2 Midnights gone, 2 Midnights Gone!
Ok, the move has occurred! We have now spent two nights in the Offenburg apartment and I must admit, this is one gorgeous locale. Check out the sunset we watched from our kitchen last night:
Amusingly, when I expressed appreciation of the view to Sanja and Herr Sachs on the day of our tour, she felt the need to explain that the reason we were so impressed was that we were from California, so anything that wasn't desert was exotic! She wasn't wrong. But, I was struck that they all considered this just to be sort of an average sort of thing to see out of one's apartment windows.
At roughly 1100 sqft, this is easily the smallest place David and I have lived since we have been married. And it is the smallest place the kids have
ever lived. It is also, realistically, about as large a place as we can afford right now. But, in a lot of ways, this apartment is nicer than anywhere I have ever stayed long-term. Whirlpool 2-seater tub? Never had that before! Kitchen with well-designed cupboards including built-in lazy-Susan designs and a fridge with an alarm to tell us when it is ajar for too long? Yeah, that is new for me, too.
Also, for the time being
all of our furniture is brand new. Ok, it is Ikea & Friends level stuff, a lot of which is laminated press-board. But, with the exception of the couch, we can honestly say we built it all with our own eight hands! And, given that we don't really need it to last more than a few years, perhaps laminated press-board will work just fine for our current situation. It is surprisingly sturdy and well-engineered laminated press-board furniture at least! I keep returning to the college analogy. We are here to learn and explore for a while. We don't have to put down roots right away. If they grow, great. If not, well, we intend to have a lot of wonderful experiences to carry with us as we go forward. Our home environment needs to be functional and pleasant, but not, necessarily, meant to last for generations. So, here is our current living situation:
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| New table & benches- DS, DD & I built that! |
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| Homier with a rug and a smile |
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| DD built the coat rack by herself |
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| Ah, where I like to be! I built the desk and chair with help from DH and DS |
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| Also built the other chair and 2 bookshelves like the one at left |
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| Ikea Guys built the couch |
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| Well engineered storage |
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| Restful bed |
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| Less-restful bed! |
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| I built this, too! |
Germany = The Land of No Built-in Closets. So, things like this are actually Really Important until you can afford the large wall-sized wardrobes that are sold at most of the furniture stores.
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| TV-cabinet. No instructions. DOH! |
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| This is what we were trying to build |
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| I think I look like Grandma Herweck here. |
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| Adding Wheels |
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| Finis |
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| Of course... *Now* we find directions! But, we did pretty well, really |
In our defense, the delivery guy put it down *on* the side that had the directions and the box was so heavy we couldn't turn it! Every other piece of furniture we made had instructions IN the box! Yeesh!
And just because-
More random Whimsical Art photos from Offenburg:
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| Get it? He is 'Dog Tired' |
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| Your guess is as good as mine! |
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| DD noticed the skeleton climbing this apothecary! (click to enlarge) |
I currently have two book shelves that are laminated press boards that were in my bedroom 30 years ago. They can actually last for quite awhile. Perhaps not the prettiest things in the world, but functional anyway :).
ReplyDeleteThat must be some well-cared for press board :) Actually, before the move we just got rid of some non-laminated press-board boxes/bookshelves that my family had had from when I was little- probably 35 years old and doing fine. Well, not "fine" like "fine dining" or "fine art", but "fine" like, yeah, I could still get some use out of that, and another coat of paint would probably make it downright cheerfully utile once again!
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