Curtains

Soooo proud of myself. I finally got my ass in gear and dealt with the bedroom curtains. No more dragging on the floor collecting dust, cat hair or worse... I got all in a frenzy and forgot to shoot a "before" picture, but as it was not a pretty sight anyway I will leave that part to your imagination.

Here they are all neatly cut, cleaned and ironed - and I even managed to get them to be the same length (more or less). All thanks to the Ikea miracle ribbon - no sowing required, just fold and iron - and voilà, all brand new hems !

Viking Collection-itis

Went thrifting at the "Place du Jeu de Balle" flea market on Sunday. Lots of sunshine, lots of people...

This little guy is the only thing that made the cut

Haggled down from an outrageous 15 EUR to 2 EUR (his arms and weapons are missing though)

Here he is with his comrades guarding my hall

High-end Problem

Why oh why do I fall in love with this sofa ?

(on ebay through Angel Trade)

When half of my living room looks like this

and I desperately need a sideboard - or at least SOME kind of storage.

Ooooohhhh look at that, it even converts into a bed.

Who could resist such charm and cleverness ?

Colour Sample Disaster

What a disappointment this weekend has been.

Can you believe it, the goddamn paint shop closes at 13.00 on Saturdays. I arrived exactly 5 min. to 13.00 and they had already locked up and buggered off for the weekend - which in their case means until Tuesday... good to know that even with the current crappy economic climate some Belgian shops still have too many clients.

Crap. I HATE waiting.

In the end, I slapped on the one and only sample I got last week.

Verdict so far : bof.

It is nice and retro and looks almost like the 50's turquoise I dig - although according to the manufacturer it dates to the Regency period (god only knows when that was). But I think it might be too blue for my taste and anyway, I am not sure I want to replace one pop colour with another. I'll probably get bored of that one too...

Boy Toy

Oh yes, come to mama. I'm gonna check out what you're hiding under that cute little skirt !

Carlton ware money box hunted down on ebay for 20 quid (including postage !).

aka how to sex up your savings

Maybe this little fella is finally gonna convince me to settle down and start that saving account ?

Lusting for...

this fabulous rug called "Brocante de Salon". Imagine that, your very own private living room flea market !

Ahhh, very chic. This makes my thrifty heart beat faster.

But alas - sooooooo expensive ! And soooooo unpractical with three cats leaving their fur all over...

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa….

My external hard disk is dead. Or more precisely Charlie killed it ! He knocked it over and it did not survive the fall. May it rest in peace !

Now you are probably wondering why I would start a design blog with some mad ranting about IT hardware ? Precisely because it got me started on this project.
Let me explain – said hard disk contained my fabulous collection of American TV series. So now instead of spending my evenings downloading some US rubbish - and watching it - I will keep this journal.

Inspired by my hero The Brick House, I also want to record my ‘progress’ to fabulous mid-century modern living. Although obviously more Euro or Belgium – or even “Brusseleir” – centric. Sadly enough the Brick House’s favourite thrifting source - craigslist - is not very useful here in Brussels – unless you are interested in some guys publishing photos of their dicks… but that it another story altogether, and thrifting in the capital of Europe must thus go on without this US favourite.

Keen observers will also have noted that I am deliberately dropping the Brick House’s under 100 USD purchase rule. 100 USD how much is that even in EUR ? According to me, not nearly enough to find any mid-century furniture in any of Brussels thrift stores or flea markets!

But my budget being as it is – very tight – and my credit card being as it is – chronically maxed out – I vow to do my utmost to keep costs down. My policy will be more one of “coup de coeur” – if I REALLY fall in love with something then I am willing to pay the price…