/1 loss that curtain was took down for ease of room. I'm sure you guess who the one was she has the bed covered in curtains in the photo.

These are the boys bunks. Nothing really special. But they do have their own space that I will point out in a minute.

Ok so the girls each have their own dresser for their clothes and the tops for any special things they want. I keep their toys in a clear underbed storage thing under the bottom bunk. The boys have a walk in closet they share with cloth bins for their personal items and such. Boys and dressers don't do well. That was something we learned a long time ago. Jacob keeps his snowboard and boots under his bed. There is also a console table with drawers the boys use for things and we keep the ps2 and xbox and their little tv's on it. Now usually we wouldn't allow tv's in the bedroom but with space being an issue we had to. However there is no stations hooked up and simply removing the controllers keeps them from playing when we don't allow them to.

I just want to add since I wrote this blog and took these pictures things have changed. Each child that was on bottom is now on the top bunk of the opposite bed and vice versa. So the girls are now by the door and the boys are by the wall. Cindy is on the top bunk under the air vent. She made some lovely swirly things to hang from it that blow.

I felt like I had done all that I could to utilize the space they had and to also provide privacy as much as possible. However when they wanted to switch beds I didn't object because there is few choices that can be made in the room so what did it hurt and everyone was on board.

Now on to the bathroom which is bigger than the master.

I have on over the toilet cabinet thing with the cabinet thing ripped off. I keep walmart bags and toilet paper in the drawers. The ugly number 10 can is my homemade wipes. I have recently dressed those up some. We picked palm trees because it was cheap, nuetral and fun.

Over the door mesh bag is for the dirty laundry and an over the door hook rack is where they can each hang up their towels after use. Now this is the foyer/entry way right outside the bathroom. We were told that most tenants do not get all their deposit back because the carpets are dirty and cost $175 to clean. We used a books shelf and a bin in the closet for the girls shoes and are hoping to get all of ours. Well thats the latest. Any comments, questions or suggestions please let me know.

Installment 2 of the Apartment Series; The Kitchen Dining Room

This is a Gretchen Roberts original piece. This is a hanging pot rack that we made using a piece from Ross' clearance rack, some chains and S hooks from Lowes. By doing this I have eliminated the use of 3 cabinets for pots and pans and lids. Also enabling me to have an empty cupboard that Chrissy uses as a bedroom. As you can see here.

By placing the freezer on the deck we have saved a lot of space and although some of you are probably saying that is so redneck. I have heard that all my life there fore it has no effect on me. I see it as a smart and useful way of utilizing space and adding to my food storage. I may add another one. LOL

Also at the end of the deck is a "storage unit" I use the term loosely. But my totally wonderful husband, CC, added these L shelves to enable me to have a pantry. And it is great. However our building faces a very busy road and I can't tell you how many times I have almost went out to the pantry in my nightgown. I need to hang up a robe or something by that door.

This is the Laundry closet. It is located right smack dab in the middle of the kitchen. Just let me say I love it. Talk about utilizing time. I separate my laundry on the floor and when the buzzer sounds I switch it out. I fold on the dining room table or my bed. I hand up immediately. All things I did not do when it wasn't so convenient. Chris also added another shelf and rod above the one already there. This once again is hitting that whole “think vertical” attitude.

Here's a shot of the whole kitchen. Some little things that make our apartment standout tremendously are the kitchen knobs the owners added, the deep kitchen sinks and the faucet. All great little luxuries that have made our lives easier.

These are some shots of the dining room/pantry. Please excuse Chrissy who was eating lunch and felt the need to stand suddenly. Yes that is my coupon binder on the table and those are some of my spoils in the background. This set up is great and totally works. However as for looks it isn't so hot. Chris said he could put cabinet doors on the white cabinets and build another one like it with doors to match. However if we are here longer than our lease I may have him do that but for now it's about function and doors just seem like they would be in the way.

So that’s the kitchen and dining room of our little home on the pavement prairie. Next installment will be Living room office.

 

What is the Worth of an Invisible Weight?

This is a little note to the Elders and Posse of Relief Society Sisters who helped us in some way with the move. Whether in the form of prayer, meals, thoughts, facebook comments, actually physical labor such as cleaning or moving or with just handing down some household items you didn’t use anymore. Thank you. There is a bit of a downside to the situation. We will not be receiving our deposit. They have their reasons and they are valid. I can’t help but put myself in their position and appreciate all the charity they gave us. Our deposit was low and they were always patient with us. So I thank them. I also know that the Lord always has provided for my family even when we didn’t know Him. So I have no negative thoughts about not receiving the money we needed and I felt entitled to. All I can seem to think about is organizing that pantry shelf that needs it, helping a sister, gathering art supplies for my girls and the most dominant thought is the joy at seeing that invisible weight being lifted from the back of my husband. Most people I can imagine couldn’t put a value on an invisible weight. But I can and its amount is $1000.00 dollars a month. However its value is infinintial.

Little House on the Pavement Praire

My husband and I in an effort to live within our means have moved our family into a 2 bedroom apartment. Now most of my friends know this and are supportive. I won't go into all the details of the why, when and how. But we do have four children and my husband is in construction. So we have a home office as well and that also explains the lack of funds. We basically went from 2200 square feet to 900 square feet. I will be doing a series of blogs on how you make such a small space not only functional, but organized and lovely.


I will be staring with one end of the apartment and working my way to the other end.



First we will start with the masterbath/masterbedroom. In this room I have a king size sleigh bed, two night stands and a small walk in closet. The bathroom is your typical vanity, raised, toilet and shower/tub combo. The most important motto to have in a small space is to understand is "up and under." As in wall space and underneath. We have over the door hooks on almost all doors and hooks that are screwed into the wall on a stud. Now I highly recommend over the door hooks especially with the cheaper doors because if you drill holes in them or tape things too them they are very hard to repair. Another motto to remember is to "Got to get my deposit back!"



We have mesh bags in both bathrooms for the dirty laundry. This keeps the laundry off the floor and eliminates the needs for cumbersome hampers and baskets. I do however have 2 small weaved baskets. I also installed in the bathroom one of those metal 3 rack systems people usually put in a pantry on a door or in a cabinet door for foil and wraps. I used in the bathroom for my bottles and hair care products I used to keep out on our much bigger countertop. I also have only 2 towels per member of our family and we all hang them up after our use. (We also know whose towels are whose.) You will hear me mention bins and baskets a lot. I love them. The ones I have I have had for years. They are great. I store my hairdryer and curling irons in one and store it under the cabinet. When I want to use it I pull it out when I'm done it all shoves back down neatly.



In the bedroom I have hooks, underbed clear totes and drawers. Because I love my bedroom and bed I really wanted to keep things inviting and comfortable. So thanks to the kindness of girlfriends I was able to get a new duvet cover, curtains/swags and an original painting to give it height balance and warmth for $0.00.



Now for the master closet. This is where I am truly blessed and severally lucky. We know the owners of our particular building who gave us permission to do the alterations. You will need to do these same things as well or just remember to take it down before you move and make it look exactly as you moved in. My husband, CC, is the uber carpenter. My hubby's blog



He saw all our clothes shoved into that closet with one bar and one shelf across the top and he just sighed. He could not allow that awful affliction to continue to torment he sweet wife. So I came home one day and found all the clothes on the bed and 3 bars with shelves in the closet. He looked at me and said, “Now figure out how to organize it. I need a soda."



So I bet your wandering the cost for all this. Well my cost for supplies was about 11.00 for hooks and the wall bottle storage. The pillow cases were $10.00 and the cost for the material needs for closet was about $50.00. However we were lucky to have left over material from other jobs. So overall for me the amount was $22.00. For the closet I think it too he about an hour so with material and labor I'm thinking a contractor could do it for about $100.00.




Before photos of the bathroom and bedroom and closet

The After of my master closet, bedroom and bath.