Here’s the much anticipated post about where we are living now that we are no longer home owners. Be prepared to be underwhelmed…
Our studio apartment. Technically this is the back room (the 2nd living area) of my parent’s house. Yes people that’s what’s happening.
We brought our mattress but not our bed frame. That was dumb. I don’t know why I didn’t bring it. It’s in a POD somewhere in Texas, so I have zero access to it. It’s so bad I’m considering DIYing something just to get the bed/box spring off the floor.
Ramona sleeps right next to us on the futon that was out there. We didn’t want to inconvenience my parents any more than necessary, so we left the majority of what was in this room and just worked around it. The goal was to move as little of our stuff as possible into the house since there’s no room anyway.
That door behind her bed is Nick’s closet. He really only has about 3 feet in there. If you are wondering why there’s a closet off a living room, half of this room was my room in high school. I moved out, got married, and my parents knocked down my bedroom wall to create a 2nd living area. They thought I wasn’t coming back. Jokes on them.
We bought these wardrobes to house Ramona and my clothes. If you look directly behind them, you can see the door to the rest of the house. We set them here for privacy and to act as a wall since people are constantly in and out with the laundry room to the right and my sisters room to the left of the wardrobes.
We mounted our tv and told my parents they could keep it once we leave. We don’t watch tv though because well Ramona is in the room with us. Probably not the best parenting move to watch Mad Men with your kid in the room.
Our campaign dresser acts as a dresser (obviously), a media center, and our office. We moved a desk in from the garage to set up a vanity area for me. I’m not sure if you noticed or not, but there’s no bathroom in our loft. I didn’t want my makeup and hair stuff crowding a shared bathroom.
I climbed to the back of our storage unit to retrieve a bentwood for my vanity. The mirror is from Pottery Barn via our storage unit as well. (Yes we did get a POD too. We realized we have a ton of stuff.)
When I said there’s not much room, I wasn’t kidding. (Sorry to my older sister and her family who I cropped out of this picture.) It’s the 3 of us, both my parents, my younger brother (20 and single if you know someone…), and my younger sister. My grandma lived here for about a month while we did too, so we were 4 generations under one roof for a short time! (The younger boy is my nephew. He doesn’t live here.)
Ramona loves it here. The horses next door are a close second to having your mimi and papa spoil you every day. Plus she loves my brother and sister. I am really not sure how she is ever going to live with just us again. It’s way more exciting here.
Our 2 dogs are here with us along with my parents 2. Yes there’s 6 adults + 1 toddler + baby in belly + 4 dogs. Did I just blow your mind?
I do get to enjoy having a pool without having to be the one to pay to maintain it which is way better! Also we have a ton of help with Ramona who is considerably more hyper (we didn’t think it was possible). Although the living situation is not ideal, it is definitely a lot better than we thought it would be. It is also the only temporary solution that I felt like I could deal with especially since baby #2 is on the way.
We are incredibly grateful that my parents are letting us live here and shake up their lives during this house limbo thing. They are realtors, so they know how crazy the market is right now. Plus I’m their daughter, and they know I am ridiculously picky.
Don’t forget to enter our giveaway! And stay tuned for house news next week!!
i call events like this in life character-building.
Haha yes it’s something like that! Relearning to live with your parents at the ripe age of 28.
That will teach those parents to remodel your room. Mwah haha.
Kind of looks like you are at a resort? I’m trying here. But at least your parents have a nice pool.
I know the tables have turned the child is now the teacher! It actually only inconveniences us, so I bet they didn’t really learn any lesson.
I need to get in the mind set that this is a resort. You are so positive. Yes the pool is a big plus.
That’s a lot of people in one house (let alone one room!) I’m glad you guys are with family though and not shoved in some skeezey motel or something.
We would totally be in a skeezey motel. The house has 4 bedrooms, so technically there is a free room now that Grandma is gone. It’s on the other side of the house though, so I don’t want to be that far from Ramona. Not that I want to be as close to her as we are now, but otherwise she could access the pool without us knowing. That terrifies me. My sister said she is going to move to the empty room, so Ramona can sleep in her current room (the one right behind our loft). Hopefully that helps getting on a normal schedule and what not.
I am actually a little envious of your living situations. I am picturing grand family dinners with lots of laughter and fun around the table. Do you all eat together at night? How do you even shop for food and cook for so many. When I have eight for dinner here, I am beat the next day. LOL.
Oh and how does Ramona feel about being housed in your wardrobe with your clothes? I need to know 😉 All kidding aside, how dreamy must it be to be her and have all that around her every day: family, horses, the pool. What an adventure! I want Ramona’s life right now
We try to keep dinners pretty low key with easy chicken recipes or grilling. We do eat at home almost every meal at least on the weekdays. Growing up in a family of 6, it isn’t that different from the way things were 10 years ago except we have Nick and Ramona and don’t have my older sister. There is a ton of laughter, teasing, and actually is fun.
Ramona pulls my bentwood to her wardrobe to reach all her clothing options. She still dresses herself (multiple time a day). The kid is so happy here. It really is like the best vacation she’s ever had combined with Christmas and her birthday every day. My dad swims all the time, so she loves having a buddy. Also they sneak her candy constantly. I want Ramona’s life right now too!
I can’t remember, did you guys have a house lined up or not?
We had a house in mind, but it went under contract before we sold ours. If we knew the market was going to go nuts at the beginning of 2013 and our house would sell no problem, we would have just went ahead and bought that house. Oh well. Guess there’s something better.
There are worse ways to be homeless :). I will take Ramona’s life right now, too, please!
I couldn’t agree more! She is living it up to the jealousy of many!
Great update!! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks! You at least knew where to send my mail! 😉
You guys are such champions! Seriously. I can’t imagine how challenging it has been. But you are for sure getting through it. I hope the house hunt is going well. If the market in TX is anything like here, then it is wild for sure. Hang in there. It will get better soon!
Ah yes it’s crazy and fun just depending on the day! The upheaval in our daily schedule has definitely been the worst! The Dallas/Fort Worth market has always been great for real estate, but it’s exceptionally busy right now. Yea for mom and dad but boo for homeless Wills!