My name is Anne. I am an elementary teacher and lover of books, art, and trashy music. I live with my boyfriend, Daniel, in a small apartment … a very small apartment. 425 sq ft to be exact.
When I selected this apartment carefully of all the places my central Austin locator showed me in the part of town I wanted and the price range I needed, I was pleased that 1) it didn’t look like either drug dealer or drug user had inhabited it before me, 2) it did not have carpet (or a mysterious blue stain on said carpet), 3) it did not smell of mold, and 4) it did not require me to drive over 9 speed bumps through a labyrinthine apartment complex parking lot. Rather, it was in a small 9-unit building, adjacent to my favorite Austin neighborhood, painted a sunny yellow color (even if it was peeling), had nice (imitation) saltillo tile floors, and most importantly — let in lots of light from the windows on the east and west sides.
The fact that it was small (very small) and very imperfect did not bother me, as I was simply setting out to live on my own, completely unaware of the fact that I would soon unexpectedly reunite with an old teenage love (with whom I had not spoken in 7 years), that I would fall in love with him (both of us all grown up this time), and that he would leave his life in New Orleans and come to live with me in Austin just 3 months (and seven years) later.
We are now presented with two challenges:
First, we were 2 grown people living in the same small (very small) space. And despite the fact that Daniel gave away a truck load (and I mean a truck load) of books in order to fit his life into the back of one Ford Explorer and drive here, he still had … a lot of books. And so did I! And we had all those other things … like clothes … and shoes … and dishes.
Second, I seem to have an unending itch to design (and redesign) the space around me. However, I also operate on a tight budget, limited patience, and unfortunately, and only so many small (very small) walls to adorn with frames, bookshelves and the like.
Thus, a little over a year after move-in, I feel inspired to start this blog to document our progress in this small (very small) apartment – even if the most dramatic “before” pictures are no longer possible at this point. And so this is how it begins.
425 square feet 