Should I Move Into a New Apartment? Should YOU?
Wondering if moving into a new apartment is the right choice for you right now? Same!
Our lease on our Downtown Seattle apartment is up soon, and now we’re faced with the decision of whether or not we should stay.
So in this video, I’m walking you through my thought process; our current apartment pros and cons, as well as my tips for you if you’re also wondering, “should I move???”
Even if you aren’t dealing with the decision of renewing your apartment lease currently, here’s the thing: YOU WILL at some point! It’s a decision all renters have to make on a yearly basis, so let’s talk about it!
Video Transcript ↓
So here's the problem with our current apartment…
Since we moved in almost a year ago, my boyfriend, Kobee and I have never really… loved it here. We thought we would when we chose this place, but that just hasn't really happened.
I am very grateful to be living here, don't get me wrong. And there were reasons why we chose this place! It's beautiful in a lot of ways, but the time has come for us to get really honest about whether or not we want to continue living here, because our lease is up next month. And we have to decide if we're going stay another year here.
So in this video, I’m going to talk it all through with you, and hopefully by doing so it'll give me more clarity. Because at this point, Kobee and I are truly undecided.
And also, I'm hoping this video will help you sort out your thoughts about your current apartment and give you some clarity about whether or not it's time to make a move. This is a decision that all renters have to make on a yearly basis, for the most part, so let's talk about it!
And before we dive in, I wanted to let you know that you can now watch my free workshop, "Decorate Your Dream Apartment Without Spending Money on the Wrong Decor For You" whenever you want!
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If all that sounds like exactly what you need to create the dreamy apartment you’ve been yearning for, click here to watch the workshop!
So basically, I'm going to structure this into three sections:
First, I'm going to talk through the negative things that we don't really like about this apartment.
Then I'm going to talk about the positive things we actually love about this place.
Then I’m going to give you my tips based on our experience and what we're going through in this decision making process, so that you can hopefully apply it to when you have to make this decision with your own apartment.
So to get the negative stuff out of the way first, here is what we don't like about this apartment…
There's the lack of storage space.
We have very tiny closets, and I knew this would be a challenge when we moved in. But it's funny when you decide to just accept a challenge, but you don't really think through the daily life of it. When something seemingly small builds up day after day after day, it becomes a real sore spot.
We do have some storage solutions that have worked pretty well, which I'm actually going to talk about in an upcoming video; I'm going to give my storage tips based on what we've done to sort of compensate for the lack of storage in this apartment. So definitely look out for that video either next week or the week after.
But really, I'm just not sure if I want to have to deal with this severe lack of storage space anymore.
Another negative about this apartment is its triangular shape.
If you happen to be on an apartment search right now as we speak, I would advise you to just avoid apartments that have the triangular shape to them like this one does.
I mean, every apartment is different and I think every apartment has the potential to be amazing (including this one!) but I would say it's a challenge that I personally would never take on again.
I think when we picked this place, I really overestimated my decorating abilities. I had blind confidence that I would be able to work my styling magic and just pretty easily make this place look amazing, despite its odd angled wall. But alas, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.
Another negative thing about this apartment is the fact that our bedroom doesn't have a regular door into the bathroom. It instead has a sliding pocket door.
I know it’s a really small detail, but it drives Kobee and I absolutely insane. In practice, it feels like it's just one step up from just having a curtain that separates the bedroom area from the bathroom area. Kobee and I are very comfortable around each other, but when it comes to using the bathroom, both of us want a bit more privacy than a pocket door offers… I mean, we hear… everything.
So yeah, the pocket door is just one of those daily things that wears on you after a while and it has been driving us insane.
And the final negative thing I'm going to talk about with this apartment is that I've never really felt comfortable in here.
We've been living here for a year and this place has never really felt like home, at least in the way that I like to feel in an apartment. I live my daily life in this apartment with this overall unsettled feeling.
So I think if we stay here for another year, I'm going to have to really put an emphasis into really like buckling down and decorating this place, and getting over my decorator's block. Because as long as it stays in its current, like, half-decorated state, I won't feel at home and I'll continue to feel that unsettled feeling.
Alright, so now let's talk about the positive things about this apartment!
And trust me, there are positive things about this place. I know that I have complained about it a bit, but there are certain things about this place that are magical.
Probably the most magical thing about this apartment is this bedroom.
This is the prettiest bedroom I have ever had, and it’s the one area in the apartment that I feel is pretty much complete.
I mean, it was featured in the Seattle Times for a reason!
And if we left this apartment, I would really miss this bedroom.
I mean, what we did with this wallpaper, I'm very proud of us for. I think this wallpaper is stunning. You can watch our whole process putting up this wallpaper, by the way, in this video. So if you've ever wondered what the process of installing peel-and-stick wallpaper is like, watch give it a watch!
Another positive about this apartment that I would really miss if we moved is the beautiful black accent wall that Kobee and I painted.
You can watch that process go down in this video, by the way.
Admittedly, this black accent wall morphed into much more than just a simple accent wall because we kept painting sections of wall, just because I kept wanting more. Having black walls has been a fantasy of mine for ages, so it would be a bummer to to leave it behind!
There's something about going through the process of making your mark on an apartment with these bold decorating decisions, where there’s an emotional tie that you form to these choices. And on one hand, it would be a shame to leave these behind.
The next positive thing about this apartment is the obvious one, which is the incredible view.
This is the best view I have ever had in an apartment. It really feels like we are up in the sky overlooking Seattle, and that's an incredible feeling. Waking up in the morning and having the very first thing I see be a beautiful sunrise is incredible. I mean, you could argue that that's the best decor a person can have!
This view is why we fell in love with this apartment in the first place, and it's the main reason why we chose this one above the others. You can see our apartment search in this video, by the way, so you can see the other apartments that this one beat out. And hopefully you'll be able to see why we chose this one! It's hard not to be dazzled by this view. It's easy to overlook certain things when you're looking out at this.
And the final positive about staying in this apartment would be that we wouldn't have to deal with another move.
I'm personally not in the mood for another grueling moving process. I feel like we just went through that and, I mean, I think you can agree that moving… it's a lot. Like, please don't make me do that again!
So if we stay here, no moving process. And that sounds great.
So overall, regardless of what the positives are versus what the negatives are with this apartment, I do have to say that there's a huge part of me that stubbornly just wants to stay and prove that I can make this place look amazing.
It’s a chance to support my thesis statement for this entire channel, which is that every apartment has the potential to be beautiful and to feel like your own personal home. I mean, I would like this to be a story of triumph rather than a story of giving up!
So those are my thoughts about this apartment, and what Kobee and I are both mulling over as we're making this decision.
My Tips
Now I want to give you my tips based on this experience of living in this apartment and dealing with its trials and tribulations. Even though I'm actively struggling with it, I think that there are things that I've learned and some wisdom that I can impart. It's not fully fleshed out wisdom because I myself am obviously working through it.
If you are currently trying to decide whether or not to stay in your apartment (or even if you're not in that place right now, you're going to be! Your lease is going to end and you will have to decide whether or not to renew it) so I think these are just things to keep in mind.
1. Make an apartment pros and cons list
My first tip is to do what I just spent the majority of this video doing, which is to make a pros and cons list.
I know it's a little cliche, but there's a reason why people make pros and cons lists. It does provide some clarity! I mean, just listing these out for me has given me already a certain level of clarity. It kind of takes your scattered thoughts and puts them in a nice, organized, easier to manage place.
2. Explore apartments online
My next tip is something that I've been doing, which is to explore what's out there. What other apartments are available? What does pricing look like? Can you find something better than your current living situation? Start putting feelers out there.
I personally go to apartments.com and just start searching in our price range and the neighborhoods that we would like to live in. And then I just see what's available. It's a way to make the idea of a moving into a new apartment tangible, to make it real for yourself. What is the reality of what's available in your price range? You might just find your answer right there.
3. Tour apartments in person
My next tip is, if you do find some apartments that you're interested in, go tour them!
Look at these apartments in person and see how they make you feel. Even if you don't move into one of those apartments and you end up staying in your current space, at the end of the day, you had a fun apartment search. I mean, maybe I'm just a nerd. I just love looking at empty apartments.
4. Imagine yourself living in the potential new apartment
If you do actually find an apartment that you're interested in moving into, take the time to really envision yourself living in it day by day.
Really think through things like:
How would you arrange your furniture?
What could your overall vision for the new apartment be? Really picture it in your brain.
Are you inspired by this space? And not just inspired by how it looks, inspired by how your life fits into it.
This is what I missed with this apartment! I was so dazzled by the beautiful view and the big high rise, but what I didn't really do is think about what my vision for the place would be. I thought it would come easily to me, but it didn't. And part of that is because I didn't really think about how my life fits into this space, how my aesthetic fits.
Also, while you're envisioning how your life would fit into this potential new apartment, think through any potential red flags.
That's another thing that Kobee and I really didn't do. Again, we were so dazzled by how nice this apartment was, we really didn't take the time to really look out for those red flags, like the annoying pocket door. We recognized these things as challenges, but we didn't really put ourselves in the shoes of actually living in this apartment on a daily basis, dealing with these challenges. And I think we would've really benefited from doing that.
All right, so that's where I'm at with this decision process! So stay tuned for what we end up deciding!
Let me know in the comments below, what do you think Kobee and I should do? I'm genuinely curious about what your thoughts are, what your opinions are, and just any insight that you could provide us that maybe we haven't thought of yet. So comment below, let me know what you think!
For daily glimpses into my apartment life, you can follow me on Instagram @moda.misfit.
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