A Modern Apartment

Sunlight enters the room through the expensive apartment windows.  The blinds are each open to a different degree, making the window look like an upside-down bar graph.  They are the only things in this modern apartment that are not perfectly in order.

Reflecting the light of the window, a glass cupboard displays a few decorative items to any visitors that find their way here, but its emptiness implies that the owner of this apartment spends most of his time somewhere else, the same way an empty shell on the beach tells you where a sea creature isn’t living.

The bottom shelf awaits use, like a taxi idling outside a shopping center late Tuesday morning.  A few white, ceramic vases hold dried flowers, obviously chosen for the lack of upkeep needed, on the second shelf.  The third shelf holds another dry plant in another ceramic vase atop a white book that, in all likelihood, is blank on the inside, the same way a clickbait article is void of any meaningful content.  And the top shelf has only two glass bottles of liquor, and two small glasses, which could be so far out of reach for one of two reasons: they are out of the way of young children or they are only there to give the appearance of glamour, like wearing a golden watch that you never need because you anyways check your phone for the time.  The cleanliness and order of the rest of the apartment indicate that children are not the explanation.

Near the glass cupboard there is a tall green plant with enormous leaves that grow up into the air, rather than hang down, a good choice of greenery for an easy to maintain modern apartment.  This green is the only touch of color in the room.  In front of the glass cupboard is glass table with rounded corners and shiny legs with a matching set of cushioned chairs.  The closeness of the table and chairs to the window make it clear that there are never enough people here to fill all four chairs. 

On the table is a bowl of walnuts and a magazine.  The magazine being open and some walnuts, both whole and cracked open, lying around the bowl indicate that the owner of this modern apartment spent a few short moments sitting at the table this morning before rushing off, likely to work, just as an open door, a key in the ignition, and a mug of steaming hot coffee in the cupholder of a car facing out of the driveway indicate that someone remembered something right before taking off.

Matching lamps, sofa, ceramic bowl, walls, and another set of table and chairs in the other room look as though the whole apartment, as it is now and including all the furniture and decorations, came as a package deal and has been left unaltered by the current owner, unlike the mix and match combinations of dinnerware at your uncle’s house that he’s gotten by buying, breaking, and replacing many different kinds of dishes over the last two decades.  Three generic, black and white, prints line the wall in the next room, telling the visitor that the owner has not made this living space a personal home.

The style of this apartment is modern.  Everything is as simple as possible, with very little color, no fine details, and a few scattered undistracting objects throughout.  People who like modern décor like living in a clean space.  They usually spend little time at home.  They prefer orderliness and organization over personality and expression.  They don’t want the added stress that comes with lots of stuff, feeling that less is more.

You can tell a lot about a person by the place they live.  You can’t tell everything about them; and if you don’t know the people, you’re really just making guesses, like the guesses we are making today; but you can learn a lot about them, for sure.  Pigs, foxes, turtles, and hermit crabs have become synonymous with different personality types because of the homes they make.

Not every house says the same thing, though.  A messy house could mean many different things.  It could mean you are just lazy and don’t care about anything.  It could also mean that you are a widower with many kids, a demanding job, and you spend your weekends helping your friends fix up their homes out of love for others that is greater than a love for yourself.  It could also mean that someone in your family, a spouse, a child, or you is suffering from a medical problem that is just too much for your family to handle.  Maybe it means you just went through a whirlwind in life and need time to sort things out.

I wonder what you could learn from the houses of your friends.  Is there home a sign that they need someone to light a fire under the chair to get them moving, the way an overgrown lawn screams for someone to take out the lawn mower?  Is it a sign that they have their heart in the right place and are a valuable friend to have, as a poor man giving his only money to a friend in need shows the belief that another man’s needs are greater than one’s own?  Or is it a sign that they need your help at the moment, to come alongside them and be a good friend in their time of need, like a flashing warning sign on your car’s dashboard says, “I need help!”?