Make it Work

As of tomorrow, I have one month left at my job. Naturally, that kind of foreseeable end date leads to daydreaming. Lots of daydreaming. To dissuade myself from the morose "but I don't want a new goldfish" outlook moving is bringing out in me, I'm trying to get excited about pairing down what I own and decorating a new space.

Gorgeous gothic/Victorian-inspired armoire I spotted here on Apartment Therapy.

What does this mean for me? Spending more time on Apartment Therapy than any normal person cares to, field trips to Ikea, and possibly a major garage sale (for which I don't have a personal garage and would gladly accept any offers). I'm especially interested in small space storage solutions because I'll only be allotted one coat closet in my new sublet. For my clothes, I'd like to fit everything into a wardrobe or underneath my bed. I don't have any ideas for non-clothing items, but my goal is to have a living space that doesn't look like a cluttered dorm room.

Some make it work with even less than what I'll have though. I'll leave you with this awesome food for thought in the form of a simply chic 125 square ft studio I found on Apartment Therapy.


Action Jackson out.

Minimalist Me

Above is a photograph I came across while perusing The Everyday Minimalist. It's a snap of Steve Jobs at home in 1982, presumably pictured with most or all of his possessions at the time. TEM paired it with the tagline quote from SJ, "All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that's what I had."

So, why am I suddenly turning my attention to minimalism? I'm fairly certain this isn't new knowledge to anyone who reads this blog regularly/knows me in real life, but if it is, I'm moving to NYC in August for grad school. And while I have moved within Austin every year for the past seven years, I've never made a cross-country move.

It should come as no surprise that moving hundreds/thousands of miles alone is not glamorous (yes, even to NYC) and is instead incredibly laborious. However, I genuinely had not thought about how I would move my cat, desktop and laptop, jewelry supplies, musical instruments, and any essential odds and ends until I visited the City last weekend. The reality of the move didn't sink in until it came time to find a place to live in a city I've only visited a few times.

For the fall semester, I'll be living in a furnished sublet that's a 20 minute walk from NYU. And while the unit itself is nothing to sneeze at (silestone counters, hardwood floors, and a clean bathroom and kitchen), it isn't my gorgeous, spacious, brand spankin new Austin apartment. Oh, and I'll be sharing one bathroom with three other girls in the sublet. If that's not a premise for a sitcom, I don't know what is.

As inane and superficial as it sounds, I'm pretty broken up about the prospect of leaving behind a lovely home I share with my boyfriend and most of my possessions (leaving behind my friends has not set in and I'm convinced that when it does, I will have a meltdown, guaranteed). I am by no means a minimalist, I hoard more than I care to admit, and until airlines started charging for checked baggage, I did not pack lightly.

This all leads me to the question, how will I make it work? I've considered shipping everything ground and taking the delicates with me on the plane (including a sedated cat), renting a car in Austin and packing up the essentials, and my dad's favorite solution (which I consider a horrible idea bound to be laden with problems) of hiring movers.

Currently, everything is up in the air except my last day at work and the date I need to be in New York. I have a little over seven weeks to figure everything out and determine what I really truly NEED to bring with me. If you happen to see me in the meantime, any advice is much appreciated.

Action Jackson out.

Apartment Therapy for Me

As a few of you know, I will be moving in a little less than a month. I am both excited and terrified ala Jessie Spano. I've been spending a generous amounts of time on Apartment Therapy, Ikea, and various design blogs as a kind of pep talk because I'd be kidding to say moving isn't daunting. The excitement is undeniable as I will be leaving behind an apartment complex where the management company has received 10 1-star ratings on Yelp, a 20ft aluminum drain pipe has fallen on my boyfriend, and my fridge was left broken for a week (among many other mishaps).

At the same time that I'm sad not to call Hyde Park home anymore, part of me feels like moving can't start soon enough because I will be living here next year. I'm sure granite countertops, lap pools, and stainless steel appliances might make some of you cringe, but I draw the line for dingy apartments being fun and boho chic when they have a side effect of concussive damage. Hopefully, newer will equate to better in my spiffy soon-to-be digs, and maybe I'll be lucky enough to be surrounded by tenants who work (as opposed to UT students).
Perhaps excitement and terror are like love and marriage (you can't have one without the other?)...or perhaps it's just that way for me and every self-proclaimed member of Neurotics Anonymous. I've moved once a year for the past five years, and moving has only become harder with each year- progressively dwindling numbers for able-bodied people to help move and ever-growing mounds of stuff in my apartment couldn't amount to moving being easier.

My beau and I will be moving in together in a little over a month, which means meshing the odds and ends of our possessions together and seeing if the sum is greater than all the parts. My current roomie and I have lived together for the past five years, and I'm dreading finding out how much of the kitchen wares are hers (I'm guessing a lot).








Add downsizing square footage and trying to make a space that is less college/post-college aesthetics on a budget and more adult (definitely for lack of a better word), and you have one seriously stressed neurotic. Not only are the furniture and decor pieces I'm lusting after out of the budget (when added up), but it's completely impractical to try to plan how they'd fit into the new space before I'm there. This is something that my plan everything months in advance self is not liking and will just have to come terms with.

In the meantime, I'm trying to decide whether or not to get movers (which are not an appetizing item for my budget), when to pack, how many days off from work I should take for the move (moving in one weekend's time last year was not the fun times), how to get the number of boxes I need, how to budget for deposit and misc. costs, how to arrange to get a couch from Ft Worth to here, a solution for washer and dryer (we have connections in the new place, but who can afford those), etc.

When I'm not thinking about that, I'm dreaming of having my own workspace for jewelry and trading in my plastic dilapidated rolling cart for efficient functioning organization pieces...and also the fact that the complex will paint two walls for us (gray is the winner for an accent in the living room and bedroom). So, it's not all bad- just a mind bender for the next month. Part of me is desperately trying to push it out of my mind and think about when I'll use my vacation days (I've got 14 built up, but who's counting?). What's your experience with downgrading in size? Designing for a grown up space? Movers vs. no movers?

Action Jackson out.

Currently Listening: Debut by Bjork, Blind by The Sundays