Aubrie Edmond, Contributing Writers

Ujima is praying for all the students at Howard University. We hope everyone is safe and well after the shooting reported at the campus last week. Stay safe.

I recently moved into my first studio apartment. While I’ve been living away from home since I was 18, there have always been roommates or housemates or people around. My apartment in California was unfurnished, but my room was the only thing I furnished. I never realized how many things a person really needs. I go to the store almost every day for something I’ve forgotten. Since I’ve been in law school, I haven’t been able to set aside huge amounts of time to decorate. I’m sneaking it in between classes and on weekends, trying to make my house a home.

The theme I’ve chosen is the Madonna Inn meets a natural history museum. I’ve spent the past few weeks searching thrift stores and online sources. I’ve found wonderful vintage and antique furniture, and more trinkets than I know what to do with. Two of my favorite finds have been my TV and my couch.

I have always wanted a TV that has both a DVD player and an HDMI port built in, and I always hoped I could get one from the year 2007. I had pretty much resorted to ordering an expensive one on eBay when I stumbled across my dream TV at a Goodwill for twenty dollars. I thought it was too good to be true, I ran to the outlets and grabbed one of my favorite movies, Legally Blonde. It worked like a dream, and I brought it home. I began collecting DVDs immediately, and my collection will only continue to grow. Last weekend, my boyfriend and I rented a U-Haul and picked up a couch off of Facebook Marketplace. It’s pretty much my dream sofa: an antique loveseat with green velvet upholstery. It’s so perfect I’m almost too scared to sit on it. 

It’s so important to have a space that makes you happy. During one of the most stressful journeys of my life, it’s been nice to have an outlet for my creativity. I feel so blessed to be able to make my home my happy place, and I can’t wait until I finish decorating.