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.