The little things

Last night my husband and I had some friends over and showed them what you can get for the money in our city. They're thinking of moving here, and seeing as how we did plenty of apartment hunting last year, we kind of consider ourselves experts. We know which complexes have washing machines, which ones are notorious for parties, and the ones that house some major creepos. Around here, you either live in some corporate-owned apartment complexes or rent a house or apartment from independent owners. We do the latter, and I'm so glad we did.

Back in February of last year, we were on the waiting list for a top-floor place with a vaulted ceiling in a corporate-owned apartment, but none were available yet. As our previous lease was nearly up and we couldn't go month-to-month, we decided to just go for a small, one-floor apartment in the same complex that was located on the bottom floor -- meaning, practically in the basement. We had horrible feelings about it, but felt there was no place else to go.

Luckily, a gorgeous townhouse popped up downtown and we went for that instead. Our little "complex" was built and is owned by a local family and features several little details that you just can't get in the square, beige boxes that make up corporate housing. I love our spacious and airy lofts in the bedrooms, and am crazy about our shiny, real wood floors. Best of all, our bathroom and kitchen features real tiles (an upgrade from the pock-marked linoleum we endured in our last place) and the bedrooms feature carpeting that is free of curious stains.

Now we're thinking that our friends will show us up with an even better apartment, and we'll be jealous. Well, at least I'm appreciating the little things I love about this place!