Home Improvements

It’s been officially a year since Bestie and I moved into our place, and after a month of looking around for a marginally better spot, we decided that the benefits of staying outweighed the costs of moving–both in terms of money and in terms of some of the sacrifices we might make in location, landlord, and amenities.  One of the conditions of us staying in the apartment though, was improving a few things, namely the couch and our balcony situation.

The couch has been the bane of my existence since week two.  The cushions were constantly sliding off and Bestie “tenderized” the cushions so much that it was unpleasant for me to sit on.  I forced him to stay on one side so that not all the cushions would end up having zero resistance, even as they refused to do their jobs and stay put.  Once it was clear that we were going to stay, I went out and purchased a new couch with my first teaching paycheck.  I also purchased footstools.  I purchased the whole bit from a couch store where I can go in, pick from 3 or 4 different models they have on display and pick the fabric and color from a book of swatches.  I picked a couch that was already in the showroom, but the footstools needed to be made.  Overall it provides the pop of color that this very white apartment needs.

Second, the balcony.  For months now, I have been cautiously walking into the kitchen area to see if Grandma across the way was on her balcony.  The woman I swear was waiting for Bestie or I to emerge and watch us.  If we were in the nude, it was another level of embarrassment for me (and teasing for him) to scurry off and put some clothes on.  It was tired of having to adjust my behavior for a nosy stranger, so I decided to buy some plants to give some cover to the balcony.  Not wanting to stop at just plants, I also purchased astroturf to give the balcony an oasis feel.  I purchased it from a family with a very bossy but endearing grandma who insisted on calling down her less-than-bright but English-speaking grandson to help me.  It took them 15 minutes to simply give me a rug that was already cut to size because they were overwhelmed at dealing with a foreigner and measurements. It was amusing at least.

Lastly, after falling asleep twice on said astroturf and waking up with a lot of angry indents on my arms, I decided to top off the balcony transformation with a little bed that I purchased at a steep discount from a young American working in the NGO sector.  I precariously strapped it to the back of my bike and wobbled my way home without incident.  Ta-da!
SO. HAPPY. This balcony gives me another place to hide from Bestie if he’s playing Dark Souls on his PS4. The sounds are creepy, yo.  I also have noticed that Grandma is now almost never on the balcony (in the morning anyway), which goes to show you that she was definitely seeing us as a form of entertainment.

Couch: $270.  Footstools: $70.  Astroturf: $15.  Thai bed: $20.  Having another place to read and pretend like I’m not in the middle of a concrete jungle? Priceless.