Well I just went down a rabbit hole in my own blog. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?! I was trying to find what I had written about our hunt for a 2 bedroom apartment. I had lost track of when I had started actively looking and I wanted to compare what I was initially looking for versus what I am looking for now. Well I ended up stumbling upon all your encouraging, honest and heartfelt comments on THIS POST. Phew, if you want to feel less alone in your small space journey I recommend reading those comments. Since I last shared about recommitting to our small space a lot has happened in the world. Too much to summarize here. Needless to say I intensified our search for a 2 bedroom apartment over the past few months. There’s been a bit of heartbreak along the way but I have to believe our next apartment is still out there.

Here is the list I put together over a year ago with our wants/needs for our next place. While square footage doesn’t matter to me as much as good light and a good layout I have found myself gravitating towards 800 square feet - 1000 square feet. Our 600 square feet is so well laid out that many 700 ish places don’t feel like enough of an upgrade to make the move worthwhile. To summarize, we are searching for a 2 bedroom that would serve us for the next 5 years or so but have the ability to serve us for potentially longer.

Needs for our next place:

2nd bedroom
Lots of Natural Light
Wall space for wall bed in main living area (hard to find!)
Quiet Street
High Ceilings at least in part of unit
Walkable City Neighbourhood

Wants for our next place:

A Galley Kitchen or somewhat concealed Kitchen (that needs me to reno it!)
Functional Entryway (or potential for a functional entryway)
Outdoor Green Space/Patio
2nd bathroom/powder room
Close to parks

After having actively searched for over a year now and lost out to bidding wars on two units. I have added in italics the items that have changed for us in the search.

A few more things I have been thinking about as the pandemic has made city living more challenging than before. Without having parks, community centres, kids classes, fitness classes, and coffee shops to easily access when our small space isn’t doing enough for us, it can make small living feel tough. Also one of the benefits of living small is to afford trips but that currently is not on the table (financially after missing months of work and physically because Covid). I understand why it feels like people are fleeing cities for small towns and suburbs.

I don’t have the answers to all of these questions. I never imagined that using the city as our backyard wouldn’t be an option for over 6 months (and the foreseeable future). Or that everything would be done outside or socially distant with masks on as we enter our cold wet winters. All I know is I am not ready to give up on small city living and I believe that by fighting to stay and fighting to support the small businesses we love that make a city what it is, we will come out of this stronger.

So the hunt for a 2 bedroom continues… but with the added lens of 2020 to take nothing for granted, recognizing that even in challenging circumstances we are very privileged to live in this city ( and this country!) and have our health. Phew! Small space living and writing in 2020 is not a light-hearted affair friends!