My House Plants...

My lovely collection of house plants... And amazingly I have not killed even one!

More Things to Look at...

Collection TWO

Things to Look at...

Random things to look at which I have collected throughout 2010...

Collection ONE

Tables...

...so I don't really know what I want exactly, and why should I, so I am looking all over the place. The criteria is simple:

Price: Reasonable
Quality: High
Size: 4 ppl max





Apollo table by Parri



Tria uno Trai due tables by Arrmet



Crystal by Maxdesign

I'm rather inclined towards the Crystal but I shall keep looking...

The seasons...

...The time of year is upon us once more, it is nearly Christmas and the Christmas hype is lurking just out of sight. You can smell it in the air, almost taste it. For me it is like being poised on the edge of utter chaos and I know I have to wade through the insanity and stress and (hopefully) emerge unscathed at Christmas Eve.

Here I am making it sound like I don't just love the drama. Work is beyond busy and time is a precious commodity. Before we know it, it will be time for last minute shopping, wrapping up presents and traisping around the mall with my father searching for a present for Mom. Which is traditional, and HAS to be done on Christmas Eve.

Of couse the end of the year means more that just eating, stress and Christmas, more than just family and friends and a few days off work... it means:
End of Year Bonus!!

Which equates to:
Furniture Shopping!!

And this bonus I think will go toward a dinning room table of sorts.

Cat Sketch...

You are Beautiful but...

Bedroom...

... So like I said, I decided to model my idea of the bedroom since my discription of it wasn't very good and usually the best way to sell an idea is with a picture.

Ignore the ornaments and lamps etc, they're just 3D Warehouse models to give the feeling of a bedroom, rather than a bunker. I'm trying to get a manly feeling across, but in a non caveman sort of way. The floor is newly sanded and varnished parquet, thanks to the landlord. And the Panton Chair was just well, for fun. I was thinking of a Tulip Chair with arms as an option too, there are a few second hand ones around Cape Town to be picked up.

Anyway, the actual design of it is pretty low budget, the desk, shelves and bedside shelves are pretty simple to make so its mainly the cost of the material. Which could be a number of things - depending on the budget, and of course, who we know between us. New boyfriend says that he likes minimalistic and red is his favourite colour. And I know the rugs are ugly, they're just there to represent floor coverings.

DIY...

... So new boyfriend (as we shall refer to him as) has just moved into a new place with a friend of his. And they fancy themselves to be quite handy around the house. Honestly they like two Macgyvers - they seem to be able to make things out of random stuff that's lying around. Like the coffee table for example. When I left the flat it was nothing but a laminate veneered chip board and some chrome tubing, when I returned two hours later, it was a perfectly level side table next to the couch. I was impressed.

I must admit I was thinking along the lines of "too many cooks..." you know the saying, cuz watching new boyfriend (with the hand saw), his brother (quietly in the backround) and the charming flat mate (blonde, using his weight to hold the board in place) all standing over this board offering advice on how straight the pencil line being drawn was made me wonder about the possibility of success. They ignored my request of doing this with their shirts off. They probably thought it was a joke. It wasn't.

Anyway, moving on... I am trying my best not to offer any advice regardless of my bountiful knowledge. Ok, that was a little egotistical, but lets face it, I do have some idea of how to do things and what materials to use. Beside just my education, I work pretty first hand with the upgrading of Bamboo furniture board at work - some projects have been pretty exciting - and I've come to understand a lot of what can and can't be done and why etc. Also I grew up with a father who can make anything it seems.

Well regardless of what I know, most times I receive the "what does a woman know of such things" look from them both when I humbly offer my opinion. And truly, I do offer it humbly. I don't want to be pushy and seem like I'm taking over. Heaven knows what I was like regarding my own flat. But I do want to save this place from looking like a half arsed attempt at home improvements, cuz they do have lovely ideas but no patience to plan them. Its a lot of "lets make selves, right now" and off they go to Builders Trade Warehouse - home of DIY!

So anyway, I took some measurements and drew a few sketches. Which were not well received. And in a moment I will post what I came up with for new boyfriends bedroom, as he said "I need desk, do you have any ideas" and the proceeded to look blankly at me as I described to him my idea.

Some Inspirational Pictures...

From Blogs everywhere... (if it's yours, thank you)