When the moving truck arrived in Orange County, I remember having a panic attack.
Our new place was so tiny in comparison to any place Lou and I had ever lived before. And, we still had so much stuff! The only consolation was that our unit came with a 10 x 10 storage locker located under the parking levels in the building.
So I had to quickly come up with a strategy to tell the movers which boxes and pieces of furniture went upstairs, and which ones needed to be wheeled down to our storage. By mid-afternoon, I felt the circuits in my brain start to spark and sizzle like the French dude had done my mental wiring!
Our contract with the movers included unpacking, but by the time the movers got the truck unloaded, I just wanted everyone to leave. I had to regroup so I could figure out how in the world I was going to fit all of our things in such a small space. We had so much stuff, but nothing really worked in such an odd, open-space floor plan. I think at first, I was trying to figure out how I could duplicate the previous tenent’s interior design, but I had nothing like he had. So it didn’t take long for me to give up on that plan.
But as is often the case with me, once I got into the process of putting things away, I found little ways to make that apartment a home for Lou and me. I started with the laundry area — which is always my “safe place,” and, where my spirit animal, Juanita, finds her Zen.
I started to feel more confident and happy once I filled up the storage units with my cleaning supplies, and after I ran my first load of laundry in my new, very fancy washing machine. I had just bought a jug of Tide Original, and the cupboard directly over the washer was the perfect size for it! And I was honestly thrilled when I discovered this very special wall bracket in the utility closet that was
