It’s Sunday morning in Brooklyn and the light pouring into the living room paints the walls with streaks of sun. This is life around my way these days. It’s been about three and a half years since I moved back to New York and a short five months since my boyfriend Brian and I moved into this cozy apartment in the neighborhood of Bushwick and turned it into our vibrant, but infinitely peaceful, Brooklyn home.
Moving in together required a lot of downsizing—well, for me at least. I had been living in a fairly large two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartment in Sunset Park (a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn) and my digs comfortably fit all of my big, sturdy Virginia-sized furniture. I had two different roommates during my time in Sunset Park. Both came with a minimal amount of furniture so I was generally left to my own devices when it came to decorating the common areas.
The old place
Full sized dining area. Very rare. 
The living room was large…too large? 
Not a ton of natural light, so lamps were a must.
I knew that things were going to be different with Brian because this man has OPINIONS. He also happened to own furniture and was not shy about expressing just how much he hated mine. (I mean, it wasn’t the most amazing stuff in the world and I didn’t buy it because I loved it, but damn. He didn’t have to be so cold, you know?) We moved in together a little sooner than planned: his roommate decided, with 30 days notice, that she was ending his lease. So instead of having a few months to find a place that we both liked, we had a few weeks. Fortunately for us, but mainly for him ’cause he was about to be homeless, it worked out.
Something New
As you can see, the new space is much smaller—and that’s what makes it so much better! Most of the decorative touches that give the room its personality were things that I already owned. It’s pretty cool to look back at photos of my old Brooklyn home and see things used in a totally different way, i.e. the mirror that was hanging over the couch has found new life as a leaning mirror between the windows.
The Ice King from “Adventure Time” and an Allego X-Wing. All Brian. 
African statues that I jacked from my parents house. 
Star Wars and a Gundan model. This is all Brian.
And of course, sine I began writing this post in March, we have replaced the couch and the main rug. But you may have to wait another half of a year to see that new set up…
