Our Apartment

It's good we got out of the 7ème when we did because I was starting to Rear Window my neighbors, consisting mainly of septuagenarian couples and Les Invalides. It was admittedly a great place to transition after moving to Paris, since I didn't speak the language and grew up in a town with a Sheetz, where I actually hung out on weekends. Now that I live here, surrounded by dedicated gluten free restaurants and people wearing thrift store clothes un-ironically, I'm seeing the Left Bank in a whole new light. A terrible light. The kind they use when you try on a bathing suit.

We downsized a lot- giving up our balcony, terrace, rooftop access and elevator- and don't regret it one bit (ok my husband misses the elevator). In the time it takes me to listen to one Taylor Swift breakup song, I can clean the whole apartment. I can run downstairs and pick up a gluten free, vegan raw chocolate cake, or vegan avocado burger, or the best Indian food in Paris, and be back before the cats even miss me. In a few minutes, I can walk to Grand Train or Pigalle to meet friends, regaling bystanders with tales of Lebron James at Playground Duperre (every Clevelander has a story about Lebron James. Most are not true). We watched the PSG game at La Binouze recently and our friend commented, "I loved your flat in the 7ème, but I can't imagine being cooped up there. There's nothing to do. Here it's like a friendly village. There's always someone to talk to or something to see."

 

    

The apartment itself has much higher ceilings than our previous flat, a little mezzanine for the cats and beautiful tomette, plus built-in Parisian mirror / fireplace combos, which I dreamed of when I first moved. I can have plants and compost on my balcony now that we don't have a nasty gardienne, and there's lots of natural light (I took these on a cloudy day though). We bought a sustainably sourced wooden soap dish, a crate for corralling laundry, and linen towels from La Tresorerie after moving. Since there's no dryer here, the thick old cotton towels got musty and I couldn't deal. My husband also got a food safe plastic tupperware for the cats' food when I was out of town- it keeps croquettes fresher- and a stainless steel Pioneer Pet water fountain. We kept a Zack towel hook from the old place for the bathroom. 

The landlord included cookware and cutlery, but I stuck everything I didn't like in the closet (not pictured. Our stainless steel fan, vacuum, and wicker shopping cart are in there too). Unfortunately, we had to get rid of our beloved linen sheets, since the bed, duvet, and pillows are different sizes :( The moldy, disgusting bathroom grout also needed scrubbing with baking soda, lemon juice, and a bamboo toothbrush- it was all black, blue, and pink before. 

I'll get around to a wardrobe post soon. I have 30 articles of clothing for year round, a bag, a hat and gloves, and 7 pairs of shoes, but as you may have noticed, my clothes are all different from the last update. I wanted to change my style to suit the new neighborhood, and the tailor at Saint Georges said some stuff couldn't be taken in anymore, which they need to be now that I'm doing more stairs.

Sources

Eames chair

Kartell Componibili

Miliboo table and couch

Airborne chair

Made Fjord table and chairs

Ikea curtains and La Redoute sheets

Brabantia bins

I don't know where the bed is from. Maybe Ikea
For better photos, click here. Also I know there is cat litter in one picture