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Langston Hughes once said, "Life ain't no crystal stairs." He was obviously talking about living in New York when he wrote that. I can't complain though, things have gotten much better within the past three months. You can definitely say life in New York ain't been no crystal stairs...but I think my life might qualify me for the cubic zirconium stairs. I've got new friends who are crazy and sweet, old friends who keep me sane and laughing, and after much praying and fasting I finally got a new job. I love my job because it allows me to do three very important things - put money back in my savings, work styling gigs (because I get off at 2:30pm), and BUY FURNITURE! The first item on the furniture shopping list, a bed of course. I can finally get my luxury mattress off the floor.


I feel it is very important to have a room that is a sanctuary. Sanctuaries take time to develop, and my room is no exception. I started with just a blow up bed and a canvas, so at best, my bedroom was a low budget homeless shelter. After two weeks of my butt sinking to the floor from a deflating air mattress, I upgraded to a Kingsdown luxury mattress. Retail value: $1,091.55; the price I got it for with God's favor: $317. The next step was to paint over the horrible wall color - prison grey that was slapped on top of an odd shade of pink. Two coats of primer, two gallons of Behr Enchanted Amber, and a gallon of Swiss Coffee rescued my walls from its former state. Painting took a while, but when I finally finished I was able to unpack my fiberbed. That's right, MORE SOFTNESS! My mattress is a eurotop, which translates to "sleeping on a cloud" in mattress terminology. But when you match the luxury mattress up with the fiberbed it's like sleeping on the wings of an angel. All I needed was a bed to get it off the floor.

Well, my bed arrived yesterday. And as I was assembling it on my own, I thought about how much easier the process would have been if I had done it with a friend or maybe even a mate. I started comparing the "cute couple's way" to a "single woman's way"...


Step One - Connect the base board and the head board to the side rails

The Cute Couple's Way:
"One of us can hold the side rail while the other one screws it to the headboard and the baseboard"

The Single Woman's Way:
"If I place the headboard face down on the floor and screw in the side rails while they are balanced upward towards the ceiling, that will give me enough leverage to connect the base board after I've connected all the other major pieces."


Step Two - Connect the slates to the support bar and the 4 support legs

The Cute Couple's Way:
"Honey, I'll hold the slates while you screw in the support bar and legs."

The Single Woman's Way:
"How in the heck am I going to do this...Okay, if I brace all the slates against the wall, I can put the screws in from behind, attach the support bar and hope that it stays in place long enough for me to screw the legs in. Then I can tighten the screws once I angle it on the floor."


Step 3 - Place the supported slates inside the bed frame

The Cute Couple's Way:
"That's sounds easy. You grab one end and I'll grab the other and we can place it inside the frame."

The Single Woman's Way:
"What?! These instructions apparently do not apply in New York apartments. No one has that much space to have a bed frame next to slates that are connected. This isn't going to work. Okay think...If I brace one of the support legs on my lamp I can put the frame down on the ground. Nope, that didn't work. Okay...if I brace one of the support legs on my lamp which is then supported by my bedroom door (see image, I really did that), I can put the bed frame down and then maneuver the slates inside the frame. Ooooh Jesus, it's hot."


Step Four - Screw all the slates down to the side rail

The Cute Couple's Way:
"Baby we're almost done! You grab the screws and I'll grab the drill."

The Single Woman's Way:
"You must be crazy if you think I'm going to screw in 28 screws when I just put 8 into the side rail, 4 into the support legs, and 2 into the support bar. There's no way"

28 screws later...

"I should have just given the delivery man $45 to put this bed together himself."


I didn't opt not to pay the assembly fee because I had a deep desire to prove my independence as a woman, I was simply being cheap. And although building the bed alone gave me a great since of pride and achievement, I finished with an even deeper appreciation for community and help from others.

Needless to say, my sanctuary is still a work in progress. I still need window treatments for my gold accent wall, a dresser, and some other things. But until then, I'll be enjoying my space as it is.


♥ J’aime Bianca