The Big Kitchen Update

So you may or may not have wondered where the hell I've been these last three weeks ? Well, here's your answer: slaving away on yet another kitchen update.

I think this time around we definitely have a winner. Now before the kitchen turned out anything near as fabulous (if I dare say so myself), it underwent several stages.

Let's recap.

Uh oh, way back when I still liked bright colours and messy kitchen tables. Although you may notice the paint samples - help was on the way...

Earlier this year, I eventually made up my mind about what colour to choose (Farrow and Ball's 'Pavillion Gray') and went to work.

Decor wise, I tried out my English antique bookcase for a while...

... in combination with a modern painting and some bright ceramics.

And then the inevitable happend : I didn't like that light gray anymore...

During the summer holidays my painting utensils made an appearence - yet again. Since I couldn't be bothered to repaint the whole room, I focused on this somewhat larger wall opposite the windows. I stayed faithful to Farrow & Ball - which I cannot recommend highly enough - and chose their über cool 'Down Pipe'. The most amazing dark gray I've ever come across.

Sorry for the annoying reflections on the poster. I need to get some sort of filter for my camera to take proper pictures of my art.
But just this much : it's only a plain old exhibition poster, but such a nice souvenir of my trip to London. And btw, if you're lucky enough to be in London right now, go check out the 'Eyewitness - Hungarian photography in the 20th century' exhibit at the Royal Academy. It's on til October and SO worth seeing !!!

Sometimes you just have to come full circle.

Yep, I went back to my original idea for this area and chose wall mounted shelves to host some of my collections. Except this time around I didn't go with my usual Tomado shelves, but got some bigger ones from ebay (where else ?). I don't know the name of this particular system (feel free to enlighten me), but they do pop up quite regularly on ebay Germany, so I'm suspecting that they might be of German make.

In any case, I think they're rad.

Let's take a closer look at the accessories, shall we ?

I got a little English and Scandinavian theme going on, to which I'm of course planning to add to. So far, we have : Hornsea owl and cat pepper shakers, two Orla Kiely storage jars, Kaj Franck and Catherineholm enamel bowls...

... Arabia Finland vase, Hornsea jam pot and - just to stir things up - a lovely retro plastic watering can.


A few close-ups for good measure. Aren't they cute, my Hornsea finds ?

Somebody, help me ! I can't stop myself. On top of being totally addicted to West German pottery and starting to be hooked on retro glass, I'm now also completely obsessed with vintage British ceramics. I've been cruising ebay like a maniac.

So expect more crazy posts about thrifty finds in the near future !


PS. For the record, I would also like to state that during these last three weeks, I've also accomplished the following:

• painted the kitchen windows, doors and radiator white;
• cleaned and decluttered the whole place like there's no tomorrow;
• schlepped a ton load of stuff to the goodwill;
• got rid of numerous pieces of furniture on ebay and freecycle;
• and most of all, I started to deal with my giant black hole of a basement. That space is like the fucking Bermuda triangle: stuff is absorbed, never to be seen again...

Like I said, stay tuned for upcoming episodes.

Now this...

... is what happens when your cat enjoys your new desk chair just as much as you do. He manages to wiggle in between your bum and the back of the chair - and actually goes to sleep there.

Note the cat bed on the right - totally disregarded.

But don't let Watson's adorableness fool you.

When it comes to sitting on this particular chair, things have a tendency to get nasty. Mr Watson is adamant the chair belongs to him. Hissing and scratching each time I try to push him off it...

He doesn't like to share ! I have to resort to drastic measures to get him to move. This involves taking out his claw clippers and pretending to come near his toes. Luckily for me, the mere sight of those scissors always makes him bolt.

See, I don't like to share either.

Ebay Craze III

Indeed. I'm still not finished showing off my ebay loot from the past months...

Like I mentioned in my last post, I bought a lot containing no less than five fat lava vases. Besides that horrible brown and purple thing that I'm hiding in the loo, the other four vases are actually quite amazing. Like the two big ones above.

Both are Scheurich vases and marked W. Germany, the tall one with the orange decor is numbered 200-28 and the round one with the big red flowers is marked 484-21. Both have the same beigy brown lava glaze that reminds me a bit of baked meringue. Yum !

The little one in front, I thrifted during last year's summer holiday. And so far, the poor thing was kind of orphaned as it didn't really go with any of the other pottery sets. For a long time it stood all alone on the hall shelf, where - luckily - it survived a fall when said shelf came crashing down to the floor.
After that episode, the shelf got sold on ebay and the little vase was tucked away safely in a cupboard, in the hopes of better days...

Just for kicks and for those less interested in West German pottery, a view of the other side of the coffee table. Did I ever mention that this table was actually my first ever ebay buy ? Well, now I guess I did.

Yep, me and ebay we hit it right off.

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...

Ebay Craze II

Last time, I told you all about my tallest WGP purchase. This time it's all about the smallest one yet.

This teeny-tiny vase was picked up during last month's ebay frenzy. It's a Scheurich and at a whooping 7 cm, the smallest West German pottery I've ever come across.

I've decided to streamline the kitchen as much as possible, so the green collection (plus the white vase with matching pattern) is now living in the bedroom. I even squeezed in one of the green Eames chairs for good measure.

Flo couldn't care less.