Apartment Living & The Single Gal
[ 12 April 2007 ]
I recently had a request from somebody who wanted to see more photos of my apartment in Auckland, New Zealand. The good news is, I have a lot of photos I can show you. However, most of the pictures have people in them too. I guess I didn’t think at the time that one day I would be doing an online show-&-tell of where I used to live!
I found this photo on Flickr. I love Flickr! This is my old apartment building, on the corner of Queen & Victoria Street, smack-bang in the middle of town. The scary Santa mounted the corner for about three months a year. I was not on the corner blocked by him, thank god. I was on the other side, facing downtown.
The best thing about my apartment was that it had this huge window which took up most of one wall. Because of this, the whole place (it was a studio) was always bright & light. In terms of living somewhere, abundant natural light is so, so brilliant. Anyway, this photo is part of that window. I had some glow-in-the-dark letters which I would stick to the window to spell out words, & often I would grab a whiteboard pen & write things on there too — quotes, ideas, etc. For months, I had “Never fear being vulgar — only boring”, a Diana Vreelandism, written in cursive high up the window.
The worst thing about my apartment was the freezer. Yes, that’s my freezer — BEFORE it got really bad. Seriously. The freezer, which came with the place, had a crappy seal which resulted in major problems. It was pretty useful when people came over for drinks, though — I’d hand out knives & tell them to carve themselves a big hunk of ice for their glass. The Starbucks poster, “obtained” for me by a boy, was stuck to the door & made it look much better.
So, here I am on the telephone when I had a whole lot of people over. You will notice that the lighting is a bit dim — that’s because I am lamp-obsessed. I had four in my apartment (roughly, one in each corner) & they created a brilliant atmosphere. The printed paper on the wall behind me is gift-wrapping paper which I really liked. Above me is a length of rope tied to a hook on the wall (3M adhesive!) which I pegged things onto. From left to right, a stencil of Alice in Wonderland; an illustration by John John Jesse; an envelope from my friend Kaia; a zebra mask (this will make another appearance later in the article); an old Olivetti print (bought on Ebay) & a picture of a bearded lady (from a book about P.T. Barnum). On the wall on the right, I have a picture of Mary-Kate (!), a postcard of the Night Porter & a postcard for a Dada night in New Orleans.
This is from one night when my friend Ana came over & decided to create a canopy of blue above my bed. She is standing on my boyfriend’s back wrapping blue fairy lights around a hanging light fixture. (Not totally practical but it was great fun.) You can see more of my kind of “living area” set-up here. I had two black couches & two white chairs, covered in vinyl with silver feet. They reminded me of old bus seats, I loved them.
To my left is a little table that my laptop lived on. To the left of that was a huge stereo cabinet which I covered with a blanket which was made of art-deco style fabric. I didn’t want the ugliness of my hi-fi on display. I stored a typewriter on the top. The observant among you will notice that the Billie Holiday poster is missing. I changed the contents of that wall around a lot.
Jennie came to stay. She is taking an imprompu nap. Notice the pink cushion she’s hugging — I had a whole lot of them, some on the chairs, some on the bed & two lamps on either side of the bed in the same colour. It was so cute. She’s sitting in front of the big window mentioned previously. That’s my grandmother’s bookcase, with candles, plants, lanterns & typewriters on the top. I stuck pins in the corners of it so I could wrap fairy-lights around it, which made it look really cute at night. In this shot you can also see my flokati rug, the edge of my coffee table, & at the far right, my collection of old newspapers & a blackboard.
I am mental. Okay. Again, part of the window. So great! I had a view of the Metropolis hotel (it’s that big thing to the right), which is an art-deco building & very dramatic at night. I also strung fairy lights across the window, as you can see. Looovely.
Thugs on my bed! The edge of the window (it went all the way up to the roof, & the place had really, really high ceilings), another bookcase & my bed. I had another line of rope going behind my bed for pictures. On the side of my bookcase you can see a white piece of paper — it’s an email from my mother which I really liked. I’m such a goob.
A rejected daily outfit photo, but you do get to see my bed. Some of you will recognise this from my more recent pictures in Melbourne. It’s a very comfortable bed, let me assure you. On the far left is ANOTHER typewriter (I collect them), & you can see the pink lamps/cushions I mentioned earlier. Also next to the typewriter is a cookie jar full of accessories. The pictures behind me include some pages ripped out of a shabby chic book, a photo by Roxanne Carter, a holographic postcard of Jesus, an ee cummings poem, a quote from Bukowski, etc. Also, the weird thing behind my head is a yellow dress which doesn’t suit me. It looked great pinned to the wall, though. On the bedside table to the right is a framed selection of Lemony Snicket’s misfortune-telling cards & a whooole lot of library books.
My little girl sheets — pink striped flannel — & a packet of 100’s & 1000’s biscuits. Bliss.
Here endeth the tour! I hope you enjoyed it ;>
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala 
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awesome, i love looking at people’s abodes. especially when they’re interesting.
Oh wow, I’m actually in love with your ex-apartment. (This will make for a difficult conversation with my girl… grins)
I love the things you have on your walls, it looks fantastic, both the stuff you have and the way you put it up.
It looks so warm and original and bohemian in a great way.
Agh, I’m rambling.
But I love it!
I think decorating rooms has to be the most relaxing, happy hobby ever! This was really cute-cool.
I love that you collect typewriters! :)
The rope-as-mini-art-gallery idea has inspired me to make my own for my bedroom! I also love the idea of framing those Lemony Snicket cards.
When I saw your fairy-lights thingy—“golly” I have the same stuff all around my room (except that they’re multi coloured)!! I’m gonna use my string of fairy lights as the rope for inspiring art/poetry!
Thank you Rachael :D
[a} — That’s exactly what I’ve done in my new apartment! I have this string of clear lights from Ikea which also has a clear cable, it looks so good because it’s practically invisible during the day. The dark green cable on most fairy lights is so hideous & visually jarring!
Ikea? Thnx for the tip! I also went to deviantart.com and found the most AMAZAZAZING artwork ever!! Art deco, cutesy illustrations, fashion photog, etc. & printed the coolest stuff out and framed it. The internet has to be the greatest thing since disco balls.
i want your pink sheets! they are so inviting
ah! i remember some of these photos, back from when you were fancy as fuck…
but i love seeing detailed ones laid out like this – i too, am curious about people’s living spaces that i know! i’d love to take a bunch of photos of my work… and i really wish i had my own place, soon!
oohh love those pink and white lamps near your bed..Its really cool to see where a persons lives to get to know a little bit more of them…by watching your pics I could say you love to read, you are funny, curious, original and you give things their value :) Am I wrong? hehe ;) bye have a great day
Wow what a treat for me…thank you so much for showing your old studio apartment.
The reason i asked was that i am going to be moving very soon and as London is so ridiculously expensive i can really only afford a studio room.
I love the way you made yours look and it will inspire me for when i get to doing mine.
I will of course take photos to share with you if you like _
Emma
x
This is nothing to do with your apartment, which is delicious by the by, but did you know Kurt Vonnegut died Wednesday night (well night here in the US)?
It sort of crushed my day, but I wrote it up and then felt a little better. linked on my name.
So inspiring! Thanks for posting.
where did you get your blackboard from? i’ve been trying to find one to hang in my kitchen for aaages.
My friend & I went to a hardware store & bought a big piece of wood. We got the guys there to saw it in half & then we bought tins of blackboard paint & took one home each & made our own!
your decorating/photos/hair are all amazing. i wish for them all!
Love the zebra-mask photo – you look so good in those stripy stockings!
Hi Gala,
I’m soon moving from Perth to Melbourne and am hoping you can give me some advice! How on earth do I do it?? What I mean is, once I touch down in the magnificent Melbourne, how do I start looking for a sharehouse to live in? Is it realistic to assume I will be able to find a sharehouse before I arrive, or is it very hard to find accommodation in Melb?? I’m 21 and this will be the biggest event of my life to date – ahhhh! So daunting!!
Cheers lovely.
Random questions but did you make a lot of noise when you were living there and did you ever get complaints about it? Or did people in apartments around you make much noise?
I am invesitaging inner city living and Jotham and I are noisy people… (mostly Jotham :P)
invesitaging?! I’m sorry… it’s 4.30 on Friday… my brain is elsewhere.
Anna Rose — I am pretty noisy (loud music all the time) but it depends on where you live & what your neighbours are like. When I lived in the Whitcoulls I was very noisy, but the construction of the building is great so no one ever complained because they never heard it. Just check how solid the walls are when you go for inspection.
omg gala i have the wrapping paper you have tacked on your wall! deers amidst curly swirlsof purple and pink! and i live on another continent.
haha….as per jerene, i have ALL the wrapping papers you had on your old wall….how bizarre!!!
xx
Wow – my workmate lives in the same apartment building now! Hahaha – love the decoration of yours tho, his is rather boring =P
Hi Gala
I know this is really weird, leaving a comment on such an old post, but omg! I have been wondering whether the Whitcoulls building had apartments up there or if it was just storage/offices!
If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up getting the place? Did you know someone or was there an ad somewhere? also, was it expensive (I know you don’t like talking about money, so feel free to ignore this question!)? You don’t have to give me the exact figure, but while you lived there, what did you do for a living is maybe a better way of putting it?
beanstew — There was an ad in the paper, so I called up, looked at it & then filled in some forms. I don’t remember how expensive it was, maybe about $250/week? That could be totally inaccurate though. I remember feeling like it was a great price for something right in the centre of town, a big space with awesome sound-proofing, lots of light & all the things I needed already included (washer/drier, fridge/freezer, etc.). & when I lived there I had a couple of different jobs. I worked at Lush for about half of it, then at Telecom & then at NZ Post :>