Back After a Break: A Closer Look at Our Recent Move and Two Apps You'll Love!

I mostly took a break because we've been busy moving from the basement suite to the main floor. I also used a couple of apps to simplify things a bit. Here are some insights into that process.

I have basically taken the last two weeks off work, aside from a few hours here and there, so I hope you’re enjoying my many other blog posts and some videos on this, my home business website, and of course, the paid subscriber content.

I figured I should put together a post about the process of our move, and some of the tech tools I’ve used to make the process a little easier, in the hopes others will be inspired.

For the past year and a half, Mom and I have been sharing the basement legal suite of her house while she had tenants living on the main floor upstairs. It was a bit cramped for us, but we managed to make it work, good days and bad. It was easier during the times she was away, house and pet-sitting for weeks or months at a time, and the suite was essentially mine during that time. And yes, I pay rent.

After the tenants gave their notice and left, we took some time to decide that we prefer to live on the main floor and rent out the basement legal suite instead, despite slightly less rental income; however, the pros outweigh the cons.

Thus, the move began. To be clear, moving from the basement suite to the main floor has been almost as much work as packing and driving across town or across the country, but minus the travel. Still gotta pack some boxes and get movers, among other things.

Moving My Home Office

This is what my home business office looked like for a year and a half. The space worked well. There’s not much of a view. It’s just the backyard with Mom’s raised gardens and the back of the garage. Occasionally, neighborhood cats or wild rabbits enjoy hanging out, which we welcome. No other local yards seem to allow that for the rabbits.

It’s a U-shaped desk with a hutch using particle board off Amazon that I’m quite surprised has now survived four moves, but it is showing some wear and tear.

My two monitors (previously three) are on the left, my Elgato Prompter, a small desk lamp, and a few other things around the desk. I recently replaced my aging computer chair with one that is nearly identical.

I unplugged everything and took it upstairs first, then separated the three sections, and the hutch, and the movers (our lawn care guy and one of his staff) took it all upstairs.

Here is my home office desk back in its former room, with Nala quickly excited about having this window back and living in this suite again! The mid-section, or whatever that is called, wasn’t attached at this point. The movers just eyeballed the distance without measuring, which is the only part of their work I wasn’t happy with. So Mom and I shifted things around a bit to get it done.

Here’s a shot of that, along with the measurement from the handy iPhone app! I’ll talk about that more later.

Here is my computer desk back up and running upstairs, almost exactly as it was, but the Elgato Prompter is on the other side. My tower fan, which I need for my anxiety, is visible here. Better view here, facing the front of the house, looking out toward the street. Nala and I enjoy watching people and pets walk by.

Living Room and Computer Repair

This is our living room. I only mention this because half of it will soon be used for computer repair, which I did not have proper room for in the legal suite. The fireplace, Mom’s plants, lazyboy, and the TV stand are at the far end. Closer to the front of the house are the wood tables I’ll be using.

Apple’s Measuring App

It occurred to me to use the measurements app on my iPhone for a few things during the move, including those wood tables. I don’t find it to be the easiest app to use, but it works pretty well!

Here is the progress I’ve made so far with setting up the wood tables, a white table used for a different purpose downstairs, and the computer I’ll be using to review things and invoices with clients. There’s no room for chairs for clients in my home office.

Mom’s Antique Desk

This is my Mom’s antique writing desk. It’s 100 years old or something, handed down from her parents. She used it growing up while doing distance learning from Germany, Cuba, Russia, and other places, and obviously mailing her work in during that time before the internet. Her Dad was a Diplomat and a World War II veteran. Now it’s for her MacBook Air. Things were built to last back then. It’s the only item we wouldn’t trust movers to take care of for us.

Amazon App 3D Room View

Another app I used was the 3D “View in Your Space” feature on the Amazon app. I actually tried to use the ChatGPT “sketch” ability first, but it’s terrible. In this example, while initially testing it, I chose a random queen-size mattress and frame in the Amazon app. It does a decent job, but “placing” the item in your space needs work. Beyond that, you can “walk around” the item and get a really good sense of how you want to use the space. That part is fantastic!

Final Thoughts

Moving is always a grueling, exhausting, and time-consuming process, no matter the distance, and I wanted to share some insights into what it’s been like this time around, and what’s been taking up my time for a couple of weeks.

We tentatively have tenants already lined up for the legal suite, so that’s exciting!

It’s worth noting that the only reason I was able to do as much as I did is due to some progress in better managing my IBS symptoms in recent weeks, which I’ll cover in my IBS blog here on Substack.

Thanks for your patience as I paused my work during this time. I’ll get back to it very soon.