Welcome to the dollhouse

When you live in a 650-square foot house, organized cupboards can prevent traumatic brain injury. Maybe this is also true in larger homes, but trust me when I tell you that if so much as a box of toothpicks is out of alignment in our pantry, the next schmuck who opens the cupboard door is going to get hit in the head by a can of coconut milk. (You'd think this sort of booby trap would keep me from searching the cupboard 40 times a day for sweets, but no.)

Our house was built in 1870. It was in the same family from 1875 until we bought it in July 2004, and it boasts several exciting features:

• a shower in the hallway
• no closets whatsoever
• 7-foot ceilings

Despite these shortcomings (ha!), I love it beyond all reason. It's our first house, the foundation for my new job and our new life. It's the first place we've had a garden, known our neighbors, and tested our DIY skills. It's our first house as a legally married lesbian couple and the place where we'll become parents. It's nothing fancy, but it's a great place to live.