Welcome
into my
APPARTEMENT
Tour
Almost twenty years ago I moved to this apartement from a small, 25 square meter studio. I'm the second owner of my apartement. Pretty remarkable since the house was built in 1945. But the lady who had lived in the appartement before me had moved in when the house was built, and just had to move out since she now was too old to live alone. Traces of renovation could be seen, but lots of things were as they always had been. That meant Lime Green Plastic floor in the kitchen and some tremendously ugly wallpaper with an undescribably pattern in the hall, just to mention a few things.
It's not a big appartement - it's 40 square meters. But the flat is well planned and as a bachelor with no intention what so ever to get a family the space is big enough.
This type of appartement is called "one room with diningroom". But considering how often I eat more advanced food than sandwiches at home, it would be very much waste of space to use one room for a table and four chairs.
.
That's why I've transfered that room into my bedroom.That makes it from being the least used room to the most frequently used...Especially in the winter, when the snow storm is howling outside, it's dark and cold, that's when I love to stay in bed to read - or do something else...And not necessarily alone...
I have one "real" room in my apartement. It has space and is quite light. As it's used for many purposes, like being my TV-room, work place, dining room - even spare bedroom - it really is a multipurpose room....Living in a small apartement also means that stuff has a certain ability of not being where they are supposed to be. One of my friends classified my apartement as "Hiroshima Junior". Still - I like it.
By the window I have the work station. That's where my computer is, that's where I write parts of the magazine, that's where I do all the other paper work necessary.
My deskto computer, by the way, of course is a Macintosh. There is no serious alternative... But I have a pc laptop, a Fujitsu Siemens.
I love green plants. I have bigger and bigger problems finding space for the plants. Of course it's nice that they like to live with me, but the problem is that they grow and grow and grow...I know, I could get rid of some of them, but I have this stupid (?) idea that I can't throw anything out that's alive. On the other hand, the plants function as curtain between my TV-coach and curious neighbors.
The kitchen is quite small. There's no place to sit and eat. That's not a problem for me. I bring the food out in the living room an eat in front of the TV...
Some people think that the kitchen is the most important room in the entire appartement. They can't survive without a huge breakfast in the morning. They make gastronomic miracles stearing pots and pans. I don't. True is that I will be oh-so-grumpy if I don't get a large cup of coffee in the morning. But that's the only breakfast. You won't find me cooking. Working extra as a waiter makes me quite good at laying a table and serving guests. But in the kitchen behind a stove I'm a disaster...I have everything I need there, including the bachelor cooking aid number one: the micro wave owen.
Let's go outside!
I live in something that best is described as a park. In the winter our island feels a bit "off" - not many people come here just by coincidence. Even though it's not that common, sometimes Sweden is hit by snow storms. Everything gets stuck, the power system collapses. On top of that the sun comes up around 10 am and sets at 3 pm...
A bus stuck in the snow...
In the summer it's more or less paradise. It's green, you can feel the smell of nature, the birds sing...
My house seen from the water
Just 10 meters from the entrance is the big lake Mälaren. It's the biggest sweet water lake in Sweden. Except for the nice view there's this other advantage - the water is clean enough to swim in.
I realise I'm very fortunate to live where I do, when I come home hot summer days, go up to my appartement, change into swimpants and jump into water just outside...
I have a canoe waiting for a ride. Since the summer 1999 the name of the canoe is Titanic II. Put me in the front of the canoe, a complete beginner in the back, a wood fence in the water, and a oh-so-innocent touch of that fence. To make a long story short - it's fun to swim with clothes on, but mobile phones does not survive to be drenched...
The surroundings are park alike. Big old oaktrees, lots of green spaces, a gardening company that takes care of all the flowers and bushes. The Blackbirds howles early in the mornings, and the Seagulls attack everything living to defend their suicidale kids when they jumped from the roofs.
From theThe backyard you have a splendid view over the water. It's calm and nice.
Needless to say, I really love the place I live!
All pictures copyright Johan Steenhoff Eriksen
This page was updated 1 September 2007