Operation Move - Step Three

Part Three has involved quite a few purchases. Hmm. Not really good considering I have no money. But hey, I am selling old stuff and using the money from that to buy new stuff. Isn't that the responsible way to do it? It is in my book!

My lovely cousin, Sabrina, has been helping me loads with getting ready for the move. We love hanging out and have so many things in common. She recently moved back home after having lived in Copenhagen for a few years. It's great to have her close by again. As you can see we heart hanging out! She helps carry moving boxes, she helps clean and drives me all over town. Well, today was a longer drive to get to a destination we both love so dearly: IKEA!


Ikea is my best friend! At least when I have money to spend there. Otherwise I hate the cheap cheating slag waving all the cheap furniture and great deals in my face! Uh, easy now... Ikea is a good place, don't taint it!

Anyway, getting away from the point. We went to Ikea today, and I think my husband, Martin, was really glad that we chose to go alone and not insisting he came with us. He, like any other man on the planet I guess, hates Ikea. So off we went in Sabrina's massive Ford station car, ready to load it to the max. In my attempt to be responsible and cost effective, I had written a list of things I needed and done calculations of how much money I would need to spend. Needless to say, the list didn't resurface from my bag until the ride home. I actually didn't buy a whole lot of stuff I didn't need. Sure?! No, really!

The things I had to buy were shelves for DVD's - which we have loads of, another carpet, bed sheets, a bath curtain and cheap boxes for my closet for all my delicates :) I got all of that, being the list follower that I am. What I didn't need to buy I bought as well. I bought extra shelves for DVD's - one would never be enough. Also, my earlier mentioned Shepard Fairey posters needed frames as well. They were hella expensive, because the posters are so big. But it will look absolutely amazing! And it is the one thing my husband would really like to put up on the walls of our apartment, so of course they need proper fitting and they can be put up. Then I bought new umbrellas, because we walk quite a lot since we sold our car, and there is "no such thing as bad weather", apparently. Inspired by the ever cool Jessica Jones of howaboutorange.blogspot.com, I chose the orange ones. Then I bought small things like gift wrapping supplies, stickers, toilet brush - you know, the essentials!

Our local Ikea closed down its gift wrapping department quite a while ago. It has been impossible to find any cool gift paper, ribbon or anything, really. But now they have reopened that "department" with a small, but cool and essential collection. Last time I bought these green delights! Gift paper, ribbon, silk paper, masking tape, a book and gift tags. Such a cool design. On my visit to Ikea today I went with the pink version. Green and pink look cool together, so I can mix and match, and the colours are for boys and girls.

I feel like I have done a great job and that we really needed these things in order for us to make the apartment extra cool. All the black frames with cool posters, the green carpets under the dining table and the sofa table will look absolutely amazing. I wish we could afford a new couch that would fit the style a bit better, but money doesn't grow on trees! Who knew?!

Also buying the stuff to fill your apartment with is such a cool process. Before you can decorate a place, you need to buy the stuff to decorate with. Mission accomplished!

Now bring on the pasta and the oatmeal for the rest of the month!

Decorating a new place - the real reason for moving!

We are moving. Up until now we have lived in my aunt's house while she has been working in Norway as a nurse. Now she has announced her "home-coming" and we have to find a new place to stay.

Luckily, we found a lovely little flat not far from both of our parents and some of our friends. The only reason I say "luckily" is because we have sold our car (!). If we live close to either of our parents we have easy access to a car whenever we feel too bound down and bored of things within "walking distance". Of course, it is not the only reason!! It also means that my mum won't have to walk that far to come and do the cleaning and general house keeping while we are out driving in her car... haha, I only write this because I know my mum isn't reading this :) :)

One of the absolute pleasures of moving into a new place is the chance to decorate completely empty rooms! Over the past few months we have changed our interior decorating style. We have always had second-hand furniture, mix-matched tree sorts, all kinds of colours and it has all been a bit messy and old-fashioned. Now we are streamlining the style to being more of the same basic colours which I can then spruce up by adding cool, homemade pillows or hanging colourful posters in my black frames.

I can't wait to get a more classic look in my home. Lots of white furniture, preferably old, quirky drawers or cabinets with cool designer items on top with magnificent colours. This also means that I get to go antiquing so I can look for a new cabinet for my dinnerware and Royal Copenhagen collection. Yes!

One of my ideas is also to get some vintage looking art on the walls. I found these free printables via howaboutorange.blogspot.com - originally from designeditor.typepad.com, and I just love them!

Cool, vintage cameras put in a classic, black frame. It doesn't get much better than that! All you have to do is download the files, take them to your local copy-store and they can make it any size you want. I still need to get my copies printed, but it will be done! I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished results in the new flat.


I have also been on the look-out for pillows, so I have an actual excuse/reason to make new pillows cases. I have so much cool fabric tucked away in my craft boxes and it need to be used! Well, I might forget about the fabric I already have and then pay fabricrehab.co.uk another visit to order some of their cool, vintage fabrics. There are some of the retro fabrics they stock that I find it hard to live without - especially the Geekly Chic line. They got me hooked and I am a true fabric addict. Oh my goodness, I am getting extra excited about the prospect of all this work!

It is going to be so great to live a place, where we are not living there on borrowed time. Don't get me wrong, it has been absolutely lovely living in my aunt's house, but there has always been a deadline over our heads. It will be great to not have that. Even if Lady Luck blesses us with a child at some point we can still stay in the flat if we need to. It is big enough for that. So we are set for the next couple of years!

I'll post pictures of the sewing projects I will embark on when we move. And most likely, I'll also post updates on the interior decoration, because I am getting oddly excited by that prospect right now. Maybe because we have been living in someone else's furniture for a 1½, and it is going to be so great to see our own stuff again outside of a storage box!

July 1st, please come now!