Stuff my cats destroyed

I stumbled upon this little gem of a blog - hilarious !

I thought I'd do a remake as three cats can be equally creative - and effective - when it comes to destruction.

Episode 1 - Ikea Bladet flower pot mishap

And then there where two ...

Holiday Highlights

Lots of snow

Lots of food

Lots of chilling

... and lots of weird creatures

Hoooooooorrraaay

Hehe, I got my first ever comment for yesterday's post. From a lovely lady in Dublin no less - I wonder how she came across this blog ? I have sent the link to various friends and family members, but they have all been useless so far when it comes to commenting... Pffffffff.

Anyway, I thought this called for a celebration ! So to spread some good old Christmas and winter cheer, here are some photos of Brussels' Cinquantenaire Parc in yesterday's snow storm.

Winter I love you !

Flower Girl

When it comes to house plants, I usually prefer the non-flowering kind. But I have had this wonderful purple-leafed plant for years now and every once in a while it produces these sweet lilac flowers. Lucky me !

Btw - if anybody knows how this plant is called, please holler. I am dying to know...

Bedroom

Besides the bathroom and the living room, I also did some serious work on the bedroom.

Which wasn't really a priority, but of course got finished first. Go figure.

Here is the measly before shot.

I got so caught up in the whole process that I forgot to take some before photos. Plus the real before pics were all lost in my computer crash a few months ago.

Anyway, I have this thing about green. So this wall, had been painted a light green for a couple of years. Then I changed it to this darker green, which I never really liked.

Around the plugs you can even spot the initial colour of the room. Yes, I had it painted blood red when I moved in...

The view from the hall and of the reading nook. I had been contemplating moving the desk and computer that crowded up that space for quite some while. And I am glad I did ! Now the bedroom feels much more soothing.

A peak at the new sideboard.

Ah and here it is in all its glory. This puppy is huge - 220 cm x 120 cm - and gives me much needed storage room. It also didn't come cheap at EUR 540, my second most expensive furniture buy ever. But I am in love with it.

I found it at this lovely shop. Clarisse, the shop owner, also kindly delivered all the way to my bedroom and even had one of the doors fixed free of charge (the sliding mechanism broke during transport).

Close-up of part of my vintage planter collection.

... and some of my African stuff.

Opposite side - early 20th century wardrobe, 1950's dresser from my Oma, ethnic pendant lamp (which I am not totally happy with anymore) and "Mister" Watson's fat bum on the bed.

Little 1950's dresser I have always loved and that my Oma gave me when I moved into my first appartment. This is the piece that got my obsession with everything mid-century rolling.

Ta-da.

Yes, I did it. I absolutely loved the Brick House's guest bedroom make-over. So I now also have a black accent wall.

Best decision I ever made !

I also got at least one thing on my Ikea wish list - the Ikea PS Sticka blanket, which works best as a bed spread.

I also finally commited to hanging up some art.

Like a photo of my Luxembourg grand-parents on their wedding day...

... My grandma's wedding wreath...

... and a drawing by my grand-father's brother, (my great-uncle ?) Moni Gasti.

Still To Do & Special Treat Sneak Peak

As my self-imposed deadline for getting everything ready for Christmas is drawing closer, it's time for a "mid-level assessment".

Achieved so far :

1. living room - painted (mostly); furniture moved around and finally in satisfying setting; and decluttering process well under way
2. fireplace - done
3. office area - moved, but cable situation remains unsolved
4. bedroom - new furniture in place, old furniture rearranged and art installed
5. bathroom - painted (almost) and decluttered

Still in wait :

1. living room - paint the fourth "wall". I am putting wall between inverted commas, because it's not really a wall, but mostly made of windows and one huge radiator. So I am leaving the fiddly bit for last... and next year
2. living room - paint trims
3. living room - thrift and buy new/old round teak table, as I have come to realise that the current rectangular table is way too big for the tiny space; added bonus : once I have an appropriate table, hang up the Berlin vacation souvenir PH5 knock-off lamp
4. bathroom - eventually get around to touch up the paint. Yep, the bulk has been done for two months now, but I still have to hide some tiny specks of the old paint lurking here and there...
5. bathroom - in the distant (and hopefully financially less uncertain) future, get a new floor !
6. balconies - get rid of semi-dead summer plantations (you got to hand it to climate change, geraniums flowering in winter...), trim, clean and eventually plant winter flowers
7. all over, reorganise cupboard contents ! That's going to be a massive one...
8. definitetly all over, get the "vignetting" "right", as far as that is possible. Plus improve the equally dreaded "window treatments". Another weird word...
9. favourite to do : Christmas tree ! Youppieeee !

And last but certainly not least : CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN

PS. Tiny peak into one of my accomplishments - this one I really enjoyed :-)

PPS. Hopefully I will be able to take some good photos this weekend, as the "daylight" in Brussels has been almost non-existing for the past month. I am exaggerating of course, but sometimes it does feel like I live in Scandinavia - minus the cold, the snow, the beautiful people and the fabulous design.

Ikea Poster Girl

Here's my little June being adorable as usual.

I should really send this in to Ikea as an advertisement for their pet accessories range - Bästis Blond cat bed and cushion in action and, to top it all of, some serious cuddling with Ikea soft toy rat.

I wonder if they would give me a store discount ?

Fireplace

Ok, I promised some photos of the living room project some while ago. So here is a first batch.

There is this incredibly ugly fireplace in the corner of the living room. Or should I say faux-fireplace ? Yes, that's right the whole thing is purely decorative. That is if you find a bourgeois 1950's imitation of 19th century marble fireplaces to be decorative.

Not only is this thing an absolute monstrosity, it is also in the most unlikely place - a corner ! I suspect it's some genius architect solution for hiding the fact that the angle of that corner is not at 90°. Yep, that's right the outside wall of my living room (and bedroom !) is actually not at a right angle, but sloping outwards...

I wish I could just demolish the whole thing. But that would mean some major effort - and work rebuilding the walls. So inspired by this post and this one, I thought I give painting a try...

Before, in its full horror and yucky beige colour. And please ignore my pathetic attempt at "vignetting". I totally suck.

Close-up for your viewing delight.

Another close-up at the brick interior. And my Advent decoration.

Mini demolition. So satisfying. I found this mini crowbar in my Dad's toolbox and thought I'd get rid of the stupid blazon. I was hoping it was just glued on and would just pop off, but of course the stupid thing was hanging on real tightly... So I ended up bashing away at it. And since it was only made of plaster, I won of course...

Blazon destroyed and sanded down. As it turned out the fireplace is made of light brown concrete - which is actualy quite nice. The darker brown stains are rests of 50 year old glue. Beurk.

Work in progress. I painted the whole thing in bright white (The Little Greene - Shirting) and the interior is going to be in black. It looks really shiny, but that is only because the paint is still wet. I chose another The Little Green shade - Jack Black in a matt finish.

One more close-up. Just to emphasise the before and after effect.

More pics of the final result to come...

Three Cats

This is such a rare occurence - my three cats quietly together and I managing to get the camera out just in time to take a picture.

All thanks to an adventurous bird parading on top of the wall. Unfortunately I did not manage to get him in the frame as well.

I am still smiling.