Artsy apartments and the melding of minds…

With our sixth Monthly Mess, themed “Back to Scoool” now behind us, I’m readying myself for the next challenge… actually going back to school! For a gal who’s been out of school and working full-time for a couple of years, this is a surreal switch from “the real world” to the microcosmic university world, a switch that has yet to fully sink in.

In an oh-so-fitting way (think “theme of change”), just over a week ago I moved out of my closet-sized studio that I never really liked into a lovely Mile End apartment with two others, an undergrad at McGill and a brand-new Montrealer starting her MFA at Concordia. Me, I’m somewhere in the middle, finishing an undergrad that I left behind in 2005. Our common thread? Art. Art of all kinds! And, if you put our closets together, a very fun and colourful wardrobe of vintage, thrift store alterations, and local designer wares.

As we three finish our personal unpacking, we’re beginning to address the blank canvas of our home. While finding an affordable fridge and stove are indeed priorities — as we have been living for a week without either (laugh if you must) — finding our stereo cables, arranging our books, and agreeing on that perfect spot for each and every wall-hung item have certainly topped the list thus far. Is this what you get when you put three artsies together with only “make yourselves a home” as instructions?

We’ve debated music and explored each others’ playlists. We’ve laughed and awwed over the antics of Spike the guinea pig. We’ve thrust pieces of our movie collections upon each other, accompanied by choruses of “You-have-to-watch-this-I-know-you’ll-love-it.” We’ve already begun sharing clothes. And… we’ve settled into a creative way of life, coping with our lackings (*cough* proper food *cough*), eating out, ordering in, and fashioning makeshift curtains out of garbage bags that once held our dresses.

Inevitably, every day at least one of us has come up with a suggestion every hour on the hour for the apartment and what we can do with it and in it (a blogged record of dinner parties, anyone?), as well as the occasional needed (more hooks in the bathroom for towels… but without covering too many of the hand-painted tiles).

There are piles of Worn Fashion Journal lying around. Shameless Magazine from a former editorial collective member. Paintings and other artwork. Those big, heavy books compiling a year’s worth of a newspaper with “A&E Editor” stamped on the front in gold lettering. Boxes formed into makeshift bookshelves for all the literature we’ve got lying around. Multiple Macs, stereos, and twin DVDs (VHS, in some cases).

I dream of Yuula’s vintage dress collection. Yuula admires my dedicated yoga practice. Kristin, having left so much in boxes scattered through apartments across the city for four months as she travelled, brings us discoveries also new to her (in that “I-forgot-I-had-this!” way) every time she opens a box and digs down to the bottom.

Are we happy? Most definitely! Are we excited to share the result of our shared artistic stylings and ambitions with a housewarming party (y’know, once we have somewhere to put the food)? You bet. There’s a new team in town, folks, and we’d like to share our experiences with yours!