For most of my first year on a balcony barely bigger than a closet, I assumed a real dining setup simply wasn’t in the cards, that eating outside meant balancing a plate on my knees in a single chair, if I bothered going out there for meals at
My first attempt at balcony gardening was a single tomato plant I bought on impulse from a grocery store display, no research, no plan, just enthusiasm. It was dead within three weeks. I’d put it in the shadiest corner of the balcony because it looked tidiest there, watered
When I moved into my first studio, three hundred and eighty square feet that had to be a bedroom, living room, office, and kitchen storage all at once, I owned exactly the same amount of stuff I’d had in a two-bedroom apartment. For the first few months it
For a long time, my balcony had exactly one setting: summer, whether it was actually summer or not. The same thin cushions sat out in December looking sad and slightly damp, the same delicate plants that thrived in July shriveled the moment the first frost hit, and by
When I moved into my first apartment, the balcony came with exactly one thing: a rusted nail sticking out of the railing where a previous tenant had apparently hung something years ago. I had almost no furniture budget left after paying for the move, so for months I
I spent two summers trying to fit a real garden onto a balcony with about twelve square feet of floor space, and both summers I gave up around July, frustrated by how few plants I could actually fit before the whole space felt like an obstacle course. The
My first apartment had a galley kitchen so narrow that my roommate and I developed an unspoken rule about never both being in it at the same time, since passing each other meant one of us pressed against the counter while the other squeezed by with a pot
When we renovated our kitchen, I picked our sink almost last, mostly on looks, a beautiful farmhouse apron sink that photographed perfectly in the showroom. Within a few months of actually using it daily with two kids and a lot of cooking, I realized it was genuinely the
For years, the bathroom in my old apartment had a fan that technically worked, in the sense that it made noise and moved a little air, but it never actually cleared the steam after a shower. The mirror stayed fogged for twenty minutes, the paint near the ceiling
My husband and I spent the first three years of our marriage sharing a single small sink, and every morning turned into a quiet negotiation over counter space, whose toothbrush was where, and who got to use the mirror first. When we finally renovated and installed a double
I’m Anam, and I’m passionate about helping people create homes that feel warm, stylish, and comfortable. Whether you’re decorating a tiny apartment or refreshing your forever home, I believe every space deserves thoughtful design.
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