Claudia Rankin Ceramics

Claudia Rankin ceramics. Whimsical or juvenile? You decide.May make for a nice Christmas gift though.

Christmas Wishlist

1. Al Coro Amici Ring
2. Tom Ford Over-Priced, But Super Moist Lipstick

3.  Ormonde Jayne Bathing Kit

4. Ottomania Jade Earrings

5. La Duree Macaroon

6. A (Rip-Off of the Jamaican Flag) Scarf by Tom Ford

7. Anne Fontaine Cuff Links

What I'm getting me for Christmas. One of the ways of ensuring that I am never disappointed by any gift I get at Christmas is to buy myself exactly what I would want others to buy me. I think am extremely vain and self-indulgent and will be this way to my dying day. I don't fight it anymore. I give in. Especially at Christmas. In the midst of the making merry for the children and family members and friends, women in particular, I feel sure, forget to treat themselves. And if they do, they feel guilty for doing so. Count me out. I am getting me decadence and luxury for Christmas.

Kitchen After

 By the time we took lease of the house in Vilnius, it looked nothing at all like it did in the rental advertisement. Rental home decorating is not the easiest. I mean, it's not your home, so you are typically constrained by what your landlord allows you to do and also by common sense--again, it's not your home, so do not spend all your hard-earned cash renovating someone else's home. When I rented this home in Vinius I went in knowing that the place needed a little sprucing up...o.k. a lot of sprucing up. The pictures you've seen on the blog are no where near what I got. The home needed a lot of paint work, the kitchen cupboards were falling out, chipped and dirty; and some major industrial cleaning was needed. The landlord agreed to redeuce the rent because he had not done the necessary pre-rental renovation. Score for me. Also,  I really like the house and it comes with two garages and a sauna. Given this is a snow-cold country, it's great to have a sauna and two garages! So I couldn't pass on it. Not to mention that it is snuggly in the middle of a national park. Pretty forest land. And, on the plus side for me, is that many things in Lithuania cost on average 60 per cent less than what it would in Belgium. I kid you not. (Belgium is the country of punitive taxation...which makes everything super expensive). Lithuania only just started to use the Euro in January 2015 and some (only some things) are still on the more affordable side. Like paint. If you buy Lithuanian-made paint and light colours that do not require a lot of pigment added to the base coat then the paint comes at a really great price. And, my landlord, a really nice guy, agreed to the painting of the tiles, walls and the removal of the cupboards.

So basically, I went into this home knowing that I wanted to make it suitable to my needs. I am the one cooking in the kitchen, therefore I decide what the kitchen looks like and how, functionally, it can work best. So I threw out the cupboards (well I removed them and stored them in the basement) and painted the dated backsplash wall tiles white. I painted the kitchen a (somewhat) dark shade of grey and I installed shelves instead, in place of the cupboards. Cost? Lots and lots of elbow grease, sweat, and swears of frustration plus the cost of paint, nails, brackets and wood for the shelves. It's almost finished and I love it already.

What I needed was more kitchen storage and the shelves wouldn't have held all my tableware and pots and things. But I could not afford to, and did not want to buy my landlord a new kitchen...lol. So I went to the hardware store and found the cheapest treated wood I could find. All the wood cost 44 Euros in total. I had the hardware store cut the pieces to my specification. Cutting only cost 26 cents per cut.  I also had to find a solution for my cooking spoons, strainers and crepe pans. I settled on these Ikea kitchen wall hangers. I think they work well with the black commode.That chest under the commode holds all my tupperware and other plastic storage containers.

 I didn't want to paint the shelves grey but wanted them to connect with the grey walls, so I used grey brackets and painted just the ledge of the shelves grey-- also, allowing the natural wood colour on the shelf to coordinate/colour match with the counter tops. I did not change the lower cabinets. But I gave them a good scouring with some steel wool (like a good Jamaican girl). I keep my grocery in the lower cupboards along with my big family-size cooking pots.

 The Chinese figurine are stuff I collected over the years at the Marche Aux Puces in Brussels and the vases and jugs I bought 10 years ago at the Marshalls in Maryland.

 The glassware, tea cups, etc. are from my favourite street in Brussels, Rue de Brabante. I love shopping with the Arabs ( Moroccans really) and the Turks. They always have great tableware and tea service things. Always.

These cookbooks are not just for show. They are covered in greasey finger prints because I love to get inspiration from them, so I never keep these on a book shelf. They always have to be near the pot! I love Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) and I also follow a lot of her advice for keeping a functional kitchen.  One of her tips is to keep little tea spoons in a glass near the stove. You always need a clean spoon for adding seasoning, for dipping in the mustard jar and for tasting. Also, when you move, a lot of stuff gets re-purposed or used differently. If you saw the blog post of my old Brussels master bathroom, you may recognise this painting above the napkin holder. It used to hang above my bathroom commode, right above a towel holder. It's come full circle, hasn't it?  (Giggles...)

 Ikea drawer dividers and caddies came in very handy! All my serving spoons, chopsticks etc. found a nice little home in the commode. I am rubbish at the picture-taking, I know.

 

 This commode underwent a transformation too. I bought it at a brocante shop in Brussels. I mended its broken parts, added some wood putty over some rough edges and painted it black. And then I roughed it up a bit. Just because... The inside is painted purple. It holds my other cookbooks ( I buy a cookbook in every country I visit...), my favourite family photos (like one of my aunt on our trip to Venice) and my prized Czech antique tea set which I got at...you guessed it...the Marche Aux Puces in Brussels.

When it's all done, I'll get a professional to come and take better pictures. Promise. Happy weekend!

Hurrah! December!

 Hazel's first Christmas

Hazel's second Christmas

 

Hazel's third Christmas

I am six kinds of fool and twice as giddy when it is December. I love Christmas, Christmas decor, Christmas food, Christmas parties, Christmas dress-up and Christmas gifts. I always have a Christmas party for friends.Except for last year when we spent Christmas in Miami with my best friend. This year, in our first Lithuanian home, you can bet there will be a party or two or three! And, if you want to know more about what I do around this time of year, check this out.

Snow, Old and New

It's very white and bright in my neighbourhood. It's a winter wonderland. Lots of snow. Something very quiet happens whenever it snows, you know. It's like when I was growing up in Jamaica and if we had a power/electricity blackout, the entire neighbourhood went quiet, still, ghostly. That's what happens when it snows, I think. Everything goes quiet, still, ethereal, ghostly.

This morning am still working on putting my living and dining rooms together. This time, I am sorting artwork and pictures. I have an old painting I bought at a Brussels Brocante that was hanging in my living room. And, if you read this blog often, you may know I hate extremely modern homes and I love furnishings of all styles and periods but I prefer a mix of everything (old and new) in my home. So I love old gilt frames (sparingly used) and I love modern lithographs; so I am combining the two. Once the framing is done, it will go back in the living room again. I like the idea of re-purposing the gilt frame. 

'Tis The Season: Hostess Gifts

Cressida Bell is a discovery I made about two plus years ago. She is a great designer of pattern, and is versatile with her illustrative paint work. She designs and paints fabrics, cakes, lampshades, throw pillows and laundry bags. You will find great hostess gifts at her online shop. This year I may give phone cases or wrapping paper as hostess gifts.

Bedlam

This is the "before". Am painting walls, sanding and painting furniture, back- and forth-ing to Ikea, drilling holes, doing the school run and dancing to 3T's version of Lionel Ritchie's Stuck on You.  Basically, it's bedlam at mine right now. Insurmountable is the word at the moment. I am leaving it all though, and am  heading to Kaunas to hang with friends and do some horse-riding and spa-ing at one of my favourite getaways. See you you guys on Monday. I hope to have an "after" story to tell you.