Thursday, June 9, 2011

thursday's ten: apartment hunting edition

 ohhhh, this weekend will be fun
and i actually mean that :-)
although we will be exhausted to be sure

we're heading out saturday to begin apartment hunting
we have a comprehensive list
with amenities of each unit, community, and special features
and the price range of each place

and we're organizing all of them in order of our "on paper...er, spreadsheet" preferences

we've been SHOCKED that in our price range there are actually some really nice (we hope!) places out there
and since we feel like we have options
i thought i'd put a little wishlist out there :-)

now, we may find the PERFECT place that's missing one or more of these elements
but as of right now...here's the list.  at least from my end :-)



1.  outdoor space.  i need a place to sit outside, a spot to grow things in, even if it's patio tomatoes.  i can get creative with a raised bed on an apartment balcony if i need to :-)  ideally our hammock would fit, but that's not a necessity.  i'm pretty sure we could "loan" it to someone in a spot where we could use it ourselves as well :-)
2.  a decent sized kitchen, or at least one with enough cabinet and counter space.  since we both love good food and cooking, and i LOVE entertaining, this is actually pretty crucial.  we'd love to at least have one that opens out into an adjacent space so that it doesn't feel completely closed off!
3.  washer/dryer connections.  i already have a w/d, so there's NO reason we should have to pay for laundry somewhere.
4.  an extra little closet (or in a perfect world a big enough utility area...and we've actually found a couple of floor plans that have that IN our price range!) so that we can stash emi's litterbox away from main traffic flow.
5.  space.  we're looking for the largest square footage in a decent layout for the money.  and we've been encouraged so far!  we're hoping to not have to rent any more storage facilities than i already have!  since we're planning on selling a fair amount of our furniture, that should be doable.
6.  stairs.  emi would be lost without them :-)  and i feel like if we could get a townhouse we would FEEL like we had more privacy, ya know?
(this is obviously the one on the list that is the lowest priority.  but seriously.  we've found a few options that as long as we like the community would be GREAT)
7.  a bathtub.  oh, how i miss taking a nice long hot bath every now and then.  i have a fantastic shower where i am...but i miss.my.tub!
(thankfully that one's pretty standard, but i still want to include it.  because i miss it that much.  ha!)
8.  light.  at least big windows, even if they are few.  i can't stand to feel like i'm in a dark cave, so i'd like as much natural light as possible. 
9.  a 2nd bedroom to be used for girls nights, guest room and office.  i have been told that i get to choose the decor all by myself if we end up getting an apartment with 2 bedrooms, and believe me ladies and gentlemen...i have a PLAN.
10. a walk in closet.  ok, so this is on my list and i seriously doubt that anthony has even considered it.  but in looking at floor plans, most of them actually have walk-ins, so...why not? :-)

every place we've looked at has the good amenities such as pool and fitness center, strangely enough.  so i don't have that on the list, or the fact that in some areas of town we'd prefer a gated community...because all the ones we're looking at in those areas actually are gated.

so...hopefully by this time next week we'll have our list narrowed down! and i'm totally excited.  i get to pick out a place to live with my (future) HUSBAND!  this is the first time i becomes "we" in the decision making process about anything besides the wedding itself.  :-)
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1 comment:

Brooke said...

i'll agree on the tub! i never knew how much i loved baths until i didn't have a usable tub.