The Good The Bad and The Free
Nov 13th 2007
RachelGOn Writing!
Mr. G and I moved the Little Man out last weekend. That’s him when he was two. He’s twenty-one now, finished with college, and has a pretty good job.
As Mr. G and I were moving Little Man’s things into his apartment, I couldn’t help but see that Little Man had some great stuff and it was all free. He has two older sisters who have moved around a lot, and as a result of their inability to stay in one place for more than six to eight months, we have two rented storage sheds full of their discarded furniture. Which was great for Little Man because he got to go shopping in the sheds. He got set up with a nice sofa, a chair, an entertainment center, two televisions, and a washer and dryer. He got to choose from several sets of dishes and pots and pans and he got a small patio set. The only things I had to buy him were a set of towels and a welcome mat.
As Mr. G and I looked around at our son’s first pad, we recalled our first apartment. If it hadn’t been for the spiders, the scorpion alerts, and the transients living in the Dumpsters, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Our free couch had once belonged to a relative with lots of cats and looked like a scratching post. Our free chair pinched your arm when you sat in it, and our free television was a black and white and had foil balls stuck on a wire hanger which served as an antenna.
What about you? What did your first apartment look like? Where was the worse place you ever lived, and did you get the good free stuff or the crappy free stuff?
46 Comments »
46 Responses to “The Good The Bad and The Free”
ladydawgfan on 13 Nov 2007 at 1:23 am #
My actual first apartment was with some college friends while we were still in school, but I don’t know if that really counts, since most college kids do that. I’ll start with my REAL first apartment, my ”I’m outta school” apartment. It had its good points and its bad points, but I loved it. Good points included the fireplace, the balcony, a huge walk-in closet, lots of windows, and a security system that came with the rent. Bad points? The balcony meant that it was on the second floor - no elevator. Also, Yazoo Clay had compromised the foundation of my building, so that single story apartment had three levels, dileanated by which way the marble rolled across the floor. One of those many windows, the sliding glass door, faced due west, meaning that while I enjoyed amazing sunsets (yes, I have photos), I also roasted under the Mississippi sun most of the day. It also had the tiniest kitchen I’ve seen since my Barbie Camper, and I am only barely exaggerating.
Aemelia on 13 Nov 2007 at 6:02 am #
The DH and my first apartment wasn’t a bad place, but every stick of furniture in it was free. We were both in the Army, and one advantage to that is EVERYONE wants to get rid of their “e-tras” before their next move, and most of the stuff was still in good condition.
Maggie Robinson on 13 Nov 2007 at 7:38 am #
I got shot in the street by a sniper with a BB gun in front of my first place in the East Village, NYC. Ah, good times. I was fine, but my suede jacket had a hole in the arm. The apartment itself was great, though—exposed brick walls, working fireplace, hardwood floors. I had a brick and board bookcase and a trundle bed. My parents were absolutely horrified I lived there, but I could walk to the school I taught at and was only shot the once.
Michellynn on 13 Nov 2007 at 7:54 am #
I was pretty fortunate with the furniture for my first apartment. My Dad loves to refinish furniture as a hobby, so I ended up with a lot of antiques (think Victorian and early 1900s type furniture, solid oak and cherry pieces) picked up at auctions that were refinished and looked great. So, while they may have only cost a few bucks to buy…they looked fantastic (and I still have much of it today in my current home with my DH). I think the only thing I had to buy new was a couch and recliner…everything else was antique (including my dining table/chairs). My first apartment was an adorable 1 bedroom on the second floor (no one above me). Nothing particularly spectacular about it, but nothing horrible either. So, I considered myself very lucky and was so excited when I moved in (although, I moved halfway across the country from my family…from PA to west TX…so that part was tough).
Michellynn on 13 Nov 2007 at 7:57 am #
Maggie, OMG! Were you even the least bit doubtful about your decision to move there?? I would have been having some serious second thoughts…and probably freaking out. LOL
Santa on 13 Nov 2007 at 8:10 am #
My first apartment was in college. My roommate and I shared an attic apartment and our pots, pans and dishes were kept in an old bureau.
My first apartment as a married person was in a gorgeous row house in Brooklyn. The furniture was new but we accented it with some of our own treasures like the hubcaps of my husband’s defunct Opel GT (moment of silent meditation). I did score a fabulous waffle iron and cast iron silver dollar pancake griddle from a circa 1936 gas stove we found on the curb. The waffle iron had the old fashioned cloth wrapped cord and lasted for years and years.
Maggie, I am a horrible person. I read your post and my first thought was - How cool is that! Maggie lived in the East Village!! I totally glossed over the getting shot at! Sheeesh!
amy1242 on 13 Nov 2007 at 8:12 am #
I absolutely loved my first apt! I slept on an air mattress in a sleeping bag with my little reading lamp on the floor next to me and had one dresser, no closet. My living/dining/kitchen (no walls) consisted of a empty cable spool on it’s flat end with a circular mirror for the top, two giant throw pillows, a bean bag chair, my weight bench (where the kitchen table should have gone) and a beat up cocktail table where I sat cross legged on the floor to eat meals (generally various rice dishes or cereal). It was located on a river that fed into a lake two blocks away. The spiders were gigantic (wolf spiders) but the walks and runs I went on were awesome. I also fished on the weekends. I miss it sometimes. The lack of a tv made me get out and do stuff. It was all I needed.
cail on 13 Nov 2007 at 8:29 am #
the east village when it was still dangerous!
i’m actually still IN my first apartment. i’ve slowly been upgrading the furnature over the years. i had a roommate, but she moved out, and with her went the couch. Ikea became my new best friend after that.
Maggie Robinson on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:14 am #
LOL, I moved to Brooklyn shortly after! That neighborhood was truly weird. I once put a bunch of old clothes in the car to take them to a charity shop, and someone stole them. Forget the middle-man.
Claudia Dain on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:18 am #
Maggie, what a trooper! This the spirit that made America great. “I was only shot the once.” Yeah, baby. You go. You take ‘em. LOL
I’ve never been shot at (I feel I’m missing out now), but my first apt when I got out of school was in No.Hollywood, CA. I worked in downtown LA.
It was on the 2nd floor and the end unit, so I had no one above me and windows on three sides. That was the great part. The bad part was no central air since the building was built in the early 50s and the sun baked the apt. Oh well, it was big and bright and the bathroom and kitchen had those retro peach tiles edged in maroon tile. I felt like I was living in a Barbara Stanwyck movie. *G*
For furniture I had cast offs from my parents. An old card table (also retro) in the wee dining area. A long white sofa from my parent’s living room circa 1958. A nubby dark gold chair. A tiny black and white TV on a white plastic patio table.
I ate when I could afford it, which was not often.
SuzyQ on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:28 am #
OMG Maggie! You say that so casually. I would have moved too if someone shot at me.
My first apartment with my dh was pretty nice. It had tons of storage space and two walk in closets. One was so big we turned it into an office. All the furniture was new except for the dining room set complete with hutch and server. An old neighbor was getting a new set and gave us their old one. The only downside to the place was the next-door neighbor was stealing our electricity. Turns out he was the bil of the owner. My dh traced the cables through the attic and into next door. We started shutting off the breaker when we were not home and then moved out shortly after that.
Sherri Erwin on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:38 am #
My first apartment was in a senior citizen complex. My SIL rented there because her MIL worked for the owner and she got us a deal, too. So there was my SIL and her husband, but all the rest of our neighbors were seniors and it seemed that every other week, a new one dropped dead.
Also, we were too vain and stupid to accept used furniture so we had the few pieces we picked up on clearance, a really cheap mattress set (never skimp on bedding! lessons learned) and a TV that we spent way too much on.
Karen Hawkins on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:51 am #
My first apartment was an efficiency on campus that I shared with a friend. It was THE place to live and tiny! The beds were these odd trundle contraption decorated in (ahem!) lovely burnt orange vinyl that turned into a ‘couch’ in the daytime. We had a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom, but we loved it.
We weren’t supposed to have guys there except during visiting hours, but we weren’t real ‘rule followers’ in the day, we we rigged up a Spider Man bicycle bell to our window and threw some gravel outside to make a path. Can you say ‘bold’? We were not only rule breakers, but with the whole window bell/path thing, we were sort of asking for it.
I remember roaches, though. We’d spray and they’d be gone. Then our neighbors would spray and back they’d come. We eventually put up a Score Sheet on the back of the door and we’d keep track of who’d gassed the most roaches. Now. I think ‘ewww!” and would have yelled at the management, but as a college student, it just seemed sort of expected.
Julia London on 13 Nov 2007 at 9:59 am #
Rachel, is that child riding his three wheeler on orange carpet? WOW. I didn’t know they made orange carpet.
My first apartment was in college. It was an efficiency with the fold out bed like Karen had. It had a cheesy bamboo partition you could roll out to separate that fold out from the rest of the apartment, but when the bed was down, there was only about a foot left.
It was furnished and had its fair share of cockroaches. The walls were so thin I heard the girl behind my sobbing every night. Every night! And I mean great gulping sobs. And then one day she was gone. A guy moved in then that liked heavy metal at all hours.
I worked and paid for that apartment. I still remember the rent: $175. My parents were shocked I would pay that much for an efficiency.
Cookiedough on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:09 am #
I spent most of my twenties living in hole in the wall apts with too many roommates. A one bedroom with 5 others? done. The girls had the bedroom, boys had dining and living rooms
a scary boarding house room with 7 others? ewww and done. the first three home at night got to sleep on the bed, the rest had the floor. garbage picking got us mattresses. I didn’t stay there long.. not long after arriving in the big Toronto city, I met my hunky fros friend Michael and moved into his house with his roommates. 7 of us, but hey I was the only girl and we had five bedrooms there!
As I got more mature, I had nicer places but still had roommates. Not as many. down to one or two.
This place I live in now is the first I’ve had all by my lonesome. I’ve been here 13 yrs. I love it. except for my mouse problem, it’s an ideal home. comfy and cosy, with old fashioned rads, 12ft ceilings, and lots of character that makes up for lack of closet space. I have a duck pond park across the street,
Cookiedough on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:10 am #
and parades pass by in the summer,
Mia Rose on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:29 am #
I was SO proud of my first apartment. I waited until I could move out on my own… being an only child, roommates was not something I wanted to experience, and I refused to live in too scary of a neighborhood.
It had a stackable washer and dryer inside (huge plus), a sliding glass door leading to my downstairs balcony out the master (which held my TWIN bed), a walk in closet (big enough for all my shoes), two un-matching, free loveseats in lieu of a couch (one was black and was pink and cream floral), a 19 inch TV (no cable service) and a fireplace. I was in heaven.
RachelG on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:42 am #
Julia, I think the carpet was gold, but growing up, my parents had an orange and red shag carpet in their house. I am surprised that you didn’t notice that I dressed little man up in jeans, a flannel shirt and his truckers hat so he’d be appropriately attired for his afternoon of four-wheeling in the living room.
Maggie, around here, getting shot with a BB gun is some sort of rite of passage. My brothers, and my son and his friends have all shot each other with BB guns.
It sounds like most of you got much cooler free stuff than I did.
rachel
Julia London on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:45 am #
I guess I was so taken by the carpet I didn’t pay proper attention. Now that you mention it, I am very very impressed, Rachel. The right outfit always makes the adventure more fun. And might I add, the blue bow on his four wheeler is very festive.
ct009ct on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:49 am #
I lived at home until I got married.
Our first “apartment” was an efficiency in a Motel that rented by the month.
It was fully furnished in “Motel Chic”
Trashy - yes, but oh, the memories!!!!!!!!!!!
doglady on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:57 am #
“I only got shot once.” Is that the kind of thing you put in a real estate ad?Brava, Maggie! My first home out of college was a house I rented on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It was actually nice with three bedrooms and a huge livingroom with a buck stove for heat. Alabama had a blizzard that year and mine was the only house around with heat. My furniture was all thrift-store and hand me downs from my folks. A friend’s mom let me retrieve an iron bedframe from her barn. It turned out to be pre Civil War. I sanded and painted it and it is STILL my bed. The problem was that I did not have enough furniture to fill the house. Two rooms were libraries - book shelves and nothing else. My landlady’s folks lived next door. Cue the music from Deliverance. On Friday and Saturday nites cars were constantly driving behind my house into the woods and out. I had well water and a pump, which was also in the woods. I walked out there one day and discovered a moonshine still! This was 1981!
RachelG on 13 Nov 2007 at 11:00 am #
The blue bow–well, he did have to have the best dressed 4-wheeler around. It was not only festive, but matched his shirt. As my might have guessed, my fondness for dressing up the children has now transferred to the animals.
Ronlyn on 13 Nov 2007 at 11:45 am #
YAY!! for free stuff!! I LOVED getting free stuff when I was first starting out, it made life so much easier. And I try to remember that when I’m getting rid of some of our current over flow and pass it along to my office assistant or babysitters, etc.
My first apartment was in college where I lived with another girl and 2 guys. Aside from the cockroaches, it was pretty nice. My first apartment on my own was a tiny 600 sq. foot where I felt like I was stylin’. LOL My entire space was made up of freebies and nothing matched, but I put furniture covers on everything to hide that fact.
dbrown3400 on 13 Nov 2007 at 12:31 pm #
My first apartment had avocado green appliances, ORANGE shag carpet, hand-me-down furniture and a first husband. That about sums it up. Oh, then we moved into a hand-me-down house.
Jami Alden on 13 Nov 2007 at 12:37 pm #
My first apartment was a bit of a s***hole, but my roommate and I made the best of it with the hand me down couches my mom sent out. My bed was affectionately named the taco bed, because the springs were so shot it folded up around you like a taco when you slept. We had a family of about 100 living above us, with little kids who liked to practice Karate. I still remember sitting out on our “porch” (the concrete area in front of the sliding glass doors of our ground level apartment) in lawn chairs, drinking beer and eating guacamole. good times.
zambonigirl on 13 Nov 2007 at 1:41 pm #
It’s not such a bad place. A little 2-bedroom condo. I have mostly hand-me-downs, which I believe are old enough to be considered antiques. I remember when I bought my first mattress. It was the first thing that I actually purchased for myself, and the last thing, unless you count guinea pig cages, artwork, and a clock. I think that kids today have a much better deal when they move out on their own than our parents did. Plus, my grandpa was a woodworker, so I have a lot of handmade stuff, like shelves and my table and chairs. Oh-but I’m buying new chairs! From Ikea! You put them together yourself. The joy! I only have two so far, but I’m working up to six.
Karen Hawkins on 13 Nov 2007 at 1:49 pm #
They’re opening an Ikea store here in Orlando tomorrow. They did a story about how many people have gotten trampled at Ikea store openings. I had no idea! They’re the Rock Stars of furniture, I suppose. I love their stuff, but sheesh! TRAMPLED? At a FURNITURE STORE?
It won’t happen to me.
zambonigirl on 13 Nov 2007 at 1:49 pm #
Not only was Maggie only shot the one time, but the part that pissed her off the most was that her nice suede jacket now has a hole in the arm. That’s a real New Yorker for you. You can’t shoot them; you’ll just make them angry.
Michellynn on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:06 pm #
Wow, from reading all of you, I feel like I am missing a whole cultural movement of some sort……I’ve never even been in an Ikea store before.
zambonigirl on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:14 pm #
It’s almost a religious experience, Michellynn. One of my favorite artists has a blog, he’s Swedish, and every now and then he’ll chronicle in water color his trips to Ikea. It’s really funny.
cail on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:15 pm #
ikea is amazing. i have 2 couches and 3 bookcases from there. it’s truely amazing. i just wouldn’t want one too close by.
Ronlyn on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:21 pm #
WHAT?? You’ve never been to Ikea?!?!
While pregnant with my youngest I dragged my poor DH and son there once a month, just to eat. LOL.
I love Ikea. Plus, they have killer deals. Our current house has all hardwood floors, and when rug shopping I found a decent rug for our diningroom for $35 because they were clearancing it. Love that place.
Freshechelle on 13 Nov 2007 at 2:22 pm #
There was nothing special about my first place except that it was in San Diego. I moved from my parents in NJ to SD on my own. My friends from NJ mocked the Three’s Company layout of the apt building, asking if I hung out at the Regal Beagle for cocktails. I “enjoyed” about a month of fainting in my apt. because I was so overwhelmed by the upheaval of moving out, moving to a state I had never visited and not knowing anyone in SD (now I know why it’s better to go away to college instead of commuting). Since I lived so far from family, I got no hand me downs but I did learn to make curtains, duvets and wall coverings from sheets. I am fierce with iron-on hem tape!
I’d like to defend orange and red shag carpeting. It was the bedrom carpet of choice at the Fresh E house when I was little. It’s no wonder I couldn’t sleep in that room, the carpet looked like Medusa with Ted Turner colorization.
Julia London on 13 Nov 2007 at 3:00 pm #
“I couldn’t sleep in that room, the carpet looked like Medusa with Ted Turner colorization.”
Fresh, LOLOLOL
Sabrina Jeffries on 13 Nov 2007 at 3:04 pm #
I actually don’t remember much about my first apartment (I THINK it was furnished), but weirdly enough, I remember the first pot I ever bought. Fresh out of college and headed for grad school, I had NO money, so I went to garage sales where I found a tin pot for a dime that, I kid you not, was mired in mud on the ground. I figured I could wash it. I used that stupid pot for YEARS. Can you believe that? The garage sale was really just some woman putting a bunch of things out on her lawn–no tables, no prices, nothing, but I was all over that 10 cent pot. Sheesh.
Through the years, my dh and I bought lots of things from garage sales and thrift stores. Occasionally we still do, as a matter of fact. Hubby describes us as frugal. I think some of my friends use another word.
RachelG on 13 Nov 2007 at 3:10 pm #
Okay, am I the olny one who thought Sabrina was talking about a whole different kind of pot?
amy1242 on 13 Nov 2007 at 3:23 pm #
LOL Rachel! The first thing she made in that pot was hash!
Buffie on 13 Nov 2007 at 4:10 pm #
You ladies are so funny!! I have never lived in an apartment. The hubby and I got married when we were babies (19). We bought our first house 6 months before we got married. It was a little 3 bedroom ranch, but it was perfect for us. We did have some free furniture from the inlaws and we also purchased a few pieces. We are in a bigger house now, but I sure miss those $340 house payments!!!!
Buffie on 13 Nov 2007 at 4:11 pm #
Karen — I didn’t know you were in Orlando. My brother-in-law and his wife live there — they are both Disney workers. In fact, she is one of the personalities for Radio Disney. I’ll have to wave at you the next time I’m down there!
Buffie on 13 Nov 2007 at 4:11 pm #
And Maggie — S H O T ???!!!!??!!!! Those are the kinds of statements that make my hubby say we are never going back to NYC.
cail on 13 Nov 2007 at 4:45 pm #
i wont even tell you some of the awful thing’s I’ve seen living in NYC, but i couldn’t imagine living anywhere else right now. the bf and i talk about running off to mexico and living like kings, but for some reason i doubt we’ll do it.
Freshechelle on 13 Nov 2007 at 6:04 pm #
Oh cail, I can’t agree. What I wouldn’t give to get out of this God-forsaken Manhattan. I’m blogging now because I drove in today and the midtown traffic is so heinous, I’m better off working for the next hour rather than face that debacle.
Karen Hawkins on 13 Nov 2007 at 10:57 pm #
Traffic sucks, no matter where you are. And yes, Buffie, I’m in O’do and love it, though the traffic here can be pretty horrible, too. That’s cool about your sis, btw! I’ll have to listen for her. What’s her moniker?
Fresh, can you take the train? My editor swears by the train. Says she gets an extra hour of work done every day because of it.
Sabrina Jeffries on 13 Nov 2007 at 11:40 pm #
Hey, does anyone KNOW of a garage sale where they sell pot for a dime? If so, I’m there!
Kidding! Well, pretty much.
FreshEChelle on 14 Nov 2007 at 9:09 am #
Hi KH, I tried the train but on the Jersey side, it stops at every tree and intersection. It could be great if you live near a station that takes you directly into Manhattan. It took me 2 hours, 2 trains and a schlep - I only live 20 miles outside of NY. My bro lives in O, I rarely visit because well, those 4 way stop traffic lights are eternal.
Buffie on 14 Nov 2007 at 1:19 pm #
Karen - her radio name is Special K. She does most of the Disney concerts too. She usually introduces the talent (like Hannah Montana). She loves her job. My BIL is some type of analyst in the corporate offices. I’m just glad he works there — it’s great getting into the park for free!