Fat Cat on the edge...

This is a perfect expression of my present state of mind.

Lyrics

"Sois pauvre et tais-toi

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi la petite caissière !

Il n'y a que ton salaire

En promo chez Leclerc...

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi le p'tit fonctionnaire

Tu devrais avoir honte

De nous coûter si cher !

Et si t'es pas content

Comme dit le président

Et si t'es pas content

T'as qu'à foutre le camp...

Tous les jours on galère

Dans le RER

Serrés comme du bétail

On se rend au travail

Pendant que Nicolas

Fait son footing au bois

On se gèle sur les quais

En attendant l'tramway.

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi le sapeur pompier

Tu sais, sauver des vies

Ca rapporte pas de blé

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi le petit cheminot

Tu sais les privilèges

C'est pas pour les prolos !

Tous les jours on galère (bis)

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi la p'tite infirmière

On t'les paiera jamais

Tes heures supplémentaires

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Toi la p'tite caillera

Fume ta marijuana

Et surtout bouge de là...

Oui sois pauvre et tais-toi

Oui sois pauvre !"

Front balcony update

So far, so good.









Let me just tell you this much - the cats and I are enjoying ourselves on the balcony this year. And the flowers and veggies seem to be doing fine as well.

No 'modern' landscaping for me though, the key word here is 'English garden'.

The notion of only having gravel, geometric shapes and maybe some bamboo or grasses in an outdoor space is totally ridiculous in my eyes. Why do people even bother having a garden, when all they do is slap more concrete on it ? Leave the garden-apartments for me then. I'll show you how it's done !

Ebay find

Oh man, this is what I call perfect timing.

In Belgium, employees get what is called a 'pécule de vacances', i.e. some extra cash on top of their monthly salary, usually paid out in May or June, just in time for the holidays ("vacances" = holiday, for those not fluent in the "langue de Molière" :-).

I got mine on Monday and since I don't like travelling, I thought I might as well spend it on my flat.

Enter the latest ebay find - the PURRRR-FECT dining table.




Made of massive teak, Danish quality controled no less, a super cute 104 cm large, and still extendable to seat 6 if need be - and reasonably priced. A dream come true.

Seeing the above styling by the ebay seller, makes me kinda regret buying all those Eames chairs though...

Anyway, it's still a million times better than the current situation.

Now all I have to do is wait for it to get here - it's being delivered from Germany.

I hate waiting.

Hall inspiration

Now that the hall repainting is moving along nicely, it's time to consider the more enjoyable bits - furnishing & accessories. Yay !

My hall is cursed with a very, very tight closet space and this Ikea Aspvik cabinet is the most serious contender for fitting in there. Catch a glimpse of the space here.

Impossible to put in anything with drawers or doors. There is just no room left for opening said drawers or doors. So sliding doors it is !

Although not as original as a vintage find, the Aspvik design is at least simple and sleek enough not to be too offensive. I am still debating though wether it's worth spending 130 EUR on it ?

As far as the Aspvik range goes, I actually prefer this wall unit. Less bulky, way cheaper and wall mounted - which is fantastic for easy cleaning access. However, it's the wall mounting part that's the issue here. I doubt that the power drill, the cabinet AND I will fit in this space - maybe I should consider hiring a midget installer or child labor ? Just kidding.

Saying good-bye

... to my little Mr Potato Man (aka the Alien) sticker.

He greeted me every day from the entry door. And his cute little shape made me smile every time. He was a good sticker !

He fell victim to the great hall remodel of 2010. RIP sweetie.

Bye bye.

Glimpses of the weekend

Is it weird to post pictures of the weekend in the middle of the week ?

Well, I guess I am weird then, or maybe really looking forward to the next weekend ?









On the menu from last weekend:

beautiful flowers on the front balcony

the hall getting whiter & whiter - under close supervision of Mr. Watson) !

Lots and lots of sleepy cats... including one asleep on my stretched out legs...

Still fussing

Arranging the Cadovius unit is proving to be a challenge. But I will not be defeated !

The shelves are currently in their fourth major configuration. Tell me what you think.

Now.

And before I get any snide comments - the empty space in the middle is where one of the Small Stakes posters is going...

Last week.

Today.

Last Saturday.

After.


Before.

Verdict ? Better or worse ?

And more generally any tips or ideas on "vignetting" ? Gosh, what a dreadful word. And what a dreadful thing to do - vignetting... But once again, I will NOT be defeated !

The new sofa quest has started

A strange phenomenon is going on in the living room. The new gorgeous Cadovius shelving unit not only sreams to be accompanied by some fancy artwork. It also makes everything else in the room look battered, tired and ugly.

And this piece especially.

A shot from way before. Because I love shoking my audience. Ha ha haa.

No seriously. I need to replace this old sleeper couch from Habitat (now discontinued). It's only five years old but time has not been kind to it. And by time read - the cats, the bright sunlight and my big fat ass... Watson has scratched it to the point that the filling is spilling out (more or less cleverly hidden by the sheepskin). Too much light is turning the black covers into purple ones. Yikes, and that is one colour I can't stand - purple. As for my big fat ass... well it's caving in about everywhere - the sofa I mean (not my ass)...

Time to consider alternatives.

Ikea to the rescue.

Karlstad 2-seater from their new tufted leather range - EUR 749. I love the white. But with the cats a white fabric sofa is totally out of the question. Now white LEATHER on the other hand... Hhhmmm, sexy AND wipeable !

Or maybe black after all ?

Btw, has anybody noticed, Ikea seems to be reorganising their sofa offer - a new (not too convincing) range (Kivik), Kramfors only in leather, and worst of all, no more Lillberg sofas. WTF - the Belgian website is only carrying the rockers and the US site does not even have these at all. Really ? They are discountinuing the beautiful Lillberg series ? Does anybody know what's going on ?

Rock on

Now that the living room furnishing is finally coming together, all my big empty walls are starting to piss me off. I need some "art".

But good god ! Who knew that good art would be so difficult (and majorly expensive !) to come by? I certainly didn't.

I've been roaming ebay for months now, trying to find me some sleek modern prints or paintings. Not sure what I want exactly and being less than knowledgable when it comes to contemporary art doesn't help, but two things I know for certain. I don't want anything too "op art" - these things make me dizzy - and I don't want something too colourful either - there's already a lot of colour mixes going on with all my West German pottery and Carlton Ware collections, both of which I am planning on expanding in the future. So something black & white (with maybe some red or green) would be ideal. Plus it needs to be BIG. Which makes buying some cutsy etsy print out of the question.

Now some desperate late night internet surfing made me come by an exceedingly cool poster shop. The Small Stakes sells silkscreened posters designed by Jason Munn for the likes of Sonic Youth or Nada Surf, to name just a few.

Ok, I'll stop jabbering and come to the point. This is what I bought.



Not too colourful, definitely not op art, good sized, affordable - they are pretty close to perfection. But mostly they do appeal to my fetish for vinyl and vintage electronics.

Let me just ask you. Is it wrong to hang up posters of bands you have never heard of before or havn't listened to in years ? I confess, I have no idea who She & Him is and I only vaguely recollect having liked Nada Surf about 15 years ago... But dude, do I like the design of these posters !

Subsidiary question for all you art aficionados out there : can a poster be considered as art ? You know being potentially mass-produced and all...

Ebay SCORE !

Ok. Here it goes.

About two months ago, I scored big time on ebay. Against all odds, I managed to dig out a mispelled and very poorly photographed bid for a... Poul Cadovius Royal System wall unit!!!

305 EUR, a short drive and lots of drilling later (thanks Dad for the last two :-), it's now mine. MINE.

Remember this eye sore of a wall ?


All a distant memory.

Shazzammm, as The Brick House likes to say.




Let me just mention that one of the shelves and the magazine shelf were bought later on via Aardewerk en Zo.

These guys are located in The Netherlands and specialise in Royal System wall units. They not only sell whole set-ups, but also spare parts. Ideal for anyone wanting to broaden or complete their system.



Of course I have been fiddling with the whole thing for the last two months.

Here you can see the very first set-up.

That big empty space was supposed to accommodate a potential future TV. But have I since then burned through that budget...


And then the second phase.



Oh, and I almost forgot. My initial ebay win also included a matching dining table and extension.

Some day maybe I could go for something like this.