restructuring. kitchen and life.

a while back there was this problem with the plumbing behind my kitchen cabinets. i didn't realise the subtlie leakage at first but as a weird smell developed after a few weeks ... yeah, let me spare you the disgusting details. believe me, you don't want me to paint you a picture of half rotten kitchen cabinets!

so i called the people from my local bulk rubbish service to pick up half of my kitchen (i usually would not touch mould with a pole, but i just had to put on my work clothes and get this disgusting stuff out of my space), i borrowed a car, drove to IKEA and bought some new kitchen counters.

after giving my empty kitchen a good goooood gooooooood and thorough cleaning - several times - and also treating myself to a mini diswasher (the first diswasher i own! EVER!) i now can show you my brand new kitchen with optimised storage and way more space.

i have to admit it is a bit high for a short person like me but nonetheless i love my new space because i wanted open counters for like forever.


as you can see i don't have a built in oven, i just pull out my electrical appliances from underneath. i love to keep things flexible like that and cooking here also works perfectly for me.

a new office situation

after this



comes this



without a doubt i will write beautiful theoretical papers here.

pimp my trolley

this looks really cheap, but it might just be perfect for a blind spot in my kitchen!


though i first painted all the pieces i thought that protecting the shelves with adhesive film would make them more kitchen proof:




half way through i decided to ditch the wine rack and strain a nylon rope in the middle for lightweight objects like plastic cutting boards or paper bags:


done!


more storage, less blind spot :)

first snow

it might look like a birdcage, but i really dig my balcony. it is the entrance to my flat, actually. different from the other appartements in the house i have a seperate way in. i have to climb 3 flights of stairs, step outside again onto my little balcony/doorway/portal.

i love it.

replacing the ugly lampshade

the first designer piece i ever bought!
"midsummer light" by tord boontje

half way through changing the bedroom

but this ugly lampshade has to go

maybe like this?

i love the simplicity of the ikea malm collection

clearing out old stuff to make room for new bedroom furniture

the bedroom is in dire need of a makeover. i have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor since i moved in, this has to stop! i have to buy a bed.

now.

my doorway / balcony / garden

now that i am thirty and i have been moving out of my parent's ten years ago i notice that my mother still knows me very very well. a few weeks ago i told her that some of my herbs are slowly dying and how i'd rather have a blooming variety of different herbs instead of some half dead stalks. i never had the time though (or was i too lazy?) to get myself some herbs or some decent soil to plant them new.

thank god my mama knows me so well! she knew that i would not manage to extend my herb garden. since she still likes to be involved a lot in her children's lives (she is a real clucking hen!) she tends to take care of the little things we don't manage to take care of. today she does not mingle too much with the sometimes very different lifesstyles of her children. when i was a teenager though her efforts often seemed like she wanted to control every single aspect of my life. that made me crazy and i am really glad that she learned to let go (and i learned to appreciate her good intentions). she now focusses on peanuts (important peanuts!) rather than where i should live and what i should do with my life ... yeah, my mama is a very dominant woman and i have to admit that it was a relief once i cut the very strong umbilical cord and moved out.

i am her only child living away from our little hometown and i am glad that she still has my sister and my brother around to bug instead of me :) they sometimes complain about the nagging of our mama and i always tell them that they should move as far away from her as they can in order to appreciate what she does for us ... i think she sacrificed a lot in her life to make things better for her children.

so as my parents visited me last saturday my mama brought me a whole bunch of new herbs - herbs i have never even heard of! she must have noticed that all i ever talked about was parsley, chives and basil.

i am all set now with marjoram, anthriscus, thyme, parsley, rosemary and a special kind of basil, which is called basil lime (ocimum americanum).

go figure! i am a girl!

please stop me! i am turning into a housewife (just without a husband and a bunch of kids)!!

my mother got a new sewing-machine a few weeks ago and i said: "hey, wait, don't throw out the old one!! i want to have it!!" my mum was stunned. not only is she delighted by my desire to cook, cook and cook some more of our family recipes lately (and me calling her twice a week to ask her cooking questions), she is also embracing the fact that i am turning into a domestic girl.

for your information: i was a tomboy as a child. though i had looong blond pigtails i used to climb trees and beat up the boys in my neighbourhood. i refused to wear dresses and skirts and i banished everyhing remotely girly from my life. i cried my heart out when i had to wear girl shoes to church when my first communion was celebrated.

my mother and my sister on the other hand are just ... perfect in all the handiwork. knitting, embroidery, sewing, cooking, home decorating ... you name it - they do it. my mother is almost like a devoted housewife from the 50ies, only with a good deal of emancipation *g*.

she never pressured me into all this woman-stuff though. when a friend asked her about my desires to settle down and start a family when i was about 25 she proudly said: "no, but she just bought her second computer, isn't that great?!" when i showed up at her house in a skirt - i was 27 then - she was delirious with joy. i think she even cried a little bit.


well. here i am. in front of MY sewing machine. trying to figure out how that thing works. it is an heirloom from my mom's cousin. her family emigrated to australia and this is a device from down under she got as a vintage present while i was still a child.

so here i am. in front of MY sewing machine. trying to figure out how that damn thing works.

i am a tech girlie.
i can figure that out!
just give me a minute.

painting antlers

i got a deer antler from my uncle the huntsman. removing the rustic farmhouse parlour style is easy: painting the whole thing white immediately gives the antler a beautiful modern kitschy finish!

i want to steal that chair

i want to stuff the chair
i want to cushion the seat

and make it mine

removing the fume hood

temporarily creating a rack by cutting a styrofoam sandwichboard into shape and pinning sweets on it as garnish moulding. that will not be very solid, so i have to get a propper shelf pretty soon ...

painting kitchen cabinets

i want to have a chalkboard on my fridge door



the pictures are from threadless.

the household beautification project

i've lived here for a while and i was never completely satisfied with my flat. i need to change that.

first challenge: kitchen
second challenge: bedroom