Our 572-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment. Yes, 572 square feet.

So, 572 square feet, you might ask. Seriously?

Yup, seriously, but the ceilings are 9-feet high. LOL.

So what do we do? Think functionality. Think tall. Think well-designed pieces with great storage. Think lean (but not long and lean).

How did we start figuring out how to go from our 2,200-square-foot home to a 572-square-foot apartment?  Before we left for NYC in June, we measured every piece of furniture in our home. Then once we narrowed the apartment to the one we wanted, we measured every inch of it as well (even though we had a floor plan).  Then, we started putting the puzzle together. What will fit; what won’t? Love seat and recliner, but not the sofa. The coffee table and end table are too large; better to buy something lean with clean lines. The wine/baker’s rack will fit, but not Mommy’s beautiful antique dining table (at 46” diameter, it’s too large so Jenni’s taking it). The king-sized mahogany sleigh bed will fit, but only if we leave the matching dresser at home.  Next question: can Larry and I fit all our tees, shorts, undies, etc., in one chest of drawers? Guess we’ll have to. For storage: my Mommy’s beautiful huge cedar chest (which will also work as a television stand/end table – remember, functionality) in the bedroom, hanging pot rack, and the aforementioned baker’s rack.

Thankfully, this apartment has better closets than most so we should be okay clothing-wise (although Larry still thinks I’m taking too much). Kitchen storage is still to be determined. We’ll have to learn how to sort and store clothes by the seasons (that’ll be a first since my days at Western Kentucky University).

We promise photos within a few days (some items are still on order, so it’ll be a work in progress). So what floor are we on and how’s the view: 6th and not ideal. For this first apartment, we’ll be looking across a courtyard at another apartment building (one of Larry’s biggest disappointments so far), but we wanted to go a little conservative this first go-round – maybe find a larger apartment, with a better view, in the near future.

I mean – really – at 572 square feet, how hard will it be to move our stuff to the next apartment?