Summer switch-a-round

Sunday 7 September 2014

Bloody hell, you guys! Do you know what happened to 2014 ? Spring came and went. Summer came and went. Three weeks of summer holidays came and went.

Pooof. All just gone...Scrolling down on this blog just four posts (four !), I was getting ready for Christmas... 2013.

Man. I've been a truly terrible blogger this year. And it hasn't even been for lack of changes around here. Back in April I repainted the bathroom. Then I changed the bedroom layout. Then I also painted my black walls in Stiffkey Blue. And finally during my last week of summer vacation, I moved a "few" things around in the living room... And maybe added some stuff...

Case in point. A new sofa.

It's a "classic" Ikea Karlstad 2 seater with the grey Isunda cover. After the cats basically scrated my orange vintage sofa to death, I decided I didn't want to take any further risks or spend vast amounts on a designer/vintage sofa that would eventually end up in the skip... So Ikea it is !

Gettting a new sofa had the rather unfortunate side effect of triggering a series of other changes.

The Ikea sofa being way bulkier than the previous vintage one (which was more a bench really than a couch), there wasn't enough space to fit the Ikea PS metal sideboard between the Caodvius shelves and the window (under the Charley Harper 'ladybird' print).

So off it went to the other side of the room.

And since a single one of these sideboards on such a long wall looked a bit lost, I decided to get a second one ! Over here in Belgium, Ikea recently dropped the price on these cabinets (from 80 to 60 eur). So it was an easy decision to make. 

That massive cactus is from Ikea too, btw. 

I must be one of their best customers again...


And before you gasp at the the 'Eames' chair...It's a knock-off. But I found it at the Brussels flea market and I love it.

My sister-in-law helped me sand down the seat. The previous owner had started but not finished (very weird). Plus there was some water damage from being exposed to the elements at the Brussels flea for a while... But after sanding and oiling that chair is looking glorious.

For those of you still paying attention after all these months, you might have wondered what happend to my Nathan teak sideboard

Well, here it is. Looking fanatastic under the Cadovius shelves. And while I was at it, I changed the shelves themselves and everything on them around. I mean at this point, what's one more change ?!

Flo ! Showing off some of the details. And a randomly placed cactus.

Other big news on the homefront. After 3 years of neglect, I finally - albeit partially - replanted the front balcony. The kitties are at least as excited as I am.

I got echinaceas, a rudbeckia, a new clematis, a limonium and a "monk's pepper" bush. And I can't wait to plant more next spring !


So there you have it. The results of most of my last week of summer holidays.

How did you spent yours ? Did you get anything done ? Have you had some exciting thrift finds ?

14 comments:

  1. Yay :D finally a new post. As for the summer holidays, didn't have one this year (the life of a gardener is busiest in summertime) so have to wait for winter. I did manage to plant some things as-well, mostly clematis and heuchera. The best thrift find so far was getting two Bauhaus-ish metal frame armchairs for 30€, definitely awesome, as I was searching high 'n low for such chairs. And more cat pics please, from a fellow cat herder from Estonia :)

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    1. Hello Karin, thank you so much for commenting. I'm really happy to see that somebody is still following and enjoying this blog. I'll try to be a bit more present. I promise :-)
      Two "Wassily" chairs for 30€ ? That is very lucky indeed ! Maybe I should come to Estonia for thrifting ;-)
      If you want to see more cat pictures, you can check out my Instagram feed. My nine (nine! how the h... did that happen?!) make frequent appearances :-)

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  2. What a great room - we have the same sofa, but with the darker covers (two small, pesky children and a love of paint and chocolate...). Very jealous of your sideboard, it's amazing!

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    1. Thank you Vicky ! I found the sideboard on ebay UK about 4 years ago. Having it shipped over to Brussels cost more than the actual price of the sideboard... Are you in the UK ? Maybe you'll get lucky and find one for local pick-up :-)

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  3. Mag ik vragen waar je die boom (kapstok?) hebt gevonden naast je grote cactus? Vind ik echt super!

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    1. Hello Wendy,
      sorry my Dutch is alarmingly poor, so I will reply in English (I did understand your question though without the help of Google translate ;-).
      Anyway. The tree trunk... which I was hopeful the cats would love and scratch (they haven't so far...)
      I bought it in a shop near my work. It's called Ozfair - in Saint-Gilles, Brussels (http://www.ozfair.be). They don't carry them regularly (they have a couple that they use to display jewlery), but the shop owners are very kind and can order one for you. If I remember correctly they are mango trees that a German company strips down and then sells... I tried googling various keywords but I haven't been able to find this company. So if you're in Brussels...

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  4. I love your blog and I'm very inspired by your pictures! Question: what's the name of the plant in the orange planter behind your new sofa? Thanks, Matthijs

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    1. Hello and thank you ! The plant is a sanseveria (also called mother-in-law's-tongue) and I love it : it thrives on neglect ;-) I even have one in my hallway where there's hardly any daylight... Ikea usually has a nice selection to them btw.

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    2. Thanks very much for answering! I know the sansevieria, I have one in my bedroom actually and I love it too.
      But I did mean the plant with lots of green leaves that is standing in your window sill on the right, behind your sofa. It's better to see on pictures 7/11 and 8/11 of your post on 03nov2013.

      Thanks again and I want you to know that mainly inspired by your blog and pictures on Flickr I bought about 25 plants in the last couple of weeks. :-)

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    3. Hello Matthijs, oops sorry. I see which plant you mean, but unfortunately I don't know the name of that plant. I received a cut-off from a friend about 15 years ago and I have been growing it ever since :-) Though I have seen them occasionally in garden/flower shops in the succulents section.
      Wow 25 plants ! Where did you go to buy them ? I'm always on the look-out for a good plant shop. Sadly there aren't any in Brussels...

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  5. OK, thanks! I'll try to find it by compairing pictures on the internet.

    Make that 26.... ;-)
    It's a shame there aren't any good plant shops in Brussels. Not what I expected...

    Ikea has a nice selection of plants as you recommended before. And I go a lot to Intratuin (a big garden centre in Voorschoten, Holland), it's almost across the street were I live, so very tempting :-)

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