Uh oh. I've been futzing over the living room again. Like so.
Step 1 - Score a wonderful vintage Desso shaggy rug at the Ghent Vintage Design Event for a mere 100 eur. It's in mint condition, pleasantly soft to the feet, has been professionally cleaned and reminds me of fat lava glazing. What's not to love ?!
(I'll spare you all the prep steps of moving furniture and giving the whole area a throrough wash. Who knew how much gunk could actually hide under a rug and sofa ?)
Step 2 - Move all your old crap back in. Starting with the sofa and a sleepy cat.
Step 3 - More furniture and of course some plant life.
Step 4 - Coffee table.
Step 5 - Additional seating, fifties cocktail chair. All the while ignoring the pitiful state of the coffee table top...
And scruffy old chair that has seen better days and has been nearly scratched to death by the cats, but that - for the life of me - I could never give away.
And my personal favourite - Clutter everything up with knicknacks, like a bunch of West German floor vases.
More plants, WGP and some stacking candle holders.
Still more plants and 'Fat Lava' ceramics.
And one last effort ! Squeeze in a very à propos vintage rocket lamp (a souvenir from my last UK trip back in August).
And finally, crash down on the sofa for a well deserved rest. And start rethinking the whole process.
Too much brown / teak going on ?
Wouldn't a glass coffee table be more suitable to show off the new rug ? Maybe.
Can I place that rocket lamp in a less cramped in, more favourable place ?
Do the black & white cushions go with the colour and pattern of the rug ? Hhmm, not really.
Do I really need to clutter up every surface with stuff ? How do other people always manage such stylish and minimalist displays of their collections ? Etc, etc.
Fuck it. I'm too exhausted to start over.
For now.
Taking all those pictures on Thursday while documenting the new pendant light made me realise how much that particular area has changed over the years.
Waaaaayyy back when I first started writing this blog, it looked really scary.
And very messy. This must have been shortly after I came back from Berlin in September 2009 with said pendant lamp in my hand lugagge. You can see it on the table still in its bubble wrapping. Sadly it would remain that way over the next three years.
By spring 2010 the dining area had evolved to this.
Still messy, but decidedly improved and all styled up with Eames DSW chairs and a new coat of bright white paint. Such a relief to the eyes !
Oh yeah, and that was when I still had my desk in the living room.
A year later in March 2011, things had changed.... again.
New dining table, new sideboard, new black wall, additional Tomado shelving (one can never have enough of those !), new Ikea rug, and a new found interest in West German pottery.
And then today.
No radical changes, but I guess I've slightly toned things down. Or at least I like to think so.
I sold the red Eames chairs and replaced them with English vintage teak and skai ones. They are marked "Elliotts of Newbury", but so far I've been unable to find out anything about this maker. Or to find a fourth chair. So I've completed the set with my Bertoia wire chair which was a lucky ebay find from a couple of years back.
I've also replaced the colourful Charley Harper poster and moved the Tomado shelves to a less conspicuous position. Plus I've recently added some black & white art above them. Like the London type map from Bold & Noble.
And clearly the WGP "interest" has turned into a full on obsession. Waaaaayyy out of control.
Man. It's only ever been three years since I brought back a decently priced PH5ish pendant lamp from a trip to Berlin.
Three years since I took down the Japanese paper Habitat lamp that I had installed in the living room when I first moved in.
And then, three years where I lived with this.
Yes, THREE years where absolutely nothing happend and I lived with a wire mess on my living room ceiling. And conveniently decided to ignore the whole situation.
Because let's face it, if you didn't look too closely, it was actually possible to ignore it.
But then this morning, I was done ignoring. Ta-da.
Pendant light over the dining table. Finally ! It only took three years to get up there, and the professional intervention of lighting specialist Christian from Le Vistemboire fame.
Of course, such an event had to be documented from all angles.
Final praise (and words) go to Christian. I think I might have mentioned him before in these pages as my go to guy for all things lamps, repairs and rewiring related.
He and his equally charming wife Dominique are the amazing owners of Le Vistemboire, a Brussels shop specialising in vintage and antique lamps. Christian also does lighting repairs and rewiring, as well as in-house lighting installations (such as my slightly tricksy PH5 lamp). They not only offer a fantastic service, but they are also truly lovely people. So go check out their awesome shop next time you're in the Flagey area !
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