The Condo - Part 1 - Downstairs

Chris moved in to our condo down here in Orange County in mid-December, but the girls and I only just arrived about a week ago to our new home. We stayed up in the Sacramento area with my grandmother for Christmas and moved down the day after as a family. Chris was able to get some of our kitchen unpacked, and he put together the girls' beds before we got here, but he wasn't able to do much else with work and coming back up to Sac to visit and spend Christmas with us. So, I had a bit more work to do upon arrival.

The place is quite tiny compared to the house we sold. It was about 1500 square feet, while this place is 900 square feet. We are back down to 2 bedrooms, and we have a little patio instead of our spacious yard. Mind you, I'm not complaining; I'm just trying to give you an idea of the size so that my next comments make sense. Lest, I make Chris sound as though he did no unpacking, I must tell you that when the movers came and dropped off our things, the place was so full of boxes, that he could barely move around to unpack anything. Unpacking the 10-12 boxes was quite the chore, because Chris had to continually move things around just to get to cupboards and closets where items could be put after opening a box.

There was still a lot to unpack when we arrived, but at least we could sit at the table to eat and the kitchen was clear so I could make a meal. The living room still had boxes stacked around, but we could sit on the couches. My task was to unpack the rest of the downstairs and upstairs which is still enough of a mess that I will save pictures of it for another day.

So here is the virtual tour of the downstairs portion of our little condo.


This is the entry way. The closed door is a small bathroom and the laundry closet is to the left of the crucifix.


The laundry situation is one that I am going to have to get used to. I was very blessed to have a nice big washer and dryer in our house and this stackable set is tiny. We had one like this in our Roseville apartment back when we had 1 child (2 kids for the last 4 months we were there). Now we have 3 kids, and I am literally doing laundry twice a day now. Because the bedrooms are upstairs, I fold laundry on the love seat in the living room so there is nearly always laundry sitting there from my constant washing. It is teaching me patience and gratitude, because I just keep telling myself that I am SO BLESSED to have a washer and dryer at all AND one that is IN the condo and no across the parking lot or across the community.


Another blessing/curse depending on how one looks at it is the dishwasher. It is tiny. I do a load a day and then have most of the dishes from dinner to wash by hand, so I'm getting used to hand washing most things again. I don't mind the work; but it takes some getting used to since my large washer/dryer and dishwasher were luxuries I had become accustomed to. I don't know why that picture is sideways...


Here is the kitchen. It's a bit more closed than our old place and the fridge is smaller, but there is actually MORE cupboard space. Woohoo! Plus the living and dining areas are just off of the kitchen here, so if we have a few guests over and I'm cooking I can still be part of the group.


teeny, tiny dining area that connects to the living area. :)


Living room. Behind the curtains is the patio area.


I'm not crazy about the stairs with Ava being so small, but she had some practice at my grandma's and she is doing really well with ours here so far. They are not safe for kids as she can fit her head through the bars, and probably slide out some of the openings going down, but she is being cautious about it and so are we, so we have had no problems. I think I will get a few baby gates before too long though, because I have visions of one of them with their head stuck and I'd rather not have those become a reality.

We have a detached garage which helps with storage space and we are all adjusting to apartment-style living again with close quarters and close neighbors, but we are happy and we are home and that's what matters. I will update with pictures of the bedrooms when I get them organized.