Planter bonanza

I'm unstoppable.

And borderline in need of clinical help.

Oh boy, am I a sucker for vintage planters. Never saw one that I could resist... So here it goes.

This massive specimen found its way home through ebay. I can't remember the exact price, but it was well under 20 eur (including shipping). And let me tell you, this puppy is HUGE and heavy. And of course deliciously bright red.

It was sold to me as being Belgian. From Amphora Perignem. But it's not marked in any way. I'm wondering if it's not a WGP instead.

Now this one is unmistakably West German. And it was only 1 eur. Score !

Less bawdy. But adorable 70s pop design. Also West German and also a steal at 1 eur.

Neutral fat lava at its best. And very decently priced - 2 eur.

And finally, a tiny little red fella. The only thing that made it back from a recent forage to the Brussels flea market. It was a disproportionate 4 eur, but really I didn't want to come home empty handed...

Desk chair quest

Over the years, I've gone through an incalculable number of desk chairs. None of them seemed quite right. Too hard, not enough back support, too cold... Finding the right desk chair isn't an easy feat.

Here's a little recap.

Eames for Herman Miller.


Bertoia for Knoll.

High end names and brands or not, they all proved disppointing on a daily basis.

So this afternoon, enter the 36 eur ebay version.

An anonymous 70s design, but already my tush is feeling the difference (I'm sitting on it right now). The seat cushion is deliciously cozy and comfy.

Mr. Watson seems to approve as well.

Some gratuitous additional photos of my 'work' space.

Here's Watson again. The only downside to this chair might turn out to be, that I actually gonna have to fight him for it...

Front Balcony

After numerous photos of the rear balcony, it's about time I show you the front one. If only to give me the final push to put in the finishing touches...


Old friends.

And new ones.

The other side, which obviously still needs some work.

Soon the big empty pots on the left will be holding tomatos and a pumpkin plant. And the wicker structure will hide a growbag with more tomatos and a cucumber plant.
And if you're wondering about the metal spiral thingy, I'll use it as a support for either the cucumber or the pumpkin.

Just to finish off with a nicer view. Happy weekend !!!

Now this...

... is what happens when you leave your seat for two seconds to get yourself a drink...

And btw, it's incredible how much everything has grown in just a month.

Beginning of April on the other hand. Everything looked still pretty dreary.

Now what about you (and your pets) ? Have you been fortunate enough to enjoy some sunshine ?

Ebay find

Ha ! I finally found a companion for the flashy floor vase that was feeling very lonely, adorning the Kewlox shoe storage cabinet all by itself.


I was the highest bidder at 16.75 eur, to which I however had to add 6 eur for shipping. Not exactly a score, but West German vases have been increasingly hard to find lately. At least, those with a decent price tag.

I particularly blame this BBC program for this unfortunate situation. They did an episode on the Brussels flea market a while back and one of their ceramics experts kept repeating that "West German ceramics are the antiques of the future"... Dude ! Keep your mouth shut ! And don't ruin it for the rest of us.

As a result, sellers are now asking outrageous prices for even the ugliest specimens.


Anyway, when this vase arrived, I was a bit disappointed at first. It had looked a lovely red in the seller's photos and I had high hopes of adding it to my red collection on the living room sideboard.

But in reality it turned out to be a dark orange, which annoyingly didn't go with any of my WGP arrangements. That is until I remembered the floor vase in the hall. As I said, the poor thing had been so lonely that I kept forgetting it's actually there... Voilà, the two are a perfect match. And they lived happily ever after !