Our House in the Bush

"Do you live in an igloo?" This, and other questions pertaining to housing, is one of the most common questions I encounter when people find out where I live. They always seem a bit disappointed when I tell them that I do not, in fact, live in an igloo. We actually live in a fairly normal house, although it does look a bit like a Morton farm building from the outside.

The house itself is very large, with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  It is, without a doubt, the largest place that Cody and I have rented, and while we don't really need the space it is nice to have. Our rental rate, which is decided by our landlord - the school district - is quite low.  We only pay $625/month, and that includes all utilities. 

In traditional Alaskan-style, when you enter our home you walk into our arctic entryway (similar to a mudroom in the lower 48). This is where our standing deep freeze is, as well as where we keep all of our shoes and outdoor gear.  It's actually a very large room, which is nice for storage purposes.

When you enter the actual living portion of our house you walk into an open foyer area, with the living room on one side and the kitchen/dining room on the other. The house actually used to be two separate apartments, but a previous teacher knocked down a wall to make space for his growing family, which is why it's so large and open.

To the left of the foyer is our dining room.  The dining room is one of my favorite spaces in the whole house.  We've got a huge window that looks over Loon Lake and the tundra.  It's so beautiful and peaceful.  I often sit here and read, drink coffee, or do art projects.

From there, you walk into the kitchen, and while the kitchen is large and has great storage, I really miss having a dishwasher. Doing dishes is my absolute least favorite chore, so this has been probably my biggest struggle with living in this particular house. Plus, there are no restaurants here, so we cook every single meal we eat. SO. MANY. DISHES.

Two of the bedrooms are off of the kitchen, including the one that we have claimed as ours.  The smaller bedroom is serving as our storage room. We have excessive amounts of totes and boxes from the move and this little bedroom has been nice for keeping them all stored away from our living space. Plus, this house had way too much furniture when we moved in (three kitchen tables, an extra dresser, assorted end tables, and tons of lamps). The spare bedroom is also housing all of the furniture odds and ends.  The larger bedroom on this end is the master bedroom. It's a decent sized room with good closet space, plus it has the best view of all of the bedrooms because it also looks out over the lake.

Also on this end of the house is the biggest bathroom, which I've claimed as my own.  Cody and I are really digging not having to share a bathroom.  Seriously, it's marital bliss.

On the other side of the house we've got the living room, two bedrooms, and Cody's bathroom (I'll spare you the picture of Cody's bathroom - haha).  The living room has great space and came with pretty nice furniture.  We spend a lot of time curled up on the couch watching movies and hanging out, mostly because there isn't a whole lot to do out here in the bush, so I'm glad we have such nice living space in our home.

Off of the living room there are two bedrooms. One is serving as our guest bedroom, even though we never have guests.  It's also being used for our brewery (we are brewing our own beer because they don't sell alcohol in our village, even though it's not illegal to possess). The other room we've converted into a great little office.  Cody uses the office a ton for writing, reading, and playing video games.

As you can see, the house is still in need of some home decor accents, but those are the kind of things that tend to happen slowly. In terms of the bones of the house though, we are enjoying it.  It's been especially nice to have so much extra space.  Cody and I work in the same classroom for 40hrs/week and then we come home and hang out together.  Plus, there are very few opportunities for us to socialize separately here, so having our own space is important. I'm glad that we live in a place that allows us so much room to grow, expand, and live peacefully. 

Your turn...What is your favorite room in your house? 

Currently listening to...A Punk - Vampire Weekend