A Nomad’s Home

I have earth-shattering news.  I have a home.

Have you picked your jaw up off the floor?

I’ve been waiting to post this update for a couple of months, as I was planning to include pictures and wanted to have the place looking decent!  However, I’ve been busy lately with other changes in my life, which I’ll share with you in the near future, so when my place is nice enough to grace the pages of Domino (I miss that magazine!) you’ll find them here.

First things first.  I’ll explain how it happened.  When I began my nomadic venture this past November, I wanted to find a permanent home that fit my needs, rather than jumping into the first thing that was available.  I wanted the right size, price, and location, and at the time had expressed interest in a job on my team located in Chicago, so I wanted to remain flexible and avoid a lease at all costs.

One of my very generous friends is a pilot, and I often crashed at his apartment when he was on trips during my extended nomadness.  Lucky for me, he had the opportunity to “upgrade” apartments in his complex and moved into a one-bedroom, one-bathroom place with new hardwood floors, granite countertops, vaulted ceilings, and a spare room.  Guess who is living in spare?  That’s right- yours truly!

The situation is perfect for me.  (I hope my roommate says the same!)  The location is perfect, space is just right, and my rent is priced accordingly, so I’m still able to stock away savings every paycheck.  We rarely cross paths so it’s a pretty low-maintenance relationship.

Here’s a drawing of my floor plan.  (Curious about the awkward shape?  In other apartments, this is a porch.  On the top floor where our apartment is, it’s a room.)  I estimate it’s about 100 square feet.  (It’s difficult to measure.  I tried.)  The only pieces of furniture I bought were my bed and side table.  I’d been storing the bulk of my clothes on a rolling rack in my boyfriend’s garage, so I simply transported it to my new room.  In addition to the rolling rack, the small closet provides all the space I need for my down-sized wardrobe.  My roommate found a plastic shelving unit by our complex’s dumpster, and it was the ideal size to store my workout clothes.

With this move, I’ve transitioned to a new personal challenge- micro living.  I’m obsessed with the idea and have read a ton of interesting articles on how individuals, couples, and families make this work.  (Read about it yourself here, here, and here.)  It stresses organization and efficient use of space.  A common theme with micro-livers is their disregard for material possessions and the high value they put on time, freedom, and money, which all increase exponentially in a micro living lifestyle.

I think it’s easy to see that I’m benefiting greatly from this arrangement- my overhead is still extremely low, but I have a tiny spot in the world to call my own.  I couldn’t be more grateful!