when i moved into the apartment on briarbridge valley, i went to town outfitting the kitchen. i had barely cooked during my four years of undergrad, and yet i seemed to have no problem at all stocking an entire kitchen from scratch.

having a bedroom separate from a living area was a new luxury altogether. the shear simplicity of its function excited me. i could solve the problem of decorating a bedroom with sparsity: a bedroom requires a bed. after sleeping on a mattress on the floor for three months (waiting for the platform bedframe to arrive), i realized a bedroom also needs a nightstand. and a nightstand needs a lamp (still working on that one).

bathrooms, thankfully, don’t need much. soap that smells nice, hand towels, fuzzy bathmats.

(all rooms need little garbage cans. in 28 days later we learned that hot water is the foundation of modern civilization. i think though that all of civilization rests on little garbage cans in every room.)

which leaves me with the room i have the least amount of experience with: the living room (or family room). it took me months of living on briarbridge valley before i realized that having a couch is of necessary importance if you ever want anyone to stop by. i was reticent initially because couches are big. after moving myself between dorms and apartments for four years, i have a pretty strong aversion to things i cannot pick up by myself. and then there is the whole issue of balancing pragmatics like comfort and cost with aesthetics like style and color.

so months went by before i finally found a couch that satisfied my divergent princples. i ordered it at the end of february with a bluish gray fabric, requiring up to 12 weeks before delivery. well, it’s been 19 weeks. i had hoped it would come today, but it looks like maybe saturday, maybe early next week? in any case, the living room has been increasingly difficult to habitate. i need a rug. i would like something very flat like sisal or jute. eventually i think i’d like a low, sturdy coffee table. beyond that i’m pretty much without either a unifying theory or checklist. i’m relying on evolution–which is taking its jolly time.