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.

 

 

Progress

Now that we are moved in (I refrain from saying “all moved in” because we are far from “all”) I am happy about the little things, like light in the bathroom.

Yesterday we moved geek-boy’s bed from my parents house and with that we were committed to the move.  It was not really a very auspicious day for such an undertaking.  We had shampooed the carpets the day before (sunny clear day) and rinsed with plenty of water – the carpets are much nicer now – but they were rather wet.  In California this would have been a matter of a few hours, warm dry air will do a number on wet stuff.  Here, it rained and so we moved into an apartment with wet floors and when we open the windows damp air rushed in.  I hate the feeling of being wet, wet socks being the worst and here I was in wet socks on a wet carpet in an entirely grey and wet day.  It all eerily reminded me of the first few day of the southern Indian monsoon I once experienced or that time in Vietnam where my silk blouse got moldy from not drying for days. Alas, here I was in southern Germany.

Geek-Boy’s room starting to look somewhat comfy.

I woke up this morning under my huge down comforter to somewhat improved conditions: carpets were markedly getting drier and the rain had stopped.  The other significant improvements achieved during the day include: a light in the bedroom, living room and geek-boy’s room (okay, bare bulbs for now, bought for cheap at the hardware store under the label “renovation kit” – here is to a good idea!), a little cabinet under the sink in the bathroom so my stuff is no longer lying on the bathroom floor, champagne glasses and other kitchen stuff provided by mom put away (I sometimes wonder what the woman thinks of me if she considers champagne glasses a must have for me within 24 hours of moving into a new apartment), a semblance of order created in geek-boys closet, curtains hung and the yellow shower curtain with clowns exchanged for something blissfully – you knew it – white.  Oh – I also worked, conference calls and all. Just saying.

The projects still unfinished or unstarted would fill many pages so I spare you the details – for now.  Just happy to sit here and actually being able to see the keys on my keyboard and to glance across the room to my haphazardly decorated second hand living room “entertainment thingy (it is really not a “center”) sporting my Thai Buddha and Mexican crocodile plus the cubes with pics of Highway 101 I made back in California and hauled over here.

It’s the little things …..

 

 

 

The New Designer Couch!

I scored it! I was 10 minutes early this morning (which means right on time for the German sense of punctuality and absurdly early by American standards) and was greeted by a bunch of guys who know me by now.

The famous new couch with the new old steamer trunk couch table. Carpet ideas welcome!

My couch was there waiting for me and proved to be immaculate.  It is indeed a beautiful, light grey, modern designer couch which I was told was 1800 Euro new (the boss lady said she saw the original purchase receipt) and I got for 130 Euros.   Even if she fibbed a bit and that thing was only 900 Euro it is still a steal.  I even got some help from my new best friends (I seem to be making lots of them these days, sometimes it really helps to be an extrovert from humble beginnings – I am perfectly happy to speak with anybody about almost anything including where to buy the best used cars, the fact that the German bus system is not what it used to be and that German TV personalities make too much money and am generally able to not make snarky comments about things dear to the average German, such as soccer).

They packed the couch in my parents’ car (bless that 80s style Opel with the huge loading area) and then two of them jumped on their bikes, rode over to the apartment and helped me get the couch up to the third floor, removing and reattaching feet and all.  I gave them both a generous tip (not standard in Germany and hence appreciated even more) and have already signed them up to help me do some old couch removal work on Friday.

Love that place!  In my next life I want to be a second hand stuff dealer.

Next I scored what I believe to be an old steamer trunk from my mom’s basement and after a bit of cleaning I think it will make a perfect couch table.  I am imagining a glossy tray in a yet to be determined color on top.

The pink faux lawn turns out to be the problem.  I did find some online but not in the hot pink I imagined and at 36 Euros per sqm it seems a bit excessive. Since I need at least 4 sqm this would end up costing more than the couch.  I don’t think so.  Next plan … still need to dream that one up.  I’d appreciate your ideas!

 

Renovation Tales

These days I sport what could almost pass for a French manicure – if it wasn’t for the telltale white paint streaks all over my hands, arms and the occasional snow white strand of hair. These signs betray the fact that I did play with paint, rather than nail polish, and lots of it.  In fact, 4 big old 11 liter paint buckets. All white.  All used up but for a small remnant.

Now everything is white, every last wall in the apartment, all the ceilings plus the curtains and the linen (not from paint of course), I covered the wooden headboard with a vintage linen as well. It looks nice and clean especially compared to the old wallpaper, in faded shades of peach, yellow and beige. I hate peach, pastelly yellow and beige with a vengeance especially mixed and faded.

Today I was on the quest for a night stand and found – a grey couch.  High up on a pile of other stuff in the warehouse of the Goodwill equivalent.  I couldn’t believe my luck.  I haven’t had the chance to inspect it in its entirety.  It was close to closing hours and not even the prospect of what must be a larger sale in the context of the local Goodwill equivalent was enough to convince the employees to stay a little longer.  It’s Germany after all and when the store closes, the store closes – and that is that.

Now the guys at the warehouse at the local Goodwill equivalent are fast becoming my best friends (in addition to Helmut,  the paint guy at the local hardware store) and I have gained regular access to the warehouse despite the fact that it is strictly speaking “verboten” to be in the warehouse.  So my new best friend today promised to hold the couch for me until tomorrow morning.

Assuming that there won’t be a huge red wine stain on the part I haven’t seen yet I have just scored one of the big remaining items I need.  Keep your fingers crossed that my new best friend will indeed be loyal and not sell the thing the minute before I get there.

That leaves me to sort out the carpet situation.  Tricky one. There are red, classically patterned carpets to be had everywhere, plus the usual “modern” ones that delight – not – with their absurd choice of colors (purple, orange and beige with black stripes anybody?) and  patterns.  Bleaching and dying a carpet seems to be a rather intimidating process with little chance of success – or so I read online.  And since I am not much into knitting and crocheting carpets that whole carpet situation is still somewhat up in the air.  The closest I have come to a cheap solution is a piece of artificial lawn.  I hear they come in different colors – but not in hot pink – and somehow the idea of a hot pink piece of artificial lawn as a carpet with all the white and grey sounds enticing.

I am sure you agree, right?