Our Eensy New Apartment Has Plenty of Room for Improvement!

How do you make the most of a move from suburban Georgia and a spacious 2-bedroom apartment to Southern California and an eensy 1-bedroom? And why would you want to?

I'm a single parent (see our Family Pictures, photos 3,4 and 5), so it was all about supportive family urging me to come and pool resources. I am already a little saner (in some ways), enjoying the benefits of being able to call Gramma for a last minute pick-up from school, and discovering that my brother-in-law went out unasked, and rented a truck to help me move boxes when I finally found a place.

As for the place, I did score, because our little nest has an "annex" room for my home-office, an enclosed yard for my son to play in and a really wonderful landlady! These are critical features, and not easy to come by in a ridiculously expensive, increasingly urban city like Los Angeles.

The secret was to strip our needs down to their essence. Ours are: Safety, play space for boy, work space for mom, and beauty. Yes, beauty is a need. For that safe play space, I was even willing to forego a laundry room (besides, there's a wi-fi laundromat in Culver City!). For a little beauty, I was willing to give up quite a few square feet. Being clear on our needs helped me recognize an ideal -- if unconventional -- situation when I found it.

One little issue, though: I had to leave ALL our furniture back east.

Let me think. Do I really mean ALL our furniture? Well, if you count four pillows, a collapsible hamper and an antique typesetter's drawer as furniture, then no, not ALL of it. Just pretty much all of it.

Most of that was no big loss. My Georgia furniture was either found in thrift stores (two 6-foot tall walnut bookshelves for $12 each!) or inherited when neighbors moved out (one neighbor had two microwaves and four boom boxes to give away). One was hard to part with -- a pretty cherry bookshelf for which I always believed I'd gradually add matching pieces. One gained an air of infamy -- the bubble gum pink office chair that raised eyebrows and hackles... until it was finally adopted by a teenage friend whose other favorite color is black.

What I did bring was books, toys, dishes, linens, clothes, books, toys, office equipment, kitchen stuff, books and toys. And books. I'm thinking we'll be needing shelves.

In the meantime, here we are at last. First and last month's rent are paid. There's a trash can in every room. I found two pretty black craftsman dining chairs in a thrift store for fifteen bucks each. The landlady asked if I'd like her to paint white over the peacock blue bedroom walls, and my other me spoke up first. Oh, and that box on the lower right in the first photo is the air mattress on loan from Sis while I save up for a bunk bed.

We're set. Our tiny family is ready to face LA life from our cozy little dream spot. Ready to pack the half-size fridge with waffles and sausages, and boil some water for tea. Ready to unpack the dominoes and set out a super-long tipping trail on that lovely wooden floor.

But I do admit there is plenty of room for improvement!