No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue I could not forsee this thing happening to you (Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones)

There's an outlet Laura Ashely shop in Antwerp. I needed to fetch some stuff for India's dollhouse project for school. Samples of wallpaper, paint and other smallables to create a complete doll house.
I wanted to decorate a small part of my workspace with wallpaper for the longest time. Not completely sure I wanted a vintage design ; I wanted something special, demure, light to 'brighten' a small piece of wall to use as background for my models & pictures.
So here it is, something greyish blue with off white flowery design ; looks a bit like Japanese blossom.
I like it. It's still packed but today I bought all required material to finally do the job. I am very happy with my instant glue. No need for a table or extra help(er) to hold my paper. Just stick it onto the wall and set the  wallpaper.
Fingers crossed this will work !

She wore blue velvet, Bluer than velvet were her eyes - Warmer than May her tender sighs, Love was ours (Bobby Vinton)

Just wanted to share this picture 'cause finally, yesterday, all our stores and curtains were installed.
I am so happy with the result of all rooms ; even India's room looks amazing. Really bright but without loosing any warmth. She needed those curtains the most ; the previous owner didn't leave any curtains in her room so she played hide and seek for several months. Guess she must be really pleased to finally sleep in her room without any neighbour peeping through her windows.

We also got the proposition for our bedroom from Pieter. He's got amazing decorating skills. Really good ideas and he is very talented : he can see what we really like and knows what materials would fit perfectly for this room.
Now that the curtains are hung in our bedroom, you can start to see the hotelroom feel to it.
Imagining how the furnished headboard will look like and compliant the rest of the colors in this room.
It's all about aubergine and dark bitter chocolat ...

"You'll just love my embraces 'cause they'll fit like a glove We'll be off to the races maybe..." Kiss me baby, let's make love (Marilyn Monroe)

metropolitan luxury

We are brainstorming our bedroom these days. Totally unexpected, hubby wants to make the most of this room and start 'yesterday'. We saw a beautiful purple silk carpet in a window display the other day and this was the trigger for the style and boudoir theme we have in mind.
Frank - our painter - starts with the entire first floor in 2 weeks time. Main color will be 'aubergine' combined with a saffron tone for our dressing. Our little wellness corner will be pitch black (well almost, it needs to be dark to give that relaxing atmosphere to it : we probably will repeat the aubergine again in that room.
So, today we went to Metropolitan Luxury, a brand by Eric Kuster. They specialize in hotels and suites and this is exactly what hubby had in mind for our bedroom floor.
When Frank's work is done, Pieter E. will come to our house with his samples of fabric for our new bed, cushions, sheets and towels. I'm quite excited that pretty soon I will have a room fit for a queen !

And they say it never rains in LA county It gets cold enough to wish you had a few And he laughs tonight and says "I finally found me a room with a view How about you" (Room with a view - Tony Carey)

Jingle Bells, our cat 

Cats are a curious animals ; but our cat - Jingle Bells - is übercat regarding curiosity !
He wants to know everything - which makes him ever so sweet 'cause he always wants to be in your proximity. I think he adapted to his new habitat pretty fast ; he likes to discover all these new corners, heights and windows - especially when a neighbourhood cat strolls the walls of our garden ...

I like to move it, move it (from the OST Madagascar)

Frank is ready. Am so happy with the basic colour downstairs. It's the grey tone I showed you guys a couple of weeks ago. When the light hits our windows it's such a beautiful shade. In less than a weeks time we will move into the house ; some of our furniture will move with us ; other stuff will be 'deported' to a storage.
We also got a fridge since last weekend. A big family one, the type that makes icecubes, even crushed if you like. Some stuff will be delivered in a couple of weeks ; chairs, a table, a cupboard and some small items to transform it into a home.

we did not buy expensive chairs as we still have 2 kids and 2 cats living with us. We managed to find some nice design chairs in an affordable price range, like this Lizz model from Kartell. We picked the white lacquered one

J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris ... (Madeleine Peyroux)

J'ai deux amours
Mon pays et Paris
Par eux toujours
Mon coeur est ravi
Manhattan est belle
Mais à quoi bon le nier
Ce qui m'ensorcelle
C'est Paris, c'est Paris tout entier

Who could 've thought that only one year ago my new love would be my new home ... 
October 2010 Mr C and I spent some time off in Paris. We'd like to do this every year, except for 2011.
But I'm not sad ; I will see Paris again (in the springtime) ... my house is an even better exciting experience and next time we will visit the French capital I will be able to find that special thing for my house ; bring a little bit of Paris home ... happiness ! 

She keeps Moet et Chandon In a pretty cabinet 'Let them eat cake' she says Just like Marie Antoinette (Killer Queen, Queen)

If we ever do a theme party, it will be a 'let them eat cake' party ...

Can't wait to have that big French oak table in my house so lots of friends can be seated and enjoy breakfast - brunch - lunch - bbq - dinner - late night snack-a-ton

*

Seeing these pictures again (can't watch the Marie Antoinette movie 'cause all our dvd's are packed in boxes right now) they inspire me - the colors, the food, the clothes ..

Those icy blues and frosted pinks - they look so yummie !

I found the perfect color for my living and cooking space ; shady grey ... We choose a new cabinet for our good china and silver spoons. It has a warm "coffee with loads of milk" kinda color and it looks perfect with the new shade we picked for the walls.

Now let's hope Frank (our painter) does a swell job splashing those walls with his brush.

Next Monday he will start on the walls inside the house.

Love is a color, Oh it makes you shine (Love is your color, Leona Lewis & Jennifer Hudson)

Frank, our painter will start his work October 10th.

I am so excited he finally set a date. Tomorrow he will drop by all his color charts and though I already have a pretty good idea what I want, it is always good to compare a few colors. The pics above share the looks I love ; not that I want to imitate these rooms, but these colors give a good impression what I would like to see on our walls. See it as my moodboard. 

I never meant to hurt you! I never meant to make you cry; but tonight I'm cleanin out my closet (one more time) (Eminem)

Really like this color @Flamant

something like this ?

We've decided to go for another cupboard for our good china and silver spoons. If it was up to me,  we would use to 'good' china every day. But I'm am not alone and mr C already made me very happy to change the wooden monster into something more softtoned, less heavy (less visible). So I'm just shuttin' it and dance my happy-dance in silence.

Now I'd like to change it for something like the one seen in the picture above. This model may look heavier and larger but the color makes up for it.  In fact, I've seen this other similar model at Flamant (overrated and way too expensive but good for inspiration) wich I think is colorperfect. I asked the salesassistant if I could take a picture as she could not give me some info in print. Good for me and good for this blog (now I can show you exactly what I mean)

:^)

Color me happy if u teach me what I need 2 know (Color, Prince)

We've decided to work with Frank. Henny will be very pleased. He's such a good painter she says.
He looks mature, silent, demure and a pro. On top of that, his son is a gardener.

To quote Gabrielle Solis (Desperate Housewifes)  : I know it's hard to believe that the little acorn gave birth to the mighty oak, but believe me, I did.

How do you like your eggs in the morning I like mine with a kiss (How do you like your eggs in the morning, Dean Martin)

click for a closer look - we just ordered the custom made table, not the frills seen on it



We've bought a table yesterday. A big chunky table in French oak. Superheavy (I trust mr C on this one as he cleams he's pretty sure it can be delivered in one piece) We've opted for this wooden number cause it's warm, not too frilly and it's a primal basic piece of furniture everyone just needs in his home. It has to be firm to hold a lot of people, eating - laughing and working all in thought. Sizewise we took a 240cm length and 100 cm width so at least 8 people can easily enjoy each others company without touching elbows whilst eating.

Why do you stand by the window Abandoned to beauty and pride (The Window, Leonard Cohen)

my view of our garden

Had an appointment with the plan B painter last evening. We strolled through the rooms and ended up in what will be my kitchen pretty soon. This room has the most corners and is probably every painter's nightmare. But J. was very kind and said the rooms I've shown him were pretty easy to paint ; a walk in the park. So sweet of him. The appointment was brief but accurate ; I guess he might become our plan A painter. Next week his offer will drop in my mailbox (oldskool way, love to have an offer on paper and not by email) .. So when we say GO colours will be our next issue. I'm already pretty sure what I want. Icy, chalky grey-ish colours. Very toned down, not too much fuss and compatible with any piece of furniture.

You got me spinnin', baby You know I'm in a trance (Knock on Wood, Amii Stewart)

Marie and her dad gathering lost wood



We have this large dressing in the new house ; lots of extra space to hang our clothes and shoes but one thing is a bit unfortunate. Some of the upper closets are build in at an height, even my tall hubby has a problem fetching something out of them. So we were thinking about a nice design step, just to make it easer (and avoid sleepy head morning accidents) to get to the top of those highest doors.
I've know Veronique from http://www.malvini.be/ through my shop ; being a graphic designer she often made birth announcements and customized pin buttons for kids. Her husband is a craftsman (with beard an all, perfect typecasting) and he makes the most beautiful furniture out of wood. I love their big chunky tables ; we also need one for our kitchen slash livingspace.
Maybe Malvini could help us out with a nicer version then an aluminum design step ; it still looks like it came out of a DIY shop, but with a more exclusive pricetag .. So I'd rather pay the same for a handcrafted item that looks timeless and chic.

I rock the place I rock the place that's pumpin' Bass (I'm in the house, Steve Aoki)

I really love the old parts in my house ; they give it soul 

As promised, a little collage and first impression of the hall and our future living room.
I really am in love with those old tiles ; even though some of them are crooked, I never ever want to
change them. It's the first thing you notice when you come through our door. The 1st door on your left gives a little hint that this is not a recently built house. My intention is to look it up ; maybe a visit to the city archives will learn us more about that.

Today we met Frank, a housepainter who was highly recommended to us by Henny Waalwijk. A very nice man ; I'll try and catch his picture once he starts painting. Our hope is he can start soon, now the house is still empty and it's way easier to work with no furniture standing in his way.

Our house it has a crowd There's always something happening And it's usually quite loud (Our House, Madness)

THE key ! 

This could be the real kick off of this blog ! We officially own a house since 11o' clock this morning.
It's like I've married Mr C all over again : but this feels 10 times better ! Can't wait for October 24th : that's the day we will move into our house  home.