I know that these things are much more interesting with pictures, so here you are. This is my studio space, in the thesis "pit". We've only been in school for a week and already my desk is a mess. Hopefully I will aquire a bookshelf soon, because the stack of books is just beginning.
a brief lesson:
der Tisch= the table (masculine)
das Buch= the book (nuetral)
die Lampe= the light (feminine)

the gender thing is really confusing, because it isn't tied to anything in particular about the object, you just have to know.