SpaceRevealing Manri Seojae, The Study Space We Wanted to Build
Manri Seojae begins as a plan rather than a finished place: a small reading room, shop, and craft studio shaped by three years of recording slow days in rural Korea.
Read this noteTHE SAPMANRI NOTEBOOK
Notes from
a slower life
Small ways of living and the changing moods of the seasons, gathered one note at a time.
Space
PlacesCountry Life Year 3: Meet Byeol, and the Rainy Season Begins
The rainy season finally reaches Gapyeong, bringing a wet fire pit, birds under the eaves, a small cat in a ramen box, and the first quiet introduction to Byeol.
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FoodHow to Properly Store Coffee Beans: Refrigerator Storage Guide
For beans used regularly, our default is a small opaque, airtight container in a cool cupboard. Refrigeration and freezing depend on packaging, portions, humidity, and condensation—not a simple yes or no.
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SpaceHow to Creatively and Practically Reuse Coffee Grounds at Home
Used coffee grounds can enter a mixed compost pile or a small household scent experiment. We avoid direct potting-soil advice, odour-removal promises, and untested candle additives.
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PlacesA Jeju Island Trip That Felt Like Visiting a Neighbor
A short family visit to Jeju becomes a two-day record of Aewol stone walls, sea fog, old CDs, a bookshop, and the difference between travelling somewhere and returning to someone.
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FoodHow to Store Sweet Corn So It Stays Sweet Even When Frozen
Here the box never waits. Sweet corn arrives and it is husked, boiled and eaten the same day — we snap the cobs in half and finish them straight out of the pot. What goes into t…
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FoodA Beginner’s Guide to Home Coffee Roasting with a Frying Pan
Our frying-pan roast is a small, closely watched household experiment. This guide records the beans' colour changes while keeping smoke, heat, and fire precautions at the centre.
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SpaceHow to Turn a Tote Bag into a Crossbody Bag Without Sewing
This reversible tote-to-crossbody change works only when the original handles are removable and long enough; the important work is checking the bag, testing the knot, and knowing its limits.
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ThoughtsExperiencing Countryside Life Before Dreaming About It
Living in a Korean Countryside Home Before Dreaming About It Many people dream of living in the countryside. A quiet morning.A small yard.A cup of coffee near the window.A garde…
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PlacesHow Sapmanri's Separate Projects Began Becoming Mimesis
A dated June 2026 planning note: the archive, writing projects, characters, and tools were placed on one screen so we could see what belonged together—and what still needed a clearer name.
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SpacePicking Wild Raspberries and Making a Handmade Light in Gapyeong
A June day in Gapyeong moves from wild raspberries and a handwoven lampshade to a rose trellis, tea, and the quiet work of letting a home change slowly.
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FoodThe Quiet Start of June with Mulberry Picking and Home Roasting
Mulberries ripen at the edge of the yard while a home coffee roast begins inside; one June morning becomes a record of fruit, aroma, and a small roast experiment.
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PlacesA Cloudy Walk at Dumulmeori in Late May
A dated field note from a cloudy late-May walk at Dumulmeori: calm water, green mountains, reeds, a low wall, and an unhurried path beside two meeting rivers.
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ThoughtsWaking Up at 5 AM and Discovering the Value of Quiet Time
An unplanned 5 a.m. waking becomes one quiet hour with a kettle, coffee, changing light, and two cats—not a productivity rule, but a record of how a day can begin.
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PlacesA Late-Spring Garden Walk in Hongcheon
A dated May 2026 walk through a green garden in Hongcheon: dark courtyard walls, a shaded road, flowers floating in a stone basin, and a hanging light among the leaves.
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ThoughtsMinimalism as a Way to Declutter and Shape the Mind
Minimalism in a rural home is less about an empty-looking room than about noticing what is used, what creates maintenance, and what deserves continued attention.
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SpaceAn April Afternoon with a Coffee-Sack Planter
One yellow flower, a ridge beyond the village, a used coffee sack holding plants, and an amber iced drink make up this small April field note.
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SpaceMaking a Low Branch Border in the First Warm Days of Spring
A dated April record of carrying fallen branches, cutting them into short sections, and placing them as a low decorative garden border—not a structural fence.
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PlacesAn Early-Spring Afternoon at Cheongju's Dongbu Warehouse
Cheongju's Dongbu Warehouse appears through a long mural, a cafe building, a public book installation, and the orange light on the road home.
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PlacesA Quiet Afternoon Reading at Greatful Ground Cafe in Gapyeong
A dated early-spring visit to Greatful Ground in Gapyeong, told through the exterior, roasting-room door, hillside approach, coffee equipment, and one book finished away from home.
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SpaceA Backyard Projection Night with a BTS Concert
A brick wall became a screen for one March night. The photographs also reveal why any repeat setup needs stricter separation between open flame, wooden decking, people, and outdoor electrical equipment.
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SpaceEnjoying a Quiet and Slow Rainy Day Home Cafe
Rain changes the quality of a day. Not in a bad way — in a slowing way. The light goes soft. The sound of the outside world gets replaced by something more immediate: the partic…
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PlacesCapturing Our Village in a 3D Frame Using a Drone
I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. We live in a small village in Gapyeong — Wigong-ri, a cluster of houses tucked into a valley, surrounded by mountains on three side…
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PlacesA Hidden Cafe in Seojong and a Vintage Typewriter
There are places you find and immediately want to keep to yourself. Page Moment in Seojon is one of them. It’s the kind of cafe that takes some finding — tucked away from the ma…
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SpaceMaking a Branch Floor Lamp and Mixing Spring Cabbage
A branch was cleaned, given a pale finish, and placed beside a wall as a floor light. The day closes with hands mixing seasoned spring cabbage in the kitchen.
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PlacesA Winter Valentine's Day in Seojong, Ending with Gondre Pot Rice
A February 14 field note following a winter outing through Munhori River Market and Seojong, black buckwheat tea at home, and a pot of gondre rice with fish at the end of the day.
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FoodA Snowy Winter Day with Uneven Coffee Beans and Cat-Paw Tracks
Snow covered the village, a pan left coffee beans visibly uneven, and novelty paw-print overshoes turned the private yard into a short, strange trail.
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