Settling In: Newlywed Nesting in Okinawa

We’ve been breaking down boxes and shuffling around bins for exactly three weeks now. I had expected newlywed nesting to be about three full days of unpacking and a week of settling in and arranging things. This has not been the case.

It’s the first time we have moved our stuff in together and “adjustments” have been necessary to get everything to flow. Dane’s last apartment was decorated in mostly dark wood and leather. Mine (well, three places ago) was light and beachy. Merging these two styles has been a challenge. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has been safe from my paint brush. Furniture, frames, even an old carpet is freshly coated in paint. And it’s finally starting to come together in a unique blend of both of our styles.

In addition to trying to get everything to match, we’re both more than a little OCD, so rather than just getting everything put away somewhere, we want everything to be put away in the “perfect place”. The biggest problem has been that when you are moving American-size furniture into a Japanese-size apartment, there is no perfect place for some of this stuff… And so… we build it.

Or, more accurately, Dane builds it.

Here’s how the last three weeks have been working:

1) As I am unpacking and organizing, I realize that we need a new piece of furniture.
2) I consult pinterest.
3) I find the perfect piece and email it to Dane with the subject line, “Can this be done?”
4) He responds with, “Of course.” (And only later decides exactly how it can be done)
5) After work he goes to Makeman (the hardware store) and then to the wood shop to build.
6) I continue unpacking only to realize there is something else that we need to build.

*back to step 2.

So far he has built:
– A table for behind our couch
– Shelves for the laundry room
– A Murphy craft desk for the office
– An entry table
– A raised wooden floor for his bathroom
– A hutch/vanity for mine

The boy’s been busy.

My goal was to have everything done before Thanksgiving. That didn’t happen. We both seem to start new projects more quickly than we unpack boxes- so while the going’s been slow, it’s also been so much fun! The new goal is to be done by Christmas. But if we are not- we will just keep walking around the boxes and taking on newlywed nesting projects!