Living Room corner update

Pfffff, it's been a crazy few weeks - with work, my English family coming over for a visit, celebrating my Oma's 98th birthday... and I'm kind of glad to be spending this weekend quietly at home, cuddling the cats.

Although stress levels have run high, I did manage to squeeze in a bit of house futzing and succeeded to give the dreaded living room corner a more appealing appearance.

Let's sum up. Back in March...

And now... Can you spot the differences ?

I followed the thoughtful suggestions of commentor Allycatz and switched the shelves and West German pottery around. 
I also moved some old issues of Elle Decoration and Living etc out of the bedroom and closer to my favourite reading corner. Hopefully having them at hand will make me more inclinded to flip through them one more time, before chucking them out.

All in all not a major change and I still find it looks a bit too cluttered. But unless I magically morph from hoarder to minimalist, I'll just have to accept the way things are ! And in any case, I'm much happier with how this area looks now.

As I commented in last post, I was hoping to acquire a fabulous vintage fiber wall hanging. Which would have been just perfect instead of the antique lithograph... 

But alas, while I was still debating how big an offer I was willing to make - given the € 50 shipping fees (of course, such awesomeness can only be found in the US...) - somebody else snatched it up. 

F**ck F**ck F**ck!!! I can't believe I missed out on such a find !

Sigh. So while I'm back to obsessively stalking ebay, I'll have to be content with this lovely 70s(?) bird tile I found for € 5 at the Brussels flea market a few weeks ago.

Some close-ups of the left and right side of the Tomado shelves to round up this post and close the topic (for now).

And now I'm off to some leisurely house cleaning and decluttering. And if the weather holds, I might even to some much needed spring cleaning on the balconies.

What have you planned this weekend ?

Trial and error

Sigh. If I thought February was dreary, I have to think again. March is WAY worse ! I mean look at that grainy dark picture. Really sad when on a Sunday afternoon in late March, you're locked inside because outside there's still tons of snow and freezing temperatures. And worst of all, NO light.

I can't stand this any longer. Everything is bla. I have zero energy, a stressful job, a stressful life (Woody got neutered this week. Everything went well, but still I was so nervous for the little guy...) and absolutely no relief, i.e. outdoor thrifting. All I want to do is eat and sleep...

And obsess about this damn corner in my living room, which stubbornly refuses to improve. Much like the weather.

Let's face it. The whole thing is a mess. When I took the Tomado shelves out of the loo, I thought it would be a good idea to put them in here. You know, create a little more room for displaying things...

Yeah, brilliant / stupid idea. More like, more room to clutter things up. I don't know. I don't like anything here. I'm missing a shelf, the floor vases look all wrong, the oldfashioned lithograph - a 20 € find from a very rare visit to the Brussels flea market - doesn't really go with anything, etc, etc.

The only thing I do like is that little ensemble of WGP planters and vase. But look at the other side. What a pathetic display !

Just a quick look at the other side. The plants aren't doing great either and I really should try and find a more discreet place for the cat tree (but of course the cats love it there, so I can't really be bothered to move it). Everything is bit bla too...

Except... That lovely vintage cushion ! I scored it Friday night at my favourite vintage shop in downtown Brussels, Brocéliande. And let me tell you. I love it ! It's just the thing that might energise me enough to try and figure out what to do with the rest of the sitting area.

One more  photo. I can't help myself ! Oh and btw, that cute little african style cushion is also from the same shop.

Now to stop moaning and bitching and try and save the situation: I'm thinking of either getting Tomado shelves in a different color (metallic white ones maybe ?) or going down the Ikea route and getting their stylish PS metal sidebord (which could also provide additional storage for all my Hygge Hour shop finds) or maybe go back to this situation in May 2012 or...

Any brilliant ideas, dear readers ? How do you manage to get out of a decorating deadlock ?

Kitchen update, yet again...

While I'm waiting for the side income to kick in from the shops, I'm busy spending all my hard earned money from my day job. That's probably the one thing I'm really good at - spending money !

Anyway after shaking things up in the living room, hall and loo, I'm back at obsessing over the kitchen...

It's like a never ending story. I've dragged my old kitchen table back up from the basement, where it had been living ever since the big kitchen update of August 2011. God, it took me about an hour to get that thing out from under all the crap I've been accumulating down there... again.

Ignore the mismatched stool situation ! I have big plans that involve the Finnish Design Shop and a certain kind of Hay chair (in white).

While I'm dreaming big about fancy chairs, I already did indulge in some (moderate) spending on the only piece of Artek I'll ever be able to afford : a Siena tray. I love everything about it - including the wax paper packaging.

Oh, in case you're wondering. That's not a raccoon tail, but rascally Woody.

The alphabet of living... Like I said, I love everything about this thing even the clever advertising.

The cats like it too... Watson and Woody arguing about who gets to sit on my tray. Woody won and Watson is not pleased.

Of course I had trouble deciding between the black and white Siena tray and the yellow and white one. I find black & white always looks incredibly stylish in other people's homes, but in the end I rarely go down that road myself. And in this case, I'm very happy with my yellow and white choice. It's so sunny and optimistic !

I love having breakfast here in the mornings. It puts a smile on my face every time :-)

Hygge Hour Shop - Grand Opening !

I think you all know by now that I'm pretty much addicted to vintage and that I spend most of my spare time roaming through flea markets and antiques shops.

So I guess it was only a matter of time since I would take my obsession to the next level... Yes. Indeed. I'm spreading out on the interweb and opening not one, but TWO e-shops.

You can find us (yes, there's also two of us - more on that below) here :

• www.hyggehour.bigcartel.com
• www.etsy.com/shop/HyggeHour

Sample the merchandise...

Like I mentiond before, I'm not doing this alone. Those of you who follow this blog for some time will have already heard mentioned my very good friend - and now partner in crime - Laura.
She and I met at university and have remained friends in the almost 20 years since then. She's at least as big a cat lady as I am... She loves gardening - and all things vintage of course ! And you can read more about her on her blog "MesDecoVertes".

And finally, what better day to launch our little venture and add our small contribution to female entrepreneurship everywhere than on International Women's Day ?! Hooooraaaayyyy !

PS. If you're curious to find out how we came up with the name "Hygge Hour", have a look at our shop FAQs .

Dreary February

I don't know how the weather conditions have been in your area, but around here it's been bad. Bad enough at least to not put a thrift lover outside...
So what does this here vintage lover do when being prevented from her favourite outdoor activities ? Document the changes undergone by the often neglected apartment hall. Of course !
Although I nearly gave up on that too. Seeing that the light in here is bad on the best of days...

This is the little nook in front of the bathroom. The hall gets larger here, but it's still a drag to find an appropriate set-up for this space.
I'm happy to have found this 1960s chest of drawers at my local antiques centre last summer. It holds all sorts of extra bathroom stuff, most of my handbags and catches all sorts of bits and bobs that never seem to have a proper home.

Now for your viewing delight, I put together a few before pictures. Although this area has changed so much over the year's - and not always in a good way - that I mostly gave up on taking any photos.

Oops, just three years back this massive cupboard was taking up most of the space. By autumn 2010, I had sold it on ebay and replaced it with this British antique bookcase - on the right. 
Hhmm, I can't have been very satisfied with this arrangement, as I only ever took this close-up...

Then you have the same area back in summer 2012 (on the left), after I had tried out - and failed - yet another cupboard (on the right here). Trust ebay to get rid of all your decorating mistakes !
I guess you also get why last summer's set-up didn't last more than a few weeks...

Back to the present tense. I feel comfortable that the current situation is the best so far. Confident enough at least to finally commit to some serious spending. Bloody hell. Those Muuto "The Dots" coat hangers are darn sexy, but 100 eur for a set of five... That required years of thinking.

I installed the other three btw in the former hall closet space. But that space was way too dark to capture with my meagre photography skills... Expect a report on them by summer !

Other side. Just because I love that WGP floor vase so much !

And some final light on / light off action.

You know what ? I think I'm almost reconciled with that annoying corner.

Although I still can't help thinking that there are some lucky bastards out there who have an average winter temp of 25°C, with no rain and a 10-days Modernism Week instead... Yes. Palm Springs, I'm looking at you.