I Want My Stuff!

I generally think of myself as not very materialistic, I drive a real old car – if I drive one, now I don’t have a car, just a borrowed bike – designer clothing means nothing to me and I rather improvise with something creative that just hang something big, expensive and ugly on my wall.

Improvising being the operative term here; to be able to improvise one needs to have … something. At home in California I have lots of stuff, a whole garage full of stuff. Cheap stuff: old books from garage sales, torn out ads from magazines, flea market finds, old drawer knobs from architectural salvage places (better than any Gucci store for me – I LOVE architectural salvage places, love, love, love them!), and paint chips from the hardware store. Somewhere there must be a hardware store that went broke because of all the paint chips I took home from there.

My Pantone chips – fresh off the boat from the US – decorate my left hand office wall

So here I want to improvise and be creative but I have – nothing. No old books, only a few door knobs (I brought them from California) and just a few rather uninspiring paint chips. Good thing I brought paint chips, too, the cute square Pantone colored ones. If the thought crosses your mind that only really crazy people bring paint chips from the US to Europe when they move and all the have is five suitcases and six pieces of hand luggage you shall be forgiven. Even I admit that it is a bit crazy and that is even before I confess to having brought wall paper remnants as well. Only a few pieces, but you know what, it was an awesome idea. Since I have nothing to improvise with here and collecting improvisation-worthy material is not a trivial matter and can’t be rushed, really, those paint chips and wall paper remnants have been all I had to work with and I put them to good use – I think.

wall paper remnants imported from California decorate the right hand wall. Mom contributed the heart.

My formerly barren office walls look a little nicer and more colorful without clutter and cheesy prints. I am basically out of materials now, though, a few door and drawer knobs left for the coat hanger in the entry way – and then I might have to earnestly get into collecting more stuff here, if only I had room to store!

Dreams and Reality

My visions of an easier, simpler life back in old Europe are clashing with reality – majorly.  Part of it is due to the fact that we are still setting up and until the last curtain is hung and there are finally some pictures on the wall this place won’t feel like home, part of it that life in old Europe is just not that easy and simple anymore and part that my expectations where probably – I hate to say it – a bit naive at times.

To start with the last point.  I had visions, grand visions to be honest, of my how I would – from scratch and for cheap, with an overabundance of creative ideas and cunning bargain shopping – furnish this place so it would look lovely, modern, eclectic, comfortable and awe-inspiring while simultaneously spending minimal amounts of expensive Euros on lovely, one of a kind flea market finds.

That’s the vision.  Now, in reality there are hardly any flea markets in August and September and the one I found (and visited) featured way too many small porcelain rabbits, crocheted thingamajigs and toys for 3-year olds to be of any use (well, okay, I bought a 1 Euro pair of shoes for geek-boy and a few baskets but that aint exactly shopping success).  Also, surprise surprised, lovely handwork is hard to do, time consuming and needs tools – these happen to be in my garage in California (band saw, how I miss you!)

I had visions of me using mom’s sewing machine to best effect when – really – I should have known so much better.  I just don’t have the patience for sewing projects any more complex than a straight hemline.

admittedly it is a hack job – but functional and done in a flash.
(c) Tina Baumgartner

The latest casualty was my fancy reupholstering project.  Those 60s chair, when sanded, painted and reupholstered in some cute colorful but not overbearing fabric would look marvelous.  Yes they would.  But they don’t.  I have no time for sanding, no place for sanding and nobody I can outsource sanding to, the lovely fabric I brought from California is not sturdy enough and the staples in the staple gun are too big (imagining sitting down on the chair staples sticking in my thighs – yikes).  But I need a chair and I need it by tomorrow morning because I am in violation of personal prime directive #1 which should never be violated: thou shalt not use the dinning table as your makeshift office.  Ever. followed by #2: thou shall prohibit your husband and child the use of the dinning table as their makeshift offices/desks. Always. Under all circumstances. And logical insight #1: thou need to set a good example else husband and son will not comply.

So tonight I brought out the Duct tape (brought from California for adorable DIY, cheap wall improvement project) and glued the stupid boring fabric that I brought from California to reupholster the couch (that project is deader than dead) down.  I mean if the Myth Busters can suspend a car with Duct Tape I can affix some fabric .

The result is a bit embarrassing, actually quite embarrassing, but workable for now – that is unless somebody crawls under the chairs and sees the hack job I did.  What’s saving me, likely, is that guest who end up under the chair are normally no longer in a position to fairly judge the merits of a DIY project.