Tag Archives: Chicago

The new apartment: Version 1.0 (Empty)

I wanted to share some pictures of the new apartment (almost) totally empty that I snapped before moving the bulk of our stuff inside. I took these on Wednesday the 15th, right after letting ourselves in with our new keys for the first time. They’re not great photography, but they’ll give you an idea of the layout and wall colors (both of which I love!).

After entering the main door, you come up a set of stairs (under a skylight) into the main room (living room/dining room/kitchen) . . .

. . . where an excited husband and an able-bodied moving-helper (otherwise known as John, my brother-in-law) are inspecting the space.

Those are my beat-up silver flip-flops by the front stairway. I love them and simply can’t throw them away even though they look like they’ve participated in a dog fight followed by a cat fight followed by a rabid llama throwdown.

I love the warm neutral color on the walls of the main room. I love the window treatments and light fixtures, which came with the place.

As I mentioned last week, everything about the apartment is better than I remembered.

Off of what will be our dining area, there’s a porch.

My husband LOVES this porch. It’s a great spot for prayer time in the morning, and beer time at night. John checked it out and also stamped it with his approval.

And here’s the view from one of the bay windows in the living room:

In my mind, the three negative things I remembered about this place were: not a ton of closet space. The shag carpet in the master bedroom. The longer walk to the El.

But after moving in, none of these things bother me! I actually like the short shag in the bedroom. It’s soft and clean and a nice neutral oatmeal kind of color. After further examination, there’s plenty of closet space, and the walk to the El (though 10 minutes instead of 2) is really enjoyable, through peaceful tree-lined streets, and doesn’t feel any longer than 5 minutes.

But less talk and more pictures! Because I have more to show you.

Like the amazing kitchen.

In which I will cook without that lingering gross feeling that I had in our old kitchen.

When we first arrived there were some ants scuttling about, but after buying ant traps and waiting a few days, they are now nowhere to be seen.

After the main room, a very long hallway leads to the rest of the rooms (though this picture is taken in the hallway facing the main room):

The first door on the left leads into the smaller guest bedroom/library/office:

That’s where you all will be sleeping when you come to visit.

And where will you get clean when you come visit? Where will you answer nature’s call?

Well, the hallway bathroom:

Alice’s room is painted a bright and cheery blue!

And has built in shelves.

And here’s the fabled aundry area, which I can’t shut up about. I think I’ve done about 15 loads so far–and I’m not even kidding. Curtains, chair covers, blankets, afghans–nothing has escaped the washing madness.

I’ve also discovered a new paramour: bleach.

And at the end of the hall is our master bedroom . . .

. . . which has its own bathroom!

The walls of the master bed, though they look funky-colored in these pictures, are a gorgeous light grey-blue. So peaceful.

We feel slightly in awe of how nice everything is, and how hovel-like our previous abode seems in comparison. Are we allowed to live somewhere so . . . posh? When we go to bed, it feels like we’re in a hotel. Should we feel guilty about this? we’ve asked ourselves. Are we going to grow soft living in the lap of luxury? Will central A/C make us total nincompoops of pleasure and ease?

I guess the answer to all of that is that we should just rejoice, praise God for his generous blessing, keep thankful hearts, and not worry about the rest.

More pictures tomorrow!

Moving, moving, moved!

Guys, I am loving our new apartment.

Did I say “loving”? Because I mean LOVING in bold caps.

We let ourselves in for the first time Wednesday morning before I went to work. I had readied my emotions for disappointment, because I hadn’t seen the place for a few months and didn’t trust that my memory of it and all its wonderful attributes was faithful.

But guess what? Everything was better than I remembered.

That night, an awesome crowd of friends came to our old place and we moved over a minivan load of stuff we didn’t want the movers (scheduled to come Friday) dealing with: guitars and other instruments, camera stuff, a cooler of miscellaneous food, our laundry hampers, etc.

I did a load of laundry our very first night there–that Wednesday night–, and my soul rejoiced. After years of dragging pounds upon pounds of laundry to an overheated laundromat that played the Song of Insanity and drove us to distraction, now I can just pop up the hall, put in a load, and go do something completely different. Laundry is no longer something that needs to be apportioned a 3-hour block all to itself: I am free to multitask.

The next morning, after a rough night on the blow-up mattress tossing and turning as I got used to the new nighttime sounds of the place, I got up before my husband (a rare occurrence) and padded down the hall to the kitchen. I heated up some water and creamer and stirred in some Nescafe instant coffee (the coffee maker still being in a box somewhere). The morning had dawned overcast, and rain was starting to beat down on the sidewalks outside. I watched a woman in a yellow poncho and a man in a dark grey suit make their way down the sidewalk at clipped paces, umbrellas being tugged back and forth by the wind, knowing I would soon be joining them in the wet outside. As I stood in the darkened, empty living room with the hot coffee warming my palms, feeling the smooth hardwood under my bare feet, I felt the happiness surge in my heart and quietly pool there. This is our space . . . this is where I’ll be spending my maternity leave with my daughter. This is where we will cook for friends, watch episodes of Foyle’s War, snuggle on the couch, welcome our families.

The empty space was full of promise, and I was content.

I have pictures of the empty apartment to share with you guys soon (to be followed by pictures of the space once we’re fully moved in), but I’ve been far from ready to sit down and mess with pictures, Photoshop, or the like. We have a lot of work ahead of us unpacking and situating and going to Ikea for the shopping trip of the century, so just know that at some point I will  sit my butt down and put together a nice update with all the visuals.

But that day is not today.

In the meantime, happy Monday!