Our New Home: A Lesson in Storage.

I love our new place. We have been here for just over a week and it has been great! Have there been a few bumps along the way? Of course. Luckily Alex and I have been together long enough to problem solve without completely wanting to kill each other (most of the time!).

One of the biggest things we have struggled with is storage. We have one closet in our whole place, and it is in the bedroom. To top it off, that closet isn't even quite full sized, so we have had to be a little bit creative as far as finding places for things that would otherwise go in a closet.

We are lucky that in our laundry room we have a few shelves above our washer and dryer that we can use for seasonal stuff like our Christmas tree and camping gear.  We are also lucky that we have two shevles above the rod in our closet that have been useful for storing a few extra big things that can't hide in plain sight!

Living Room:

When we first started looking for a place, we didn't really know exactly how big or small our place would be, so we started to refinish a small table we planned on using as a coffee table. Once we found our place and bought the rest of our furniture, we realized it was going to look small and ridiculous in the space, so we had to improvise. This actually turned out to be a good thing, as we started to look at multi-use coffee tables. Coffee tables are stupidly expensive for being a piece of wood with legs, so we went on craigslist and found our very nice storage coffee table for 20$!

This has probably been the best thing we bought for 20$ or less. Does it have a few scratches on it? Yes. Does it matter? Not really. At the moment it holds all our games and a few random things that we didn't really have a logical home for, but the storage space is huge and we can always move stuff around and use it for various things in the future! PLUS when one of our friends (or one of us) accidentally scratches the thing, it's not a murder worthy event.

Storage Score: Kyleigh - 1 New Place - 0

Bedroom:

Because we only have one closet and it is in our bedroom and being used for several things other than clothing, we had to be a bit creative in our bedroom as well. Actually, not really creative but we had to compromise on something that we didn't have before. When Alex had the bed at his house he had it boxsprings on the ground, which was fine until I realized we were going to need under-bed storage for some rolling bins I had, plus a few other things like wrapping paper. Alex was not very enthused by this idea as the bed frame brings the bed up about another 6" (which for someone as short as me equates to quite a bit of extra height) but we gave it a try and it is actually working out quite well. The bed is obviously higher than we are use to, but we'll get over it, and it gave us a king size bed's worth of storage!

Storage Score: Kyleigh - 2 New Place - 0 (Alex - 1/2 because he didn't want to do it but did it anyway)

Kitchen:

One of the other unique challenges we have had to face is that we have no upper cabinets in our kitchen. We have four beautiful windows that look out onto our backyard, but as far as enough cupboard space for not only pots, plates and cups, we had to reserve a couple of cupboards for pantry space too.

Needless to say our counter is a little full, but not overly cluttered (I'd like to think anyway). I found some neat countertop shelves at the dollar store that I might go back and get if I find that the counter seems too busy, but it's tolerable for now.

What I did find useful at the dollar store today were stack-able shelves to put in the cupboard for canned goods. Those damn cans take up so much space! I also used a few containers that I had laying around to organize my spice refills and bags of pasta that were floating around in there... I still have some organizing to do, but it's definitely getting easier to find the things I need!

Storage Score: Kyleigh - 3 New Place - 0

For the moment I am winning the storage war... whether I will continue to win it or not is a difficult question, but I'm up for the challenge!

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh.

Our New Home: T-minus 1 day!

This whole week has been a blur of packing, unpacking, moving boxes, loading and unloading cars and having the most sore shoulders I have ever had, but finally the day is almost here! Tomorrow night all of our furniture will be in our new place and we will have officially moved in. 

I'm not 100% sure where this last month went... I can't believe it's already June 1st this weekend. I'm excited and tired and not looking forward to trying to get settled in, but we have lots of time to get everything right where we want it. 

I can't wait to spend the summer out in the sunshine on our patio with friends and family and enjoy our living space that we've really created from scratch! We still have a few things to buy to finish everything up, but we are definitely close to having everything just as we want it. 

It can't wait for you all to see it! :) 

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh. 

Our New Home: Keys!!

I have been waiting almost 3 weeks to write this post! Yesterday we went up to our new place, signed some rental agreements and GOT OUR KEYS! 

I'm so excited. This is actually the sign that this is real... As if all the boxes and the excessive spending of money wasn't already making it real. If I could frame these keys I would... Except I need them to get into the place so that's probably not a good idea.

We measured and re measured, took some pictures and tried to visualize our new home... It's coming up really fast and we are able to start moving in boxes next week! 

I'm so stoked to move and I can't wait until we are moved in and I can post about something other than packing! 

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh. 

Our New Home: Packing and Pinterest

I've moved many times in my life and packing is not even remotely fun any of the times you have to do it. I'm throwing out as much stuff as possible so I don't have to pack it... It's not really working. 

What I have discovered is that when you're stumped on the best way to pack something, pinterest is rampant with ideas!

I have loved Pinterest for several years, it is especially useful for planning my imaginary wedding, finding awesome DIY projects I'm far too uncoordinated to actually do, and looking at delicious food I'm too lazy to make... But it has actually been super useful for planning my packing! 

I honestly have never packed up by myself before... All the times I've moved in the past I've moved with my mom so I really had no idea where to start. What I did find on Pinterest is somewhat of a schedule that helps sort out what you can pack and survive without for several weeks or only several days. I've been trying to follow the rough schedule... But I have about a months worth of packing to do in 2 weeks so it hasn't been going well. 

I also found some handy tips about the best way to label everything so boxes don't end up in the wrong rooms, and something I never thought of that most people call "Box #1".

Box #1 is pretty much one of the most useful things I've read about in my search for efficient packing. It's basically a box that you label "open first" and it's the essentials to get you through the first night/day before you can get to unpacking all the boxes scattered around. A lot of people pack an overnight type bag with clothes and toiletries, but I didn't really think about other things required for the first night! Most people include the following in Box #1:

Cleaning supplies

Paper plates, cups and napkins

Toilet paper

A shower curtain to shower after a hard day of moving

A couple of towels 

Sheets/bedding 

Cables, remotes and chargers (although phone chargers should probably stay out of boxes and be in purses)

A utility knife for opening boxes

Pens and sharpies 

Pet supplies (if required) 

Honestly, a lot of these things seem super straight forward, but I'm the kind of person who would most likely pack these all in separate boxes without a clue where I put them. 

We are lucky however that we can move boxes slowly, so we shouldn't have too many problems keeping things organized! 

I can't wait to post about getting our keys... Any day now! :)

Blog, and be happy! (And happy long weekend!) 

Kyleigh. 

Our New Home: Furniture shopping.

So... Furniture shopping sucks. 

Well let me clarify, I actually find it kind of fun to go around and sit on different couches and see if I could imagine important things in my life happening on that couch. Really, where else do you live more than your living room? The reality of it is, furniture shopping on a budget for a home that isn't your 'forever home' is pretty exhausting. 

Alex and I definitely have different ideas about what we should have as far as furniture, and how we should lay it out. 

I am the practical type. I like something cozy, something I can snuggle up on, read a book, watch tv, take a nap now and again. I'm not very big so I don't need a 14ft couch... I like things not huge, clean and reasonable. Our suite is big but it's not a mansion... I'm looking at furniture that would be movable to other places we may live in the future.  Example:

Alex is the go big or go home type. He literally likes only the biggest, most ridiculous sectionals in the store because he is a lounger and loves to have as much room as possible to lay across the whole room.   Example: 

You can see why furniture shopping is a challenge. 

We definitely don't see eye to eye on a lot of the stuff we are looking at. We also don't have a 5000$ budget for furnishings either... Trying to keep the shopping at a reasonable price point is also a challenge. Have you been furniture shopping lately? Who knew an ottoman was 400$! 

As we are looking around, we also came to the realization we don't actually know the dimensions of our new home, and that's really thrown us for a loop. Funiture is usually about 3-4 weeks away, and we move in 3 weeks... We can't really wait until the long weekend when we get the keys to measure and decide then! We did some guesstimate work last night and so we hope we can get something that will make us both happy.

Who knew couch shopping was such a chore? 

Blog, and be happy,

Kyleigh. 

Our New Home!

So... I'm sitting here with food poisoning on my day off, watching Dexter and I thought I would write a quick post about some changes in my life... it's been like 6 months since I really sat down and felt the desire to blog about something, but I'm pretty excited so today seems like as good a day as any to write a post!

As most of you probably know already, Alex and I are moving in together! After 4 years we pretty much decided that now was a good time.. so as of June 1st we will be moving up to Westwood Plateau in a beautiful basement suite we just knew we had to have the minute we saw it! The fact that we got it is a whole other thing... We've liked suites before and they have gone to other people but I am SO excited to not have to search Craigslist every other hour looking for new postings... That part of the stress of moving is finally over!

Here are a couple photos to give you an idea of why we are so excited!

The big living room and the door to the bedroom!

The massive kitchen that faces out to our own private little lawn area and patio.

        We actually have two little patio areas outside which will be awesome for the summer.  Maybe we will actually try to have a couple plants around even though I have a super brown thumb and I kill absolutely every plant I come near. It's worth a shot... right? I'm also so looking forward to having people over for dinners or game nights... it'll be so cool to actually have people over instead of always being the ones going over for a change!

So we left the security deposit yesterday, and we get the keys on the Victoria Day long weekend! I'm super excited... but now comes the difficult part.

We need to buy a LOT of furniture. Well... not a lot.. but we don't have a couch and so that now becomes priority #1. We also need kitchen stuff... probably a coat closet of some kinds as there are hardly any closets... probably a rug or two... some side tables....

The list goes on, so the next 3 weekends will probably be spent at Ikea, various other furniture stores... hopefully it will be more fun than stressful, but I'm looking forward to picking out some stuff together and building our little home!

Anyway... I feel absolutely horrible so I'll stop here. I look forward to various new home updates as moving is probably going to take over the next 4-6 weeks of my life!

Blog, and be happy!

Kyleigh. 

10 Reasons Why I Love Autumn.

So obviously it's fall. It's pouring rain, i don't want to get out of bed and face the storm quite yet, so what better way to start off the season than a quick blog post? 

I spent yesterday, or the first day of fall, mostly sleeping, cuddled up watching football and being lazy and cozy. Sunday is my only weekend day off usually, so I usually like to do something, be busy, but not yesterday! 

So, here are my top ten reasons to love autumn... Just because! :) 

10. Cooler Weather.

If you know me at all, you know that I am pretty much a walking furnace. I am ALWAYS hot. It is something that I've always been, which means that summer generally isn't my best time of year for sleeping or being a functioning member of society. I love summer for the sunshine of course, but when it's in the 30+ I am just about as uncomfortable as I can get. So, cooler weather is definitely a welcome sight for me! I love a cool breeze in the morning, so I'm excited for the cool crisp days of fall!

9. Soup.

Along with cooler weather comes my ability to eat one of my FAVOURITE foods ever. Soup.
Soup is pretty much the best creation on earth. It's warm, it's filling, it's comfort food to the core, and it's cheap and easy to make and have for leftovers for the rest of the week! When I can start pulling out my soup recipes, I know it's fall, and I think they'll be making their way out of the recipe binder pretty soon.

8. Scarves.

I probably own about 35 scarves. That is not an exaggeration at all... I literally own about 35 scarves. Needless to say, cooler weather brings about my scarf collection getting some use, and I love it!

7. Crochet.

One of my favourite rainy day activities is to sit down and crochet a blanket, a scarf... anything really! When the weather is too hot, dealing with lots of yarn all over the place isn't exactly enjoyable, so with autumn comes one of my favourite pass-times! I don't know why I love to do it so much, but it's kind of one of those mindless things you can do while watching TV or before you go to bed. I find it SUPER relaxing, and after a crazy day at the salon sometimes all I want to do is relax!

6. Jeans.

Jeans are my wardrobe staple. I wear jeans until I wear holes into them, so in the summer when it is so hot I have to find other things to wear... and I don't like it! Being able to bring out my jeans and not feel like I'm going to cook to death is always nice!

5. New TV shows.

Okay seriously, who doesn't love this about fall? As much as I like the summer, there is nothing worse than waiting 2-3 months to find out what happens after a crazy cliffhanger season finale! As much as I hate to admit it, I watch a lot of TV, so new episodes and new series to watch always make me happy... especially when the weather isn't so nice!

4. Apple Picking.

Last year Alex and I went apple picking and it quickly became one of my favourite things to do in the fall! We love apples, and right around thanksgiving is such a great time to go with the need for apple pies! =) It's a super fun sunny fall day activity, and I'm counting the weekends until we can go!

3. Pumpkins.

At the very top of my fun fall activities list is the pumpkin patch. Alex and I carve pumpkins every year, and we love to go and pick our own out at the local pumpkin patch. It's a fun and inexpensive activity, and it should be on everyone's fun activities for fall list!

2. Hockey.

Beleive it or not, hockey ISN'T my favourite thing about fall... although it comes in at a pretty close second. When hockey season starts I know it's fall, and I'm so excited. The way that people feel about the NFL football season starting... that is how I feel about hockey season. I could probably watch it day in and day out.... maybe I should have been a hockey analyst....

1. Leaves.

My number one favourite thing about fall is the leaves, and we have so many trees in Vancouver we are SO lucky. They are so bright and colourful... they always look beautiful, and who doesn't like jumping on a few crunchy ones now and again? I would say leaves are the number one reason I want to get married in October, the reason why I love going out for walks in the evening, and definitely my favourite fall thing to take pictures of. As much as I hate to see the green die... if it is going to die at least it happens beautifully!

I hope you all had a lazy and relaxing first day of autumn like I did, and that maybe you find one or two things on my list that make saying goodbye to summer an okay thing! 

Enjoy your first week of autumn! :) 

Blog, and be happy, 

Kyleigh.