The title, One Room Mansion, is a Japanese term: ワンルームマンション. At 100sqf, often they don’t have bathrooms attached and residents have to visit a public bathhouse. One of my favourite books, Tokyo: A Certain Style
With dozens and dozens of domiciles in the book, it is hard to describe them all. One of my favorites is the apartment of a music reviewer: CDs and vinyls are stacked floor to ceiling. There’s barely any room for the reviewer, though the two cats that share the apartment seem to find it manageable. Another remarkable spread is the house of a newly married young woman who loved cartoon characters so much that she works for a character goods company. Nearly everything in the house, including the husband’s lunch box, has some character on it. Huge Kerropi dolls share space with a veritable pack of Snoopys. A young interior designer had extra shelves put into her room so she could show off the covers of her manga volumes. A Shinjuku DJ, living with his Dutch girlfriend, uses his bathroom as a darkroom and spends weekends practicing on his windowsill turntable.
I’m not quite ready for the close up on my pad yet! However, here’s a nerdy budget update:
Furniture budget: I am indulging my inner scavenger and calling in favours.
- wooden trestle table: free
- persian rug: rescued
- leather & chrome chair: borrowed
- stools/sidetables x 2: 78.00
- mini white bookshelf: 12.50
TOTAL: $90.50
REMAINING: $9.50
Accessories budget: Now this is where I am falling down! I have had to buy heaps of things because I ‘forgot’ or at some stage gave my old one away. Oh can opener, where did you go?
- scorpio mug: 1.00
- vanilla candle: 3.99
- chopping board: 14.99
- fan heater: 19.95
- bath mat: 14.99
TOTAL: $54.92
REMAINING: $45.08
Still need to buy: that dang can opener, a coffee plunger, hooks to hang up my art collection. Boiling water in a pot is working out well so far. Meanwhile when it comes to the big stuff, I still want to buy: a manrobe or a clothes rack or perhaps even a ladder to hack up. I’ve been living out of my suitcase for 8+ weeks now. Hanging my dresses up seems like a distant novelty. Failing that? Nails + hangers on the wall…
