An Estonian girl who has found a home in Sweden.

Friday, July 6

Home Improvement, Stage 1

July 06, 2007 Posted by Vaire

Our apartment is tiny, there is one room, bathroom, kitchen and entry area. Right now everything is cramped and cluttered with books. All the furniture is second hand (except two heirloom antiques) and in bad condition. The lamps need replacing and walls repainting. The floor... I'm not even going to go there. In short, the apartment "needs some work".

R had had the apartment for some years before I moved in and the furniture he chose was chosen out of necessity, irregardless of style. When I first moved in, we couldn't do anything else, but move a few things around and try to find place for my stuff too. Even IKEA was beyond our means. Now, however, things are different. We both have an income and want to make our place nice, cozy and comfortable; a place we both enjoy.

We began this process by first choosing things we liked on IKEA website. Yesterday we went to see how they really look and to buy the first batch if we liked the lot. We decided that replacing the computer table and chairs is the most urgently needed change. The current setup is causing me back pain and he doesn't have quite enough space for his legs.

We also decided that we are going to change the layout of the room, shift things around so we can have a cozy TV watching nook and a place for bigger table to roleplay comfortably.

That means that we will swap the position of the couch and the computer table. Since the computer table is built in under the loft bed and is not freestanding we bought two small compact tables yesterday, new chairs and a small drawer unit to complete the "office".

The current sofa is too long to fit under the bed so we bought a new one yesterday. It not only fits perfectly, but also has changeable covers. In a household with cats this is a major plus — whenever the old cover becomes too ratty, we can change it.

We also bought a new ceiling lamp. It was the only thing we changed yesterday because the rest will be delivered today. Depending on delivery time, the room might look completely different, or be piled with boxes. I cant wait to go home!