The first time I sit down with the informant she is curled into her reading chair, she’s made tea but seems to have forgotten it.  The informant is a self-identified queer, femme, graduate student in her late twenties and lives alone in the apartment with her cat.  She has been in this particular apartment about six months. 

Me: Tell me about how you chose this particular space. 

Informant: Well, it really came down to the public transportation system, my previous place made it hard to get to campus.  I also liked the wood floors and the fireplace, oh and the dishwasher, the dishwasher was really important.   

Me: Ok, so tell me about how you chose to decorate the space, what were your thoughts and motivations? 

Informant: Um, (pause) I didn’t want anything that seemed too conventional or uptight.  My mom bought the couch for me when I moved back after college and I brought it up here with me.  Mostly I wanted some color since I knew that I would be living in spaces where I couldn’t necessarily paint.  Most of the things in here I already had before I moved in. 

Me: What have you had the longest? 

Informant: The Garden State poster hanging on the wall over there, that was a birthday

present from my high school boyfriend.  I keep dragging it from place to place for some reason.