1920’s Apartment – A Facelift

Me and the Mr recently bought a two-room apartment. The building is from 1920’s and location is downtown. Perfect! I instantly fell in love with the place.

The apartment has been renovated heavily in the 1980’s and some small things have been done in the 1990’s, but frankly it’s in a poor shape. The former owner has lived abroad for at least last ten years and has been renting the place during that time. It’s really no surprise that the whole place needs some TLC.

There are some major renovations coming up during the next two or three years though. They’re going to redo the electric wires and plumbing in the whole building. This might mean that they’ll have to open floors and walls to get things done. So it wouldn’t be very wise to do expensive renovation that would be ruined just year or two later… (There went my beautiful tile flooring in the hall and kitchen. Tiles are already bought, but I’ll just have to wait.)

Layout of the apartment

I still need to do something so we can actually live there (as soon as possible). Thinking it over and over again I came up with a plan. I have a very tight budget for anything that is only temporary or might not be “permanent”. I want to make the place look fresh and appealing for nearly nothing. I’ll have to use what I have as much as possible, but a little paint can take you a long way. ;)

I'll post more about our renovation as we make progress. I think first room we'll finish will be kitchen, but let's see how it goes.

Xmas nails

Time for Christmas decorations...



I used Isadora Magnetic Nails "Opposites Attract" as base... looks kinda like a Christmas tree. ;) The dots were made using a toothpick and three different pastel nail polishes. Not perfect because the top coat softened the base a little and the waves are not as sharp as they looked before applying the top coat... but so what?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas preparations

I love the holiday season and start singing Santa Baby already in November, so in my world, it's Christmas already. I love wrapping presents, especially now when Pinterest is full of cool ideas. One of my favorites this year is making a fold in wrapping paper, so you can slide the card inside the fold.

Here's my most recent gift wrapping idea: Tea bag inspired gift tag. I just cut a blank gift tag shorter and drew a tea cup on it and a text "for perfect mornings". Can't tell you yet what the gift contains, sorry!

I've tried to keep decorations to minimum this year, but I couldn't resist making a ginger bread house. I think there was some miscalculation with the roof size though...

The only Christmas decoration allowed in my kitchen, polka dot hearts.

And Washi tape around the glass jar lids.

Treasures and trinkets

While visiting my parents yesterday we went through some old boxes containing stuff that used to belong to my late granparents and other relatives. My mother gave me promision to take whatever I liked... 

 

That little jewelry box actually was mine. I can't remember where I got it... I might have bought it myself when I was around 12 years, who knows...

The pocket watch used to belong to my granfather and might have something to do with WWII. It seems well worn, but still has the original winding key. There's also beautiful engraving inside the back cover: anchor and barrels. The amethyst ring was my granmothers, just like the delicate looking necklace. Not worth much, but I used to admire these as a child whenever I saw my granny wearing these.

My godmother and godfather are selling their place and wanted to get rid of some old stuff, so I got my hands on some lovely costume jewelry my godmother had. I love the collar-like pearl necklace and the vintage watch. I've been meaning to get a tiny teeny watch like this for ages. It's really simple and stylish, in need of a new wristband, and definitely something that I need to remove before going to shower or doing the dishes... Sigh. I guess this means that I have to grow up.

The oddest thing is the little pill box. It belonged to my great-granmother who died before I was born. The box was inside her handbag with some other stuff and still contained around ten pills. I got rid of the pills, but a pill box is something I've also been looking for. Not only do I have one now, but also one that has been in the family for generations. ;)

Chalkware, chalkware on the wall...

Yes, I have the occasional weakness for vintage chalkware wall plaques. And I'm still searching for those perfect oriental chalkware figures for my future mid century styled shadow boxes...

 

These two owls I've had a while now in the lobby. I really love the dark coffee brown color (against the latte colored wall) with the gold accents... they work perfectly together. Maybe I'll find a third one to keep them company someday? 

 

Here's what I got today, sunflowers! Yay!

I'm not sure where to hang these yet. These belonged to my godmother (Thank you!!!) and I know they predate 1980's, but I'm not sure whether these are from 70's or 60's. (My best bet is 1970's.) All really I know is that I've loved these ever since I first saw these when I was little.

Here comes the sun(flower)... And I say it's all right...

I need to knit something cute asap!

The weather's getting a bit chilly here in Finland. Not cold enough for proper winter hat, but just perfect for wearing a soft woolly head band. I came up with an idea to knit a head band in tube so it can be twisted and still look the same on both sides. I made it wide enough so I can hide occasional bad hair day with it.

I used some left over yarn (it matches my rubber boots!) from my stash. I've made head bands before, but this one was the first one I knitted in round. Super easy one night (or two) project while watching TV. I used 5 double pointed needles, 40 stitches, plain knit all the way. When it was long enough to go around my head, I ended it with "slip one - knit one & pass slipped stitch over". Then just twisted once and hand stitched the ends neatly together. I used less than one ball of yarn, so I still got some left for possible decorations, perhaps a crochet flower?

I think the pale pink head band would look cool on someone with darker hair. Maybe I'll make one in black too!

The latest flame...

I recently discovered Miss L Fire shoes... and their webstore. The shoes looked so fabulous I couldn't help myself. I ordered two pairs that were on sale.

Even though they are pretty, I truly fell in love after I tried them on. They're like heaven to wear! And very well made with good quality materials. I simply Need more of these. ;)



Some of my favourites.

Want to see more? Look here. ;)