Loving my small apartment

Living in a 950 square foot apartment has its challenges, but we I prefer this space to our former 1200 square foot condo. We rent the lower apartment of a two-story house and share a big driveway and two-car garage. The woman upstairs is very quiet, we sometimes forget that she is upstairs.

The best part of our apartment,

1. LOTS of outdoor space for Anthony to run around. Before we only really had a parking lot, small grass patch and a beaten down playground. Now he can ride his tricycle in the driveway, play catch with daddy, draw with sidewalk chalk, and find worms (which he is currently obsessed with).

pretending he is "Mike the Knight"

pretending the sticks are worms and crawling on his bench

shared driveway looking out to street

lawn on other side of house

2. We have a washer and dryer, after tens years of having to go up and down stairs and into another building, we FINALLY have our own washer and dryer. This alone made the apartment a must have for us. It's in a small closet without room to organize around it, but I LOVE IT. LOVE IT. We just throw clothes, sheets and towels into the washing machine and when it fills up we run the wash. No, I don't separate. After hauling laundry up and down for ten years we didn't have the time to separate. Everything gets washed together, then we hang up the dedicates and dry the regular clothes. Having the washer and dryer is in the bedroom, putting away laundry is a breeze.

3.  I love that I can sit on the couch and watch him play in his room while I clip coupons and watch TV.  Or, when I'm cooking in the kitchen I can see him in the living room. Dinosaur loves that he can see me too, gives him a sense of security.While our condo had more indoor space, he could never see me from his bedroom and I think that is why he ended up always playing in the living room.  

Can you spot Dinosaur in the living room?

This doesn't mean that dinosaur's toys haven't taken over the living room. They are all over the place, but he enjoys spending more time in his room now that he can see me.

The toys somehow crawl out of his room and onto my couches.

even with all those cars, he knows if one is missing

couch cover ripped off and turned into magical hideaway for cars.

Apartment Therapy has given me inspiration on how to utilize and love living in a small space. There are great ideas on organizing, space saving, and keeping kids happy in a small space.


Now, hubby has had the hardest time adjusting to the smaller space, but he is the glass as half empty kind of guy. Basically he's a pack rat and will keep things he no longer needs just to have them. Most of the items in our basement and our side of the garage are his. I made him throw a ton of stuff out, but he still has more than me. Future Thursday posts I'll show you how much more closet space he has than me and all the kitchen appliances he has but doesn't use.

So, what do you love about your space, whether it's too big, too small, or just right.

Mommy Cleaning Schedule

Over the years I have seen several sites that offer strategies and cleaning routines. Me being me, I need to always create my own that caters to MY needs. Therefore, I created my own easy to use cleaning schedule. I like to do two/three things a day (besides the needed daily routines like washing dishes and tidying up).

So my cleaning schedule is below. I have laminated it and keep it next to my door in my small kitchen. I check off each task I complete and when it's filled up I erase and start over.

I adjusted it for our new apartment, since our 1200sq foot condo had more space to cover. Though, 950sq feet is harder to clean, because one thing out of place makes the entire space look messy.

I have a crazy three year old dinosaur and by no means expect things to be REALLY tidy. Life with my guy has taught me to just let it be. He WILL break the curtain rod, he WILL break the wicker basket, he WILL break the plexiglass cover over the screen door.

I teach him to clean up after himself and so that he feels better about hsi space. If it's messy he will feel messy too. It seems to help, he can find his toys and relaxes in organization.