Figuring we could not afford anything else, we signed the lease on a one-room studio apartment. As it turns out, the apartment (the entire place not being any larger than our current living room alone), as well as the others in the little 'complex,' had been converted from cheap motel rooms that have probably been around since like the 1960s. We were enchanted, but soon realized that living in a tiny space pretty much sucked.
The place smelled like mildew, the oven didn't work, the kitchen was like 2 feet square, there was no air conditioning and very minimal heat, bugs were everywhere, our front-window view was a parking lot and the back of an ugly building, the bathroom was...well, that's a world of its own. But you get the idea I think.
(this is the kitchen on the left, and the bathroom is behind that curtain on the right)
(a view of the kitchen and computer area/living room)
(Dave near the front door of the apartment. He's pretty much standing in every 'area' of the apartment at once--bedroom living room kitchen, etc.)
(The entertainment area. To the left of it was our dresser, and behind you would be the bed.)After about 6 months, it's needless to say that we were feeling pretty cramped. As we slowly accumulated more junk like clothes, furniture, and other crap, the apartment grew smaller and smaller--closing in on us. Was this really the best we could do?
We had signed a one-year lease, but after only half of it was done we were itching to get out. We didn't think that moving out was an option at all until, one fine day, we were inexplicably drawn to another apartment complex about a mile away. We took a tentative look around. They were two bedroom, one bath units and although they had been built a few decades ago they still looked pretty good to us. It was like looking into the window of a candy store. The apartments-- they were HUGE! We got information by calling the renting office and learned that these impossibly big, perfect apartments were only $125 more per month than what were were paying for the studio. We were shocked to realize that WE COULD AFFORD IT!
That was it. We talked to the office of our current apartment and were told that we would have to sell our contract. It took a few weeks, but we managed to do so (and I still feel bad for that lady who moved in after us...she probably didn't realize what she was in for).
After about a week, our new apartment was ready for us to move in. We borrowed Dave's parents' truck and were done with the whole moving mess in a day or two, without any help (I don't think anyone we knew even realized we were moving at all!).
And that's the happy ending. We love our new place. It has many problems, but compared to our last experience with renting, it is heavenly!
(Dave and me in our NEW PLACE!!!)
--Karen
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