A few explanations

Ikea Jorun rug - 149 eur.

Ebay wardrobe - 25 eur. I love the attention to detail of this 1950's design - curved sides and slightly concave body.

Thank you Meubles Collard for this beautiful addition to my bedroom. Modern and stylish ! I could not agree more.

Some changes have already happened since the last photo shoot ten days ago...

Italian art vase - 10 gbp. A souvenir from Fountain Antiques in Honiton. Works perfectly as a pencil holder and together with the Scheurich planter.

More high street buys. Habitat Tommy desk lamp (19 eur) and Ikea Cilla seat cushion (3.99 eur). Obviously the cushion is supposed to be for the cats, so they stop begging to climb on my lap when I'm sitting at the desk. June thinks it's the perfect tail rest...

50s bedroom chair - 8 gbp at the Marsh Barton car boot. I was so surpised by the low asking price that I didn't even try to haggle...


And with an old crochet cushion I had stowed away.

The thrift gods where definitely conspiring to further style up my bedroom.

Getting there

I'm gonna shut up during this one and let the pictures do the talking...









I just wanted to end this post with a huge thank you to my good friend Laura who's been incredibly helpful hauling the wardrobe all the way through Brussels and reassembling the whole thing almost by herself (and with a little help from her partner Benoit). Yours truly only had to hold the flashlight (we worked at night) and admire the finished work...

Thank you Laura and Benoit, you're the best !

We're still in progress

Does this ever happen to you ? You're in the middle of some major projects, crazy busy, and then all of a sudden you just seem to attract more and more projects, like a magnet...

Well, this is what happened to me anyway. I'm up to my chin in the kitchen and hall mess, and boom! new ideas keep rushing into my head. Uh, let's do some spring cleaning. Oh, let's get rid of some stuff on ebay. Uh, while I'm at it, let's check what's on offer on ebay this week. Uh oh, a 50s wardrobe for only 25 eur starting bid and not much interest from the ebay community ? Ah, let's follow that bid and see what happens...

Well, this is what happend (amongst other things).

Ta-da. My new (old) wardrobe. Of course, everything else got put on hold while I was busy dismantling, collecting, carrying, reassembling, cleaning, polishing, oiling and filling this thing up.

Because let's face it. New ebay purchases are soooooo much more interesting than dealing with paint, tape and brushes...

While I'm at it, let me also show you the other side. The second Tomado/beside-table is finally up. Remember ? It's from this ebay score way back in November. And I even found some artsy string thingy at Habitat to go over the bed.

Now, at this point you're probably wondering what the 'progress' title is all about ? I mean so far, it's all looking like it's neatly coming together - notwithstanding some tidying up of course.

Hhhmm, not so hasty. Here's what's lurking against the black wall.

The elephant in the room... very unfortunate.

And see how it's attracting all sorts of messes left and right ?

I'm so happy when this beast will finally be gone. I sold it to a thrift store in my area and they're coming by tomorrow morning to pick it up. They better not be late. I've got a lot of tidying, hoovering, cleaning and general decorating to do in here.

Plus, I really want to put the new Ikea rug in place. The one that's still in a roll, leaning against the wardrobe in the first picture. Ugh, I'm soooooooo curious to see how the room will look.

Door Handle Love

OMG, you guys ! Things are crazy busy around here.

I'm still not finished with the hall and kitchen.

I've had one super score on ebay that needed a lot of attention and TLC.

I've sold some stuff on ebay that also required a lot of attention. And why, oh why, are ebay buyers never in a hurry to pick up their purchases ? I want the stuff gone ! GONE ! I need some room for my new projects.

Anway, I also made a thrift store owner very happy selling him my early 20th century wardrobe for a mere 50 eur. But again, I want the stuff GONE ! And on the upside, they're gonna come by Thursday morning to dismantle the whole thing and drive away with it. So, zero hassle for me.

I did some epic Ikea shopping.

I cuddled the kitties even more than usual.

I'm trying to get my act together for a short UK holiday. Antiques centres and car boot sales here I come !

And I took the time to enjoy life and the occasional sunny spell. Here are some more 60s door handles I spotted while taking a stroll through Saint-Josse and Schaerbeek with a friend.




We both agreed that this one looks like intestins...

Look who's joined the Fat Cat Residence

Let me give you a hint. This is NOT June...

Flo !

That's what I called this adorable little cat girl. It's German for flea. Not because she's a major fleabag, but as a reference to her size. She's so tiny, especially compared to some of my boys.

I found her stranded in exactly the same spot as Watson - the very narrow and deep next door courtyard. And despite my best efforts to not let her reel me in, she has now taken up residence with us.
I tried several times to put her back up on the courtyard walls, so she could get home, but she kept jumping back down and following me. And in the end, I simply could not let a starving and crying kitten stay out in the cold... Yeah, I'm such a sucker!

I just can't believe how tiny she is. I really must try and get a picture of her and Charlie together. She's like a third of him.

Oh well. It's official. I've become a crazy cat woman. Or rather a crazy cat LADY ! Sounds more distinguished.

PS. Ok, I'm still stalling as regards the hall and kitchen redo. But I'm getting there, I swear. Everything just takes ten times more time than planned...

Thrift find

While I’m busy slaving away, repainting the kitchen and the dreaded hall closet, I thought I’d keep you guys entertained with some pics of one of my latest thrift store finds.



A lovely wooden antelope found at Les Petits Riens for 4 eur. Initially priced at 5 eur, they were doing winter sales though, thus the 20% discount. I certainly won’t complain.

It has two 'injured' legs and was positively filthy, but a thorough washing and some awesome eco-friendly furniture oil did the trick.


I do however apologise to my trusted readers about doing a very sloppy dusting job. I obviously forgot to clean that corner right behind the lamp… Unfortunately, since then most of the contents of the hall closet and kitchen got dumped into the living room, making it impossible to do a more thorough cleaning, let alone take some new photos.

Anyway, stay tuned for some sexy “before” and “after” kitchen-hall-action coming up soon.