What I Want in my New Little Home

Start with what you want and we’ll move on to what you need. Those were the first instructions from my brother (B) the architect. I’ve been thinking about this for years, so it wasn’t hard to put together my list.

I want one large loft-style room, open to the (smallish) kitchen. This is where I will work at the computer, read, watch TV and movies, dine, do crafts, and entertain the very few guests I allow into my inner sanctum. Hmmm. Maybe I should call the place the Auntie Sanctum instead of the Auntie Flat (see yesterday’s post).

I want a bedroom, which could be just an alcove, not necessarily a separate room, and a walk-in closet.

And a bathroom with a separate shower and tub. “What about a guest bathroom?” B asked. “Nope,” I insisted. “One bathroom.” My thinking here is that I hate to clean bathrooms, so why have more than one? Also, see “very few guests” above.

I would like to have a fireplace and recycle the mantel from my current house.
The kitchen should have a small apartment-sized dishwasher. (It’s been 23 years since I had a dishwasher and I’m tired of seeing dirty dishes on what little counterspace I have.) I’d also like a pantry and an island to separate the kitchen from the rest of the room.

The last apartment I lived in is my model for the Auntie Flat. On the second floor of an historic commercial building, it was brand new inside and contained all of the above (minus the fireplace and kitchen island) in 600 square feet. B was surprised to hear my low space estimate, but the truth is that my house now is only 900 square feet and roughly a third of that is just storage for things I don’t use but can’t bear to part with. Obviously, I will need to do a LOT of decluttering, but that’s another post.