The first thing of note when you walk into the apartment block is how much greenery there is. Something, she says, drew her to the property. The façade is completely covered in vines. It almost resembles a large treehouse. An intricate white lampshade hangs from the ceiling in the walkway. “I picked that up in Italy,” Wanuri explains, “and had to assemble it by myself.” Her apartment has a sort of “thrown together” feel. She says that in the two years she’s lived there, everything sort of just fell into place with no premeditation.

“To make it my own, I planted a kitchen garden on the balcony.” There, Wanuri grows chillies, rosemary (which sprouts from a pair of Wellington boots) and a tomato vine (that winds itself around an intricate wooden sculpture), among other herbs. Wanuri has no drapes in her house, as she loves the large amount of light that comes in. A Turkish blue glass Evil Eye amulet hangs on her living room window. “It mirrors back the evil eye, protecting me,” she says. An ethereal painting of a woman hangs on one wall. On another sits a small wooden sculpture, very phallic in shape. Wanuri unconvincingly describes it as a musical instrument.

Her bookshelf is as diverse as her record collection, with lots of literature on the Kenyan fight for independence. “Who Fears Death”, a book whose screenplay she is currently working on, stands alongside “Shantaram”, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “Wizard of The Crow” and Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Letters To A Young Poet.” The record player is her favourite item in the house. Wanuri has been collecting vinyl records for the past 10 years. Her collection spans from Kenyan artists Slim Ali and the Hodi Boys to Charles Mingus and Jimi Hendrix. Wanuri says, “My favourite is a John Coltrane and Duke Ellington collaboration, although I haven’t opened it yet. I’m saving it.”