Come to Light

This week, I read a semi-helpful article in the NY Times about how to create natural light in an apartment where there is, well, none. Semi-helpful because a) I already do everything it advised, and b) it basically squashed my dream of lacquered walls in a New York City apartment ("Avoid glossy finishes," the article cautions). I guess I should have made that "Not-very-helpful."

Then I read another NY Times article, this time about buyers who search specifically for dark apartments. Though many have schedules that suit a constant lack of light, there are a few that claim that bright artificial lights are enough. Plus, darker apartments tend to be set in the rear of buildings. Read: they're quieter. Quieter, unless you have a very bitter little cat that sits outside your window and cries all night. Did you know that a wailing cat sounds unnervingly like a screaming woman? As someone who can't watch Dexter without locking all of the doors and windows first, that's one harrowing sound to wake up to at 4 AM.

What's your take? Thanks to this apartment, I've realized that natural light is a nonnegotiable for me. I can't wait for the day I wake up to sunlight...or a thunderstorm...or anything but the sounds of pigeons getting to "know" one another in the Biblical sense. It's the little things, after all. Right?

Photo credit: Charles Spada and 79 Ideas.