The Twenty-Something Series: The reality of my dream flat

If you guys have seen my recent blog posts in this series, you’ll know that I’ve rented my first flat. I took the first flat I viewed because it was the nicest I’d seen in online photos and it ticked all the boxes (a good price, car parking space, fully furnished…) – and now I’ve moved in.

Well, not completely moved in. I’m not living there until next week. But my parents and I drove up for the weekend last week to make sure the flat was kitted out with everything I’d need and take up most of my things (you know – clothes, some books, toiletries and mugs).

But my dream flat?

Still had a couple of less-than-dreamy things.

When I started writing this post, it was going to be more along the lines of things I was disillusioned about, things that I should’ve checked before, lessons learned and wisdom gained. But to be honest… there’s not so much of that.

Sure, yes, okay, there were a few things that weren’t so great. Here’s an exhaustive list:

• The landlord had left some kitchenware. An odd collection of plates and bowls, tiny china teacups and fifteen-ish champagne glasses, to name a new. It was kind of annoying to try and fit it all into a single kitchen cupboard so it didn’t take up the space I need for food and my own plates.
• The landlord had also left bedding. Lots of bedding. I was bringing my own bedding, duvet and pillows included, and their bedding smelled a little musty. But the bed in the second bedroom is an ottoman, so all the bedding they’d left there is now in big IKEA bags and tucked neatly out of the way.
• The skirting boards and tops of cabinets were pretty dusty. (Alright, really dusty. But these were all out-of-sight places, mostly. I only cleaned there because I wanted to know it was clean.)
• The shelves in the fridge were kind of grim. Sticky and gross. It took a while washing them up and scrubbing them clean, but at least the rest of the kitchen was clean.
• The flowers.*

*Oh, God, the flowers.

Now when my mum and I went to look at the flat for the first time, it was full of decorative vases. Some of them were big, two-foot tall, heavy things. It made the place look really cute and homey when we viewed it, but in reality they were dust traps and kind of awkward.

(They’re also not a problem anymore, because thanks to the hella big storage cupboard in the hallway, I’ve managed to put them safely out of the way where I don’t have to worry about them.)

And that’s it. That’s literally everything nit-picky that I scrunched my nose up at in my dream flat. All easily dealt with, all tiny problems. The water pressure is fine, the water is hot, and the power outlets work. There’s tons of storage space, the stove works just fine, and all the furniture is in great condition.

 
So the reality of moving into my dream flat? On the whole, still pretty dreamy.

Oh, okay. I forgot the one thing. This is literally the only bit that’s been awkward about the flat, and it’s not even really to do with the flat. It’s just that I can’t set up broadband until I’m there, because they need to deliver stuff for it, so I have to manage with mobile data for a little while. Quelle horreur, right?

I’m moving in for reals next week. I literally cannot wait. I’ve got a couple more things to toss in the car to drive up with, and then I’ll start work the next day in my new job.

It’s like, three hundred miles from home, and I won’t really have any mates in the city to start with, but I’m excited. New adventures and experiences and all that jazz.

These last few posts about renting and moving out have been pretty popular on my blog, so I’m going to post another one (or few) shortly about decluttering and moving out and moving in. If there’s something more specific you’d like me to talk about, let me know in the comments, or Tweet me @Reekles!