I think there is a combination of the human soul and aesthetics. Aesthetic simply means how you perceive things and feel things.

For example, your environment. There are certain places which actually do feel very ghetto, ugly, and oppressive.

For example, the aesthetics of a place, my house, my environment hugely affects my mood and energy levels. And also I wonder if aesthetics has to do with hygiene as well. Places with beautiful aesthetics also tend to be very hygienic.

For example, the gym. I’m starting to realize that maybe the number one most critical thing of a gym is how hygienic it is. The first simple suggestion I have is always go to the bathroom first, how clean or dirty the bathroom is or how it smells or looks will be a good indicator of everything else. This is also what Anthony Bourdain apparently said about restaurants… whenever you go to a restaurant first go to the bathroom, if the bathroom is clean and good, the restaurant is good. If the restaurant bathroom is ugly, smells bad, not well maintained, everything else is bad.

Even at home, I spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning the bathroom, and making sure that the bathroom is clean and tidy. Also when me and Cindy were looking for apartments and homes to live in, the thing I was the most critical and essential to me was how beautiful the bathroom is. Why? whether we like it or not we actually spend a lot of time in the bathroom, and if the bathroom ain’t beautiful, you’re going to hate your life.

---

Suggestions

So I have some very very basic thoughts.

First, when you’re trying to find a place to live, be insanely insanely insanely critical and picky. Here, to settle for “good enough”, is a terrible idea. You must effing love your home, aesthetic of it, the feel of it, the amount of natural light in it, etc.

1. The direction it faces?

Now that winter is almost upon us, my basic observation is that the direction your home faces or apartment faces is critical. For example, ideally you’re on the second floor of an apartment, higher up, or directly facing the sun. Why? This is insanely important and critical because if your house don’t get any direct sun hitting it, irregardless of how nice and me look inside, it is going to feel dark, damp, cramped, and terrible.

2. How it was designed?

Ir is funny that landlords are very very picky about choosing tenants, but conversely, I think it is actually very important that we tenants should be equally as discerning to the owner. Why?

For example currently speaking, my landlord Mike Tatum, I love him. Not only is he funny and witty, he is prompt, and super VIP. Having a great landlord will make your life 1 trillion times better.

For example a simple thing; we requested some blackout curtains, and apparently he went all out and spent about $700 on some really high-end pottery barn linen blackout curtains and bar; is motto is “it never pays to go cheap!”

His philosophy shows. All of the appliances and things in the home are straight up the most high end of its time; all very nice KOHLER stuff, even the brand new all in one washer and dryer machine in the apartment, I think I saw it brand new at Costco for close to $4000.

Certain things which are very difficult to change, and this is where it is good to be discerning include the bathroom tile, ideally some sort of white, fake white marble is lovely.

3. Holding out

One thing I am insanely grateful of us squatting Cindy‘s mom‘s house for so long is that we didn’t need to get rushed to finding an ideal apartment or living situation in LA. This is where it makes sense to have some sort of launchpad or Lillypad which you don’t have to be stuck to some sort of annoying lease.