Bungalow by the Bay

August 23, 2019 Amber Guyton

On August 1st, after selling my Blessed Little Bungalow, I traded my 1650 square foot home in San Antonio for a 450 square foot apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s been quite the transition, but after a week of unpacking, my new “Bungalow” is ready to be revealed!

But first, let’s chat through the big move! No matter how exciting the adventure, moving is stressful and exhausting. When I moved to Texas from Georgia, my former employer assisted with my relocation and third parties packed up and shipped everything at my old townhouse, including my car! This time, I was given a relocation funds, but had to pack up and arrange things myself. I decided the easiest way to downsize from a three bedroom house to a small apartment was to sell as much of my furniture as possible. Thanks to Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and my real estate agent’s contacts, I was able to successfully sell everything in a few days, including my Samsung refrigerator, washer and dryer.

As furnishings in BLB began to disappear with each sale (and arrive, because I was shopping for new furniture and decor at the same time LOL), I sorted through my remaining belongings and decided what to keep and pack or donate. Thanks to my #BLBKonMari and tidying up efforts in the spring, the decluttering, packing and moving process wasn’t as bad as it could've been. I decided to use PODS to ship my belongings to the Bay Area and had a few days to pack up my storage container two days before my closing. Once it and my car was picked up, they’d meet me in California about a week and a half later.

Because my house sold so quickly and my new full-time job’s start date in Palo Alto was approaching quickly, surprisingly (especially to myself), I signed the lease for my new place sight-unseen! It was important that I secured a new apartment right away and I wasn’t interested in living in temporary housing during the first few weeks of my time in the Bay Area. I did some research and found a city that was a comfortable distance between Downtown SF and PA where I’d be working. Burlingame was cute and quaint, safe, convenient and close to the SFO airport. Once my new Joybird sofa was delivered and my belongings in my PODS container arrived, I quickly began to unpack, decorate and make the vacant apartment feel more like home.

After a month of packing, shopping and moving, my new BLB or #BungalowbytheBay is now ready for me to share!

Based on my original vision…

….here’s the end result:

The decluttering, packing, moving and unpacking journey has been a REAL one! It really wore me out, but I’m so grateful for the smooth process and I’ve enjoyed my new digs thus far. Thanks for supporting and following BLB throughout this very exciting time in both my personal and business life! I’m so excited to see what Cali living has for me!

For more photos of my new home, check out my Portfolio and follow my journey on Instagram under #BungalowbytheBay!

Be Blessed,

ACG

Design Deets:

LIVING ROOM

Sofa - Joybird

Geometric Rug - Loloi Rugs

Bookshelves - Cui Liu Designs, HomeGoods

Storage Cabinet - TJ Maxx

Floor Lamp - Target

Desk - HomeGoods

Curtains - West Elm