Moving House

So up until now we have been living at Skizum Studios and if you click on the house photos link, you can see what it's like inside our world. The room with the Easter Island Mural is ours.

We were attracted to the place because a) it had a store front window b) it had a lot of potential to be a really interesting space c) we liked the people living here and were happy to make some friends when first arriving in Berlin.

After being here for 2 months, we realized that it wasn't the perfect space for us. It will take a lot of hard work and money for us to be comfortable here and we have to invest in our own lives (work, play, relationship). So we will be moving in the next few weeks to a place with our friend Dan who we met at the election party in the fall (see Once You Go Barack). We'll have half the people and twice the bathrooms!

The craigslist ad we responded to for Skizum Studios looked like this:

A large storefront , converted into a living residence that can also be used as a gallery/event space. The space is used to bring together active and intelligent international people who want to live in a comfortable, balanced, consciously humane and inspiring home. People who stay here have the option of enjoying private living and participating in creating more public interaction. Several people who have lived here are still in the neighborhood and are involved in contributing to our community.

The following resources are available to people who live here:
• 4 private bedrooms, a common room with storefront street access, a kitchen, a toilet/laundry room, a shower room and 2 storage rooms
• we have a large cellar that we have used for gallery openings, cultural events/parties and a workshop. We are planning on doing further renovations to the space to make it even more cozy.
• It’s your world, you can do what you like to create it including moving furniture, building loft beds, painting walls…I only ask that you show me your plan before beginning.
• You would have to supply your own bed sheets and pillow.
• Rent includes ALL utilities (gas, water, electric + heating) and wireless DSL + local phone. 2 months security deposit + 1 month rent moves you in. We share regular house expenses for basic maintenance costs, cleaning supplies, basic house needs (light bulbs, toilet paper, new kitchen utensils, etc.) These expenses average about 15 euro/person/month. Your deposit is returned in full when you return your keys and the room is returned to a clean state.
• Once we agree on the length of your stay, I only ask you give me 30 days notice if you decide to move out sooner or want to stay on longer.
• I have developed a few simple transparent systems to fairly balance housekeeping efforts while maintaining a healthy balanced vibe in the house. There is also a continually evolving house manual that describes more about the systems and the neighborhood in greater detail.
• pets - we have a 5 month old kitten named "Nurbps" that is very friendly an exceptionally playful