Before and after

I just realised I had not posted a proper picture of the dining room wall before it was painted blue. So here are the before and after pictures. The current furniture goes better with the beige, but soon we will have a new mirror, new chairs and the table will have a new lighter colour. Hopefully everything will come together then.

Dining room plan in progress

We are slowly making progress in the dining room. Our new teak cabinet finally arrived and we like the way it looks. It is not quite as deep as we ordered, so it provides less storage space for our CDs, but a good thing is it takes less space now. We still need to decide the final finish for the cabinet, so for now it will stay untreated. We either tint/wax the whole cabinet with the same lovely warm tone that we are planning to use for the dining table top, or tint/wax only the top and paint the rest white. Decisions, decisions...
The wall behind the dining table has also changed colour. We were aiming for slightly greyish blue, but it turned out to be a bit brighter than planned, oops. That can always be corrected by adding some black to the paint and painting another layer. However, first we want to wait until the dining table, CD cabinet and buffet cabinet are finished. We are also replacing the dark mirror with a new one. Perhaps this blue wall will look better against those lighter colours. We will see.

Coffee table

When we bought this coffee table from Steedehuys it was just lacquered pine. Initially we planned to paint it completely white, but then we opted for this dual coloured look. Now when the table is finally finished I have to say I am very pleased with the end result. I really like the combination of warm wood and fresh white. The table top just needs some extra treatment and then it will be perfect.

Small updates

The top of this small cabinet keeps changing all the time. We are still waiting for our new teak cabinet. We ordered it back in October last year and it will FINALLY arrive on Monday. Phew, what a long wait! Then we still need to paint it, but at least we are finally making some progress with our dining room plan.

We bought these candlesticks yesterday from Steedehuys in Haarlem. I like the "patina" and the shape of them. I seem to be obsessed with candlesticks and -holders. My boyfriend thinks we will soon be up to our eyeballs in candlesticks and he is probably right ;-)

This small delicate pencil drawing is by my great uncle Pepe. He was a great man with a personality larger than life. His specialty were watercolours and pencil drawings of Finnish landscapes and old buildings.

Back to white

Pink lasted about a month, but now I have gone back to white. The dark brown leather chair belongs to my boyfriend and surprisingly he suggested we should replace it with a bit more comfortable and lighter colour chair. He has been very much into dark colonial furniture in the past (for example our dining room furniture is his), but now he is singing a different tune ;-) He has become a big fan of white and other light neutral colours, which is great. White just makes the rooms look so much more spacious, and lighter of course.
The candlesticks are from The Mill and the silk cushion cover from Pentik (a present from my mother).

Slowly slowly

Last couple of months have been very frustrating for me. Currently I am suffering of RSI - Repetitive Strain Injury (due to too much computer work) and it has been very bad, although now slowly getting better. I have not been allowed to touch a computer, so have been heavily depending on my boyfriend's help with my blog.

I have taken the photos and written the texts on paper. Then my boyfriend has done the actual computer work in order to publish my posts, bless him :-) In order to save his time I have tried to keep things short and sweet.

There are so many lovely blogs out there and I am dying to dig into them, post loads of comments etc. However, currently I am not really able do much of that at all. Such a shame. Slowly slowly it is getting better, but it will still take some time. I just have to be very VERY patient :-)

New couch

Our new couch arrived today and we love it. I have had this Ikea's Ektorp couch before, but I left it behind when I moved to The Netherlands. Ever since I have been pining after it and now we have it again. It is such a comfortable couch, very cheap and it also looks nice. We got three different covers for it; this flower pattern, a beige and a white one. So if we get bored with flowers, we just flip another one on. So easy :-) Now I just need to replace few cushion covers...

Cigar press

Old cheese moulds and cigar presses, anything goes in our household. I like these old rustic pieces where you can see the patina developed over time. I reckon they make the interior a bit more interesting. I quite happily mix different styles and new & old together, as long as it pleases my eye.

Old cheese mould

This is an old(ish) Dutch cheese mould, or in Dutch kaasmaker. We found it from a second hand shop in Lisse and liked it as an object, even before we knew what is was. Funny enough, we use it as a decoration in our living room. It sits right next to our Indian box and I reckon they fit together just fine, although they are worlds apart.

Indian box

I like the Nordic/Scandinavian style, but also Asian/Oriental style. I found this old Indian box from an antiques market at The Hague. The dealer told me it is a wedding box, given as a present to a wedding couple (perhaps filled with something). I have no idea if this is true, but it does not really matter. I like it a lot :-)

Sugar sticks

I got these sugar sticks from Dille & Kamille. I find them so pretty I almost do not have a heart to use them. They are like little jewels and they definitely make a simple cup of coffee a wee bit more special.

Pretty in pink

It is a gorgeous weather today, again. Blue sky, sunshine and birds singing. So I could not help myself and ended up coming home with few more cheery pink details. Primulas start off the spring. But no more pink after this! I think I have reached my limits ;-)

Walking on sunshine

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous for several days now. What a difference does it make. I went for a nice long walk and gladly took a camera with me. Bulb fields are still empty, but within two months they will be filled with beautiful tulips, hyacinths and daffodils/narcissus. Can hardly wait :-)

Have a lovely day!

Bedroom mirror

Our bedroom was heading towards a paler romantic style until quite recently. I saw this huge mahogany mirror at Hoet's Antiek and fell in love with it. Even thought it was a bit too big for our house, I just had to have it :-)

I half suggested we should paint it white, but my boyfriend said that would be crazy and would ruin the mirror. I still toy with the idea although I know he is right. So for now I better kiss goodbye to a paler nordic style. But I will definitely paint the candle sticks white! :-)

"Madonna shop"

Few pictures from a local antique shop that has a huge section dedicated to religious statues. They range from very colourful and huge examples, which are taller than me, to tiny pure white ones. Anyway, this is where we got our Madonnas from and I have a funny feeling we will be back for more...

Bedroom details

I have not been able to decide the style of the bedroom, so currently it is a bit of a mix of everything. Some items bought, some inherited from my boyfriend's granny. We still need to make a curtain for the shelving to cover the baskets. I also want to find a new artwork to replace the existing one. Hopefully it all will come together at some point...

Lovely surprise

I want to thank Marjolijn for passing on the "You make my day" award. What a wonderful surprise. Completely unexpected and it made me very happy :-)
Please visit her lovely blog Something White.


As I am so new in these blog circles I do not know enough people to pass this on yet but I will do so as soon as possible :-)

Dining room corner

This dark wooden cabinet will soon be replaced with a white one. For now few white candles and Madonnas are bringing some light into this corner. The simple icon belonged to my granny.

I wanted to find an all white Madonna and managed to do so last weekend (the one on the left). She looks so serene and beautiful. I have promised to give the small Madonna on the right to my mother.

Ideas for the garden

Few weeks ago, while strolling the pretty side streets of Leiden, we encountered this shop selling all kinds of garden ornaments and features. At first I was not even sure if it was a shop or someone's garden, but then saw few people browsing around and went in. The courtyard garden looked great and I really liked some of the ornaments. Prices were pretty high though, but one can always dream...