Moving is happening indeed at the moment, and even though we’re taking things quite slow our apartment is already starting to come together. That’s the beauty of moving from a bigger home to a smaller one; the furniture you already have will quickly make the new place look and feel like home. Plus we already know what we like style-wise, so it won’t take long for us to decorate the new place. We won’t be starting completely from scratch, like when we moved into the house. Yesterday, Monday, both Morten and I took the day off from work, so we could get the moving started for real. We borrowed a car with a towbar (ours sadly don’t have that) and the we rented a trailer, so we could bring some of the bigger furniture with us. The other smaller things are easier for us to just pop into our own car along the way. I spend a couple hours cleaning the apartment last week, so that all we had to do yesterday was to put everything in place. The next few weeks we have some final admin-related stuff we need to sort out, and then we also need to gather up the rest of our furniture that won’t fit into the apartment, and get them stored somewhere.
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Vi er i fuld gang med flytningen, og selvom vi tager det ret stille og roligt så begynder vores lejlighed allerede nu, at ligne et hjem. Det er nok det gode ved, at flytte fra et større hjem til et mindre; der skal ikke ret meget til, før at de møbler og ting man har kommer til sin ret, og man har hurtigt indrettet sig. Plus at vi sådan rent stilmæssigt allerede er ret sporet ind på, hvad vi godt kan lide. Så vi starter ikke helt fra scratch, som dengang vi flyttede ind i huset. I går, mandag, havde både Morten og jeg valgt at holde dagen fri, for at få flyttet et stort læs af vores ting ned i lejligheden. Vi havde lånt en bil med anhængertræk og også lejet en flyttetrailer, så vi kunne få nogle af de større ting flyttet derned. De andre mindre ting vi har, kan vi selv køre ned med løbende. Jeg brugte et par timer på, at få lejligheden gjort ren sidste uge sådan at vi bare skulle koncentrere os om, at sætte på plads og indrette os i går. De næste par uger skal gå med, at få de sidste admin-relaterede sager ordnet, og så skal vi desuden have opmagasineret de store møbler vi ikke har plads til i lejligheden.
Even though the apartment is a temporary solution, we can (as I’ve mentioned before) stay there as long as we need. No matter what we’ll at least have to stay there for 3 months, as that is the minimum rental period. Right now we both agree though, that if we were to stay there even for 6 months or more that would be alright as well. Because moving is tough. Both physically and mentally. So it’s quite alright if it’s going to be a while before we have to do this all over again…
We do what we can to make the best of this solution. There’s no doubt that ideally we would have moved straight into our dream house, so that we didn’t have to move twice within this next year. But it didn’t work out that way, and it’s alright. You can’t plan out every single little thing of your life, and I think it’s key to have a mindful approach to bigger events like these; follow along and accept whatever happens, and make the best of it all. And I quite like not always knowing exactly what is going to happen. So we’re focusing on all the positive aspects of our current situation, and the fact that we’re going to live in a smaller apartment for a while. The quiet yet very central location of it is amazing for one. We’ve never tried living that central before, so it’s quite nice to try that for a change. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up liking the idea of a city-house (I don’t think so, but never say never, right?). The apartment has a great size – we can continue living our lives as we’ve done all along without having to compromise all that much with out jobs or hobbies. There’s even room for us to be able to bring our home workout gear like my cross trainer and Morten’s bicycle hometrainer, which can be put in out own private and closed stairwell. And because we’re bringing our sofabed from the guestroom instead of our lightgrey couch from the living room, we’ll also be able to have people sleeping over at our place. Finally we’ll be able to bring both of our furbabies, so we couldn’t have asked for more. Besides, I’m well aware that all of this is like a huge ol’ first-world-problem, so really it’s also about putting things a little in perspective for yourself when the going get’s tough. We’ve got a roof over our heads and we’ve got plenty of possibilities. So things aren’t that bad at all.
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Selvom lejligheden i første omgang er en midlertidig løsning for os, så kan vi jo (som jeg har nævnt før) blive boende så længe vi har brug for det. Uanset hvad bliver det minimum 3 måneder, da det er rammen for vores opsigelse af den. Lige nu er vi dog enige om, at går der et halvt år eller mere så er det også okay. For det er hårdt at flytte. Både fysisk og mentalt. Så det gør ikke noget hvis der lige går lidt tid, før vi skal gøre det hele igen…
Vi gør hvad vi kan for, at få det bedste ud af denne løsning. For der er da slet ingen tvivl om, at det idéelle havde været, at flytte direkte ind i vores drømmehus, så vi netop slap for, at skulle flytte én gang til inden for det næste års tid. Men sådan blev det ikke lige, og det er faktisk helt okay. Det er ikke alting i livet der kan planlægges ned til mindste detalje, og jeg tror det er vigtigt at have en mindful tilgang til de her større omvæltninger; man må følge med de ting der sker, acceptere dem og få det bedste ud af dem. Og jeg kan på en måde godt lide, at man ikke altid ved hvad der skal ske. Så vi fokuserer på alle de positive ting der er ved, at vi nu skal bo i en lidt mindre lejlighed noget tid. Den ligger fantastisk, i et stille område med gåafstand til det meste. Det har vi aldrig prøvet før, og det er faktisk ret fedt at opleve for en gangs skyld. Hvem ved, måske bliver vi lune på idéen om et byhus (tror det nu næppe, men man skal jo aldrig sige aldrig). Lejligheden har en passende størrelse – vi kan leve videre som vi har gjort hele tiden, så selvom den er mindre behøver vi ikke gå på kompromis fx med mit arbejde som selvstændig, og heller ikke med vores livsstil og interesser generelt. Der er endda plads i vores private, lukkede trappeopgang til, at jeg kan have min crosstrainer stående og Morten kan have sin hometrainer (cykel), og fordi vi har valgt at tage vores sovesofa med fra gæsteværelset til stuen i stedet for vores store lysegrå sofa, så kan vi også stadig have overnattende gæster. Sidst men ikke mindst så kan vi have begge vores dejlige, pelsede babyer med. Desuden er alt det her er jo på en måde et luksusproblem, så det handler også om at sætte tingene lidt i perspektiv overfor sig selv, når man synes det hele er lidt hårdt. Vi har tag over hovedet og vi har masser af muligheder, at vælge imellem. Værre er det heller ikke.
I think one of the reasons why it feels natural to be positive about this whole experience is, that we’ll be getting back to the city-life possibilities now. That’s the part we’ve been most excited about anyway! We haven’t moved for real yet, and I don’t think we will be doing that before another couple of weeks. I already feel like I want to hang out in the apartment more than our house, and I also think we’re gonna go sleep there for the first time this weekend. I’ve mentioned before that we’ve both been quite sad having to leave our beautiful house – but now that we’ve started moving for real, and the new place is coming together, we can finally move our focus and start getting on with this new chapter.
I’m filming a moving-vlog this week, which I will publish on my channel on Sunday. I will also be making some more interior related content. My best tips on moving from a large home to a smaller one, and an apartment tour for example. Speaking of focusing on the positive side of our temporary solution; I ove decorating, so I’m actually quite enjoying myself, haha! I find myself moving things around here and there, and making the place as “hyggeligt” as possible. The apartment might be temporary, but I don’t wan’t to look at it like something we just have to get overwith. That’s not how I want to live my life. It’s part of the ride, and we might as well make it as cozy as possible, so we’ll look back at this period with joy and good memories. Even though we won’t stay there forever.
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Jeg tror én af grundene til vi især kan se positivt på hele denne oplevelse er, at vi kommer tilbage til bylivets muligheder igen. Det er jo netop den del vi har glædet os allermest til! Vi er ikke flyttet endeligt endnu, men gør det nok først inden for de næste 2 uger. Jeg har allerede meget mere lyst til, at være nede i lejligheden end hjemme i huset, og jeg tror også vi tager derned og sover her i weekenden for første gang. Jeg har nævnt før at vi begge har været rigtig kede af det over, at skulle sige farvel til vores dejlige hus – men nu efter vi for alvor er begyndt at flytte, og ligeså stille får indrettet os hyggeligt det nye sted, så kan vores fokus endelig flytte sig, og vi kan begynde at komme videre med vores nye kapitel.
Jeg filmer en lille flytte-vlog denne uge som bliver smidt op på min kanal på søndag, og jeg skal også nok lave noget mere interiør relateret indhold. Mine bedste tips til at indrette sig på få kvadratmeter når man flytter fra noget større, og også en lille apartment-tour fx. Apropros det dér med at fokusere på det positive ved vores midlertidige løsning; jeg elsker jo at indrette, så jeg nyder det i fulde drag, haha! Går rundt og omplacerer hist og her, og hygger om de små detaljer. Lejligheden skal ikke bare været noget der skal overstås, for sådan har jeg egentlig ikke lyst til at leve mit liv. Den er en del af oplevelsen, og vi kan ligeså godt indrette den så hyggeligt som muligt, så vi får en god tid med gode minder der. Også selvom vi ikke skal blive der for evigt.
A lot of people do this in Denmark, not so many in the UK – in fact I’d say it’s almost unheard of in Britain due to the way houses are sold. Contracts are signed and then you move in usually within days, despite a price being agreed up to several months beforehand. There is usually a chain, which can fall apart at the last minute! Apartments (or flats) are usually on a fixed rental agreement, and not so easy to find as in Denmark.
I’d certainly say I prefer the Danish system, everyone knows where they are, and moving into a flat for a few months means that you don’t feel pressured in to buying a house.
In our case we moved out of our flat into a new build (also a self build), we had to give three months notice of moving out of the flat, the house was behind schedule so we moved in to a house where only one room was finished (bathroom), no flooring, no kitchen and few electrics! It was like camping out for the first few months!
What a lovely, light-filled apartment on a charming street. So nice that you have your own entrance to the outside. ❤️ Denmark.
I love your little home it’s precious!! The neighborhood is GORGEOUS!! So happy for you and your new beginning! <3
Aaww, thanks Angelina! You’re so sweet! <3 I know, the streets are so cute and they make me feel so grounded and at home. x
I loved this post, thanks so much for writing it. Really looking forward to your vlogs about interiors as Im doing a similar things at the moment (big house to small flat). Thanks as always for sharing, Alexandra xx
I have moved House 8 times, in 4 different countries in the last 15 yrs. and after a while you get Pro in how to move 😉 I also loved the fact that I could declutter before and after the move which I wasnt able to on the last one, due to the majority of our Household having been in storage. We have now moved into our “what was to be forever” home in Germany but it still doesnt feel right, so living somewhere temporarily (like you are going to do now) can give you a good idea of where you really want to live. I always thougtht that living on the outskirts of a big City would be my favourite place, due to the proximity of town and nature. But living here now, I realise, that I prefer to live in the Countryside1 So good Luck in your “New” Home and hopefully you will find your Dream soon <3