Getting ready for Christmas

In an effort to get ready for the upcoming holidays and numerous family members congregating at my place, I've been on an epic cleaning spree since yesterday... In a normal household that would usually involve getting rid of fur bunnies, cat hair on chairs and sofas, dusting every last corner and cranny... and West German pottery... etc etc.

As these things usually go around here, after a while, I tend to get rather bored with these mundane undertakings. 
Enter the little "rearranging demon" whispering tempting suggestions into my ear, like "uuuhh I bet the vases would look a million times better on the other end of the sideboard", or " Hhmm, remember that amazing photo Anna from Door16 posted the other day, with the awesome artwork styled in an even awesomer way ? I bet you could vastly improve your art assemblage"...  

So that's what I did. Although I'm obviously nowhere near of attaining the level of stylishness in Anna's photo !

As everything else in the room is already so colourful, I decided to group my more monochrome artwork together : Eduardo Chillida print, Bold & Noble London type map and The Small Stakes bike & cats print. Plus some African masks and my Habitat string wall decoration.

Also I'm quite tempted of purchasing and framing some MCM record covers to add to the whole... Or maybe that would be too much. I don't know. 

Hanging art is hard !

So anyway. The Morris Louis print (formerly above the sideboard) now lives in the hall, where the Charley Harper print used to be.

And speaking of Charley Harper... that print is now amongst the Cadovius shelves.

Musical art... 

Ok. These got nothing to do with art or cleaning... Just wanted to show off the massive macramé plant holder I managed to get my hands on...  Yay ! More fibers ! More plants !

And Wally enjoying a bit of sunshine amidst the succulents.


Now tell me. How are your Christmas plans progressing ?

Oops...

Uh oh. 

What started out as a simple declutter and cleaning weekend, turned all of a sudden into a full blown redecorating venture, with everything in the living room gettting switched around and where I somehow ended up with a sample of Farrow & Ball's Stiffkey Blue on my bathroom wall... Hhmm, but that's another story.

Let's take a tour ! 

The sitting area is now in the back of the room...

The cats definitely approve the new set-up. With easy access the back of the sofa, they have discovered a whole new area to scratch...

Some things never change though. West German pottery collection still out of control...

But the dining table is now close to the window...

...with my Pastoe trolley finally coming into it's own...

... and a recent thrift find in action !

Recap.

Well, at least the living room is now decluttered and clean !

Weekend to do

Welcome to snoozefest central ! The kitties are kicking off the long weekend with a well deserved rest...

Me, on the other hand ? I'm wide awake. Scheming, writing lists, drinking coffee and planning a busy weekend, mostly involving yet another clear out. 
You might remember that post from a few months ago about my messy living room. Well, let's just say that room has devolved from disaster state to extreme hoarding area...

Of course, the kitties are unfazed by it all.

So what about you ? Any plans for the (long) weekend ?

Self-portrait (post cyclone)

Let's call this the tribute to Lou Reed look, shall we ? Sounds better than the flood and storm defying look...

It's official autumn has arrived... and I took some celebratory smartphone pics. Ignore the weird angle and notice that I did manage to (inadvertently) capture four out of six cats in that second photo. Maaaad skiiiiills !

Hope you are all alright ? Despite St Jude storm aka Cyclone Christian.

Bathroom peek

Apparently I like to start my posts with a photo of Woody...

Besides some random peeks here, here, here and here (ouch, that last one is really old), I just realised that I never really showed  you the bathroom. Silly me !
Well, having recently come across a longtime "must-have", this gives me the perfect pretext for a bathroom tour. 

Not that I usually need a pretext for bragging about vintage finds...

Ta-da.

Early 20th century medical cabinet ! Made out of metal and glass. On my wish list since like... forever. Definitely my longest 'saved (ebay) search'. And even if they do pop up on ebay quite regularly, the bidding always stops at some ridiculously high price. Speaking of which, at the recent Brussels design market, I spotted two of them... for 750 eur each... No way !

How much did I end up paying ? 250 eur... Not the greatest of bargains, sure. But my greed knows no bounadries ! Finally coming across one of these cabinets for a fairly decent price... I snapped... it up... of ebay. Where else ?

I know my pictures kind of suck. My bathroom is really small. Like 5m² at the most. So it's hard for me to shoot at a decent angle.

But I guess you get the idea. I love how the cabinet let's the light through ! The whole room just feels so much airier. Also the colour of the cabinet (a very light beige) goes really well with the cream 1950s tiles on the walls. The floor tiles on the other hand... 1980s cloudy beige monstrosities... just ignore them !

Also, Marimekko shower curtain. Hell yeah !

You know what else I love ? How a glass & metal cabinet obliges one to really cut down on all the superfluous lotions and potions that tend to accumulate in a bathroom. Ha ! Look at me, the minimalist.

Then again, I still can't resist a good opportunity - i.e. out of the cats' reach - to display some West German pottery...

Minimalism might have to wait another day.

SCORE ! BEST EBAY FIND ! EVER !

Let me pick up where I left last post. Still no guesses ? Woody is perplexed too.

Let me give you a tip. 

It's NOT a cat bed, contrary to what Watson seems to think.

BOOM ! Oh yeah ! After months of bitching and moaning about NEEDING some fiber art in my life (and in that corner in particular), about fiber wall hangings being non-existent in Belgium, about fiber art being waaaaayyy to expensive to ship over from the US...

Well. Here it is.

How did I come across it ? Pure, dumb luck. I was checking out an ebay listing for a lamp for a friend and - as I sometimes do - checked out the seller's other items. And there is was. Listed under some obscure category, described in uncertain terms. I would never have found it otherwise.

Long story short. I emailed the seller about size. Ginormous. 
I emailed the seller back, inquiring about a "buy it now" price. I should make her an offer ? 
Oh yes. 20 eur. Offer accepted. 

Here we are ! I love ebay. I love a good deal. Life is beautiful. Order has been restored to the universe.

Let's zoom in, shall we ?

I want to stroke it. I want to pet it.

 I think I might be developing a strange fetish.

I can't stop taking pictures...

And of course, I've already changed the display on top of the Tomado shelves. And the cushions. And now that the living room is pretty much cleaned up, I'll actually be able to shoot this beauty at a much wider angle.

Be prepared.

Weekend To Do

Ok guys. Are you ready for the truth ? This is what my living room looks like 90% of the time. Messy. Unstylish. A disaster zone.

Like total DI-SAS-TER zone ! I haven't been able to use the dining table since 2012. Probably part of the reason I now have a table in the kitchen. Anyway. Back to the point.

One of my favourite bloggers - Anna from Door Sixteen - sometimes has these "Weekend to do" posts, which I always find incredibly motivating. Even hip New Yorkers, such as Anna, don't just spend their weekends sipping vegan beverages, shopping in designer boutiques and walking tiny dogs... but instead struggle keeping up with housework. For an untrendy slacker like me, I find that somewhat reassuring.

Again anyway. I thought I'd my own little to do for this weekend :

1. TIDY UP THE LIVING ROOM ! Obviously.
2. Prepare ebay posts for some of the unwanted Tomado shelves. And other stuff where appropriate.
3. Tidy up the rest of the place.
4. Vacuum like there's no tomorrow. I've just come back from 10 days in the UK and there's cat hair EVERYWHERE. Side note: I do need to follow Merle's advice and invest in a furminator...
5. Do the laundry. Technically there's still a basket left to do, but I've run out of space to hang stuff. So I consider myself done for now.
6. Clean the litter boxes.
7. Prepare and eat courgette fritters. Miam.
8. Listen to The Bugle podcast.

Wally is keeping an eye on my progress.

Also I'm planning on posting some "After" pics here tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed.


Update Monday morning - Yeah. About those "After" photos. Not gonna happen... By the time I finished last night, it was already getting too dark to shoot decent pics. Plus, not everything was as tidy as I would have wished : laundry was still drying in the living room, piles of paper still need to be sorted on the dining table, massive bags full of stuff are waiting to be taken to the goodwill... You get the picture.

But still. That was one hell of a productive weekend !

Also. Look what the cat dragged in.

 My latest ebay score has arrived. Any guesses ?

My most faithful readers might remember that two years ago I acquired some beautiful shelves on ebay Germany that have served me well in the kitchen.

Turns out, I actually bought a whole shelving system back then. Most of which I didn't have room for and consequently got squirreled away in the basement... only to be forgotten...

Until now that is !

I'm very far from beeing a minimalist. Obviously. But over the last few months I've been feeling more and more overwhelmed and stressed out by the cheer amount of stuff that I've accumulated. Stuff that needs to be looked after, displayed in a pleasant manner, dusted, cleaned etc etc. Not to mention all the things hidden away and lurking behind those Ikea Pax doors...

But thank God, for brilliant ideas ! And for hoarding (to some extent).

So yes, I've finally put these awesome shelves to very good use. Much more elegant and way bigger than the Tomado shelves I had previously installed on that bedroom wall... All my random stuff spread out in the hall and in parts of the living room now has a very nice place to live. Plus I've vowed to keep those other areas clutter free !

Look at the hall ! So empty ! It's finally safe to enter my place without bumping into things. Of course, my mirror collection now stops at a weird height (where the top of the shelves used to be), but I'm sure I can come up with something.

Btw - Flo already has a favourite new observation post.

Some views of the rest of the room. I'm mostly just posting this as a reminder to finally deal with that cable mess.

Last of the Tomado shelves. And a limited edition print I recently picked up at the Brussels flea market. Know what I like best about it ? With the olive matting it fits perfectly into a standard Ikea Ribba frame ! No need to splurge on custom framing.
That's my favourite kind of art - thrifty and cheap ! Just like the French modernist tapestry on the black wall. I think the two of them are a match made in heaven.

Now unfortunately I can't really show you the part of the living room that got emptied out to fill up the 'new' shelves in the bedroom. As sadly that area is already overun again with all the unwanted furniture and niknaks that got kicked out of the other rooms in an attempt to create some breathing space all over. So much for vows.

But this wouldn't be one of my posts if I didn't keep you updated on my (in)famous sitting area. Latest look, as of this morning.

It still needs some fiber art. I guess.

To end on a bit of a more cheerful note. I can't resist showing off one of my most recent vintage finds. A beautiful bright blue lamp. I love it next to my orange sofa. I can't decide though if the Habitat lamp shade really is a good match for it. That's why it's still in its plastic wrapping.