Closet Space

Josh is off at his legal department retreat/conference, so I've been on my own for the last couple days.  Since we are flying to DC on Friday and have house guests arriving soon after we return, I've spent most of the time trying to get things in order on the domestic front.  Fun stuff like paying bills, dropping off dry cleaning, returning library books, ordering furniture, and trying to get my mobile phone plan sorted out.

I discovered yesterday that the guy who helped set up my new mobile plan at O2 not only misspelled my username, but entered the wrong code to port my number over from Vodafone.  Somebody up there seriously doesn't want me to use my iPhone here!  I had to go back to their store AGAIN to straighten everything out.  If all goes well, my new account will be activated tomorrow -- but I'm not holding my breath...

I also took care of our TV licence (that's how they spell it here).  We have to pay over $230/year for the privilege of watching TV.   But that's not nearly as bad as the $3,000/year we have to pay in property tax for a house that we are renting.  Here it is the occupier of the property, not the owner, who is responsible for paying the "council tax."  I'm not sure what the £ equivalent of "nickeled and dimed" is, but we definitely know what it feels like.

I've contacted several charities offering up the frame and box spring from our bed, which I'd like to get rid of before the bed we ordered arrives (right after we return from DC).  But no one will take a bed that size (US queen/UK king) -- mostly because the majority of people served by these charities don't have space for it.  I doubt I'll have much luck offering it up on Craigslist/Gumtree/Freecycle, since you'd need a pretty big vehicle to transport a queen-size box spring.  If you are thinking of moving to London, DO NOT bring a bed with a box spring! 

Now I'm in the process of trying to find places to store my clothes and shoes.  I cleaned out my closet before we left and donated several bags of clothing and shoes to charity, and even left a couple boxes of clothes in storage, since I knew we would have minimal storage space, but it's still a challenge.  Part of the problem is that there are NO closets in our bedroom, and since it is under the eaves, there's no place to put a wardrobe in the room.  The other two bedrooms do have closets, but they are not as commodious as they appear.

The larger bedroom appears to have a closet that spans an entire side of the room.

But in actuality, the entire middle part is only a few inches deep.  This house was built in 1894 -- before central heating -- so there used to be a fireplace in every room.  It's been walled up, but it doesn't leave much space for hanging clothes, and I'm too short to reach the upper bar without a stool.

The smaller bedroom has two mismatched closets on either side of what used to be the fireplace.  It's a more aesthetically appealing solution, and leaves room for a small piece of furniture in between.

Unfortunately, the closets aren't deep enough to accommodate a standard clothes hanger, and this isn't a very convenient way to hang things:

Since we'd prefer to keep the majority of our clothes in our own room anyway, we invested in a couple adjustable garment racks and tucked them under the eaves, with shoes on the floor behind them.

Our "closet"

I need to find a couple shoe racks to keep the shoes organized, and we'll have to rotate our clothes seasonally, but it beats having to walk down a flight of stairs to find something to wear.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with my pajamas.  I'm seriously considering storing them on the shelf of my nightstand, since my tiny dresser drawers are already full.  It won't look pretty, but we're the only ones who'll ever see it.

Speaking of pajamas, I should head upstairs and change into mine so I can go to bed.  Good night!