Renting...

For the last year, Josh and I have been renters. If you’re up to speed on my blog you know that in the last year we have been in three different apartments, each bringing forth their own pros and cons.

When I was younger, I never wanted to rent. I didn’t see why on Earth anyone would want to throw money into something that wouldn’t amount to anything in the future. However, with our lifestyle and financial situation, owning a home was not something we were able to do right off the bat. And oddly enough, I am really happy about that.

Renting different apartments has taught us a lot about what we will look for and avoid in our future home.

For example, in our second apartment the bathroom set up made no sense. You could not easily open the cabinet because the door was in the way. And the storage options weren’t prime for taking advantage of the space. The main storage closet turned out to be a mountain of stuff we hid behind the closed door because it was too hard to organize things and make them fit well. (Don’t even get me started on the tiny kitchen).

But in our current apartment, (and my favorite thus far), we have ample storage and the kitchen is set up to have a wonderful flow. We actually can have our utensils and pans put away so that when prepping food, it all makes sense.

It has also been interesting to live under the rules of the landlord. Especially when it comes to decorating! Every apartment has a “no nails” policy which forces us to use those Command Hooks. In my experience those end up doing more damage than a tiny nail hole would have. (We have taken off our fair share of paint and even drywall because of them).

Renting has been an adventure. And one that I am actually glad to have been on. I love knowing that we have gotten to experience different layouts and set ups so in the future, Josh and I will be able to make wise decisions about what we want our house to be like.

And I because I am really proud of what we have accomplished since our move 2 weeks ago, here are some pics of our new place!