Money can´t buy you happiness, that´s a fact. They can´t buy you style, you either got it or you don´t. They can´t even buy you a decent couch, you need a trained eye to pick the right one. 😉 We found the perfect couch on the internet yesterday and now it´s ours! So here I am, bragging about my trained eye! 😉 haha! Take a look!
We´re getting a new couch today and the living room looks like an empty battlefield now. I used to work with autistic people years ago and I must be a bit like them ´cause whenever things out of place I get into a bad mood. So before working out the courage to take Sam for a walk and then start on today´s fish soup, I let myself dream a bit on Pinterest.
1. Winter stew. I can almost smell it! 😉
I´ve been so good at decluttering lately, I don´t know what hit me! Moving things around doesn´t feel strange anymore and it makes me appreciate all the pretty things we´ve been collecting even more. Besides, they feel like different things entirely. And since the apartment feels airy and nice, I´ll let you take a peep! 😉
How is life treating you after New Year? Are you back on track or still struggling to find the pace? My days are only half full, which suits me just fine because the end of the month will be pretty hectic. I was in Vienna for the weekend and met my family, which was great, and now I´m ready to face whatever 2015 is throwing my way. I´m trying to get some office work done and otherwise I´ve mostly been involved with a major decluttering at home. I´m a hoarder, I´m the first one to admit it!. No matter how many baskets, boxes and bowls, there´ll still be lots of things floating around. I collect magazines, small decoration pieces, jewelry boxes and old tea boxes. Oh, and lamps! 😉 And I love them, but hate them, because I´ve always dreamt of having a stylish, lightly minimalistic home.
Anyway. It´s amazing how light you feel when you just strip down the apartment, throw away some things, give away others, sell a couple on the internet and store the rest in the attic. It´s so much easier to see what you need, too- a String shelf in the living room, a couple of lamps in the bedroom (I know! sigh), a new piece of art in the kitchen (I thought I´d ordered a poster of a cup and it turns out I´d ordered a cup! 😉 haha), the bed stands I´ve shown you before and a giant wardrobe. Besides, we really need some shoe closets in the hallway and storage for my books in the studio. I actually think we´ll manage all those changes in 2015. 😉
Take a look!
There´s something about new year that makes you want to improve, grow, change. It also applies to the outside world- freshen up your home, get a couple of new plants, change your hair style, have a mani-pedi. I love collecting beauty and what better excuse to do so than New Year´s Eve promotion codes!
Today I acquired these prints from Hilde Mork´s web store and I can´t wait to get them! The first goes in the bedroom and the second one in the living room. Or maybe the kitchen. What do you reckon? I love the faded colors, the greys and the fact that they´re both understated. Any New Year´s purchases on your part?;-)
Because it´s Monday and I got the blues. It´s just one of those days- the weekend seemed too short, I didn´t feel like waking up, the rain outside certainly doesn´t help, I can’t bear the thought of walking Sammy and I don’t feel like getting dressed. And to make things better, I spilled half of my coffee cup on the couch. (Now we really need a new couch!) So here´s what I wish my Monday was like!
1. Wish I could stay in THIS bed all day.
Lately we´ve been trying to make do with what we have and store some of our less practical (but oh so pretty!) pieces of furniture in the attic for the next apartment/house. But there´s something about a good environment that you just can´t achieve with a crappy couch. Not only is it too small for two, but you ca´t even have a nap on it!;-) (and you know how I feel about naps!) So I started looking around, mostly online and since we decided we should invest in an everlasting piece, the prices were bordering insanity.
However, the internet is not called mighty for nothing, so I found some gorgeous bits here. Not only do they have the nicest leather couch ever made, but they also sell art, rugs and antique pieces. Take a good look at this four seats wonder called Modell ”924” and manufactured by Vatne Lenestolfabrikk in the 60s or 70s, ´cause it´s going to be ours!
Today was a truly nice day. I woke up late and had all the time in the world to cuddle with my babies in bed, reading blogs, checking instagram pictures and drinking coffee. Later on, I and Sam headed for a flea market with a friend of ours, mostly as an excuse to get out of the house (since the weather is horrendous this time of the year), but also to see if we find something cool. We did find a poster, a couple of fancy jars for my annual lemon curd gifting and a glass bunny that fits right in our living room exhibition. I had to have a chocolate cake bite and Sam got a sausage since he´d rather be in the woods than around thousands of noisy people, but he got some ear rubs, so it was all good. At home we had lunch- roast beef left overs from yesterday, eggplant salad that my mother made a week ago, baked sweet potatoes and focaccia. It was all yummy and familiar and somehow it took us back to Romania for a moment or two.
Now I´m in bed again, the cat purring beside me, and I´m gathering energy for tonight´s Christmas party with the Interpreters´ Union. I don´t always do well with strangers and I´ve only met a couple of them, so I´m a bit nervous. It takes a certain kind of person to join a union and I usually find them a bit loud, to put it mildly. Anyhow, I hope it´ll be less work talk and more wine, besides I must be a bit like them, too, since I´m in!
In the meantime, I´m dreaming of nice stuff on Etsy. It seems I won´t be able to shop for a while, so I might as well do some virtual gazing. 😉
Today was a good day. After a busy weekend of waking up early every day, today I could finally take it easy. I had a couple of work assignments, but other than that I mainly slept and enjoyed myself. It´s mid November already and I feel Christmas is right around the corner. This year I´m not going to overdo anything, I promised myself I´ll have realistic expectations of both myself and the others. My plans are to ease into the Christmas mood by mid December and have lots of energy for Christmas parties and the likes. With that in mind, I started reading a magazine and listen to Nat King Cole singing about the Yuletide season. 😉
I feel lighter these days, I managed to give away pretty much clothing I wasn´t wearing anymore and the bedroom is finally up for an update, hopefully in January. We need reading lamps but being both very particular, it takes ages to decide upon anything, really. Today I was browsing through some web shops and felt so happy when I saw this one from Restart Milano! It´s just perfect! The slim lines, the golden touch, I was sold! And the fact that it´s simply called Wall Lamp Long makes it even more alluring. Anything that beautiful was made to last, I figure.;-) In Norway you can purchase it at Bolina, but I´m sure you can find it in an cool designer store near your home, too.
The most important thing for me while decorating an apartment is taking my time. This is our 4th apartment in 11 years and the second one we bought. (In Norway you buy, reside a while, improve/renovate and sell. Then you buy bigger, nicer, and so on, until you hopefully land the property of your dreams, at least within your financial range.) I studied for a long time and now it´s my husband turn to break through as a designer, meaning we´ve been living on a tight or semi-tight budget for many years. At the same time, both of us have a strong need to surround ourselves with beautiful things, so we don´t want to compromise too much when it comes to quality. We bought too many crappy Ikea things that broke and ended up in the trash, so now it´s either design, vintage or inherited stuff. My recipe for an original interior is as such: you need a couple of beautiful and sturdy pieces of furniture, like a leather recliner, a dining table and chairs, a coffee table and a sideboard, a couple of artsy pictures and lots of fond memories (shells and sand or small candle holders and figurines). Throw in a beautiful kelim rug and a couple of gracious pets! Voilà!;-)
The rest you can get along the way, from flea markets, discount stores or second hand designer shops. 😉 We haven´t been able to keep the same couch since the cats have scratched it or it has turned soggy, but next year´s treat is a big, comfy designer couch from Andreas Engesvik!
What do you think?
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