Thursday, September 3, 2015

I Could Just Tell Visitors I'm Going with a Minimalist Look

Drunkards!

MILESTONE ACHIEVED.

Precocious Daughter and I have bought our first piece of furniture and moved it into our apartment.

Some background:

Not sure if I've mentioned this here, but with the exception of our bedroom furniture, personal effects, and things handed down to me by my parents and grandparents, PDaughter and I are taking nothing with us to our new home. My almost-ex gets all the other furniture, all the pots and pans, the washer and dryer, the lamps, the bookshelves, everything.

There are two reasons for this. One is that he is much less able than I to replace these items, and I don't want to be cast as the party who left him bereft of possessions after the divorce.

The other is that most of our stuff is old and shabby, and I don't freaking want it.

Admittedly, this puts PDaughter and me in a tough position.

Somewhere around here.
Honestly, we can't move into our new place until the house is sold, because we have zero dollars (more or less) to buy the things we need. Neither of us would mind sitting on the floor for a few weeks, but not being able to do laundry or cook likely would get old very quickly.

Not going to lie, we are not Survivorman.
So in lieu of actually moving into the apartment on which I'm currently paying rent, we've taken painter's tape and marked out areas on the floor where our furniture will be when it, you know, exists.

Here's the thing: Our apartment is small. It's almost exactly half the size of the house we're leaving. And its living space is pretty damn tiny compared to the space we've enjoyed for the last 10 years.

NOT my house. Just, you know, a theoretical comparison.
Going forward, every piece PDaughter and I choose for our apartment home needs to serve at least double duty. That means we can't have just a coffee table. We need a coffee table that doubles as extra seating and also provides storage.

So last night, we purchased...Le Storage Ottoman!

Furniture squee.
Actually, I've always wanted one of these. And it just so happens to be the exact thing we need, so PDaughter and I have been scouting for one. I found this one over the weekend, and it was perfect - just the right size, shape, style, price, etc. Last night I was feeling restless, and I suggested we go out and get it. PDaughter was all over that idea. So that's what we did.

Behold our new living room!
Now, I bought it with my credit card, and that was maybe not the wisest idea, especially since there are so many other things we need (see above tip-of-the-iceberg list). Once I get the money from the house, I'm going to pay off that credit card and probably bury it in a Mason jar somewhere. Credit cards, ugh.

But it was so psychologically important to buy something for the apartment. Something nice and new that has never lived in my soon-to-be-ex-house with my soon-to-be-ex-spouse. Something that PDaughter and I picked out together and put in the back of the car together and carried inside together.

She can actually climb inside it and close the lid.
Which we totally did, of course.

So there you have it. We have no place to sleep, no place to eat, and a single roll of toilet paper in one of the bathrooms. But we can store all of our spare blankets in style.

If I can survive the next few weeks, I can't wait to put my feet up on my ottoman.

5 comments:

  1. I love your storage ottoman! I remember seeing a play once where they had boxes of different sizes, all plain cardboard labeled as to what set piece they represented "tree", "rock", etc.

    It was funny and effective.

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  2. I realize PDaughter could sleep inside it but that seems terrifying. It still looks big enough that you could sleep on top of it, or at least curl up for a nap. Also I've heard Survivorman sometimes spends the night in hotels. So don't compare yourself too unfavorably.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Actually, it looks pretty damned good, and that first step, I have found, is the most important one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have almost the same ottoman. Great minds, and all.

    ReplyDelete

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