I’ll show you mine seven

 

Ok, so here we go. As you know, I live in a basement garden apartment, so there's really not a lot of walls and the spaces need to be defined by furniture placement. This is my 'sitting area' (you've seen what can be considered the media room and the pantry) and you may recognize those things flanking the fireplace (yes, there's a fireplace there. No, I never use it cause it's gas and it freaks me out)  because I've already show you those. The whole thing is basically in neutral tones and it's comfy. I love that sofa and I just got a new slipcover (IKEA lets you customize many pieces of furniture) and when the Summer 2021 gets here, I'll be doing some updates to it. I'm in a Debra calendar now, what with equinoxes and the such. 

I have tons of tchotchkes, as you know, and they're all over here too. Like the little Jeff Koons doggie and the Gestalta wood mannequin. A new thing for me is that I followed Maddie's advice and got some greenery for the holidays and kept getting them after. I actually like the look. It's good to see green when there's virtually no green outside. It makes me feel good. Also, those books were bae's gifts through the years. He knows I love me some political commentary. The one on top is 'Thanks, Obama'. If you don't have it, get it. It's a riot. There's also Becoming, by Michelle. Loved it.

When working with such a weird space, you need to think outside the box. So I created a gallery wall. All the photos  and the artwork that you see there were either made by or taken by somebody I love. I just blew them up and framed them. There's only three items that come from IKEA (of course) the rest, were either painted or created by someone exclusively for me or were photos taken around Chi (there's the Bean and some bridges). The old man and the doggie are pencil drawings made by my putative sister by law. The elephants were in some piece of Thai artwork and my friend Mikey processed them. Also,  if it's not obvious, I love candles. Especially in winter and spring, when I light them ALL and drink wine while I walk barefoot around the house. Oh, BTW that Chicago Reader? It was the last one I got before the pandemic hit. It had a list of 'Best of Chicago' and we were trying to hit all the spots they recommended. I can't believe it's been more than a year. I have it there so I can remember I used to do fun things.

This is a little reading nook. Again, the books were gifts. The Obama book by Pete Souza is a fav and the other one is the book that John Oliver published about Marlon Bundo, the little bunny the daughter of the Devil's Butler had. The Dali book and the artwork were gifts. The artwork was made by the wyphe. I've had that portrait for YEARS. I cherish it because it's literally an original. Her mom used to say it was Tom Cruise and she never contradicted her. I know it's not. Also, those snake plants have been with me since they were literally an inch tall. 

And I think that's all. Now you've seen my house. Funny, how showing you all this makes me feel like you could come and visit some day. Who knows, right?

XOXO