Where Bloggers Live: My Apartment
Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes? Over the next few months, a group of seven bloggers will be sharing their workspaces, their homes, towns and more!
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Julia at When the Girls Rule
Lisa at Midlife in Bloom
I have moved a lot in my life. 15 times. Six of those in just the past 10 years. And three of the recent six have been someone else’s decision. Either “you can’t stay here,” or “I’m selling, you can’t stay here.” All of which has made me a little slow to really unpack and settle into a new place. Cuz who knows how long I’m going to be there.
I say all that to explain somewhat why, after being here eight months, I’m still not fully unpacked or organized or decorated. I haven’t found the box yet with artwork. Very sad.
Also, I’m lazy.
I considered rushing around getting things more unpacked, organized, decorated, cleaned, etc., before preparing this post, but I realized, THIS is how I actually live. THIS is what my home actually looks like. I don’t live an Instagram life, with perfectly styled rooms with a marble-top coffee table and Moroccan rug and rose gold candle holders.
But for better or worse, I’m going to show you my home today. A sort of “open” one-bedroom underneath a private home. The house is set on and into a hill, so part of it is technically basement and part is at ground level.
I have a nice patio outside the front door, which, in the winter, has a view down to a pond below if you stand in just the right spot. In the summer it is mostly hidden by leaves. And that’s lovely…but it also brings mosquitoes, which means you can’t really sit outside much during the summer and enjoy it. But it is very useful for photoshoots when I can’t get to somewhere more scenic.
You enter into the living room, which is a nice change from the past few apartments, where the entrance was in the kitchen, which I don’t like. It’s a roomy living room, with a “dining alcove,” which is currently the “junk drawer” alcove, where I’m storing things I’m selling on ebay, as well as boxes and bags of packing materials, large tubs filled with clothing and linens, folding tables and camera tripods. It’s a mess and it’s the first thing you see when you walk in the front door, but at least I have a place to keep most of the mess somewhat contained, if not hidden from view.
The whole apartment is pretty dark. The several windows are set sort of high on the wall, especially in the “basement end” (kitchen and bathroom) and the house is surrounded by large tall trees that block some light. I miss natural light. Natural light (and air flow) feeds me. I hate having bright lights on so I live in dimness most of the time.
From the living room, you go up two little steps to the bedroom/office area. The wall between the living and bedroom areas is shuttered, and I keep them open all the time to allow as much light as possible to flow from room to room. There is a short hallway (maybe 10′?) as you go up the steps on the right, with two closets. One is under a staircase and used for storage (yay storage) and the other is the clothes closet. The clothes closet is good square footage but an awkward arrangement – long and narrow vs. wide. I prefer a wide closet. But still, it holds a lot.
Right at the top of the steps to the left is my “office” aka “the bedroom wall furthest from the bed.” I have an antique (read: crumbly) vanity as a desk, a lovely plastic filing cabinet, my scale for ebay shipping, and a small bookcase that holds listed ebay items and mail, as well as a surface for photographing ebay items. When I’m at my desk, I’m facing the open shuttered “window” that looks into the living room. It’s nice to not just be facing a wall, especially considering this is where I spend most of my time. I’m a desktop computer girl, not laptop. The computer is my home-base.
There’s a window on the wall between the “office” and “the bedroom,” where Janey likes to sit. Since this is where the ground starts to rise up the side of the building, the window is actually at ground level, and there often are birds, squirrels or chipmunks right outside, at eye level.
The bedroom is just sort of open, it’s not a dedicated room with four walls…but there is a 3/4 wall between it and the kitchen. Which is good.
The kitchen is smallish and dark, with only one window high up on the wall, a real basement window. And it’s wood-paneled, adding to the darkness. But there’s decent counter space and room for my little 1930’s metal-topped kitchen table that I use for ebay packing…and just to hold junk. I never sit there to eat. That would be depressing. I eat either at the computer, watching a YouTube video, or on the sofa in the living room, watching tv.
Then there’s another short (6′?) hallway leading to the bathroom. There’s a very large, shelved closet in the hallway. It holds kitchen overflow, boxes that have never been unpacked, cleaning and bathroom supplies and Janey’s litter box. It’s nice when that can be tucked away out of sight.
The bathroom is non-descript with old school tile walls, a high-up basement-style window and a very small shower. I desperately miss having a bathtub. A good, deep bathtub. Other than a small mirror cabinet (isn’t there a real name for that? I’m drawing a blank) over the sink, there is no storage, so, for the time being, I have two more plastic storage things. It’s quite chic.
The apartment is cool in summer (but a little damp) and warm in the winter, so those are good things. I only used the ac in July and three weeks in August. Normally it’s on from Memorial Day to Columbus Day and many more nights all throughout the year (I sleep hot).
The landlords live above me but they are quiet and spend most of the time in the end of their house that is not above me. They’re very nice and have helped me out when I’ve needed assistance with things like getting the air conditioner in the window and getting my car up the driveway in the snow.
Since the house is set on a hill, elevated from, and not facing, the road, it’s practically hidden from view, and the only neighboring house I even see is the backyard of a house sort of sideways and far from me. So it is VERY quiet. I really prefer hearing (and seeing!) sounds of life: kids playing in the street, ice cream trucks, people out walking their dogs, etc. As much as I can appreciate being surrounded by nature (it’s very tree-y), I do feel a little isolated here. My natural tendency is to be a little (read: very) reclusive and it’s way too easy here for me to just stay hidden away in a place where no one really sees my comings and goings.
Rents on Long Island have gone through the roof and continue to rise. I’m paying 35% more now than in my last two apartments, and that hurts. But most apartments on Long Island are in people’s homes and most home-owners don’t allow pets in their apartments. So Janey and I have a very small pool to choose from, and at least we’re not in an actual basement and we have an actual kitchen and I’m not sharing a bathroom with strangers.
So, for now, this is home. Welcome.
I’ve made a little video…
TL
This was a really interesting tour. I love your desk. Thank you for sharing your apartment with us. I appreciate your honesty.
bettyewp
Thanks, TL. The desk slash vanity used to be lovely…it had a three-paneled mirror that attached to the top but that got left behind when I sold my house 10 years ago. And the veneer on the top has been steadily chipping off so the top is very uneven. That’s why my mouse sits on a book (i know, that’s what mouse pads are made for but they’re so small!). I’ve always thought I would have a piece of glass cut to fit the top, that would be nice and smooth, you’d still see the age on the top, and I could slip pictures under there. It will probably never happen but it’s nice to think about.
Em
Thank you for sharing your apartment. Any place with fairy light and pets works for me!
It seems like quite a spacious walk out. And that view from your patio is beautiful. We have a ton of mosquitos (and they eat me alive every summer) but I am learning to walk in a cloud of “Cutter” and it wasn’t as bad this year.
I’m sure the apartment carousel has been frustrating. But once you’re sure you’re staying, it will be a great space to display your pictures!
bettyewp
Hi Em! Thanks for coming by! Yep, I do love the fairy lights 🙂
Iris
Enjoyed the tour – your living room looks really nice and I love the fact that Janey is sort of where ever you are. Your patio is lovely and I personally would love the seclusion and quiet. Thanks for sharing.
Grace & Peace,Iris
http://www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
bettyewp
Sort of? Ha, Janey is always EXACTLY where I am!
Nancy
I think the area looks pretty good,with a pond and lots of green! There seems to be enough space . I enjoyed your tour and to head your voice!
bettyewp
Ha, my voice was probably weird. I’d had to refilm the indoor portion of the video just last night and Mr. Landlord was in his basement, which is right on the other side of the living room wall and I was trying to speak softly so he wouldn’t hear me.
BellaB
How refreshing to see your home. To see a normal lady in a normal home arrangement. Spacious and comfortable. Thank you.
bettyewp
Thanks, Bella! So glad you stopped by!
Marceline
Thanks for the tour! I think it’s lovely!! The term you were searching for is “medicine cabinet” (says she who also lives with an un-updated — less so than yours! — bathroom) 😉. I’m jealous of your closet space!! Love Janey!
By the way ( I’m so behind on comments ) thanks for the Sat post! So nice to get a bonus post from you! (smile).
And so happy that you did the post on blazers. I admire them too but always just looked like a big box in one. I’m apple-shaped but NOT busty. Maybe the one you showcased will work!
bettyewp
MEDICINE CABINET! Yes! Ha, just could not grasp that from my brain.
Yeah, now that I found ONE blazer I’m already looking for more! I do feel like I see more plus size brands carrying them now, and not the usual short kind.
xoxo
jodie filogomo
It’s funny you say that about being quiet. We kinda have the opposite problem because we live on a street. In fact, we are thinking of getting a white noise machine.
I love how you use that door with the lights around it in your places. And that your fur baby follows you around!!
I can’t imagine moving SO much. Seriously…I told Rob I’d like to be settled for the next couple of years…he’s always looking.
But maybe you should come out here….you sure get a lot more for your money!!!
OOXX
Jodie
PS…thanks for putting this together….it’s such a fun idea.
bettyewp
Janey. Sheesh. I try to sneak around so she’ll stay put. When I go to the living room to lay on the sofa and read or watch a movie, I go sooooo quietly, hoping I won’t wake her up as she sleeps on the bed, so I can relax without an animal on me, moving, breathing, kneading. But the SECOND my butt touches sofa, down she comes, right over to me. If I walk around, SHE walks around. She’s very sweet and loving but sometimes I just don’t want her ON ME. Ha. Caleb was so good. He’d come to me every so often, rest his head in my lap, I’d pet him a few minutes then say okay, and he’d go back and lay down. OVER THERE. He didn’t need to be ON ME.
I’m definitely looking at areas that will be less costly when I retire but I can’t do year-round HEAT, and I need WATER. Large bodies of water. Like ocean, bay, giant lake. Preferably ocean. I’ve only ever lived on coasts – I can’t imagine not being to able to see water every day if I want.
Cheryl
You live in a lovely location and your apartment tour was wonderful, you have made it home. Thank you for sharing.
Cheers,
Cheryl
bettyewp
Thanks for reading!
Daenel T.
This was so much fun. Thank you for inviting me to join you all. It’s so cool to see the door and fairy lights in their actual space. I want one and have been on the look out since I saw yours months ago.
I’m like you, I have a natural tendency to tuck away so I need forced interaction. Even though I grumble about it.
Thanks for the tour — I’m happy your landlords are kind folks.
bettyewp
I *have* been lucky with landlords with all these moves – I’m grateful for that.
I’m glad you were able to join us and I look forward to seeing more next month!
Shugunna Alexander
Really nice segment, honest and like you said “this is me”, not social media. I really love authentic individuals. Nice to meet you.
bettyewp
Thanks for visiting, Shugunna! Nice to meet you, too!
MiG nb
I enjoyed the video. It was a great idea to add it to the description of your place. Thanks for the tour and for sharing.
bettyewp
Thanks a lot!
carmen
Thanks for the tour of your cozy home, I enjoyed the video!
❤️carmen
bettyewp
Thanks, Carmen!
julia
I had been meaning to get back here to check out your place even though we’ve seen the unpacking and the patio. I love all your trees though I can totally relate about the mosquitos! It’s such a balance between quiet and privacy balanced with activity and amenities. I don’t think I’ve found the perfect balance yet. Maybe an in-town house within walking distance to everything but it’s on a dead end street with a big yard? That doesn’t sound too bad!
bettyewp
Yeah, due to the mosquitoes I really didn’t get to enjoy the patio much at all, other than to shoot on.
I don’t really LIKE quiet and privacy all that much. Maybe someday I will but…I LOVED being in Brooklyn where there are people out and about 24/7. Even in Northport, it was such a walkable and doggy area, lots of kids playing in the street, etc. There were always “sounds of life” and I like hearing that. It’s SO quiet here. I feel like the last human on earth once I get home.