Lifeskills: what I failed to learn at Princeton

Lessons in Interior Decorating (what Martha Stewart won't tell you because they seem so obvious)

As some of you may, or may not, know, I moved into my apartment on the Upper West side back in August. Needless to say moving in Manhattan was THE most stressful experience of my life between unhelpful building management, reserving elevator time, and coordinating with the movers. Now that I have been settled, I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of moving in. Unlike college, where you basically throw things into a space and pray that they look somewhat decent since you won't have time to decorate again, I have been taking my time to really think about the kind of atmosphere I want to make in my Upper West Side sanctuary by putting an item in one spot, waiting a day, and then relocating it to a different place if I do not get the impression that I want.

After staying at The ACE Hotel with my mom and aunt when they came out to visit and assist me with the move, I loved the industrial and minimalist feel. Consequentially, I have drawn upon that for my inspiration when going forth and decorating. First things first: I needed to paint my small table and book shelf black. I was fortunate enough to have a contact in New York who was willing to sublet her apartment to me for the summer months and also sold me all the furnishing in her room. The wrought iron lamp matched my wrought iron coat tree. The table and bookshelf, however, were more French country with their white wash paint.

Once I was settled in my apartment, I decided to get to work. Having already paid a lump sum for my first month's rent, the movers, and a security deposit I had still had a week and a half until the next pay day. To begin the process of decorating, I decided to paint the table and bookshelf black to match my wrought iron floor lamp and coat tree.

There is an ACE hardware store located conveniently enough on the same block of my apartment just around the corner. On a Saturday when I decided to stay in the city for the weekend I went down, bought a non-oil base can of black paint (as my mom recommended since I would be painting inside my apartment and so could not mess with anything with fumes) and a brush.

Now here comes the lifeskills lesson: make sure that when you buy paint that you have them shake it up for you at the store, and that they supply you with a stir stick. I did not do either of those two steps. Fortunately, it still worked out for me, but will be sure to not make that mistake again in the future.