My room - part II

It's been a while since I posted something about my "project" called "refurnishing my room". But it doesn't mean that I've not been doing anything on that. So here are a few sneak-peeks.

I have this radiator in my living room positioned in a rather visible place and I figured this could be a way to use it.

I bought those 3D cardboard letter patterns in a shop (approx. 5 EUR a piece, smaller one was almost 4 EUR) and I'm still thinking either decoupage them or no. Somehow lately I feel like going for clean colours and lines so probably I will stick with the white original colour. You can play around with shapes, sizes, styles and the content of the writing. The only thing I wanted to point out is that I am not using this radiator for the heating so I can not say if those cardboard letters are heat proof. Nevertheless you can attach a little shelf on the top of it to prevent the heat influencing them directly.

Then another trendy thing in the fashion design for the spring/summer collections of 2011 are tassels. So I decided to bring the fashion design into my interior design adjusting these tassels to the keys of my old new cupboard, filing cabinet and wardrobe though initially I got them to fix them to the cushions. I think these tassels add a nice touch.

I was lucky to find these beautiful Laura Ashley's fabrics in Riga in Abakhan Fabrics shop just for approx. 6 EUR a meter. Of course these are older collections but who cares :) I am thinking of using them when reupholstering the dining table chairs. Wall paper got in Laura Ashley and Heytens. I used it to refurbish the cupboard in my living room and the chest of drawers in the bedroom.

And last but not the least I bought a huge carpet:

So now it is about painting the furniture, reupholstering the chairs, attaching the lamps and... that's it I guess :)) And the funniest thing of all is that after the dining table was delivered and I had a chance to see it in my living room I decided not to paint it white - ha-ha - the reason why I chose to go through all these changes. Kind of portraying life in a perfect way :))

Life manual

Every time I forget what life's really about I listen to this Baz Luhrmann's "song" and many things fall back to their places :) Truly genuine.

 

	Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

L'Arbre (The Tree)

"The Tree" - one of my top last year's movies. Beautiful images, touching story, great acting:

Hat off to little Morgana Davies playing Simone and of course to the director Julie Bertuccelli, as well as to the rest of the cast.

And the soundtrack. Grégoire Hetzel has definitely been inspired by Arvo Pärt's "Tabula Rasa" while composing "Speak to me" which made me come back to this fantastic piece.

 

And of course "To Build A Home" by The Cinematic Orchestra feat. Patrick Watson which actually brought me to tears when I heard it live last year's November in London, Albert Hall :)

Simone: "I have a choice to be happy or sad. I chose to be happy. And I am happy".

A great way to finish the week! Be inspired and sleep well!

Drawer pulls

I got these lovely drawer pulls today on sales in Laura Ashley. Love, love, love them, love, love, love that shop :)

Masiero

Just sighing... Beautiful. Masiero lamps Olà.

Fairy Tales

When I was a little girl my mum used to read a fairy tale to me when she put me to bed. And I believe many of you can tell the same story. I assume thus fairy tales play an important role in our lives as they certainly form a part of our belief prism, it is not only our parents who teach us right from wrong but also the stories we hear. Tales always have a moral and present an opportunity to discern good from evil. The good usually prevails, but the wicked always has to learn a lesson. And even after growing up we believe that – we call it justice, we call it good and appropriate behaviour, we call it happy life. We grew up with such a conviction. And I believe it was for the best though it might be a bit tricky with the part where real life tales don't always have a happy ending, where the good doesn't conquer the evil and we all are princesses or Cinderellas, Sleeping Beauties or Little Mermaids still, waiting for our princes and 'Happily Ever After' while they are Supermen and pirates busy saving the world and sailing boats :) Thing is that our lives consist of tales, it is us who chose which to believe in.
My grandmother always kept a fairy tale book on the nightstand by her bed as she said that when she could not sleep sometimes the fairy tales were the best calming literature in such occasions. This literary genre is probably one of the oldest in the world. Probably there is no one who has grown up without fairy tales. Initially, they travelled around orally, then they were written down and read. And contemporary tales are mostly created as audiovisual products called movies. Though people are still fond of books and tales told in books most of the best ones become movies as well. The great success of such fantasy novels as Harry Potter or Twilight Saga is an evidence that we all miss that part of mystery and 'beyond the real' part in our lives. 

Every time I feel like this world is a bit too real for me I like to treat myself with one of the movies from my favourite fairy tale movies' list :)

STARDUST 

 

 

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE 

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

 

EVER AFTER

PRACTICAL MAGIC

 

LADY IN THE WATER

PRINCESS BRIDE

PENELOPE

  

LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

My Room - part I

I was lucky to discover an organisation called CIGS Archipelago which manages a very interesting project. One colleague of mine recommended me this site called Okassions buttik, so if you live in Luxembourg and possess a knowledge of French or German you can read more about it. The CIGS Archipelago is the supporting structure and the framework for the establishment and promotion of cultural projects of the CFS network. They collect items from people who no longer need them, ship them to workshops in Differdange, refurbish (by specially trained employees) and make them available on the site http://www.okkasiounsbuttik.lu/ for public and social offices. The objectives of this organisation include developing activities to further guidance around common values and common issues saying that human consumption patterns generate a large volume of items whose ultimate destination feeds incineration plants. Many of these used products could have the joy of new owners, if they had been recovered before they are destroyed, repaired if necessary, and finally made available to the public. So it very much complies with my perception. Besides if the money goes for a good cause...

This is what I purchased there and now I am waiting impatiently for it to be delivered :)

Yet another nice thing I got from Mambo in Trier this Saturday:

So I can't wait! Looks like this is gonna be a very busy month! :)