Five Things I Love About My Home
Jul. 20th, 2015 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebThis post is inspired by Apartment Therapy's 5 Things I Love About My (Imperfect) Home & Why You Should Make This List, Too by Carrie McBride. 'For a time, all I could focus on were the things about our apartment that drive me nuts (a "shotgun" layout, need I say more?), ...' It's a nice post, and her #5 is great.
Like her, I also have great water pressure. Amazing water pressure, really. We can have the washer going and also flush the toilet with no noticable difference to a person in the shower.
And like her, I also have a good location (my walk score of 52 doesn't compare to her walk score of 98, but it's pretty dang amazing for my city). Plus I'm central, so the drive isn't too crazy to get to my friends who live way north or way south (though I do have some friends who live way west that are inconveniently far away) and work rush hour isn't too bad. Plus I'm east--so work driving is generally not into the sun.
But let me think up five other things on my own. Well, the best thing is that it has a Robin in it. But the house itself also has things I love. When I first got it, I was looking for only four things: 1) affordable to me, 2) convenient to UT, 3) solid foundation, and 4) big living room. Score times four. I also got lots of windows and a big yard. But here's what I really love.
1. No HOA and it shows. Most of my neighbors haven't been rich enough to make drastic changes, but there are still quite a few interesting things going on. There's the yard with the dead tree disguised as Gumby. The garden edged in bowling balls. The yard full of trolls, dinosaurs, and many other toys. The funhouse (the second floor is made to look like it slopes). And there is no HOA fee.
2. Good design. There's a party kitchen (square rather than galley shaped). The kitchen cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. There's a figure eight layout, which means if one route is blocked for some reason, you can probably get where you want to go some other way. You don't have to go through one room to get to another. There's only one door to the bathroom.
3. It's in my favorite (affordable) city. Half my friends live here. It rarely gets cold and never gets crazy cold. It doesn't rain often. (I almost said it doesn't rain much--ha!) When it snows, most folks get the day off. It's very casual--I never have to dress up or worry about status issues. Most people speak my first language. And I don't have to deal with a lot of hate talk (except from my state and national Congress people). Also there is one of the largest college libraries in the country, plus city libraries, Wheatsville Food Coop, Alamo Drafthouse Theatres, the Wildflower Center, Trader Joe's, a discount theater, and more. Coming soon: Google Fiber.
4. Bookshelves. Robin made awesome bookshelves that work perfectly for the long windowless wall in the living room and would not work in most other spaces (and probably won't fit through the doors anyway), so they are basically part of the house. They are gigantic and include all the useful heights for bookshelves. And they are beautiful.
5. No downstairs neighbors. So I can walk around or even jump up and down without bothering anyone. So whenever a good song comes on, I can just dance to it.
Added bonus: Clothes washer. Right in the house. Luxury living! Heck, while I'm at it--indoor plumbing of all kinds! No hiking out to the well or dealing with the pump. No running through the cactus and snow drifts in the middle of the night to get to the outhouse. (Why yes, I have read a few westerns.)
What are your favorite things about your accommodations?
Like her, I also have great water pressure. Amazing water pressure, really. We can have the washer going and also flush the toilet with no noticable difference to a person in the shower.
And like her, I also have a good location (my walk score of 52 doesn't compare to her walk score of 98, but it's pretty dang amazing for my city). Plus I'm central, so the drive isn't too crazy to get to my friends who live way north or way south (though I do have some friends who live way west that are inconveniently far away) and work rush hour isn't too bad. Plus I'm east--so work driving is generally not into the sun.
But let me think up five other things on my own. Well, the best thing is that it has a Robin in it. But the house itself also has things I love. When I first got it, I was looking for only four things: 1) affordable to me, 2) convenient to UT, 3) solid foundation, and 4) big living room. Score times four. I also got lots of windows and a big yard. But here's what I really love.
1. No HOA and it shows. Most of my neighbors haven't been rich enough to make drastic changes, but there are still quite a few interesting things going on. There's the yard with the dead tree disguised as Gumby. The garden edged in bowling balls. The yard full of trolls, dinosaurs, and many other toys. The funhouse (the second floor is made to look like it slopes). And there is no HOA fee.
2. Good design. There's a party kitchen (square rather than galley shaped). The kitchen cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. There's a figure eight layout, which means if one route is blocked for some reason, you can probably get where you want to go some other way. You don't have to go through one room to get to another. There's only one door to the bathroom.
3. It's in my favorite (affordable) city. Half my friends live here. It rarely gets cold and never gets crazy cold. It doesn't rain often. (I almost said it doesn't rain much--ha!) When it snows, most folks get the day off. It's very casual--I never have to dress up or worry about status issues. Most people speak my first language. And I don't have to deal with a lot of hate talk (except from my state and national Congress people). Also there is one of the largest college libraries in the country, plus city libraries, Wheatsville Food Coop, Alamo Drafthouse Theatres, the Wildflower Center, Trader Joe's, a discount theater, and more. Coming soon: Google Fiber.
4. Bookshelves. Robin made awesome bookshelves that work perfectly for the long windowless wall in the living room and would not work in most other spaces (and probably won't fit through the doors anyway), so they are basically part of the house. They are gigantic and include all the useful heights for bookshelves. And they are beautiful.
5. No downstairs neighbors. So I can walk around or even jump up and down without bothering anyone. So whenever a good song comes on, I can just dance to it.
Added bonus: Clothes washer. Right in the house. Luxury living! Heck, while I'm at it--indoor plumbing of all kinds! No hiking out to the well or dealing with the pump. No running through the cactus and snow drifts in the middle of the night to get to the outhouse. (Why yes, I have read a few westerns.)
What are your favorite things about your accommodations?