Hello there internets, it's the Brooklyn Bookworm again, filling in for Scrappy as she picks up surfer boys works hard in California this week.

One of the things I love about this blog is how Scrappy acknowledges the psychology of decorating. People are always apologizing for their homes (how many times have you heard "Oh, come on in, but it's such a mess"?).  The way you furnish your home and the stories behind the objects and decor say so much about you. Okay, not to get too heady here, but I know I spend a lot of time, as you might, drooling over other people's beautiful houses and wondering how they do it.  And it's good to take a minute to appreciate the things about my humble little Brooklyn apartment that make me happy, even if they're nothing fancy.  (Ahem.  Remember my bathroom?)  On other words, "Oh come on in, but it's such a mess!"

A nook for reading. Pictured here is a teensy fraction of my redonkulous amount of books.  Recognize those Ikea Billy bookshelves?  I know, everyone has them. The chair and ottoman were each fortuitous finds--stoop sale and Park Slope flea market, respectively. The silk pillow is, rather unorginally, from Crate & Barrel.  I love the pattern on the fabric. To the right of the chair is a painting by our friend Doug, and a box my artist mom made.  And a coffee cup.  That's called "set dressing."

When we first moved in, this kitchen was a vision in eye-ball-rattling fluorescent yellow. I still love this jadeite-ish color we painted it. The vintage table was a thrift store find, and the weird roaster thing we picked up at a Salvation Army in Des Moines, Iowa! We thought it looked like a lovable robot from the 1950s, so we brought it home to use as storage for pots and pans.  That cutting board was a wedding present and is so gorgeous and buttery-smooth I'm still afraid to use it. Just barely visible is the Hall of Champions, where we've hung an eclectic group of paintings of boxers, baseball players, super-heroes, and CEOs that we accidentally collected.

My writing desk, a white metal thingy  found on a street corner when I was a grad student (and had been looking for a desk!).  Pretty and shiny, but yikes, is that metal cold when I'm writing of a wintry 5:00 o'clock in the morning. I wrote my first book here, in the mornings before work. I can't have anything else on it but these magical items: my laptop (obvs), Marcel Dzama's friendly and whimsical Saddest Ghost Lamp, and my globe of sand from White Sands, NM.   I really do believe this desk is magic.

Our dog Quimby the Mouse just wanted to help model another prized possession, the gorgeous quilt my friend Stacia made us for a wedding present.  Isn't it pretty? Can you believe I let the dog chew on her disgusting toys upon such loveliness?

It will likely come as no surprise that one my favorite homes ever to be featured in domino was the arty, vintage-filled, softly pretty apartment of Blonde Redhead's Amedeo Pace and Kazu Makino (pictured below). I love when rooms look like they'd sound like Blonde Redhead and smell like old books. There's a great one coming up in the November issue -- look out for it!  Key word: Bloomsbury.

In conclusion, if decorating is autobiographical, I guess my apartment says about me, "I'm cheap. Er, I mean, low-key. And I like books, and things that are homemade." And maybe also, "I'm not fastidious about dog hair."  But then, that's why the pictures are all so small. Heh.