The New Apartment

The day has finally arrived. I get the keys to my new place. I haven't seen it since the whirl-wind of a week that I went looking at several apartments, so I can't remember exactly what it looked like inside. The owners of the apartment-house where I was staying have generously allowed me to stick around for a couple days past the night I take possession of the new place. So, while I got the keys on a Thursday evening after work, I didn't have to worry about moving things until Friday/Saturday. It took a few trips with my suitcases, but I finally got everything over here.

The view from my new kitchen window

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The exchange went well, I think. The previous tenant of the new apartment was headed back to her hometown in Portugal. She had the place empty and clean, with her bags stacked up in a corner of the basement, ready to go to the train station as soon as we signed the papers. The caretaker was there with a clipboard, going around the rooms, scouting out things that were damaged or just simply worn. "Scratches" he wrote, next to the "floor" item under "living room". "Dent and scratches" next to "door". All together, he was pretty thorough. I haven't any idea what condition the place was in before this lady moved in, so I'm not sure whether she'll be held liable for much or not. I am somewhat glad to receive an apartment that has so much honest wear already, though. I can't imagine that I'll be here for 2 years and not manage to put at least a few new scratches in the floor. But considering the number that are already there, I don't think anyone will ever notice.

There's a window, but no fan in the bathroom, so moisture seems to be something of a problem, at least in some areas. The tub has a side that will need to be re-caulked, as does the bottom of the windowsill, to get rid of some mold. Some assorted knobs are broken, but otherwise the place seems to be in decent shape. I was told it would be very important to find all the little things that aren't right that I don't want to be blamed for later, and to make sure these get on the paperwork I'm about to sign. It's not very difficult to investigate, though, since the apartment is completely empty. I mean completely. Okay, I can see why they might take the curtains with them, but the light fixtures?

In my left hand: a light bulb and temporary socket I bought.
In my right: my Leatherman multitool.
I still need: A ladder.

Starting from scratch is going to be a challenge. Small items can be taken on the public transportation. Even some large boxes shouldn't be too crazy as long as I don't try one every night. That would wear me out. Many furniture stores will deliver. Even IKEA (ee-KAY-ah, as the locals pronounce it here) has a service where they truck you and your new purchases back to your home. They don't, however, help unload the rig, so I'll need an extra pair of hands when I buy the larger furniture. I intend to buy things in three phases:

1) The important stuff, in order of necessity. These are mostly basic things like a shower curtain, pots and pans, silverware, a broom and dustpan, etc.

2) Large items. (Bed, sofa, kitchen table, chairs, clothing cabinets...) These should be purchased all at once, and delivered.

3) Everything else that can be taken by public transport. I can use the bus to transfer small appliances, and probably some furniture, especially if its disassembled and boxed.

It looks like I should do some thinking before getting the larger stuff. I'm not the greatest at home-planning and design of interiors. It was suggested that maybe I open this up for recommendations. I bought a tape measure and measured out the rooms. Below I've attached the floor plan in centimeters, which is what my tape measure is labeled in, and also what furniture will be measured in over here. I considered making a picture converted to inches, but I haven't a good floor layout program and this one took far too long to make. However, virtually all of my readers are either engineer-types or clever housewives, so I'm sure you all can figure it out. If you have any ideas of how best to use the space, please let me know.

If the floor plans are dull to look at, perhaps this video tour of my new home will help you visualize things.

Lastly, it was recommended to take out some renter's insurance, which seems to be priced quite reasonably in this country, I hear. This is important just in case the aromatherapy candles accidentally set my indoor topiary collection ablaze. I'm looking into it.