I am currently living in an apartment - ok, here I digress into a particular kind of New England rural architecture. It's really common around here that you had an older house, usually fairly square or rectangular, and a barn.
And then people built on extensions, usually between the house and the barn, because that way you didn't have to go outside to feed your animals when it was cold out. Or raining. Or both. And you had more storage for pantry goods. And a mud room for coming in when it was miserable out. (This is New England: there are many varieties of possible weather.)
So my apartment is the second floor of one of those extensions (with a little entry space and closet under the stairs and bit of storage on the ground floor). It's up under the eaves, which means there's all sorts of interesting angles, and for light, they put in a skylight in the kitchen. I have a bathroom and a kitchen and a nook off the kitchen and a living room, and a bedroom, and an absurd amount of closet space. And snow removal fairies.
I did not know I wanted a skylight in my kitchen until I had one. (I've been living there just about a year this week, and it's much better than the apartment I moved into when I moved cross country.) But I adore going through the kitchen (to the bathroom, or to the fridge to make ice water, or whatever) and seeing the stars through the skylight.
Other things I care about:
- I have not lived with other people in about 6 years now, and unless I take up a serious relationship in the future, expect to keep doing that. It does limit where I live (I could not, for example, live in much of the Boston area easily without roommates on what librarians generally get paid.)
I like my time alone too much. I like having it be dark when I want it dark (and generally, I almost never have lights on except the shining pixels of my computer screen once it gets dark.) And I like having it be quiet. I usually have headphones on, but still, there's something about having it be just me that I really like.
- The cat. Cat vastly improves my quality of life. Especially a cat who basically rolls on her back and exudes loving adoration whenever I look at her, and purrs her heart out.
- I really like being as close as I am to work. (There's practical reasons here: higher speed internet is a lot more shaky as you get out of town), but I love that I can walk to work (half a mile), walk downtown for minor groceries, walk for a sandwich or several other kinds of food. We're not actually all that walkable by Walkscore's criteria (only about a 55), but for actual daily living, it's very nice.
Also, my commute home from work is all of 4 minutes if I drive. 5 if I hit the traffic light wrong. Compared to times when I had a 45 minute commute, or there were errands I just couldn't do without going way out of my way, it's lovely.
(There are things I'd have to drive to: but even then, the hospital and medical office complex is only about 5 minutes.)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: housing-related
Date: 2013-07-24 03:20 pm (UTC)And then people built on extensions, usually between the house and the barn, because that way you didn't have to go outside to feed your animals when it was cold out. Or raining. Or both. And you had more storage for pantry goods. And a mud room for coming in when it was miserable out. (This is New England: there are many varieties of possible weather.)
So my apartment is the second floor of one of those extensions (with a little entry space and closet under the stairs and bit of storage on the ground floor). It's up under the eaves, which means there's all sorts of interesting angles, and for light, they put in a skylight in the kitchen. I have a bathroom and a kitchen and a nook off the kitchen and a living room, and a bedroom, and an absurd amount of closet space. And snow removal fairies.
I did not know I wanted a skylight in my kitchen until I had one. (I've been living there just about a year this week, and it's much better than the apartment I moved into when I moved cross country.) But I adore going through the kitchen (to the bathroom, or to the fridge to make ice water, or whatever) and seeing the stars through the skylight.
Other things I care about:
- I have not lived with other people in about 6 years now, and unless I take up a serious relationship in the future, expect to keep doing that. It does limit where I live (I could not, for example, live in much of the Boston area easily without roommates on what librarians generally get paid.)
I like my time alone too much. I like having it be dark when I want it dark (and generally, I almost never have lights on except the shining pixels of my computer screen once it gets dark.) And I like having it be quiet. I usually have headphones on, but still, there's something about having it be just me that I really like.
- The cat. Cat vastly improves my quality of life. Especially a cat who basically rolls on her back and exudes loving adoration whenever I look at her, and purrs her heart out.
- I really like being as close as I am to work. (There's practical reasons here: higher speed internet is a lot more shaky as you get out of town), but I love that I can walk to work (half a mile), walk downtown for minor groceries, walk for a sandwich or several other kinds of food. We're not actually all that walkable by Walkscore's criteria (only about a 55), but for actual daily living, it's very nice.
Also, my commute home from work is all of 4 minutes if I drive. 5 if I hit the traffic light wrong. Compared to times when I had a 45 minute commute, or there were errands I just couldn't do without going way out of my way, it's lovely.
(There are things I'd have to drive to: but even then, the hospital and medical office complex is only about 5 minutes.)