Had a look at the new apartment today. Downside - both bedrooms have steeply sloped ceilings which severely limit layout space.
Upside: my GF said I can use the dining room, which is a decent size mostly square room, about 10x10 or 10x12 (I didn;t measure). The key is that with the way the house is laid out, there are two ways to the kitchen - either through the dining room or through its own hallway, so blocking the dining room door is not actually an inconvenience. However, for my own sanity i will probably build a lift gate. The modular group from the historical society has a very nice one I will probbaly just copy. So once I have exact measurements, planning will be under way for the new layout.
Congrat’s on the new space. Your GF sounds like a sweetheart, just like my wife. When we moved into our new house she said I could build the RR in the 15’ x 35’ living/dinning room or in the 1000 SQFT nanny suite. I took half the nanny suite and figured if I ever got that complete I could expand. Take lots of pics along the way and when you look back you will see how far you have come. Oh and you had better get a ring on that GF of yours, she sounds like a keeper![angel]
Glad to hear the GF has given you some good space to set up a layout. My wife gave me space when our house was being built. Didn’t get right into it and it has been used for other things, a lot of stuff to move out to get to it now, so don’t delay.
I have seen some simple lift gates that were effective and easy to build. I’m sure you have seen a multitude of types here, so go for it.