The Challenge of Moving into Kismet Cabin

Every other time I've moved in my life it's always been the same. I neatly and meticulously pack my everyday things that I use and need into boxes. Then I jam the rest of the I'm-not-sure-why-I have-it-but-I'm-sure-I'll-need-it stuff in whatever leftover boxes and bags I have. I'll wonder when I got that thing and why. I'll also find that thing I've been looking for since who knows when. I'll load it all up in a U-haul, again neatly organized like a Tetris puzzle with the whatever boxes and bags haphazardly tossed on top. Once I arrive at my new abode, either a room or a corner is designated for the boxes while furniture is brought in piece by piece until the U-haul is fully unloaded. It will take a few weeks or months to unpack all the boxes.

Moving into Kismet Cabin was completely different. There is no unused corner to stack boxes while I play around with the layout. The reality is with a small space, if something doesn't fit ... it doesn't go there. The result, of the 25 pieces of furniture in my apartment - I only moved 6 of them into the cabin. The remaining furniture is going to my parents for their house or being put in their garage sale. So, I'll still be loading up a U-haul.

I did end up buying 2 pieces of furniture for the cabin. One was a sofa bed and the other was a C-table. The Manstad sofa bed was from Ikea, and if you've ever gotten anything from Ikea it's a puzzler's wet dream. And since I'm a puzzler, I was a happy camper... until I got it to the cabin and realized I couldn't unpack it inside. I literally had to unpack it out in the grass and bring in each piece one at a time.

There was barely any room to maneuver once all the pieces were stacked in the corner. With some careful organization and well-thought-out moves (I kinda felt like I was playing chess), I was able to put the sofa bed together inside the cabin.

Aside from the challenges of figuring out what furniture was going to go into the cabin, I was trying to figure out what things were going as well. I didn't realize how much of my packing previously was based on "I'll figure it out when I get there" or "I'll find a spot for it" mind set.

The minimal space in the Kismet Cabin does not allow for that type of thinking. Everything I pack into boxes to take to the cabin has to have a predesignated space it is going to. If I can't designate a space for the object, it doesn't get packed. Sometimes this means I need to get creative as well as really specific about what gets moved.

An additional problem with moving into a small space goes back to my earlier comment about no spare corners to stack boxes. I have figured out that I can move in approximately 3 boxes at a time and set them on my couch. However, because the couch is where I eat, study and sleep - all the boxes have to be unpacked and put away immediately. Then, I repeat.

Needless to say, my space is staying very tidy thus far.

Note from Rosie

This is Rosie speaking:
The usual Friday post is being delayed due to a death in the family. Updates will resume next Friday.

Rosie is the alter ego of the writer who takes over when the writer has to be away for various reason.

No Closet Solutions for Kismet Cabin!

Back in "Furniture for Kismet Cabin" I had planned to address the no closet issue by getting a wardrobe. Except, I've run into a problem... there's no space for the wardrobe.

So I pulled out all my clothes over the weekend and took a good hard look at them and how I store them (when they don't just sit in the laundry basket). The reality is that most of my clothes are folded, not hung. I thought, "If there was just some way of compressing them like those vacuum bags." I knew I wasn't going to be vacuum sealing my garment bags every time I needed to access my clothes. Then I remembered another solution... the Eagle Creek Pack-It system from Container Store!

Since I feel like I practically live out of the suitcase (or the laundry basket), why not just go ahead and take advantage of it. I had two old fruit boxes that I'd salvaged from somewhere and fit perfectly in the rolling wire rack I was planning to keep by the front door. However, all my clothes you see piled up on the rack would not fit into those two makeshift drawers. So I sorted them into piles. Yellow is work shirts. Blue is exercise/camping clothes. Green is work pants. Purple/pink is casual and sleep wear. Four piles, so I got four Eagle Creek packers, size medium... and all my clothes fit into those two drawers now! Also, having them pre-divided makes it easy to just pull one pack out rather than having to dig around.

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture!

I still have four coats that I figure I'll hang on the wall (a red wool winter coat, a velvet black blazer for work or events, a denim for casual cool days, and a rain/wind coat for exercise and camping). I was thinking about getting some fun wall hooks like these:

Buddy Hooks from Container Store

Then there are my shoes. I don't think of myself as a person who has a lot of shoes, but when trying to find space for them - the pairs start to add up. I have 2 pairs of tennis shoes, 2 pairs of work wedges, 1 pair dress shoes, 2 pairs of ballet flats, 2 pairs of sandals,  2 pairs outdoor boots, 1 pair of Renaissance Fair boots. After some Google and Pinterest searching, I found this - a CD rack that was turned into a shoe rack. It's the perfect idea.

Picture from Starr Creative

But like the wardrobe, where would I put it? Remember my bathroom without the door. Well, it just so happens that there is a perfectly sized CD tower from Ikea* that would fit on either side of the toilet along the back wall. (*Correction, the CD towers are NOT "perfectly" sized". So I'm in the process of looking for similar style that's about an inch narrower.) I plan to use the one to the right of the toilet for shoes and the one to the left for my homemade soaps!

GNEDBY Shelf Unit

That Door Has Got to Go! in Kismet Cabin

The day I spent patching the holes in the walls of Kismet Cabin demonstrated just what a hindrance the bathroom door was. I quickly realized that swinging doors in small spaces are not my friend. Getting in and out was a bit like performing the Texas Two Step... side step, spin, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle... side step, spin, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle... Not to mention that closing the door for privacy meant cutting off all ventilation. Additionally, I couldn't use the wall behind the door for vertical storage because then I wouldn't be able to open the door. The conclusion - that door had to go!

I was surprised at how much more open it made the bathroom not having a door hanging there. Even taking it off the floor plan just seemed to make the bathroom roomier. However, taking the door off the bathroom does produce the problem of no privacy. The solutions is simple... use a curtain as a door (suggested by Loft & Cottage).  This way I'll have the ventilation I need, won't have to do the Texas Two Step when I'm racing in from my 45 minute drive from work, and it'll provide privacy!

Picture from Loft & Cottage