Kitchen Table Flowers
April 2nd, 2025
Writer: Zoe Gellert
Nearly three months after moving into our college apartment, I came home from my Monday night class to find my roommate Zoey and our friend Ian proudly sitting around our kitchen table they put together after it spent over a month in the box. In the center of the table was a purple vase and a bouquet of yellow flowers. The empty apartment we moved into was finally becoming our home.
There is something innately magical about this apartment. It isn't just how we acquired the lease six days after stumbling upon the realtor's phone number on Broadway Street. Or how our bedrooms practically picked themselves, as though they were made for us. My bedroom, which welcomes you through the front door, has a bathroom with walls the same seafoam green color as the bathroom in my childhood home. The second bedroom has two closets and a vanity counter in the bathroom, which is essential for storing my roommate's clothing collection - a combination of Carrie Bradshaw and Avril Lavigne.
Our space is unique. Three stained glass windows in the shared stairwells that otherwise occupy mail addressed to former tenants and empty water jugs. Our outdated kitchen lacks a dishwasher and proper storage, but the uneven floors creak comfortably under our feet. The back door won't open unless we also open the fridge, and abandoned electrical outlets live on as holes in the walls. But this place is ours.
I remember touring the apartment and falling in love with the balcony. I have a thing for balconies. There is something about sitting outside while the world is still sleeping and feeling the air against my face in the comfort and safety of my college apartment that reminds me how grateful I am to be here. There is rarely a time we don’t end our day sitting on cushions and outdoor camping chairs, laughing and sharing about the ridiculous world we’re all becoming adults in.
We filled our space with pieces of both of us. There is artwork made from the wristbands we collected during our Sophomore year in Mayer, our favorite Mardi Gras throws, trinkets from places abroad and close to home, stuffed animals and blankets of no specification, pictures and paintings of this city, and a priceless Muses Shoe. Never without flowers on the kitchen table.
The memories we have already made within the walls of this home make me smile daily. There have been birthday parties and pre-games adorned with decorations whose remnants are still on the walls. There have been stupid disputes, even stupider mistakes, and too many nights falling asleep watching movies on the most comfortable Costco couch to count.
It's our escape and our solace. How lucky are we to have built something from scratch, turning an empty space with lofty ceilings and no traditional living room layout into the most heartwarming home amongst our closest friends.