You know how H1 and I are
fast running out of wall space?
Well, we're not doing so great on floor space, either. We don't own that much stuff*, but what we do own is both vital** and of a decent size. Our former apartment, the
Maybe Apartment in Murray Hill, had these great, vast, square rooms, so we bought big furniture to match. A king-sized bed. An oversized sofa. A dramatic tripod lamp.
Our new apartment (which we have lived in for nearly six months, but is still new, apparently) actually is about the same square footage as the Maybe Apartment, but in a much more compact way. There are more rooms, and more levels, and more nooks and crannies, and long story short, our stuff fits, but nothing else would. Even something temporary, like a seasonally-appropriate tree, or piece of tree. Even if it did fit, it would look awkward, and - horror of horrors - would clutter up the place.
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| Multiple levels do make some decorating much easier. |
So no traditional Christmas tree for us.
This isn't something that worries me at all, because it turns out I'm not even a fan of traditional Christmas trees. Like other
random bits of plant life, I've decided they're fine for other people, but not for me***. I haven't had a proper Christmas tree since I moved out of home - but that doesn't mean I haven't dressed my place in seasonally-appropriate attire. Yeah. Like I'd really willingly miss the chance to pretty something up.
Last year, H1 and I built a Christmas tree from oversized recycled cardboard. This year, I didn't want to sacrifice any floor space in my living room, but neither did I want to install a tree in the office/spare room/bike storage. So we went flat****.
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| From the top... |
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| ...and from the bottom. |
The tree is made from tinsel and Christmas lights, and was much harder than I anticipated to 'build'. Luckily, I have H1 to do the heavy lifting, and he has me to twit around in the background saying useful things like, "I think that could be more even...higher...higher...okay stop...perfect. Wait, no, stop. Lower."
The writing in the middle is mine, and is done in chalk. That's not a chalkboard wall, by the way. We just guessed it would work, and it did. I assume it will come off with a wet rag easily enough, but if it doesn't, I can add it to my other chalk-based problem, which is that I now have an entire box of chalk and nothing to do with it. I might have to wait until summer and teach my cat how to play hopscotch.
But I'm not worrying about any of that right now, because it's CHRISTMAS!!!
How have you decorated? Do you go traditional, or do you prefer to make things needlessly difficult also?
*Clutter is my mortal enemy.
**Because I like to both sit and sleep on comfortable surfaces, and to have somewhere to put my drink.
***Just so you know, I reserve the right to change my mind on this whenever I wish.
****Something I know a lot about! Sorry, mean joke at self.
After a weekend of determinedly plugging away, I am very very excited and happy to announce that this will be my last post here.
