The 1BR Mock Up
Thursday, February 20th, 2025 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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10F and clear tonight, going down to 4F.
I woke to a knock at the door this morning, and it was one of the maintenance guys.
He said he heard I was moving out of the unit soon, and he needed to measure the bathroom and kitchenette, because he was gonna need to remodle the unit!
So, that got me curious, and I left early to try and catch Fernando on my way out, but he wasn't in his office, and the door was closed.
So... I dunno!.. something may have changed, and maybe I'm moving sooner than I thought?
Seems weird the guy would be measuring already, if it were still up in the air and possibly months away!
It so happened that out of boredom on Wednesday night, I decided to do a new mock up of the 05 Benton, with my stuff in it.
I had all the measurements of my stuff from back when I did the first mock up last June, for the studio unit.
But I double checked things with my tape measure, and then double checked online with the virtual tape measure provided in the 3D interface for the 05 Benton.
As before, I superimposed a grid of 1-foot square cells, over their drawing of the unit, with the dimensions of the square being determined by the 3D measurements.
And the drawing, and the 3D dollhouse view from above did seem to agree with each other pretty well.
This is a reduced version of the mock up, but in the original, one foot was 60 pixels... and thus, on inch was (60/12 =) 5 pixels.
So I recreated the dimensions of my furniture and rugs based on that... as nearly everything I own comes to a round measurement of feet and inches!.. in other words, no half-inches, or quarter-inches to worry about.
3.5 feet translates to, 3ft 6in, or, exactly 210 pixels, for example.
So... if their virtual tape measure is to be trusted, then the image below is what it will be like in a unit like that, after I move in...
So, starting on the upper right, we have the door, entering to a 3 foot wide corridor going past the kitchennette, which occupies, some 70+ square feet!
As opposed to the one I have now, which occupies about 15 square feet!.. so, it's about 4.7 times larger!.. with a full sized oven, full sized fridge, and a small dishwasher not shown in the drawing.
The livingroom space is wide enough for my entire blue rug to lay flat, in the same orientation that it is here in the studio... where I had to fold over one edge of it to fit between the two opposing walls.
So that tells me that just the kitchen/livingroom part of this unit is already wider than my studio unit (and they're both the same depth)!
The bathroom/bedroom half of the benton is narrower than this studio... but taken as a whole, I think the Benton is very close to being twice the size of the studio!
At any rate, in the livingroom, I was surprised to see that the desk could fit in the lower right corner there quite nicely!.. and even with one of the small drawer modules on the right wing, it still didn't overlap the radiator!
So surprised, was I, by this, that I started to doubt whether the online measurements were real!
But things would later start feeling more realistic when I went to populate the bedroom, and started running into problems fitting just a twin bed, and that tiny dresser, and super small night stand, into the space... which I'll get to below.
Suffice it to say, I think the desk looks so small in this mock up... because it is so small!
Like, that livingroom is only a 10'x11' space, which is comperable to the upstairs back room at Melody Manor, for which that desk was specifically chosen!
And like that upstairs back room, this livingroom is also just big enough for that little kitchen table, and a small rocker!
But yes, I was happy to see that that little kitchen table can fit in the livingroom, in the opposite corner, with room beside it for the glider!
Not that I'll be eating at it, but that table will be a project space, for sorting tapes, working on calendar decks, wiring up microphones, repairing cabinet doors or drawers, or any other non-digital project, including magic rituals on different seasonal occasions!
I've really missed having a space for that here!... after having the whole porch and basement at Melody Manor to work on stuff like that!
And there's plenty of space for the big computer chair to move around without bumping into things, like it does in this studio unit.
Okay, moving into the bedroom...
I was pretty shocked to see that the white companion rug to that blue rug actually FITS, in this bedroom!.. between window & closet, and the two side walls!
There is a wall cut, near the window and the radiator, seen in black, in the lower right of this drawing of the room, which I will have to cut the rug around... and I'll have to cut it to get under the radiator legs too...
But those are design quirks of the building!.. and shouldn't detract from the fact that the bedroom's actually big enough for this modern sized rug!
Another wall cut, seen on the left, in the drawing, shows how the wall cuts in a bit, 8 feet away from the window!
And that's unfortunate, becuase it makes the dresser placement more awkward than it has to be!
Like, first I thought I could put the bed in the corner to the left of the radiator and everyting would be fine, because that wall cut is 8 feet away, but the bed's only about 6 feet long!
HOWEVER, the bed is 3.5 feet wide, and the night stand is 1 foot wide... for a total of 4.5 feet... and that head space next to the radiator is only 4'2" or so!
Meaning the bed and night stand cannot go into that corner without one or the other of them hitting the radiator.
So I put the bed and night stand into the orientation that you see, which is actually perfect because they're both nicely clear of the window and the radiator!
But that means the dresser has to go on that left (south) wall... and that's where the wall cut makes things awkward!
As you can see in the drawing, it means theres a small area where there's only about 1'3" clearance between the dresser and the foot of the bed!
I could move the dresser further toward the hallway, but then it'd have this awkward gap behind... more than half of it!
Cuz you can't move it all the way against the cut-in, or now it's kinda blocking the hall to the bathroom, which is quite narrow... meaning a stubbed toe in the middle of the night on the trip back from a pee, in the dark!
And you've got the closet and the door on the other walls so... they're no-go areas for the dresser!
It was fussing around with the placement of these three small things; a twin bed, a very small dresser, and a tiny night stand, in this bedroom... that made me think the measurments from online are probably reliable!
Because this is more like what i was expecting!
You know... to be frustrated that the space is a bit too small.
But there is a lot of floor space between the bed and the closet, so... that too could be work space for working on a bike... as long as I got it back out of the way before bed.
And speaking of the closet!... it's 15 square feet, going all the way up to the high ceiling!
That's 3.5 times larger than the only closet I have here in the studio... which itself still holds an amazingly large amount of stuff!
I thought about putting the dresser in the closet, since it has the folding doors, and would be fully accessible, but I'm counting on that closet to be the storage unit for my boxes of journals and other stuff, either on the floor, or up on the shelf.
But in that capacity, it's big enough for the job!
All that stuff can fit in this closet, along with clothes on hangars!
And then there's the linen closet, which as you can see is narrow, but super deep!
So that's even more storage space!
Lastly we have the bathroom, which is about the same size as the one I have now, but instead of a tub, there's just a big-rectangular stand up shower, which is better.
It's bigger than any bathroom at Melody Manor was, so I'm fine with it.
So... one last look at the whole deal...
Given how comfortable I've become, even here in the studio unit, I can say without any doubt that if the Benton truly is like in this mock up, I will be happy to live there forever!
All tolled, it's north of 420 square feet... compared to the 290 square feet upstairs at Melody manor... so... considerably larger, and far nicer!.. with a lot more head room!
Even this studio is nicer than the upstairs at MM, but it's still smaller.
The Benton would finally be this space large enough to have all my stuff with me, and with enough workspace to do some hands-on projects, like I've always done in the past... in addition to digital projects at the desk.
The kitchen's also plenty big enough to prepare actual meals, instead of just eating frozen food out of an air fryer... with space on the counter, in the cabinets, and in the fridge for canned food, produce, etc.
And now that I've gotten used to sleeping on a twin bed... and have fallen in love with the mattress I got in October... the bedroom's plenty big enough!
My history of living spaces has gone like this...
- Bedroom at home, sharing common spaces with the family.
Fine, but can't do that forever. - Dorm room with room mate, sharing common space with students... for 6 months.
Not that great. - Apartment with room mates, for 2 months.
Not that great. - Couch surfing in my sister's living room... for a month.
Not that great. - Back to #1, for 3 years.
Fine, but... gotta get back out there! - Downstairs of a rental house with my own room, sharing common spaces with one room mate, for a year.
Fun at first, but the room mate got weird on me. - Back to #1, for 4 years.
Fine, as always, but... gotta move on! - Small 1BR shared with a girlfriend, for 7 months.
Not too bad! But cramped, so we upgraded... - Bigger 2BR shared with a girlfriend, for a year.
Fine at first, but... relationship hit the rocks! - Small 1BR by myself!... for 7 months.
Love it!.. cried about having to give that up! - Back to # 1, for 10 months.
Not fine anymore!.. determined to get back out ASAP! - HUGE 2BR by myself!.. for a year, with 2 cats!
Very nice!.. but too big! - Smaller 2BR with a girlfriend, and multiple cats, for 5 years.
Not fine for long! Relationship got problematic. Dragged on for too long. - That same 2BR by myself, for another 7 years going back down to 2 cats.
NEARLY IDEAL!.. but a little too big, and therefore a bit too expensive, which eventually forced me to leave. - Much smaller upstairs of Melody Manor by myself for 8 years, with two old cats, and an old man downstairs, who had a dog.
Pretty fun!.. for the first few years!
Got overwhelming as Dad's health began to fail. - AN ENTIRE HOUSE TO MYSELF, for a year and a half, with two new cats and a dog!
Again... super fun!.. until it wasn't, because the bank wanted me out... at which point it turned into a nightmare! - A tiny studio apartment, for 8 months and counting.
NOT BAD!.. all things considered!
Those 8 years upstairs at MM prepared me for a place this small, so I've been pretty comfortable here!
I mean yes, there was insane levels of heartbreak and loneliness involved in the drama that brought me here, but if you ignore that... which I'm finally able to do, after 8 months... I DO like being back in this highrise!
And I AM starting to remember what it feels like, to not have ANY room-mates, OR pets to worry about... cause me headaches... start arguments... throw me off my game.
Like, that was a good kind of freedom I only ever enjoyed the one time I was here by myself in 1999... for 7 months out of my entire life!
So if I can just graduate into a little more space... I think that's gonna bring everything into this perfect balance, for me!
Not just the balance between too much space and too little, but the balance between a much younger version of myself, who didn't have the means to hold onto a nice little 1BR where he could be alone to create...
And the middle aged version of me, who's been through the WRINGER by now, throwing his whole soul into caring for and old man & his dog, old cats, new kittens, an ancient house, falling apart, with a gigantic yard, with dying trees... battling with hospitals, and rehab centers, and bankers, and lawyers, and churches, and geneology & family politics!
Like... this middle aged guy's had ENOUGH of all that bullshit!
Because I nearly killed myself trying to shoulder all those challenges and responsibilities, and it all just fell to ruin, despite my best efforts!
So yeah!.. time to get back to that one alternate universe, explored by my younger self, where it's just me!.. downtown... in a Benton!
I'm so here for it, now!
Okay, so that's what the 1BR will be like, if numbers are to be trusted, and things go my way!
But we still don't know when that final move is gonna happen.
So for now... it's still... a February cold snap, and life in the studio unit, as I work my high-school maintenance gig to pay the rent.
°¦}
