Recently I had this idea of naming my apartment. Those who know me know I watch far more British programs (or programmes) than I ought and I took a liking to the way people name their homes, e.g. The Willows, Dove Cottage in Wordsworth's case, you get the idea. These of course bring to mind cozy houses decorated with lovely antiques and appropriate furniture with wisteria cascading down trellises and roses growing around the door frame. City apartments with mismatched Ikea furniture, or even with sleek expensive modern ones are less likely to have names as they don't inspire much sentimentality. However, the cheap furniture notwithstanding, I decided to name my humble little apartment, not so much with the expectation of others calling it anything other than 7C, but because to me it is very much a living thing with its own character.
To do this I thought of words to describe my place and put them in two categories: how it makes me feel when I am there, and what I would like it to represent to those who are invited in. What I mean by the latter is that when I have a party or just have a friend or two over, I want my guests to experience Gemütlichkeit. I do not have the best couch or the most comfortable chairs, nor do I have the greatest kitchen, but I still want people to feel they can relax and eat well. Personally, I don't like going into a home and being intimidated by its pristineness that I feel I can't touch anything or move around much.
Of course, how I feel about my home is just as important so I started to cross off words like gracious and hospitable because that really comes from me and how I feel at the time. I'm almost always welcoming but I don't know if I'm always gracious (I'm thinking about the time I had this party and I was up for more than 24 hours arranging everything and a few people showed up at 5am). There's also the fact that the more I see other people's homes, the more I realize my living room is not furnished for gatherings and comfortable group chats, i.e. not much seating.
So how do I see my home? Imperfect. Flawed, but acceptable. A little slovenly at times when I get lax with the housework but overall clean and organized to a certain extent (don't open some of the drawers!) A bit minimal with mismatched but functional furniture. On the plain side with little decoration. In other words, me. And it suits me fine. I will not agonize over spills on furniture, either by me or anyone else. I do not have sterile floors. I did get a little upset when I noticed some of the paint cracking and chipping on the ceiling a few months ago but hey, this apartment was last painted eight years ago - there's gonna be some of that. With the exception of the kitchen, most of my apartment is original from when it was built over 60 years ago and I don't mind the old fixtures so long as they work, which they do.
Do you know, I never feel lonely being alone at home? Some people say they get antsy and they need to get out. I don't know why being home alone doesn't bother me - it makes sense that it should but maybe I'm not that social. Being with fun people and talking to friends is very nice - I don't shun it completely - but when I'm at home I see plenty that need to be done rather than a state I need to get away from. So although words like "refuge" and "sanctuary" are appropriate, I didn't want to use them because they sound as if I'm running away from something, which I'm not. And they sound so unoriginal anyway. Cozy is too obvious. I thought about "The Agreeable" because this place just agrees with me. It's not spectacular and it won't win any design awards but it suits my needs. And then I thought it sounded a little too neutral and, let's face it, pretentious. Anyway, I'm not neutral - I'm very fond of this rectangular box I live in. So using the thesaurus, which I often do when I write, I looked up "hermitage" and words of that ilk and found "snuggery".
How appropriate that the perfect word (perfect sounding, too!) I'd been looking for is British. A snug place or position. A comfortable or cozy room. This is it. This is Apartment 7C. C for cozy! Welcome to The Snuggery. Won't you please join me for tea and scones at The Snuggery this afternoon? This Saturday I'll be hosting a wine tasting at The Snuggery. You are invited to my party at The Snuggery! I love it.
To do this I thought of words to describe my place and put them in two categories: how it makes me feel when I am there, and what I would like it to represent to those who are invited in. What I mean by the latter is that when I have a party or just have a friend or two over, I want my guests to experience Gemütlichkeit. I do not have the best couch or the most comfortable chairs, nor do I have the greatest kitchen, but I still want people to feel they can relax and eat well. Personally, I don't like going into a home and being intimidated by its pristineness that I feel I can't touch anything or move around much.
Of course, how I feel about my home is just as important so I started to cross off words like gracious and hospitable because that really comes from me and how I feel at the time. I'm almost always welcoming but I don't know if I'm always gracious (I'm thinking about the time I had this party and I was up for more than 24 hours arranging everything and a few people showed up at 5am). There's also the fact that the more I see other people's homes, the more I realize my living room is not furnished for gatherings and comfortable group chats, i.e. not much seating.
So how do I see my home? Imperfect. Flawed, but acceptable. A little slovenly at times when I get lax with the housework but overall clean and organized to a certain extent (don't open some of the drawers!) A bit minimal with mismatched but functional furniture. On the plain side with little decoration. In other words, me. And it suits me fine. I will not agonize over spills on furniture, either by me or anyone else. I do not have sterile floors. I did get a little upset when I noticed some of the paint cracking and chipping on the ceiling a few months ago but hey, this apartment was last painted eight years ago - there's gonna be some of that. With the exception of the kitchen, most of my apartment is original from when it was built over 60 years ago and I don't mind the old fixtures so long as they work, which they do.
Do you know, I never feel lonely being alone at home? Some people say they get antsy and they need to get out. I don't know why being home alone doesn't bother me - it makes sense that it should but maybe I'm not that social. Being with fun people and talking to friends is very nice - I don't shun it completely - but when I'm at home I see plenty that need to be done rather than a state I need to get away from. So although words like "refuge" and "sanctuary" are appropriate, I didn't want to use them because they sound as if I'm running away from something, which I'm not. And they sound so unoriginal anyway. Cozy is too obvious. I thought about "The Agreeable" because this place just agrees with me. It's not spectacular and it won't win any design awards but it suits my needs. And then I thought it sounded a little too neutral and, let's face it, pretentious. Anyway, I'm not neutral - I'm very fond of this rectangular box I live in. So using the thesaurus, which I often do when I write, I looked up "hermitage" and words of that ilk and found "snuggery".
How appropriate that the perfect word (perfect sounding, too!) I'd been looking for is British. A snug place or position. A comfortable or cozy room. This is it. This is Apartment 7C. C for cozy! Welcome to The Snuggery. Won't you please join me for tea and scones at The Snuggery this afternoon? This Saturday I'll be hosting a wine tasting at The Snuggery. You are invited to my party at The Snuggery! I love it.
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