Twosome Tuesday: Nesting

Kitchen...

Our home is being filled to the brim with wedding decor, wedding attire, and now, wedding gifts.  Especially after this weekend's double shower (guess who forgot her camera!), both brides are thinking more about making their first homes with their husbands.                                                                                               

Dining table...

Distance Nesting:
Prince Helium is in an on-campus apartment while he works for the university and attends law school.  Princess Bossy will move in with him there after their wedding.                                                                                                          
For the last several months of her internship, it was her place to step away from the demands of her job, cook and bake to her heart's content, and for a very appreciative audience, which is always rewarding.  Having adequate survival type of cooking skills, but not the passion for cooking and baking that his fiance has, Prince Helium was happy to turn the kitchen over to Princess Bossy and let her arrange it, stock it, and otherwise make it her own early on.  This means she's pretty well acquainted with the work area and storage already, and has visions for its future, filled with wedding registry wish list entries.                                                                                                                                                                      

Living Room...

One thing she didn't take into account when forming the list was plate size.  The couple chose Pottery Barn's Great White Traditional dishes.  When a place setting arrived in a gift box and she held the dinner plate in her hands, "Uh-ohhh..." crossed her mind.  She hurriedly texted her fiance and asked him to measure the inside of the upper cabinets.  Her fear was warranted, as they have 11 inches in which to fit 11 3/4-inch plates.  Some quick thinking reminded her they have a 14" upper-cabinet-free stretch of wall, and she began planning something to fill it.                                                                                                                                   

Great White Traditional at Pottery Barn

Cabinet maker, Hubby, already has his assignment.  He will construct the components for a 14" wide by 14" deep (including door) cabinet,  and pre-drill the pieces for flat transport, then easy assembly when they arrive in Oklahoma.  The 12 1/2" by 12 1/2" interior should be just right for the stack of plates.  



Nesting within a Nest:
When Princess Sassy and Prince Steadfast began discussing marriage, they thought they'd also be headed out of state...to Tempe and Arizona State University.  ASU, though, accepted so few of the credits Prince S earned in his Associate's Degree that he'd be almost back to square one, and starting without enough credits to even qualify as a sophomore, instead of as a junior, as he'd expected. With the out of state tuition costs, this was no longer a reasonable option, so they'll be staying around here for awhile.  He'll instead pursue his engineering degree from the local satellite program of one of Washington's universities.                                                                                                                                                  

Princess Sassy is preparing a thrift store find
for Prince Steadfast's computer desk

The cost of living is different in Arizona than here in the Puget Sound.  It was a shock to discover rent for an equivalent apartment in this area would be twice what they were budgeting for in Arizona.                                                                            

It is actually an old sewing cabinet,
complete with old machine
& attachments.  OK for $5.

Since they were planning to live in our home between the wedding and the move to Arizona, they decided to stick to that plan.  I don't know if it's birth order, or just personality, but Princess Bossy has such a drive for autonomy and being in charge of her own world, that it would have never worked for her.  But Princess Sassy and her Steadfast don't have that same need, and enjoy the hustle and bustle of family life here, so it doesn't bother them to share our home for a bit.  It's not as customary in our culture, but in others extended families share much smaller homes and make it work, so I think we can, too.                                                                                                                                                   
More than they do, Hubby and I see their coming need for privacy and separation, so will work to make sure they have their respected spaces, as do we.  Initially, we designed our home to be built in phases, with a garage attached with a connecting piece as Phase 2.  It seems that now is the time to build it with the couple getting the bonus space with probable future kitchenette space above the garage as their domain.  So between wedding errands, I have been designing this new addition.                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Hubby is thrilled that we'll have indoor shelter for vehicles, and some shop workspace.  I am thrilled that we'll gain much needed storage in the garage and in the connector area to take pressure off the house.  The prince and princess are thrilled to have affordable housing with many built-in benefits.  They'll be a stairway away from company, laundry equipment, and great baking space, while still having an area to make into their own, decorating and organizing as they like.  Win-win-win.