Saying good-bye

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, this will not come as a surprise... 2015 was quite the year for me - home wise. I did indeed decide to move !

Searching for a new home was quite the nerve-wracking experience (more on that another time), but in the end I did find an amazing new place. So selling my beloved "old" apartment turned out to be less painful than I'd imagined... But still, I lived there for over 10 years. It's the reason I started this blog. It's the place where I feel that I really became a (more or less) responsible adult. So before I start posting about my already much loved new home, I feel like I need to close this chapter and do one last post to honour my lovely 1950s flat.

Let's do one last tour, shall we ? I'm using the photos I took for the real estate ad (no, I didn't go through an estate agent - if you saw their "professionalism" over here in Brussels, you wouldn't either...). So everything is looking very much at it's best. Just imagine a bunch of stuff and a cat herd behind from where the pictures are taken...

Ok. I'll shut up now.

Enjoy.

And just for kicks (and to document every last bit for eternity), here's also my ad text :

Madou – Place Saint Josse - UE area : spacious and sunny 1 bedroom apartment (+/- 70 m²), incl. hallway, kitchen, bathroom with tub, separate WC, 1 large bedroom (17 m²) and a large living / dining room (22.5 m²) + 2 terraces at the front and back (east – west facing) + 1 cellar. Double glazing (except kitchen), electricity is in accordance with current building standards. No renovations needed ! Central gas heating (shared by building), individual water and electricity meters. PEB : F. Monthly building expenses (incl. maintenance, heating and savings) : +/- 150 eur. Building is very well maintained, incl. lift (savings are done to renew lift in 2018), quiet and nice neighbors. Very conveniently located within walking distance of city centre, international institutions, public transport (bus and subway) and numerous shops and restaurants. Visits take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as on Saturday mornings. Contact zzz@gmail.com (English, French and German).

And now I'm ready for new adventures in a 19th century garden flat !

More changes

First off, apologies for these very grainy and weirdly angled photos. 
But (a) Brussels is still under gray, cloudy and dark weather (stupid, annoying clouds !!!)
and (b) this is the loo which is an irritatingly long and narrow space and thus quite difficult to photograph.

And yes, I'm one of those annoying, silly people who looooooove to decorate even the most mundane rooms of my home. Thus this post about... my toilet. Lucky you !

Let's start with some before & after pictures.

About two years ago. Everything was still bright orange. And messy. But at least I'd already managed to thrift that amazing mirror (if I may say so myself).

And then by summer 2011, it all looked so much better in a light Farrow & Ball gray. Plus I firmly believe that Tomado shelves make everything better !  

Notice the budding glass collection...

Back to the current situation. 

The old single glazed window was replaced a few months back with a fancy schmancy version, that is not only super insulating, but also features a neat off-centred handle that I can actually reach without having to climb on the toilet seat. So less daily exercice, but so much more comfort.

Of course, the glass collection is now out of control.

But most notably, I took down the Tomados (Fear not, they are being put to good use elsewhere !) and downsized the amount of knick knacks catching dust in here. I'm also very happy to have finally found a use for that 1950s bookshelf. It belonged to my Mum and is one of the rare survivors of her childhood bedroom.

WGP. What else ? 

The peace lily is hanging on by a thread. Ashley Goldberg bearded men prints and different bits and bobs.

Watch out for the feisty horned menace.

And on the other side - because how could I ever leave a single wall empty - a retro still life print, dug up a couple of years back at a Penzance thrift store.

The Loo - Before & After

It's the tiniest room in the flat. It's a pain to photograph - way too long and narrow to ever get a halfway decent picture. And then it used to be the most neglected space of all.

But not anymore.

Now.

And before.

I put my unemployment period earlier this year to good use and finally painted over the horrid orange. I used the leftover paint from the kitchen - Farrow and Ball's Pavillion Grey. And this is by far the room where I like this colour the most (I also used it as an accent wall for the hall closet). I don't know how come, since both kitchen and toilet are facing west, but the light in here makes it look really grey and classy and not some weird blueish mish-mash like in the kitchen.

I also scored a couple more Tomado shelves of ebay. Yay Tomado ! Yay ebay !

Part of it as storage - like for the obvious toilet paper - but mostly to display more stuff. So far the vignetting isn't great as I'm mainly working with 'rejects' from other areas. But you get the idea.

Bearded dudes limited edition prints from Ashleyg on Etsy. And vintage Hans Bolling optimist and pessimist figurines.

More of the West German pottery craze from last month... My first Scheurich 414-16 vase with a rare purple glaze. This thing is so ugly, I now find it quite endearing and I might actually keep it. The only reason it ended up with me in the first place, is that is was part of a lot that containded far more attractive specimens (but more about them another time).

And finally, my newest obsession. Glass !

I blame Holly Becker and her book "Decorate" for this latest addiction. I don't know if you guys have already read her book (which I really recommend !), but the first picture in the book is actually of somebody's vintage green and blue glass collection. I thought it looked amazing. And thus the impulse, to thrift me some glazen holdiay souvenirs...

On the left, a bubble glass dish purchased for 9 gbp at the Topsham Antiques Centre and on the right, a vase of undefined origin, but at 4.50 gbp exactly in my price range (this one I found at the Exeter Quayside Antiques Centre).

My little finger is telling me : there's some serious glass collecting in the air...

Houston we still have a problem

I mentioned the leaky toilet pipe before. Brrrrrrr.

Now two months later, ta-da - all brand new piping.

Ehem, not so quick. No cause for celebration yet. New piping maybe, but also no more walls.

The whole room looks like one of those Anatomy dolls where you can peel back the layers and reveal an ever yuckier inside.

Only here the top pieces have gone missing.

Kitty cuteness to end this post : the cats doing some serious quality control.

Houston we have a problem...

Yep, that's the state of the pipe linking my toilet to the building evacuation pipe.

I agree it's not a pretty sight. And the orange walls and beige tiles don't help either.

The pipe is slowly but inexorably breaking. There are already humidity spots all around the discharge duct and now the tiles are starting to loosen.

It is turning into a disaster zone.

This calls for urgent measures, but nothing makes my heart bleed more than spending vast amounts of money on turn-offs like piping and plumbing work. Why does stuff like this always happen when I just spotted a fantastic Danish armchair and two orignal (fiberglass !) Eames chairs on ebay ?

CRAP.