we’re moving!

a little less than a year from our wedding date, nick and i are going to be moving in together! i generally feel moving is an extreme pain in the (you know what) and wanted to put off this chore until august of next year. however, last weekend nick visited the university of minnesota solar home and we got talking about making our next move into a more energy efficient building (with the hope that someday we would design and build our own). long story short, there is a building 3 blocks from my current apartment that has all of these amenities and more! not only is it a brand new complex in the heart of uptown, it is a beautifully designed space AND it is a sustainable building. it also happens to have a small gym, yoga and pilates studio on the first floor, amazing local artwork hanging on very floor and an eclectic mix of modern and tradition furniture (my favorite!) so we visited the space last weekend and put a deposit down on a 6 floor, bright and airy studio apartment the next day. it was definitely an impulsive decision but we both feel really great about the move. Some of the sustainable features include:
* Organic trash disposal
* Rain barrel irrigation
* Bike storage
* White membrane roof
* Green roofs
* Solar thermal hot water
* On-site Hour Car
* Electric vehicle stalls
* LED and fluorescent lighting systems
* Low VOC paints
* Walking distance to errands and entertainment cool, no?! one of the challenges is that we are making a significant downgrade in space. while there is a large walk in closet, laundry in the the unit and a very large bathroom, the total square footage of our kitchen/dinning/living/office/bedroom is a whopping 600 square feet! We both love the space and love the idea of simplifying our way of life by living with only what we need. but that means we are going to have to get creative. so for the next month or so, i’m going to be doing my research, making many, many trips to the goodwill and looking at lots and lots of lovely interior design blogs. this should be a really great challenge for us. i’ve attached a floor plan below so you can see exactly how small i’m talkin’ about!