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 ?

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 ?

Weekend to-do

Yeah, I know that is one horrible photo - both quality and subject wise.

Unfortunately this hot mess is no longer confined to the living room sideboard. Over the last few weeks, crap has slowly spilled over and out of the living room. And is now taking over the hall and is menacing the bedroom. I swear it's like this mess has a will of its own...

I spare you any further pictures. Plus it's still too dark to capture anything but the front room. Yep, I fell out of bed today, but - dude! - do I have a plan !

This desperate situation calls for drastic measures. Enter the weekend to-do list.

1. Finally get my lazy ass in gear and schlepp all the stuff destined for the cellar down to the cellar. Some of this stuff has been waiting in the hall for months now... making it increasingly difficult to enter my place... And NO, I don't want to end up in some crazy Hoarders TV show.
   
2. Hang second Enje shade in the kitchen (the first one has already been installed a while back - don't ask why the second one is taking so long). My Dad is scheduled to arrive in two hours to help. So this should definitely be feasable.
3. While Dad is here, ask him to help me install my new door handle. Yes kids, you guessed right. After obsessively stalking other people's rad 60s door handles (here, here and here), I finally scored one for myself !
4. Tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise, tidy up, organise...
5. Hoover and clean like there is no tomorrow. Or rather, like there IS a tomorrow and that tomorrow is bringing a family visit. And no, I don't want to be the black sheep, errr big fat slob, of the family...
6. Take care of all the normal weekend stuff : grocery shopping, thrifting (!), clean the cat loos, see friends, enjoy the sunshine...

Ok guys, it's now shortly after 8 am. I'm off to a quick shower (just in case I meet any neighbours on my way to the basement - you know, not wanting to appear as a total slob... ) and then off to work.

I'll let you know how the big battle turns out.


Update - it's now noon, my Dad just left and what did we accomplish ? One lousy Enje roller is now finally up. The door handle thing turned into a total disaster as we couldn't figure out how to get rid of the old one. No amount of turning or pulling could persuade the knob to move. It's been sitting on my entry door since 1959, and I have a feeling it's going to sit there for the next 50 years as well. Stupid thing !

Update 2 - Sunday, 7 am - I fell out of bed... again... So here's what I got done yesterday.

• All the crap that cluttered up the hall is now either in the cellar or in the garbage bin. Success !
  
• Grocery shopping
• I decided I wouldn't have time to go thrifting. So that one can also be ticked of the list as well.
• The cats can now poop on clean litter...
• I also started tidying up the living room; the Cadovius shelves are now dust, cat hair and clutter free, and so is the seating corner. Still, the worse part remains mostly untackled...
  

We're still in progress

Does this ever happen to you ? You're in the middle of some major projects, crazy busy, and then all of a sudden you just seem to attract more and more projects, like a magnet...

Well, this is what happened to me anyway. I'm up to my chin in the kitchen and hall mess, and boom! new ideas keep rushing into my head. Uh, let's do some spring cleaning. Oh, let's get rid of some stuff on ebay. Uh, while I'm at it, let's check what's on offer on ebay this week. Uh oh, a 50s wardrobe for only 25 eur starting bid and not much interest from the ebay community ? Ah, let's follow that bid and see what happens...

Well, this is what happend (amongst other things).

Ta-da. My new (old) wardrobe. Of course, everything else got put on hold while I was busy dismantling, collecting, carrying, reassembling, cleaning, polishing, oiling and filling this thing up.

Because let's face it. New ebay purchases are soooooo much more interesting than dealing with paint, tape and brushes...

While I'm at it, let me also show you the other side. The second Tomado/beside-table is finally up. Remember ? It's from this ebay score way back in November. And I even found some artsy string thingy at Habitat to go over the bed.

Now, at this point you're probably wondering what the 'progress' title is all about ? I mean so far, it's all looking like it's neatly coming together - notwithstanding some tidying up of course.

Hhhmm, not so hasty. Here's what's lurking against the black wall.

The elephant in the room... very unfortunate.

And see how it's attracting all sorts of messes left and right ?

I'm so happy when this beast will finally be gone. I sold it to a thrift store in my area and they're coming by tomorrow morning to pick it up. They better not be late. I've got a lot of tidying, hoovering, cleaning and general decorating to do in here.

Plus, I really want to put the new Ikea rug in place. The one that's still in a roll, leaning against the wardrobe in the first picture. Ugh, I'm soooooooo curious to see how the room will look.

Tomado loot

I am unstoppable. Look what I scored on ebay last week.

That's right. More Tomado shelves ! 'Cos a girl can never have too many Tomados...

Ok now, what am I going to do with all these ?

1. Replace the orange and green metal shelves on the "bedside table" with two lovely wooden ones. Done.



Btw, I also swapped some art around. This is Sandro Juto's 'bookgirl' print, and it's definitely appropriate bedroom decor for somebody who could spend days in bed just reading.

A wider view. I still need to find some big-ass art to hang over the bed.

And of course :

2. Hang up the twin bedside Tomado on the left side.

And just for kicks the same space 'after' and 'before'. Almost one year apart.

Further on the Tomado to-do list:

3. Use the wider shelve for the kitchen Tomado. Done, but not yet documented.
Sorry I slept through most of the afternoon and now it's already too dark to take a decent photo. Just this much, I have now even more space for even more "onion men"...

4. Resell the leftovers. Half-way done. A friend came by to pick up the larger elements. I am now left with one big vertical piece, one small one and the two metal planks, all of which are going to be sold on ebay as spare parts. Someday.

Still To Do & Special Treat Sneak Peak

As my self-imposed deadline for getting everything ready for Christmas is drawing closer, it's time for a "mid-level assessment".

Achieved so far :

1. living room - painted (mostly); furniture moved around and finally in satisfying setting; and decluttering process well under way
2. fireplace - done
3. office area - moved, but cable situation remains unsolved
4. bedroom - new furniture in place, old furniture rearranged and art installed
5. bathroom - painted (almost) and decluttered

Still in wait :

1. living room - paint the fourth "wall". I am putting wall between inverted commas, because it's not really a wall, but mostly made of windows and one huge radiator. So I am leaving the fiddly bit for last... and next year
2. living room - paint trims
3. living room - thrift and buy new/old round teak table, as I have come to realise that the current rectangular table is way too big for the tiny space; added bonus : once I have an appropriate table, hang up the Berlin vacation souvenir PH5 knock-off lamp
4. bathroom - eventually get around to touch up the paint. Yep, the bulk has been done for two months now, but I still have to hide some tiny specks of the old paint lurking here and there...
5. bathroom - in the distant (and hopefully financially less uncertain) future, get a new floor !
6. balconies - get rid of semi-dead summer plantations (you got to hand it to climate change, geraniums flowering in winter...), trim, clean and eventually plant winter flowers
7. all over, reorganise cupboard contents ! That's going to be a massive one...
8. definitetly all over, get the "vignetting" "right", as far as that is possible. Plus improve the equally dreaded "window treatments". Another weird word...
9. favourite to do : Christmas tree ! Youppieeee !

And last but certainly not least : CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN

PS. Tiny peak into one of my accomplishments - this one I really enjoyed :-)

PPS. Hopefully I will be able to take some good photos this weekend, as the "daylight" in Brussels has been almost non-existing for the past month. I am exaggerating of course, but sometimes it does feel like I live in Scandinavia - minus the cold, the snow, the beautiful people and the fabulous design.

Update

OMG - I don't know where time goes. Already November...

So much happened, it's hard to keep up.

1. My computer died (I lost all my data, photos, everything !).


2. My modem died as well - so no internet access for a week.


3. And then I got sick (luckily, the cats are doing splendidly).


4. On a positive note - the bathroom is almost finished. I just need to apply some itsy bitsy tiny finishing touches on one wall... and of course I can't get myself to do them.


5. The bathroom decoration is also falling into place, largely thanks to the huge inspiration that is D16 's fabulous taste and tidyness. I am now only missing my dream shower curtain, but he has been ordered and should arrive any day now. Ugh, the suspense is killing me. And a new floor... These yucky beige tiles are also killing me...


6. Biggest news of all : I FINALLY started on the living room project. Which means I FINALLY settled on a colour - yes, only one. Surprise, surprise ! Although I should really stop the teasing and FINALLY post some pics.
   
7. Second biggest news : I have thrifted a fabulous 50's wooden sideboard. Well sort of an obese sideboard really - let me tell you, it is HUGE ! There is FINALLY going to be some order in the Fat Cat residence. Yeah, some serious Larsson-style organising.


8. In the meantime, everything is a mess: discarded furniture in the hall (waiting to go down to the already overflowing cellar); discarded objects on the table, on the floor, everywhere; Ikea purchases still in their bags, crap, tools, paint everywhere ! The cats are having the time of their life, their home as turned into a giant adventure playground...

I am less than thrilled about the whole chaos, but starting to be really optimistic about the end result. The goal is to get it all done in time for Christmas ! I want all my folks congratulating me for a job well done.

Hhhmm, is that a bit too self-indulgent ?

List Maniac

My all time favourite mind and list making game is "what is there still to do in the appartment?"

Currently on this list and on my mind:

Office area:

- to move or not to move (to the living room) ?
- find a fabulously stylish mid-century modern desk - preferably under EUR 500 !
- get on top of the cable disaster - must look into wireless solutions
- in an ideal world, purchase fabulous Mac - maybe even go portable (definitely one way of getting rid of some of the dust-collecting, cat hair-attracting cables)

Living room:

- PAINT
- still no clue in what colour, but anything would be better than the current situation
- go for all white walls - like the Brick House ?
- maybe one wall in Russian Blue ?
- or wallpaper maybe ? I could finally indulge in my long lasting fancy for the Cole & Son palm leaves...
- get on top of constant mess
- find a fabulously stylish mid-century modern sideboard - preferably under EUR 500 !
- install Danish PH-5 type Pendant Lamp thrifted during Berlin vacation
- cowhide rug maybe ?
- pimp up the sofa with newly acquired 50's cushions and maybe get some Ikea sheepskins ? The cats would surely dig those...

Bedroom:

- if moving desk to living room, install reading nook ?
- find an acceptable bedframe
- maybe the new Ikea Engan one ? Make note to check that one out during next Big Blue and Yellow visit
- hang art

Bathroom:

- PAINT
- in white ? Or in green ?
- but where do I find my dream green ?
- change accessories to a wood, green and white scheme ?

Kitchen

- PAINT
- in green ?
- find a more stylish solution for the black plastic wormery
- have sputnik lamp re-wired and finally put up (only bought on ebay like two years ago)

Hall

- PAINT
- Or wallpaper ? Hhmmm, in Cole & Son woods ?

All over - and once I win the lottery...

- install double glazing
- change floors to something decent - cork, linoleum...

Ok, now I only need like a million bucks and stay at home to get it all done.

Pfffffffffff