Loft living is agreeing with us! We’ve been living in our lofted apartment for almost four months, and our family is absolutely loving it! It was a big change to go from our castle on two acres to living in less than 1,000 sq ft and no yard. Throw in a global pandemic and remote learning at home for three young kiddos and you’ve got the ultimate test for a new living space. But I am happy to report that loft living is perfect for our family during this phase in life!
We are currently living in an apartment above another business just a few doors down from my shop. It is incredibly convenient to walk back and forth between my small business and our home throughout the day. The amount of time we are saving both on my commute to work and my husband’s is fantastic! And even more important is the amount of mental energy that I no longer have to expend trying to think through everything I need for the day. Before, when we were living in the castle, I had to think about everything I would need both for my work day and whatever plans we had scheduled for the evening. I tend to work best at night, so at the end of the work day I’d pack up all my work gear so that I could get some things done at home after the kids were in bed. The seatbelt sensor on the passenger seat of our vehicle was always blinking at me because the pile of stuff I was carting back and forth weighed so much the car assumed there was a person sitting next to me and the sensor really wanted that pile buckled up! Inevitably I would forget something which was always so frustrating. Women, especially moms with young kids, understand this struggle. The mental energy of keeping up with everything was draining. Now if I need something I just walk around the corner. It takes less than a minute, and it is life changing! I don’t have to carry everything with me and plan for every possible scenario!
Having a much smaller space means we only have what we need. We store certain seasonal items and sentimental pieces above my shop. Cleaning up the loft is fast because there isn’t very much stuff in it. And even though our home is technically an apartment, it is not part of a bigger complex, so we don’t have to worry about neighbors living on the other side of the wall. My kids can fight as loud as they want (and they do) without me having to worry about their noise bothering anyone but me. It would feel very different if we had other people living in close proximity to us, and we are lucky that our apartment actually feels more like living in a free-standing house.
I’ve kept the décor to a minimum and everything has to be functional as well as pretty. When we were preparing to move, I took detailed measurements of the entire apartment and sketched out the floor plan on graph paper. Then I determined what pieces of our furniture would fit, which ones we wanted to store for the future, and which pieces we could sell or give away. The wonderful thing about my shop is that I have connections to really talented furniture vendors who can repurpose and restore furniture, so I was able to find the perfect pieces for our new space, which is a huge reason why our new home is working so well for all five of us! I scoured Facebook Marketplace and found an entertainment center that fits in a little nook and it looks like a built-in wall of shelving. Our sectional couch was the floor model, so we got it for a great price. And one of my super talented vendors painted both our entertainment center and the blue marble topped dresser that serves as both an end table in our living room and holds my clothes. She also created our long dining table out of an old barn door and salvaged table legs. And she created a beautiful bench out of an old headboard. I absolutely love how these one-of-a-kind pieces add such character and functionality to our home!
Because our apartment is in a late 1800’s brick building it has gloriously tall ceilings with original pressed tin tiles and eight-foot-tall windows! The space feels much bigger because of all the natural sunlight that comes pouring in through the windows. And even though we live right in the center of our small town, we are so high up that our views out the windows are of the tree tops and sky. Nature makes me happy. At least, looking at nature makes me happy. In reality I sunburn easily and get eaten alive by bugs, but I absolutely love how peaceful it is to look out of our apartment windows!
Living right in the middle of our small town means we can walk to so many things. We walk to the post office, the library, the park with a wonderful bike trail, the bank, and locally owned restaurants and shops. And we don’t have to worry about the upkeep of a yard. My husband’s work schedule is very demanding and I’m working at the shop and caring for our kiddos, so it is nice to not have to spend the little time that my husband is home doing yard work.
The pressed tin ceiling is gorgeous!
The most wonderful people own the building we are renting and have become our friends. This small town has truly embraced our family and our business, and we love living here. I drove past our old home today for the first time since we moved, and it looked beautiful. I am so happy for the new family that lives there and am grateful that they are taking such good care of it. They truly appreciate all the things that make it unique and special. I had wondered what it would feel like to see the castle again, and I am relieved that the feeling was purely positive. We were happy living in our castle and we are happy now living in our loft. And for that, I am deeply grateful.
Thank you for following along with us on our journey!
Have a beautiful day!
Sandy
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