Trouvé: table récup'

Last Sunday, we picked a table up off the street, and brought it home. I have never done this before, it felt a little like stealing, a little like virtuous recycling. It was quite heavy, and I was bright red with exertion and embarrassment stemming from a feeling of doing something slightly naughty, and the sneaking suspicion that someone was going to come running up the street after us, demanding their table back.

They didn't, in Paris it is quite usual to leave out objets encombrants, big items that you are getting rid of, in the street for the council to pick up the next morning. So we saved them the trouble, and are very pleased with our wide, solid, hardwood coffee table. It may not quite go with the mid-century aesthetic of the lounge, but it fits the size of the sofa and will be great in our next, bigger space.

Nomadic newlyweds

Living in our flat still unlikely for the foreseeable future. On the upside, we are moving around a lot and getting to know areas of the city we didn't know before. Currently at St Michel, not far from the Jardins de Luxembourg, wonderful for a Sunday run. Unfortunately no Internet in our current appartment, but having Shakespeare and Co around the corner dulls the pain.

Can I hack it?

Probably not.

Have been looking for the perfect headboard to go on a grey/blue wall, in a room with aubergine wallpaper and curtain (singular rather than plural as window bigger than last appartment). Grey or duck-egg blue will disappear, but don't want aubergine to look to matchy-matchy. Perhaps a pattern? Could I really make my own headboard like this lady on Appartment Therapy without injuring myself or my flat?

Little victories

After weeks of horrible this:


plenty of this sort of thing:


and this:



Home is now living up a little more to its name. Today's little victory was pictures on the bedroom wall (notice the skirting boards still stacked against the wall!).


And we now have a cosy little corner to work. Still plenty to do, but a little less hell-for-leather now.


Objects of desire for the lounge include this fifties tripod lamp, from Habitat. We almost bought an original early 70s curved bowl lamp on a marble base, from a Dutch dealer at the Puces de Design, but the proportions were a little too big for the room. Unfortunately we also missed out on the reclaimed picnic design sets for 1E, too.

The wall comes down...

We had the keys on Friday and our friends helped us to knock down the wall on Saturday, for which I love them all dearly as it was highly nerve-wracking!




More dust than I have ever seen...