Improvisation

I have to say I'm enjoying the "student lifestyle" I'm leading here: minimal kitchen utensils (3 teaspoons!), a minimal percentage of the clothes I have at my disposal at home (and let's be honest, I always end up wearing the same 20% anyway) and the need to improvise. What I don't like so much even tough it is authentically student-ey is the fitted beige carpet with numerous traces of previous tenants. Yuck. That in combination with a cleaner who undoubtably has many wonderful qualities none of which, alas, are a fetish for thorough hoovering, makes me seriously contemplate the purchase of a vacuum cleaner. I couldn't resist stocking up on some things, such as towels (the apartment-issued set that is replaced once a week by the cleaner is quite threadbare and doesn't smell particularly nice) and some additional cups, bowls and glasses (I only had 1 water glass versus 4 wine and champagne glasses each) and a water filter to make the tap water bearable.

As I don't like dryers for various reasons (first and foremost their evil carbon footprint), I knew I needed to find an old-skool clothes drier and I had a hunch I would find it in Chinatown. Bingo! After an adventurous journey home through busy streets, I have already put it to good use. Before that I tried improvising with a clothing line purchased in the supermarket. As there are no hooks or nails whatsoever, I ended up wrapping it around a leg each of my desk and dining table. Not exactly decorative, but it wasn't as if "Elle Decoration" or "Architectural Digest" had booked a photoshoot in my apartment...

Another sentimenal nod to my student days: Blue Tack! I've started sticking postcards to the diving wall between my "bedroom" and "living room". There's space for many more...hint, hint. 

On the wall behind my sofa I actually found a random screw and developed a "hanging system" for the pretty Louis Vuitton Sydney notebook watercolour postcards using foldback clips and a rubber band. Hey, I should think about having this patented!