The "New" Place

So, as you know, I have moved into the city of San Francisco. I moved from a nice sized two bedroom, two bath apartment to a MUCH smaller one bedroom, one bathroom Railroad apartment (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_apartment). I have been in the apartment now for 3 weekends and I am slowly getting settled in. It has been a challenge because I've been trying to make my large furniture from my previous apartments fit nicely into this new place. Well, it isn't working.

Yesterday, I went to IKEA. This was my second trip to IKEA in two weeks and my first EVER on a weekend. I will never go back to IKEA on a weekend. However, I did make my way through the maze and pick up a number papers on the different types of shelving systems and storage systems that are offered. I also picked up a little bedside table (because once I rearranged furniture, my old table no longer fit) and some of their Danish cookies, which I have developed quite the hankering for. Yes, my plan was to grab an IKEA associate and explain what I wanted to do, have them design it all out for me, then purchase the stuff and take it home and be done with it. Well, that didn't work because even though I saw a number of employees, they were all busy with other people and in their map they even state that you need to make an appointment (although I really doubt that all the other people there grabbing at the associates had appointments) so I just went home and figured I could do this on my own with some graph paper.

Jump to me at home in my one chair that I currently have in my living/ dining/ kitchen/ office/ media/ studio room with brochures on 8 - 10 different shelving units, graph paper, a pencil and a glass of wine. First this I had to do was determine the amount of space that I had to work with and then convert that onto the graph paper. I have 8' to work with and that is 96". My graph paper had something like 72 squares on it, so I couldn't do a one for one inch to square transfer. So after a lot of counting and determining multiples and equivalents, I finally determined the "space" that I had to work with. Then came the challenge of taking the measurements on the furniture and doing the same thing so that I could have as close as possible an accurate scale of furniture to wall space to graph paper, etc.

Jump to me finally having completed the scaling process, head pounding from all the math and choking on eraser dust because I had to rework things a couple of different times. I now have a rudimentary drawing of my unit in which I will keep my television, and its accoutrements, my books, My Cd's, some kitchen whatnots, probably some quilting paraphernalia, and whatever tchotchkes I deem appropriate. So, next step: purchasing said unit and then begging, borrowing, and stealing from my friendships to gain some assistance in getting it all home and built...

And of course, I have to have ALL of this done by the end of this month so that it will all be settled and organized and looking lovely for when the Queen and her dear husband come out to stay with me!!

EEK, wish me luck!