Rental Living in a Townhouse

Several years ago my family and I moved in to a townhouse.  It is 2 bedroom, 2 bath on 3 levels.  It is a semi-detached townhouse so we only have one shared wall.

Thankfully the Landlord is family on my husband's side, so we didn't have to deal with the cons of renting.  We were able to paint the walls (but only those that already had paint) and we were able to put up virtually anything we want on them as well.

Because the home was also owner lived-in prior to us moving in, it has some perks most of the other town homes in our "community" don't have.  Such as an extended family room, built-in bookcases in a designated office area, a nice fireplace (no cheap bathroom tiles here), nice light fixtures, hand-picked Spanish tile floors, and built-in closets in both bedrooms.  Now these are awesome and I'm going to miss them!

Overall I think the space is about 1,400 square feet.  It has a well-laid-out floor plan.

On the first floor you have the office area to the right of the entrance.  While it's small it has beautiful built-in bookcases and enough room for a desk.  The bookcases have plenty of storage so you don't really need anything else.

Don't mind the poorly decorated shelves.  Except for what you see, everything else has been packed up.

Don't mind that brown cabinet.  It's something I bought for my bathroom in my previous home and was temporarily placed in someone else's home.  After getting back I didn't really have anywhere to put it, so it ended up here being an unmatched/uncoordinated eyesore, but will soon be very useful.

Immediately attached is the well sized family room.  This was an addition (taking up half the space of  a two car garage).  Well worth it.

Also on this floor is a 3 piece guest bathroom.  Again, small but functional.

Yes, there is a toilet opposite the shower.

Coming up to the second floor you will see the living room, dining room and kitchen in an open layout.  The living room has high ceilings, sliding door windows and picture windows as well.  The beautiful fireplace is a competitive feature in this room.  The downside is there isn't much room to play with furniture layouts, but since there's a family room downstairs there's no need to put too much furniture in this room anyway.  It functions very well with minimal key pieces.

The dining room is easily designated by the chandelier.  It comfortably accommodates a table and 6 chairs.  No need for too much in here.  Notice the turquoise cabinet?  This is a great spot to add a buffet/server or wine cabinet (like the one I have), which helps to divide the spaces and give you the extra storage you need.

The kitchen is semi-separated by an island.  It looks small but it does have a lot of storage and is very functional.  Although, you can't have two cooks in the kitchen at the same time.  There's no pantry but the island does provide much needed storage.

Also located on this floor is a large coat closet which provides - well, coat storage - and is where I keep all my bulk purchases from Costco....and a thousand other things.  The washer and dryer are also on this floor in their own closet.  Except for the fireplace and kitchen wall all other walls on this floor are white which is why the closets don't become eyesores.

Up one more flight of stairs is the Master bedroom, master bathroom, master closet and the second bedroom.  Originally this townhouse didn't have a second bedroom and the master bedroom was open to the second floor living room in a loft-style.

The space beyond the bed used to be where it opened down to the second floor, and where the small extra bedroom is now.

The master bedroom features a skylight and a recessed wall (not pictured because it's taken up by moving boxes) where you can put your tv, a dresser or create a sitting area.  It is a very well-sized room.  The only downside is that with the addition of the second bedroom there's only one specific spot to put the bed.  You cannot play with furniture layout here.

The master bath, although small, features a jetted tub and has a linen closet with great storage.

The master closet is what I will miss the most.  With custom built-in shelves and drawers it provides tons of storage for all your clothes, shoes and all your bedding and even more.  It also has a built-in hamper which surprisingly fits a ton of clothes!  Oh wait, I almost forgot... there are pull out shelves for your shoes!!  Too bad I don't have enough clothes or shoes to fill up this closet.

Love this drawer with dividers.  It's on my husband's side of the closet and was meant for ties...maybe?...but I took it over for my jewelry since he doesn't wear ties.  Gosh, looking at this makes me realize I have to add to this drawer!

With a growing family the owners added the second bedroom, however the space they had to work with was very small.  They ended up with a very small second bedroom but with the built-in closets and drawers it functions very well.  Currently we have a bunkbed in there and a dresser.  The dresser did help with storage simply because we have two kids.  If it was a bedroom for only one child, the built-in closet is sufficient.

Are you ready to move in yet?  After reading this I am!  Ha!  Now, I wouldn't recommend this home to a growing family.  Simply because it was built with a couple in mind.  The second floor stairs are open to the first floor and have a railing deemed unsafe for children.  My children were small when we moved in but I've always been a paranoid mom and so they never went up or down alone.  Even till this day I watch them closely.  The other reason is lack of privacy in the master bedroom.  With the addition of the second bedroom, a glass wall was put in to divide the two spaces allowing for the natural light to flow through.  However only a sheer curtain provides a tiny bit of privacy which can be a challenge for couples with children.

Another downside to town home living is the lack of outdoor space.  There is a very well sized private deck, but that's about it.  As a part of the town home community there are 2 large grass lots on each end of the row of town homes that are for the use of the town home residents.  They do come in handy when you need to get out.  Also, the city park is only 4 blocks away.  A nice walk or bike ride will get you there and back without going to far from home.

It's a fantastic place for a single person, single couple, or a couple with one small child planning on living here temporarily.  Now we've been here a lot longer than we anticipated - or wanted to.  Chicago living is very expensive, and with only one income to support this family, we sacrificed and stayed the course.

I am going to miss this place.  It holds many, many memories.

Shared Bedrooms-

Are you short a bedroom or two in your home?  I'm right there with you.  I live in a two bedroom townhouse so my kids have to share a bedroom.  Not a big deal - but when you have a boy and a girl at some point it becomes a problem.  That will soon change with our pending move.

I know a few people whose kids have to share rooms and so I thought I would share with you some great ideas for shared bedrooms - whether it's for boys, girls or both.  I've also included a picture of my kids room, however this picture is 5 years old so the room has gone some minor changes since (like the bedding and paint).  Nonetheless I thought I'd share with you how I made it work.

I have compiled a group of images that I feel are great examples of what you can do with little space.  But first let me give you a few pointers that should make the process a lot easier.

• take accurate measurements of the space you are working with (measure 2-3 times or have someone else double check your measurements) - you are measuring everything from wall height, wall width, windows, doors, ceiling fan height, and any wall bump-outs or niches 
• if you already have mattresses make sure you measure them too (some twin mattresses come in xl) if you're considering buying new furniture
• if you have furniture measure these too
• if you don't have furniture take a measuring tape with you when you are purchasing so that you know if it will fit in the space
• draw out a plan of the room (use those measurements you took)
• if you have furniture you are working with, use painters tape to mark on the floor the space of the furniture you are working with so that you can determine if it will fit BEFORE you start moving things around
• if you don't have furniture do the same tape exercise so that you can determine if the furniture you WANT will fit
• consider all the space in the room: if you have really low ceilings or a ceiling fan, a bunk bed or loft bed may not work; if you have super high ceilings you can "build up" (you'll see what I mean from the images)
• consider all your options: a bed with a trundle, a bunk bed and a loft bed are all great options for maximizing space - bed with storage frees up floorspace in lieu of  dressers
• maximize space by using storage bins or baskets under the bed or a bed with built-in storage

This is my kids room 5 yrs ago

 

Built-in closet, drawers and shelves.  I'm going to
miss this when we move!  

If you'd like to see a couple more images of their room click on the link below.

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Bedrooms/Boy--Girl-Bedroom/detail.esi?oid=1467418

Use neutral bedding if you're afraid of clashing colors.

Use bedding with similar colors and mix-match to coordinate
but still have individualized spaces.

Make use of the space underneath by adding
storage bins with labels.

A neutral wall color makes it easy to switch bedding and
accessories as they grow and their tastes change.

Loft bed with desk area and tons of storage.

Get creative and make a useful space of
high ceilings.

Create identifying spaces by using the same bedding
in opposing colors.

I love this room for teens!  If they have to share, at least
make it fun and cool!

You just might be the coolest parents for
creating such a fun space like this!

This is great for shared room or simply just for sleepovers.

I absolutely love this!!

Amazing space!  All inclusive - bed, storage, desk and cool!

Tons of storage!

Great hangout space.

I love that there are separate desks in separate areas.

I LOVE the sliding door for privacy!!

Use tape to mark where your furniture is going to be placed,
make sure you use the measurements of the furniture.

I hope you like some of these ideas and tips and hopefully if you need to you can find a way to implement them in to your kids spaces.

Stop by my Pinterest board to see what else I like.  http://www.pinterest.com/designdreamer/kids/

Laundry Room Happiness

Let's talk dirty...dirty laundry that is!  (wink)  Now that I have your attention, let's talk about the dreaded, never-ending dirty laundry and where it gets done.

I am blessed to be a stay-at-home Mom so I have more time on my hands than most people I know, and a lot of it is spent doing laundry.  I have two kids, one of whom likes to change HER clothes constantly.  Fortunately I have a washer and dryer at home so I can do laundry any time of the day.  I do it sporadically throughout the week so it doesn't pile up too much, although by the time I think I'm done, the hamper is full again!  At home or not it can become dreadful.  Also, I don't have much of a laundry room - it's more like a laundry closet, and it's all white....boring!  Can't really do anything to it cause the space is tight and it's in my dining room.  Nonetheless it is strictly dedicated to the laundry and I'm happy to have one.

With a big move pending I am determined to be more organized in my new home.  No room shall be left unorganized or unfinished.  I am even making a list of every room, what I need to do and need to get it organized.  I have no idea what the space will look like and how big it will be but here are some ideas I would consider.

Take a look at some inspiration laundry rooms I thought I would share with you in case you feel like sprucing up your space.

  

 

 

 

 

Stop by my Pinterest page to get more inspiration!

http://www.pinterest.com/designdreamer/laundry-rooms/