How small is my new swap apartment? It's so small I can take a shower and make my bed at the same time.
How small is my new swap apartment? It seems bigger if we measure from floor to ceiling than from wall to wall.
How small is my new swap apartment? We went shopping for wall-to-wall carpet and came home with a bath mat.
Our up-coming move to a very small apartment will significantly change my home swap possibilities. One of the most significant differences will be our ability, for the first time in a decade, to exchange with swappers who are allergic to cats. Lots and lots of people either have pet allergies or simply don't feel like sharing their living space with animals.
For most of my home exchange career we have had cats. This has definitely limited the number of swaps we were able to arrange. Now that we are moving to a very small apartment, one of our compromises was to keep it pet-free. It is simply too small for two parents, two children and any other living creature.
Our cats will be staying in the home we will use on weekends. During the week they will be cared for by the family member who lives there full-time. On weekends we will again enjoy their company.
The goal for the new, humble apartment is to maximize its attractiveness as a swap home. That means we won't even have a houseplant. The only chore home exchangers will have is trying to both turn around in the bathroom at the same time.
From talking to parents at our kids' school I know that we are far from the only 4-person family that will be living in a 1-bedroom apartment. Our kids are small enough, and the ceilings of the new place tall enough that they can comfortably sleep in the loft bed already installed in the bedroom. New Yorkers are probably the only middle-class Americans to whom this arrangement would seem normal. We are, therefore, limiting swaps in this apartment to couples.
I am very curious to see which apartment is more attractive to exchangers: a huge, renovated place that is rarely available and chock full of pets, or a tiny, unrenovated place available every weekend with no allergens. I'll let you know.
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