Friday, October 9, 2015

The New Apartment

Our favorite places to play are on the bed and in the closet. :)

 I have been hesitant to take photos, let alone POST photos of our new apartment, because it's been so challenging to get it in order.   We like it a lot, and are happy with everything, but just have too many books, trinkets, memorabilia, photos and pictures to really make it how we want it yet.

But it's close, so I'll give you a tour/update on our current living situation.

Walking in the front door, to the left, you see this hallway towards the children's room.
 The kids sleep here together.


They have a small closet filled to capacity with storage.  
Most of their clothes are in the front hallway so that they can dressed for bed and get ready in the morning without waking the baby.



The kids' bathroom.



 Here's our front door with mondo IKEA shelf om the entry that has all the kids' current seasonal clothing, a drawer for each day of the week + PJs.  Cora just has hers separated shirts, pants, dresses and pjs, because she only gets 4 drawers.  Everyone has a shoe cubby underneath, and up high we have a cubbie for Legos and winter stuff (hats, gloves, scarfs, etc.)


This is the kitchen/dining area with a little section in the back of the kitchen for laundry.


 Moving into the apartment in America was a LOT easier than moving-in in Germany.  Kitchen (complete with cupboards, fridge, oven, range and microwave), lights, carpet, closets, washer and drier.....all included and installed!  So convenient!



 One thing I love is that is so easy to keep up on laundry with the washer and drier by the kitchen.  I used to have to go to the basement in Germany.  Two flights of stairs up and down, and my machines took 3 hours to completely wash and dry ONE small load.


The washer takes only 30 Minutes  (as opposed to the speed cycle on my last machine, 1 hr 20 min)

The drier only takes 45 minutes to an hour.  (My last drier would run 70 Minutes maximum, and the clothes would be wet, and i'd have to start it again and run it another 45 Minutes.)


 Hopefully the photos of living room will be "before" pictures, because I'd really like it to be much more welcoming and simple looking than it does currently.  It's a jumble of stuff that is up out of the way on bookshelves for now, but a complete chaotic mess.

Once I think out the stuff on the bookshelf, it will look nicer, and I may get doors for the white bookshelves too perhaps.  Any other suggestions my decoration experts?

 The Master bedroom


 Just enough room for our King bed and dresser, and to walk around it.  




 The walk-in closet is really nice.  We were so happy to move into this apartment and have closets, shelves, some lights, a kitchen, a washer and drier......such a huge difference to the bare apartments rented in Germany.


And the smaller bathroom (master).
The kids have LOVED having a bathtub.  Cora loves to take a bath, just for fun.
Having two is unnecessary, but nice!

We miss many things about our wonderful apartment in Germany (The garden views, charming old building, high ceilings, large rooms and the best neighbors ever), but we are enjoying some new conveniences as well (easy move-in, appliances readily installed, new washing machine, ground floor living, and bathtubs)

All in all, very happy with our situation, glad that Scott is enjoying work, that the kids LOVE their school and classes, and all the wonderful people we are meeting in the neighborhood, church and community.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!   Love, the Stapletons

4 comments:

Blogful said...

I can't believe how organized and perfect it looks already! Good work.

I have two bits to share: Books. I've decided that books look messy. I used to visit other people's homes and think, "Wow. So tidy and clean and organized. Why doesn't my house look like that?" And then one day I realized it's because I have a bookshelf in every room of the house and there just isn't really any way to make them look tidy. (I like books to be near neighboring topics, not organized by size/color) So enjoy the disorganized look of books. It means your children will be smart and healthy. And good for you for putting them out in the front/living area. I knew a friend who kept all the books in her kids' rooms on the top shelf in the closet only to be taken down on special occasions. Wha??

Blogful said...

PS: I like all the mobiles

Scott said...

It was weird taking them all out of boxes: many didn't survive and most I just didn't like anymore. But the survivors got hung up anyway.

Katie said...

Thanks Cari! Yes - we want the books to get USED....and then donated. :) haha. Not all, but definitely some of them can be enjoyed and then sent away. But not stored. I don't want to store books any more!