Our lease for our current 550 square foot studio apartment is up at the end of February. We're not as satisfied with it as we used to be because of several things. For one thing, it's small and we technically don't even have a bedroom. We have a small area for the bed, which sits against two walls and the dresser is right at the foot of it. We're also running out of storage space because we have gotten a fake Christmas tree, some floor fans, and more drinking glasses and other kitchen stuff since moving here.

Secondly, we're tired of being directly above the community grill area a few floors down. When someone uses the grill the smoke always rises up and inevitably gets into our apartment because we usually have the windows open for ventilation. This always causes us to have to close the windows, which sometimes makes it pretty hot in here during the summer.

Thirdly, people make a lot of noise near the grill area and in the alley between our complex and the recording studio, especially if they've had a few drinks. The noise from the studio itself is also obnoxious.

We'll definitely be moving to at least a one bedroom apartment instead of a studio. We still like this complex overall. It's a nice building and the unit is nice with pretty new appliances and nice wooden cabinets and a big window facing the sunset to the West. The neighborhood is growing on us, especially with the addition of South Lake Union Park and more businesses opening nearby because of Amazon. It's very convenient to get to downtown and walking to work is really nice. We won't rule out looking at other buildings or in other neighborhoods though, such as Capitol Hill or Lower Queen Anne.

We're also considering the possibility of getting a two bedroom and using one of the rooms as a guest room for visitors. Having an extra room would make it a lot cheaper for friends and family to visit more often or for longer because they wouldn't have to pay for hotels. However, it would cost about $250-$300 more per month for an extra room and we're not sure it would result in more frequent visitors in the next year. We would also have the large extra costs of purchasing a second set of bedroom furniture, a mattress, etc. And we don't really have a use for a second room for the rest of the year. Perhaps in 2012 we might get a two bedroom apartment.

I'm also interested in buying a house or townhouse in the next few years. After a down payment, monthly house payments can be almost the same as apartment rent, depending on how big the house is and how close to downtown it is. I guess we'll just have to see what prices are and what would be affordable at that time.