Care to see the inside of a Roman apartment?

Being extremely curious, both by nature and by training, I always enjoy seeing the inside of people's homes. Just yesterday, I met my neighbour from across the courtyard, and weaseled my way inside her door at least far enough to see how she's decorated the place. (I also met her cute little dog, Lina.)

That inspired me to compare our apartments and write a bit about mine. You can see my galley-style kitchen (with the green Ikea cabinets) above.

Both of our apartments are long and narrow, a bit like a train with a string of a few rail cars. In my case, the front door opens into the kitchen with a long narrow bedroom to one side, and the main living area (with two front windows, no curtains) to the other.

I did say earlier that the bedspread in my apartment was green! It matches the kitchen cabinets.

The head of the bed helps to separate the bedroom-area from the kitchen, and looks towards the bathroom at the far end of the apartment. Guests using the bathroom will get a good look at how well I've made the bed!

My neighbour's apartment is, of course, decorated with far more style and comfort than is mine, given that my place is a furnished rental, not really decorated, and I don't have the euros right now to do any kind of decorating.

Except for a few things on the bare walls. I went to the delightful little paper store Il Papiro and bought two 4-euro pieces of beautifully decorated wrapping paper which I have stuck to the walls, just as if I were a student again. (I'm still looking for that "Hang in there, baby" poster!)

Here's the view out of one of the two front windows.

And, of course, the appliances are small. In fact, my landlady seems to have found extraordinarily tiny appliances, such as the microwave, which can barely hold one mug (so long as it's not a tall mug!)

The doll-sized dishwasher (and yes; I'm very grateful to have a dishwasher) has only one small, narrow rack.

And finally, my children's-sized washing machine. Too small to fit in even one bedsheet (so every Friday Felix is sent by my landlady to change the bedding. I've learned to swallow my shyness.)

I've propped a running shoe in front of the washing machine door to give a sense of its size.

But it's home, and I love it!