An ode to the two-bedroom apartment

 (a hodge podge of things on the mantle.  Hopefully it will be gorgeous one day, but for now, I am glad to have some family pictures and a little bit of Fall decor in our apartment.)

You might remember that earlier this year, we moved out of a 715 sq. ft, one-bedroom apartment (here are a few photos of it).  I liked that apartment, and found it to be comfortable and somewhat spacious.  I loved having Fox close by when he was and infant and nursing, and the feeling of saving hundreds of dollars a month on rent and utilities (literally).

That apartment also had the perk of being about a 3 minute walk from Janssen and her family, which was the main reason why we moved there (then Janssen moved away about 2 years later, which I still haven't gotten over; they were so great to live close to).

(This bench was probably meant to live under this window.)

But last week, after 5 years in the one-bedroom, we moved into a new apartment and I must say, I love it.  It is a two-bedroom apartment that square footage-wise, is actually not that much bigger than our former one-bedroom apartment (715 sq. ft vs. 850 sq. ft), but it feels much bigger, because of the way the space is divided up.

Instead of one giant room that serves as a pantry, kitchen, entry, dining room, living room, and office (really, we used the big room for every one of those purposes), we now have a lovely entryway, an dining area off to the side, a small galley-type kitchen, two balconies, two bathrooms, and two small bedrooms.

(This kitchen is really a step up from our last kitchen which was basically a cave; I love the white counter tops and fake wood floors. ) 

Finding places for our furniture has been pretty interesting, because most of the furniture we have was purchased specifically to go in our old space, so some of it doesn't fit here (mostly my long ikea desk), but oh my goodness, I love this apartment!

I also love that the spaces are small and a little more separate, and that just a few pieces of furniture can make them feel comfortable and just the right amount of full.  We have to get a few extra pieces of furniture to make the living room look the way I want it to look, but overall, it is such a comfortable and user-friendly apartment.  Also, I feel like it is much easier to keep this space clean!

In our last apartment, I felt like it was a constant struggle to keep the countertops clean and the living room free from clutter, and in this space, it is so much easier!  I am actually also making a very conscious effort to put things away and clean surfaces regularly, but even still, this space feels much easier to keep clean (maybe partially because Fox has his own room where toys and books can live).

(No art on the walls yet, but hopefully we will get something up in a few days.)

A few days ago, Janssen posted about how sometimes not feeling like you are not very good at keep your house clean might be because you are stuffed into too small a space.  I have thought about that since reading it, and I think I agree with it, despite wanting to live in a pretty small space.  Maybe you can't keep your space clean because you don't have a place for everything.  Whether that means you need to get rid of stuff or you need to move to a larger space is up to you.  Or maybe it means a bit of both.

While I am still an advocate of trying to make the space work, I think that there can be a time and place to move to a larger space to accommodate the needs of your family.  That was where we were at.  We were ready for a slightly larger space, and I am finding it easy to keep things tidy now that there is a spot for just about everything.  Hooray!

More to come on the decorating front!  Happy Friday!