“It’s what life is, it’s a series of rooms, and who we get stuck in those rooms with, adds up to what our lives are.” – Patient Eve, episode 358, House M.D.

When we first look at a room we’ve never been in, we’re flushed with a seemingly endless amount of sensory data our minds sift through. Colors, height, organizational patterns, all of these things tell us about the rooms caretaker, and about how they chose to operate. Many things could alter a rooms “Chi” or overall balance, and the art of interior decorating has pinned it down to a science. You could walk into a room and stuff be thrown every which way without rhyme or reason, or you could walk into what appears to be a recreation of a mansion bedroom circa the 1700s, but no matter what you walk into, you’re going to draw a conclusion about the people who live or work out of the room.  Your dwelling is a reflection upon you, and at that, sometimes as important or takes the place of a first impression.

When I first looked at my apartment, I thought, “Oh man, this place is huge, I could fit so much stuff in here!”, because of the 15 foot tall ceiling and solid white walls all the way around. Once my roomate and I had moved our stuff in, however, it quickly garnered a separate evaluation. Space management plays a key role in space, and space ultimately plays a key role in, at least my, stress level upon entering the room. I like big, open, yet subtly organized spaces, with plenty of room to move around if I see fit. I organized our general living area to accommodate a large open central space centralized by our coffee table, with all of our couches and seating as far against the wall as possible, eliminating all “dead, uninhabitable” space from the room. Once space management was out of the way, I was well on my way to tackling the next steps to making my apartment my home.

Color is generally a huge factor in how people asses a room, and while some colors may make a room look bigger/smaller, I chose to keep our stock white paint for the room (partially because of its optimum space-generating feel, and partially because our landlord threatened to charge us all the paint it would cost to repaint it back to white… ) Scent is another big factor, but a couple of well placed ornamental candles, incense and time-released oils, the overall smell of the room was almost reminiscent of a coffee house, and I started to feel more at home. My apartment, being a loft style unit, has no set rooms, so everything was split up without set boundaries. To signify and mark my territory,  I hung up a few wall scrolls and essentially ‘drew the line’ with a ‘line’ of my stuff, as to say “Hey, you’re now in my room…respect.”.

Keeping the apartment up may be a chore, but I rest comfortably knowing that when someone does see it, the impression towards myself will at least be one of thought-out, care-taken and good-taste.  I take pride in my space, and like anyone who takes pride in their space, it will show, loud and clear. (I’m looking at you, 1970s-painted study area of state hall, which looks like my Grandmother’s basement.)

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