From the beginning of March 2019 through to the end of July 2019, I sub-letted a room and resided in the Gunnersbury end of Chiswick whilst living in Chiswick. I fully had the intention of moving to another flat somewhere closer to Central London- maybe somewhere like Putney or Hammersmith- during the period of that first tenancy, but every day I found myself falling even more in love with the leafy green, family-oriented and relatively quiet district of Chiswick, so much so that come the end of my first tenancy, I signed onto another tenancy in the same flat complex where I lived out the full duration of my London stay.
The district of Chiswick is located in Zone 3 of West London and neighbours the suburbs of Brentford and Kew to the west, Mortlake and Barnes to the south, Hammersmith to the east, and Bedford Park and Acton to the north. It could be described as a "picturesque, safe and affluent residential area boasting independent shops, high-end restaurants and various eateries with a village feel, popular among creatives and families due to an array of high-performing schools and historic pubs". The town borders the River Thames where a multitude of 18th-century homes exist, posing various photo ops and riverside walks that showcase the beauty of the area, whether rain, hail or shine.
Which brings me to my once humble abode; Chiswick Village. Chiswick Village takes up quite literally a wedge of land located 3 minutes walk from the particularly picturesque riverside area, Strand-on-the-Green. With only one street named Chiswick Village leading into and out of the complex, the multitude of English-Art-Deco residential flats sing privacy and safety. Many of the flats house small families, young couples and house-shares of 2-4 people as most flats vary between one to four bedrooms. These flats all surround a rather large and central green-space- particularly popular in the Summertime- where residents hold parties, host barbecues, play sports and spend time simply soaking up the sun. Walking west along Chiswick Village road and up and over the train tracks down Brooks Lane, you'll find yourself walking past Strand-on-the-Green school and arriving at Thames Road where you'll be met with the local coffee shop The Coffee Traveller, the Bell and Crown Pub, a post office, a corner store, and various other small businesses. At the end of Brooks Lane, walk across the road, turn right and you'll stumble across a little alleyway leading down to the riverside of Strand-on-the-Green.
I lived in my first flat in Chiswick Village for five months. It was tiny but in a cozy sort of way; we were on the second floor and had quite a decent sized lounge room, which is a plus when on a budget in London as many houses don't have a lounge area. As well as the lounge room, we had a kitchen where more than two people couldn't cook at the same time because it was too small, we had one bathroom, a balcony (which we never used, for some reason), and three bedrooms; two of which were big enough for a double bed, a set of draws and a bedside table, and another that was a little bigger and opened out onto the balcony.
I like to think I made the most of my room; I had one of the smaller rooms. White walls surrounded the central mahogany bed frame, the black set of draws and the un-matching cream coloured wooden bedside table. The mattress that came with the flat had a noticeable dip on one side thin enough to feel the slats of the bed frame, but at the end of the day, it was a free mattress, so I chucked on a Primark mattress protector, bought a duvet, pillows and a white quilt illustrated with pink, yellow and orange fireflies and flowers, and made the most of it. If you laid on the bed and looked to your right there was a relatively large set of white framed windows that opened outwards and gave you a view of a section of the train tracks of the Richmond route of the District Line behind dense, green foliage. I got used to hearing a train pass every 15 minutes or so and it became a normal part of my day, as normal as brushing my teeth. Before my Mum jetted back to Brisbane, we spent a decent amount of time in Primark buying little knick-knacks that would make my new house a home; like a pink candle, a mirror that lived on top of my set of draws and was leaned against my window every morning while I sat on my bed doing my hair and makeup before work, and this god-awful light pink fluffy rug that sat on the floor on the left side of my bed until it had gathered too much dust and dirt to be considered cute anymore.
I would describe the other communal rooms of our flat to be warm, comfortable and cozy with a lack of theme. As I had moved into a flat that was already occupied by two other people coupled with the fact that I had zero belongings, not a lot of my stuff left my room. Our bathroom had a bathtub with a half glass door, a pretty standard sink and toilet, a cabinet to which one shelf per housemate was allocated, and a window that, if left even slightly open when taking a shower, the rest of Chiswick Village would see you in the nude. Our kitchen had quite a bit of counter space with a microwave on the counter, a small fridge underneath, and an oven that I didn't know how to use (and didn't bother to learn how to use) until three months into my tenancy. Another window that opened outwards saw more greenery and train tracks and at one time was almost a gateway into our house for a squirrel. Our lounge room was my second favourite space; we had this old but sooooo comfortable couch that I would fall asleep on every now and then, a coffee table in the centre of the room holding various books, a bookshelf holding- guess what- more books, a bay window that overlooked Chiswick Village's communal greenspace, a TV that played Love Island almost every night, a few pieces of home decor (like wall art and fake flowers), and a dining table to the right of the room. The flat was nothing flash but it came to be my first home away from home and the small space, the train tracks, the greenery, the central heating in the Winter, and the creak of the floorboards gave me appreciation for the average and held so many moments that I hope I'll be able to remember forever.
The end of July marked the end of our tenancy; one of my housemates was moving back to Mexico and the other wanted to find another flat in Chiswick Village and invited me to join her. I immediately agreed and after viewing a couple of flats within the complex, we finally found one inside our budget that allowed us to keep at a maximum of three housemates and that was in the building next door. My housemate and I signed onto a one year lease agreeing to split the rent between the two of us (so about 650 pounds a month, including bills) while we hastily tried to find a third housemate. It only took one month after moving in and we finally found a third housemate. We didn't love this flat as much as our first flat; it was older, it had more wear and tear, it was on the forth floor, and instead of looking at greenery out my bedroom window I now looked at garages and a higher view of both the Underground line and the rail line. It wasn't horrible though; again, we made it our own.
I bought navy blue furnishings for the bathroom, including bath mats, shower curtains, a laundry basket and a fake plant; the bathroom layout was the exact same as our first flat, and yes, it still had a window that, if left open, exposed you to the rest of the residents. Our kitchen was much brighter with off-cream colour walls, a light wood countertop, off-white cabinets that were placed on every wall of the kitchen, a microwave, an oven, a washing machine (yes, a washing machine in the kitchen) and a full sized fridge, which was a huge plus! A push-out window was centred on the wall that you could look straight out at as you washed dishes and the view was again, garages and train lines. Our lounge room was, again, the exact same layout as our first flat, except it had wood floors instead of carpet, a couch that wasn't as comfortable or as long as our previous couch, and an old fireplace that didn't get used. By now, I had accumulated more belongings and got to scatter them around the flat rather than to the confines of my room, which made settling into this second flat much easier.
As for my room, my interior decorating skills flourished! I had a double bed (with a brand new mattress) nested in the corner of the room right next to a large window with white frames that opened outwards; I bought a new pink, grey and green jungle inspired duvet and used the windowsill as a bookshelf and phone charging station. The wall in front of the bed had a white set of draws placed against it and three shelves built into the upper section of the wall. I also had a light beige wooden wardrobe to hang clothes for the first time in 5 months which was absolute heaven on earth. I littered the shelves with new belongings, collectables from my travels, books, gifts from home, candles, and beauty products. My set of draws held my OG mirror, photo frames and various other belongings, I had blu-tac'ed a set of postcards I got from my travels in Singapore and family photos on the wall beside the window, I bought and assembled dark grey curtains by myself (which I was pretty proud of, not going to lie) and I hung battery powered white icicle lights from the top of the wall behind my bed.
Again, we made the most of what we had in a space that was small but special. We, once again, filled the lounge room with the sounds of Love Island, I had various cooking endeavours in the kitchen- including the one time I left boiling water on the stove while I fell asleep on the couch and woke to a pot of completely evaporated water (no fires, thank god)- and my absolute favourite memory is sleeping with my window open, letting the cold air filter through as I snuggled under my sheets, looking up at the stars of the night sky and listening to the planes fly into Heathrow over and over.