Setting up a Bachelor’s Quarters? Make a List.

I decided to follow up on “Renting a Lagos Apartment” story for two reasons: the page-view is encouraging and my experience stretches on.

At the first thought of setting off to start a life of [on] my own, I didn’t set out for a life of luxury neither was I entertaining a stoic life.

However, I had the basic rule of life running through my mind: start small, dream big. Problem sets in for a bachelor in my shoes in deciding what is small.

Small in my case means the provision of the basic necessities of life. Well, the philosophers who traded in spotting fallacies, encouraged us to define a word without the word; but in my case using ‘basic’ in the stead of ‘small’ only elaborates the problem of setting up an apartment.

All I thought I would need for a survival in a new apartment were the mundane things as follow: a rug, a mattress, a couch, standing mirror [pardon me, I can’t leave home without seeing one], reading desk, a reading lamp, wall hanger, shoe rack and a book shelve.

Poor me! a discerning eyes would no doubt see the bare life I was going to expose myself to. And, thankfully, a simple listing of items I might need for survival reveals my suicidal bent. The act of listing alone has kept the list growing into some fearsome thread of requests.

The Cooking Department

From where do you start?

Depending on who is reading, a sister may notice the absence of cooking utensils—while that was deliberate, the absence of storage containers was an innocent omission. I have placed a ban on cooking in my apartment until further notice [good news to all Buka around]. I never liked the after ceremony rituals of doing the dish after every meal. Finally, I can call the shot here!

So, for a setting-up bachelor you have to decide what you want to include in this department cutlery, few plates and serving trays are not out of place. Nevertheless, a storage container for your nightly grubs—cornflakes, cooker oats, biscuits, milk and sugar etc is necessary to avoid open invitation to rodents and roaches.

The Viewing Centre

The other obviously missing item in my to-be apartment is the Television. This is very deliberate. While I hope to entertain some select group of individuals, I don’t hope to turn my bunk to a viewing centre of any sort. Truth is TV is never my thing. I get all my news on the internet and a simple Laptop computer will serve me right for my select-viewing pleasure. A setting-up bachelor has to decide what suits his lifestyle in this regard. Do you need it, or do you need to show you can afford it?

Even a child can’t bear the heat!

The Power Shift

I am very trusting. Another error of omission is my trust in the PHCN [my current employers] to supply power when I need it. It is a known fact in Nigeria that every man is a local government unto himself. You generate your power and water and complement it with government sources. There seems to be no better case for the inclusion of a generating set in that list. Gaskia!

Aesthetic

One of the most expensive things in Nigeria is new technologies because our maintenance culture is very poor. Yet, the novice that I am, I am hoping the last occupant of the house would be responsible enough to leave the apartment better that he met it. Error! Some money should be set aside for the re-habitation of the apartment, the painting, netting and the doors. So, on your list and budget provisions should be made for these.

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So, what was your experience like while setting up your first apartment? Did you get all you would need? Do you think my list exhaustive? Share with me, I wanna know.