Of course, that calls for a ridiculously detailed and photo-loaded tour of the empty apartment before I lead you through another ridiculously detailed and photo-loaded tour of the apartment once it's filled and decorated. Part of that is because a lot of people who are curious will never be able to physically walk through our apartment; part of it is because I like to share pictures and am entirely too detail-oriented.
First up, a floorplan. It probably helps orient where the pictures are in relation to the whole apartment. If you look closely, the words are flipped. The floorplan posted online is reverse of how my apartment is laid out.
We're on the 8th floor of a building called "Pennsylvania Tower". The towers are named after states, although there aren't 50 towers on base. We're right next door to "Maryland"
Come on in! When you walk in, there's a nook to your left which will eventually hold some kind of small table to dump keys on and room underneath to stash your snowy boots. After that nook is this row of closets.
If you look to your right as you walk in our door, there's a little pass-thru into the kitchen. It's handy for dumping groceries and is currently housing all our keys and odds and ends that don't have a table on the left to hold them yet. The end of this entryway opens up into the living/dining area.
See, big empty room. This is the living/dining area. I'm super happy with the ceiling fan, since there is no air conditioning here in Misawa. Summers don't get hot for very long, but for those few weeks I'll be best friends with this fan, as well as the one in our bedroom. Also, new carpet. I'm not a huge fan of the milk chocolate color, but it conceals dirt much better than the light beige of our last place.
If you turn around and look back to the left of the entryway, there's the kitchen. It has new or refurbished everything. The cabinets are light enough to make me happy (I'm not a fan of dark kitchens). There's more storage than in Lemoore, although I have to adjust to an electric stove/oven. Not a fan.
The counter tops are some type of stone and it's one big slab, so no cracks or seams to get annoyed with. The sink is also one of the undermount types, which I've always liked. It's also huge. And a lovely dishwasher! I didn't have one until we moved into our house in CA, and I'm hopelessly in love with them now. I didn't think we'd have one here, and I was mourning that loss for months. Jeff doesn't understand my excitement at one measly appliance, but he doesn't do that many dishes either. Spoiled.
I've always been a fan of open floor plans. While I wouldn't pick this type of layout for a permanent house, it works for us right now. I like that I'm not isolated in the kitchen. I also like that I can watch TV while I'm cooking.
And the selling point of this apartment: the view. First off, these sliding glass doors are lovely. It's basically a wall of glass, and I love having that much natural light and nature in my living room every day. It's two sets of sliding glass doors, so the cold is blocked out relatively well. And of course, the view is to die for. Water and, when it's clear enough, mountains peeking out behind the water. Heaven. Especially for someone who grew up in the Midwest. I'm going to stop and let you drool over the view for a little bit. I tend to do that when I'm sitting on the couch during the day.
See why we jumped at this place?
Once you tear your eyes away from the pretty view, you'll come down to a bunch of doors. If you go to the left, there's the laundry room. Complete with brand new washer and dryer, small cabinet storage, and sliding door to combat the noise.
If you change your mind and want to go to the right instead, there's the bathroom. It's small, but how big does a bathroom really need to be? It's much better than our bathroom in Lemoore, which was about as wide as my hips. Seriously, it was tight. We hated it. This one is much more comfortable, and also has brand new tile floors and shower walls, as well as ample cabinet space and the same lovely countertop as the kitchen.
Both the bathroom and laundry room have sliding doors as opposed to normal, swinging doors. It's taking some adjustment to remember to slide the door closed, but the doors take up no space and disappear when you want them to. It's a pretty smart space saver.
If you go through the door just to the left of the bathroom, you get the main bedroom. It's not really a master, just bigger. But it has a ceiling fan and enough closet space. It also has a sliding glass door to a tiny balcony. Although the balcony is for the fire escape, it's pretty and provides a good view.
Both bedrooms share the balcony to have equal access to the fire escape stairs, so if you step out from either bedroom you get pretty pine trees peeking out from behind a neighboring tower.
The 2nd bedroom, which will be our office, is slightly smaller and has an actual door to the balcony instead of a sliding glass door. Nothing exciting, but it doesn't need to be when it will just be a room to stash the computer, all of Jeff's uniforms and work stuff, and an air mattress for visitors.
If you hit just the right angle in the 2nd bedroom, you can peek all the way back to the kitchen.
If that kind of openness bothers us, we have a door to close. There's another door in the little hallway between the living/dining area and everything else. So if one of us is sleeping or needs quiet, the other can watch TV without disturbing them. It is a small space, so this door will come in handy.
So that's the tour of our empty apartment! It's nothing extravagant, but we love the renovations and the location. It's far enough away from Jeff's work to feel like he's getting away from work at the end of the day, but it's not so far that it's a pain to get back to the main part of base. It's close to the water, which I absolutely love. I've never lived in an apartment building before, and I've never lived above the 2nd floor, so going in an elevator to get home is a new experience. I could take the stairs, but let's be serious.
We did get some loaner furniture when we moved in. Along with our small shipment of necessities, we've been living with a tiny TV and very small set of cooking tools. But it's been nice.
We just heard today that our large household goods shipment has arrived and we've scheduled delivery. My place will be overwhelmed with boxes and packing material in no time. At least unpacking will keep me busy for a good chunk of time!
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