apartment hunting, mission complete
We signed the lease. I'm so relieved. I thought we were going to end up settling for some dump on the 28th of June.
The unit is vacant now, but the landlords are going to do some touch-ups and renos (they need to tile the shower/bath area of the bathroom), and they're going to pay J to paint it. Once that's done and the place is cleaned we'll be able to move our stuff over bit by bit, and then have J's dad and brother (who both have vans) to move the big items.
I'm pretty excited. I'm also a little bit apprehensive, but then I realised sometime today that we're all rather adaptable beings. But these are the things I'm nervous about:
The Kitchen is small. I wouldn't say tiny. But it's a galley kitchen; it's pretty much a long-ish corridor, with stove, a foot of counter space, sink (single!), one more foot of counter, and then fridge, along the north side. On the south side you get broom closet, and a eight-inch deep stretch of counter space for about six feet. Not much prep space, but everything is workable.
The Bathroom has very little storage. There's a tiny in-set shelf above the toilet, but I'm not a big fan of storing things above the toilet. Things fall down, you know. Also, the shower/tub is a small-sized tub (no baths for J!), and it has a sloped ceiling. J will not be able to stand up straight to shower.
The Location is a mixed bag. The subway station is a 1-minute dash across the street, but Castle Frank is one of those weird chi-chi areas within the city that's ridiculously accessible to things, yet is not a neighbourhoody place. There's no 7-11 or coffee joint within a 5 minute trot. It's a little bit like being back in my parents' house in Singapore (sorry dad!) - there's nothing a 5-minute walk away because everybody here has a (big, expensive, usually more than one) car. Quite a big change from the current neighbourhood where there are 5 coffee shops within spitting distance, a 7-11 I can see from my window, and 2 corner-convenience stores I'd fall into if I tripped coming out my front door.
Anyway. Yay!
The unit is vacant now, but the landlords are going to do some touch-ups and renos (they need to tile the shower/bath area of the bathroom), and they're going to pay J to paint it. Once that's done and the place is cleaned we'll be able to move our stuff over bit by bit, and then have J's dad and brother (who both have vans) to move the big items.
I'm pretty excited. I'm also a little bit apprehensive, but then I realised sometime today that we're all rather adaptable beings. But these are the things I'm nervous about:
The Kitchen is small. I wouldn't say tiny. But it's a galley kitchen; it's pretty much a long-ish corridor, with stove, a foot of counter space, sink (single!), one more foot of counter, and then fridge, along the north side. On the south side you get broom closet, and a eight-inch deep stretch of counter space for about six feet. Not much prep space, but everything is workable.
The Bathroom has very little storage. There's a tiny in-set shelf above the toilet, but I'm not a big fan of storing things above the toilet. Things fall down, you know. Also, the shower/tub is a small-sized tub (no baths for J!), and it has a sloped ceiling. J will not be able to stand up straight to shower.
The Location is a mixed bag. The subway station is a 1-minute dash across the street, but Castle Frank is one of those weird chi-chi areas within the city that's ridiculously accessible to things, yet is not a neighbourhoody place. There's no 7-11 or coffee joint within a 5 minute trot. It's a little bit like being back in my parents' house in Singapore (sorry dad!) - there's nothing a 5-minute walk away because everybody here has a (big, expensive, usually more than one) car. Quite a big change from the current neighbourhood where there are 5 coffee shops within spitting distance, a 7-11 I can see from my window, and 2 corner-convenience stores I'd fall into if I tripped coming out my front door.
Anyway. Yay!