A few years ago I did a little tour of
our last apartment. Now that we've lived in this apartment more than two years, it seems like it's about time to do a tour of our "new" place.
Here's the entryway, not quite as tiny as our last one, but still pretty small. The big white closet is the shoe cupboard (as no one wears shoes inside here).
View from the entryway of the main room. The counter to the right is actually a kitchen counter: the floor plan is pretty open. The floor is white tile, standard here (wood floors seem to be reserved for bedrooms).
Turning to the left and just behind the entryway is R's playroom, under the principle that she wants to be in the center of the action. Her playing and toy mess is unfortunately not contained here, but she does spend a lot of time in the playroom. The kitchen, mirror, rugs and little table and chairs are all from Ikea.
Toy storage (from Ikea). I hate the look of toy clutter so I try to keep it as neat as possible. Each type of toy is sorted into the appropriate bin.
More toy storage and art supply storage. Keeping the pens in drawers keeps them out of sight.
Looking into the kitchen from the main room. Stuff on the refrigerator is artwork by R, which gets changed regularly (
I throw it out once it's been displayed).
The kitchen. R's toy car lives here because it's too ugly to be in the main room. The dryer and washer are behind the big white cabinet on the left. Behind that is the maid's bathroom, which doesn't get much use as we don't have one. I use it to store cleaning supplies.
Other side of the kitchen: we have a stove here! And a built-in microwave.
The dining table where we eat all our meals. R has a small high chair from Ikea at the head where she sits. We have very few books here (most of them are in my parents' garage in the US still, since we never shipped them over: I still miss them and think about them).
Close up of the bookcases. This is also where I store photos and various knickknacks (I collect tiny animals from each place we visit).
The living room, with R's small chair for watching TV. She never sits there though, preferring the floor or the couch. Yet another thing that children don't need (but so cute, right?). Of course it is also from Ikea.
The TV came with the apartment. The paintings on the left are Buddhist sand paintings from Burma. The scroll on the right is from 1920s Japan, but I bought it in an antiques shop in Taiwan.
This apartment has a porch, where I keep plants I am in the process of killing (I am a terrible gardener, constantly either over- or underwatering). The door to the outside is almost always locked though, because I am paranoid about R falling (we live on the 18th floor). It's also really too hot to be outside for most of the day.
Other side of the balcony: the bikes live here now.
The view isn't as nice as in our old apartment (which you can actually see in this picture to the right: it's the blue and white building).
Another view of the whole apartment.
Going back towards the kitchen counter and turning left gets you here, in the hallway. Straight ahead is B's study. He hardly ever works here though, preferring either his real office, a coffeeshop, or the master bedroom.
To the right is R's room.
She sleeps in a standard-sized bed, but with the box spring and mattress on the floor so that it's not too high from the ground. The standard-sized bed is nice because it means I fit in it nicely when reading her stories and if she has a bad dream. I put her artwork in here too.
The photo wall in R's room of family members and us on various trips: I have more to add now!
View from R's room: lots of skyscrapers in Singapore!
There is a not-very-notable bathroom next to R's room. Turning back down the hall, just past B's study is the third bedroom. Right now it is my project room, currently mostly for making paper origami cranes. I have been making them as a way to deal with anxiety: something about the whole process soothes me.
I have made nearly 2000 so far, all strung together of 100 with beads and little decorations.
Continuing down the hall brings you to the master bedroom
with adjoining master bathroom.
Not pictured is the storage room/maid's bedroom (non air-conditioned room with no windows). Right now it houses our suitcases and some of R's pool toys, so I didn't bother taking a picture.
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