Renting can be uninspiring. What you get is what you get. Oftentimes low quality, generic furniture. Or worse – IKEA. Urgh. And landlords not willing to invest any time or thought into colours. Doing it yourself means investment on your part, which is not always practical if your intention is short term-ish stay.
I won’t lie, there was considerable time and money spent in getting this rented apartment looking the way it does now. Not to mention some permanent (although nothing is really permanent) changes made, ie painted walls, drilled holes, etc. But each morning when I sit down at my desk, I feel calm. To borrow the words of the brilliant Tadao Ando, your home is your retreat, your place of repose and escape from chaos. And believe me, there is some serious repose going on here!
So to me, it’s worth it. Investing a little. Even if it’s short term. You can take furniture with you. You can patch up holes and you can re-paint. As I said, nothing is permanent. And it doesn’t necessarily need to cost so much. What’s important is that it reflects YOUR CHARACTER.
If you’d like help in furnishing an apartment, please feel free to contact us at birdhouse.
Suppliers:
Chairs: Edimass
Rug: Carpetstan
Morrocan lamp: Carpetstan
Desk: Custom made
Built in shelves: Custom made
Barrel potplant, wushu biscuit tin potplant: Pudong Antique Market (plants by owner)