New Apartments - Again!
After detailing the drama of moving my new bed into my new new apartment, I thought I would share a little about our new places. We're trying to think of it as having two apartments each, rather than living in different places. For whatever reason, referring to them as "the Kingston place" and "the Toronto place" rather than Drew's place and Kate's place actually makes it a little easier to deal with moving out from living together. Let's begin the guided tours: we'll start with the Kingston place.
This is actually a two-bedroom spot that Drew got for a very reasonable price (especially since places in Kingston were crazy expensive, and many of them were real bad, dark damp basements). This is a basement apartment of a three-apartment building, but it doesn't resemble most basement apartments I've seen in the past. There are lots of big, unobstructed windows (no windows with porches or bushes strategically blocking the light), and the ceilings are a reasonable height. One doesn't really feel like one is in a basement, until one sees the grass at eye-level outside.
So, two bedrooms, one of which has Drew's bed in it, with his dresser and a big closet. The other bedroom has been transformed into a study/drum room, and has another big closet which is storing boxes and some heavy winter blankets.
The bathroom is bright and appears to have been recently redone (or recently given a very thorough cleaning), and has another closet with shelves for cleaning things and general bathroom stuff. The kitchen is pretty big with lots of counter space and cupboard space. Drew doesn't yet have enough stuff to fill the cupboards, but I'm sure that will change when his folks see the dismal state of his glassware selection.
The main room, where the front door is, is long and wide, and has yet another big closet that Drew has his coats and some shoes in. His beautiful kitchen table (restored by his dad) is in there with four chairs, and at the other end of the room his coffee table is floating, in waiting for a couch or futon to come along for it to sit in front of. There's enough space for a couple of big chairs too. By winter I think it'll be looking really great, and it's really amazing to have so much room on a student budget.
The Toronto place is, as you may have read, on the third floor of a house. There are slanted roofs at the front and the back (in the bedroom and the kitchen/living room), but the roof is mostly flat, so there are fully upright walls that things can be hung on, and the roof is actually quite high. The bedroom is long, and has a little alcove created by a little peak with a window that juts out from the roof, and this is the perfect nook for the bed. There are built in shelves on either side, with electrical outlets that are controlled by switches at the door and beside the bed, so that one need not get out of bed to turn the lights off. There's also room for a couple of small tables and a dresser, and at the opposite end of the room from the bed is a marvellous walk-in closet.
I am so excited about the closet. There are a few cool things about it. First of all, I've always wanted a walk-in closet. There's so much room that I can't even fill the space with my clothes, which is good actually. I'm under control, wardrobe-wise. There is a little wooden door on one wall that leads to a small storage space under the roof, where I have stashed my suitcases and a couple of boxes. Perfect, since there's never a lot of storage space in apartments. The closet also has a sky-light, which is connected to the ground by a ladder, and if one climbs the ladder and pops open the sky-light, one finds oneself on a rooftop patio, built like a dock, with an amazing view of the neighbourhood.
The bathroom in the Toronto place is also big, with a closet and a million lightbulbs around the mirror so that you feel like you're at a make-up studio. Great for eyebrow plucking, bad for after-a-night-out-face. There is a closet in the small hallway at the top of the stairs for coats. In the kitchen and living room, one wall of the room is exposed brick, and between that and the closet/patio I think Drew and I were completely hooked on this apartment.
The kitchen is big with lots of cupboard space, but not as much counter space as I would like. There's room for a table and chairs as well as a wooden stand and a small chest that keep extra things like tupperware and a set of christmas dishes that my mum gave me. Unlike Drew, I have an abundance of china and glassware (because I was a bartender and came to like having the correct size of glass or cup for each beverage, and because my mum is very much attracted to kitchen supplies [thanks Mum!]). In the middle of the room is another peaked alcove, but this one has a set of sliding glass doors that step out onto a very narrow balcony. It looks out into the back yard, and overlooks a dog-park just across the alleyway. I *love* watching the doggies at play. I could stand there for ages.
Overall, the Toronto place is smaller than the Kingston place, but both are really comfortable and have their perks. I feel bad that if Drew moves into the Toronto place (which I hope he does when he's finished at Queens) there will be no drum room, but I think that he's willing to trade that for the brick wall and roof-top patio. And also the record player.
This is actually a two-bedroom spot that Drew got for a very reasonable price (especially since places in Kingston were crazy expensive, and many of them were real bad, dark damp basements). This is a basement apartment of a three-apartment building, but it doesn't resemble most basement apartments I've seen in the past. There are lots of big, unobstructed windows (no windows with porches or bushes strategically blocking the light), and the ceilings are a reasonable height. One doesn't really feel like one is in a basement, until one sees the grass at eye-level outside.
So, two bedrooms, one of which has Drew's bed in it, with his dresser and a big closet. The other bedroom has been transformed into a study/drum room, and has another big closet which is storing boxes and some heavy winter blankets.
The bathroom is bright and appears to have been recently redone (or recently given a very thorough cleaning), and has another closet with shelves for cleaning things and general bathroom stuff. The kitchen is pretty big with lots of counter space and cupboard space. Drew doesn't yet have enough stuff to fill the cupboards, but I'm sure that will change when his folks see the dismal state of his glassware selection. 
The main room, where the front door is, is long and wide, and has yet another big closet that Drew has his coats and some shoes in. His beautiful kitchen table (restored by his dad) is in there with four chairs, and at the other end of the room his coffee table is floating, in waiting for a couch or futon to come along for it to sit in front of. There's enough space for a couple of big chairs too. By winter I think it'll be looking really great, and it's really amazing to have so much room on a student budget.
The Toronto place is, as you may have read, on the third floor of a house. There are slanted roofs at the front and the back (in the bedroom and the kitchen/living room), but the roof is mostly flat, so there are fully upright walls that things can be hung on, and the roof is actually quite high. The bedroom is long, and has a little alcove created by a little peak with a window that juts out from the roof, and this is the perfect nook for the bed. There are built in shelves on either side, with electrical outlets that are controlled by switches at the door and beside the bed, so that one need not get out of bed to turn the lights off. There's also room for a couple of small tables and a dresser, and at the opposite end of the room from the bed is a marvellous walk-in closet.
I am so excited about the closet. There are a few cool things about it. First of all, I've always wanted a walk-in closet. There's so much room that I can't even fill the space with my clothes, which is good actually. I'm under control, wardrobe-wise. There is a little wooden door on one wall that leads to a small storage space under the roof, where I have stashed my suitcases and a couple of boxes. Perfect, since there's never a lot of storage space in apartments. The closet also has a sky-light, which is connected to the ground by a ladder, and if one climbs the ladder and pops open the sky-light, one finds oneself on a rooftop patio, built like a dock, with an amazing view of the neighbourhood.
The bathroom in the Toronto place is also big, with a closet and a million lightbulbs around the mirror so that you feel like you're at a make-up studio. Great for eyebrow plucking, bad for after-a-night-out-face. There is a closet in the small hallway at the top of the stairs for coats. In the kitchen and living room, one wall of the room is exposed brick, and between that and the closet/patio I think Drew and I were completely hooked on this apartment.
The kitchen is big with lots of cupboard space, but not as much counter space as I would like. There's room for a table and chairs as well as a wooden stand and a small chest that keep extra things like tupperware and a set of christmas dishes that my mum gave me. Unlike Drew, I have an abundance of china and glassware (because I was a bartender and came to like having the correct size of glass or cup for each beverage, and because my mum is very much attracted to kitchen supplies [thanks Mum!]). In the middle of the room is another peaked alcove, but this one has a set of sliding glass doors that step out onto a very narrow balcony. It looks out into the back yard, and overlooks a dog-park just across the alleyway. I *love* watching the doggies at play. I could stand there for ages. 
Overall, the Toronto place is smaller than the Kingston place, but both are really comfortable and have their perks. I feel bad that if Drew moves into the Toronto place (which I hope he does when he's finished at Queens) there will be no drum room, but I think that he's willing to trade that for the brick wall and roof-top patio. And also the record player.
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