I don't know how the weather conditions have been in your area, but around
here it's been bad. Bad enough at least to not put a thrift lover
outside...
So what does this here vintage lover do when being prevented from her favourite outdoor activities ? Document the changes undergone by the often neglected apartment hall. Of course !
Although I nearly gave up on that too. Seeing that the light in here is bad on the best of days...
This is the little nook in front of the bathroom. The hall gets larger here, but it's still a drag to find an appropriate set-up for this space.
I'm happy to have found this 1960s chest of drawers at my local antiques centre last summer. It holds all sorts of extra bathroom stuff, most of my handbags and catches all sorts of bits and bobs that never seem to have a proper home.
Now for your viewing delight, I put together a few before pictures. Although this area has changed so much over the year's - and not always in a good way - that I mostly gave up on taking any photos.
Oops, just three years back this massive cupboard was taking up most of the space. By autumn 2010, I had sold it on ebay and replaced it with this British antique bookcase - on the right.
Hhmm, I can't have been very satisfied with this arrangement, as I only ever took this close-up...
Then you have the same area back in summer 2012 (on the left), after I had tried out - and failed - yet another cupboard (on the right here). Trust ebay to get rid of all your decorating mistakes !
I guess you also get why last summer's set-up didn't last more than a few weeks...
Back to the present tense. I feel comfortable that the current situation is the best so far. Confident enough at least to finally commit to some serious spending. Bloody hell. Those Muuto "The Dots" coat hangers are darn sexy, but 100 eur for a set of five... That required years of thinking.
I installed the other three btw in the former hall closet space. But that space was way too dark to capture with my meagre photography skills... Expect a report on them by summer !
Other side. Just because I love that WGP floor vase so much !
And some final light on / light off action.
You know what ? I think I'm almost reconciled with that annoying corner.
Although I still can't help thinking that there are some lucky bastards out there who have an average winter temp of 25°C, with no rain and a 10-days Modernism Week instead... Yes. Palm Springs, I'm looking at you.
Some of you were wondering what I brought back from Antwerpen. Here it goes !
And since I like you so much and love bragging about my thrift scores even more, I'll even throw in an additional Scandi ceramic find, for good measure.
Do you see
that very restrained lamp ? Totally uncharacteristal for me, right ?
It's however the only thing that made it back with me from Antwerpen.
The
seller certainly knew what he was doing. He had it displayed on top of a
fancy 60s highboard, where it was casting a beautiful glow on all that
teak delight. And as I'm a total sucker for contextualisation, it didn't
take me more than 30 seconds to cough up 50 eur and proudly walk off
with it.
Sometimes you just know when something is right. Right ? Right !
And you know what I like most about it ? You can play around with the shade... Like this.
Or like this.
Of course I spent hours fussing around, trying to decide which way I like best...
I think this is it. The lamp shade is somehow matching the shape of the transistor radios on the poster. And I'm thinking, that must surely be one of the rules of fancy vignetting. You know, pairing forms and harmonising everything.
Or maybe not. And I just like everything being symetrical !
Ok. Enough with the rambling nonesense. Let's get back to earth. Although. 3.50 eur for this gorgeous Royal Copenhagen Nils Thorsson designed plate is so incredible, that I might actually start believing in devine intervention.
It's all certainly brightening up the whole corner on a gloomy Sunday afternoon.
So what have you been up to lately ? Are the thrift gods smiling on you ?
Last weekend I decided to leave my usual Brussels (thrift) hunting grounds and explore the Dutch-speaking part of the country.
Aaah Antwerpen ! Not for nothing the fashion and design capital of Belgium.
As you can see, once you step off the train you're immediately greeted by that particular Antwerpen aptitude to turn anything into pure coolness. Case in point, this stylish - and I thought very successful - renovation of the classic 19th century Central station.
Ok that's it for the sightseeing part ! Let's talk vintage.
The winter edition of the Dubieus Design market was what mostly drew my attention. Obviously...
OMG, so many amazing things to choose from...
...ceramic heaven...
... like this stunning Amphora Perignem ceramic bull. I didn't even dare look at the price tag on this one. Hhmm maybe I should have ?!
... and a fantastic example of West German "fat lava" pottry...
Oooh and if I hadn't already overdosed on vintage bliss, I also had to check this fabulous retro shop in the Kloosterstraat area.
Of course I didn't come home empty-handed...
And now to your calendars. If you're looking for an excuse to discover Antwerpen, Dubieus Design is also holding a summer edition of its retro and design market at the end of June. I'm told it's even bigger, better and more tempting.
As mentioned in my previous post, the thrift gods have been smiling on me lately and I managed to bring home some super cute additions to my ceramic collection(s).
First off, this retro handle-less Waechtersbach mug, found for 1 eur, and now keeping in check some of my office supplies.
Red seems to be the colour of the moment. As is the 1 eur price tag... This famous Arabia Finland jam pot was also mine for that whopping amount.
This merits a bit of a wider view of the growing Scandinavian collection.
Speaking of Arabia Finland. Say hello to my newest find, which also came home for - you've guessed it ! - 1 eur.
This unmarked ceramic wall plate however was an outrageous 2.64 eur, haggled down from 6 eur with my favourite technique. A large smile and getting the seller to accept the spare change left in your wallet. In this case 2.64 eur.
Overview.
Pffffff, that's a lot of collecting.
And last but not least, a classic - "weniger aber besser" - Braun design. This 12-cup coffee maker was mine for 3 eur, required some moderate cleaning, and is in perfect working condition.
Of course since taking these pictures over a week ago, I've already acquired more wonderful finds. For which I totally blame this weekend's trip to trendy Antwerpen - and this morning's fleamarket visit...
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