Small Apartments: Meinhilde’s Before Living Room

In April 2013, I moved into my own apartment. Through luck and the help of family, I was able to get this small apartment in a house over 100 years old, renovated. The Living Room The living room is the biggest room in my apartment. It was also quite dark, with only one north-facing window […]

Small Apartments: Tomiko’s Before Living Room

These are the photos for the ‘before’ living room of my small rental apartment. I have to admit that the room in these shots is not horrible. Everything is neat, clean, and uncluttered. The floors are beautiful and there is a charming bay window overlooking a quiet tree-lined street. However, I don’t like the style – it […]

Small Apartments: Tomiko’s Before Kitchen

As you can see in the photo of the before kitchen above, this is a small space. It has an area of only 40 square feet. There is room for one person to cook, which is unfortunate because both Donatello and I like to cook, preferably together. Since it is in a rental apartment, not much work […]

Balcony Mint Garden

Dontello and I have a good-sized balcony that becomes another room for our small apartment in the summer months. We have a barbecue and a white plastic patio set and regularly use the balcony to entertain. I was really excited to have plants when we first moved in, after having lived in a windowless cabin on […]

The Year in Books: June with the Life-Changing Magic Art of Tidying Up

I openly admit that I hate tidying up and am a borderline hoarder. Mix those qualities into a tiny downtown apartment and the result is a disastrously messy home. It drives Donatello, a naturally neat person, nuts. I heard about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and the title immediately caught my attention. Since it […]