I don’t have curtains.
or floors in some areas.
One armchair to go with the couch beats two rockers.
maybe Harlan could get a throw rug.
I was kidding about the throw rug.
rocking chairs would be nice. You could even drop down to two straight backed chairs for the little table if it makes you feel better.
i also still think you should get your own blanket. One with some color.
Van life sounds good - except i’d Want my own bathroom. So tiny RV would be best.
Tiny RV sucks after a month. Tiny bathroom really sucks.
These two are pretty amazing! And I really like their set-up.
Of course, the woman is totally great! And totally out of my league. haha
Okay. Would you be willing to add 10 things to the apartment?
In the bedroom:
A real bed. Something queen sized and comfortable. I'm cheating a little, because I'm counting the mattress, box spring and bed frame as one thing, because that is how it will read in the room. You could eliminate one piece by getting a platform bed and not getting a box spring.
New bedding. Two pillows, new sheets and comforter to fit the new bed. Two pillows--there's a bit of feng shui that says if you want to attract a partner, have pairs of things in your house. Also, would give someone who spends the night a place to rest her head. Again, a bit of a cheat because I'm counting all the new bedding as one thing. Get sheets and a comforter that coordinate--light gray sheets, dark gray comforter--that sort of thing. If Harlan gets on the bed, maybe a print comforter to hide some of the dog fur.
Two nightstands and a bedside lamp. Gives you a place for the lamp, a glass of water, alarm clock, a book you're reading, etc. And it's another pair--feng shui!
That's five things in the bedroom.
In the rest of the apartment:
One comfortable chair.
One attractive container--bowl, basket, old wooden crate with advertising on it, whatever. Then put something in it. In the kitchen, use for fresh produce. On the coffee table, use for the dog's toys, or a collection of fishing lures, or fruit. It can be both useful and pleasing to look at.
One thing on the walls. Art, if you like. Or a simple corkboard that displays some of your fishing lures, or cute pictures of the dog, or funny sayings you print out from the interwebs. Or fabric art. Even a bike on a wall-mounted bike rack can work as decoration if done right. Just no Indian bedspreads--reads too undergraduate.
Curtains or a rug. Curtains will help with privacy and light and sound control. A rug will help with noise levels and maybe provide better traction for the dog. Don't go too small on the rug. Ideally all furniture would fit completely on the rug, but if that's a problem then the front feet of all chairs/sofas should be on the rug and all 4 feet of the coffee table.
A wild card. Possibly another lamp. Again, think pairs of things. Put a floor lamp at either end of the couch. Now if you want to read there, you have enough light. Or a large plant, something that will add color to the room and a sense of living things. Or a throw on the couch or the new comfortable chair.
That's 10 things, but they would change the appearance of your place completely.
One thing about minimalism is that it allows you to chose the best of everything. If you have one chair, it should be the best chair you can find and afford--comfortable to sit in, a pleasing color/pattern in the fabric, a fabric that is nice to touch. A rocking chair should be well-balanced and easy to rock, comfortable to sit on and pleasing to look at. It takes time and a bit of money to achieve this sort of thing. You might want to thrift some of the furniture, or make it yourself, or find someone to make it for you, to get exactly what you want.
So when you go looking for new sheets, for example, find sheets that not only look good, but feel good. For me, good sheets are made of pima cotton, which is very soft, a thread count between 400 and 600, and a solid color or striped. (Or a solid color with woven in tone on tone stripes--stripes help you get the sheets going the right way on the mattress.) I find these are comfortable and breathable to sleep on, easy to take care of and last a long time. These are not what are considered the "best" sheets out there--those would be 100% Egyptian cotton with a thread count around 1000--but those are wicked expensive and the really high thread count sheets rip very easily because the threads have to be so thin.
It's not about adding useless things to your apartment, really. It's about evaluating the things you have and making sure they work for you, are pleasing to the eye, and add comfort, utility or convenience to your life.
Look at the interior of the vans in the videos you posted. There are colorful prayer flags, colorful bedding and cushions, a colorful rug. None of that is necessary, but they all add life to the spaces they are in.
William Morris, an artist associated with the English Arts & Crafts movement, once said: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
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