Sneak Peek: Our Manhattan Studio Apartment

So, we've done some sprucing up since my last post about our apartment back in August. We have things on the walls! Things on tables! Things on the bed! Since the apartment came pre-(dorm quality) furnished, the only things we have control over are what we put on the surfaces and walls. Here's a 360 degree trip around our 13 by 17 foot living/sleeping/dining space. Kitchen, closets, and bathroom omitted (for now).

Plants on the windowsill! An herb trio (thyme, sage, and rosemary) from Trader Joe's, a bowl of succulents snipped and then carried in my luggage from my parent's California yard and planted in a pot acquired at a Ren Faire, some basil chilling in a jar of water.

Avocados ripening, much-expanded California backyard ivy, and a mini weeping willow tree also from TJ's.

This wall is partially dedicated to postcards collected/sent to me from abroad, as well as pictures of sky (which we lack here).

Our desk, which is mostly used for storage since neither Devin nor I work particularly well sitting at a desk. Devin's books on the top shelf, mine on the middle, then DVDs and a pet cat from Devin's mom on the bottom.

Three photographs I took: pink blossoms and a bee, giant amethyst crystal form the Museum of Natural History, flowers growing on Columbia's campus.

My cookbook collection and a little display of peacock-related items. I like to display my jewelry rather than squirrel it away in a box, so that I remember it exists.

Carved box that reminds me of my grandparent's coffee table, a peacock pendant from India, and a lovely pair of tear-drop earrings my grandparents brought me from a trip to Spain.

Coffee table? So far no coffee has been placed on it.

My collection of California photographs, all taken by me or one of my parents (excluding the copy of the Dutch still life that resides in San Francisco's Legion of Honor). Sticker on the mirror also reminds us of where we're from.

Another way to display jewelry, this time with an ocean theme.

Shell-shaped earrings from an antique shop in Denver, CO, key from my mom's childhood jewelry box, Monterey Bay Aquarium pendant, some buttons, and two pendants that were high school graduation gifts.

I love keeping my pearls in an abalone shell. The luster of pearl and mother of pearl is luminous.

Pearl earrings in a baby abalone shell guarded by my octopus ring.

Dining nook with Tin Tin poster.

A person!

Food-related photographs by me, plus a bunch of food-related Dutch master postcards I picked up in Den Haag while travelling around Holland.

The only glimpse you're getting of the kitchen in this post, plus the audial triptych I drew for Devin a while back.

Front door with a good-luck charm from a friend hung over it, closet guarded by Alex DeLarge.

Dorm-issue dresser.

Two ink and water portraits I did of John Steinbeck and Flannery O'Connor, plus pictures (from left to right) of Devin and me, my grandparents, my mom at age 12, and my childhood cat Genie, a blue-point siamese.

Since I like flowers (such as this gorgeous white peony), I often save glass jars. One used to contain applesauce, another vanilla, and another capers. Lovely bee's wax candle and carved wooden chalice gifts from friends, sprout of a jade plant from my parent's giant plant back home.

A few family photos and family-related items like an aerial picture of tulip fields (Devin is half Dutch-Indonesian) and a watercolor of the Swiss Alps by Devin's sister Erica, who now lives in Switzerland.

The door to the closet, vestibule, and bathroom, bedecked with our bathrobes. And the bed!

Beautiful blue blanket hand-crocheted and gifted to us by Devin's mom, a down comforter, awesome sheets Devin picked out, and a Sakura print sheet I picked up during undergrad.

Bedside table.

A paper doll, a photo of the orange rose bushes by my parent's house that I took when I was 10, a polaroid of my cat Whiskers who lives in California, and a Van Gogh postcard I got at the museum in Amsterdam.

How I keep my glasses and my perfume, plus a monarch butterfly.

My rock jewelry collection.

We like it here. Fargo in the background helps.

One last shot to give you a sense of how big the room really is. Thanks for visiting!