Who shrank my flat?

Yesterday I went back to the flat for the first time and I walked in thinking 'Hurrah, I still like it!  It's just that someone took away 50sq feet from the hallway...'

You know that extreme tracking shot they use in horror films for the moment of the denouement, where the viewpoint stays static and the world rushes past?  Yeah, it was like that, in my memory.  In reality it's rather more bijou.  Probably because I haven't been there since the beginning of May which really is such a long time ago. I had mistakenly remembered a huge hallway - which I was papering with feature wallpaper in my head - when in fact it's probably just about big enough to extend your arms out fully and twirl around in a giddy circle, thinking 'This is my new house! Mine!'.  Note I didn't say "to swing a cat in" because I don't think they'd really like that.  On the feline space issue - I'm a bit concerned that I'll either have to situate their litter tray in the human bathroom (eeeew) or replace the entire balcony door as I'm not sure that a cat flap could be fitted to the double-glazed door.  Add 'find local double glazing company' to the list.

That's all ok.  I will just have to really start to rationalise the amount of stuff that I am able to take with me.  No, I know I've been saying that, I just have to start acting on it.  I forsee a lot of black bin bags/freecyling in my immediate future...can I really do that?  I have the fear that I'm a clutter junkie. Certainly I am excellent at amassing stash and supplies without utilising them; of buying clothes I won't wear; of hoarding shoes that are no longer practical for me - the list goes on.

Do I really use the big bedroom as a studio, and the smaller one as the boudoir (Oh yeah, I am so a boudoir type of girl - not) or live in the large room.  That's the other dilemma at the moment - trying to figure out what to do with the place.  Not just from a what colour/wallpaper or paint viewpoint, but how much design goes into it.  I've been toying with all sorts of ideas, partly inspired by lots of bloggy people and links that you've sent me, thanks for that.  I suppose I am thinking back to when I moved in here to the house and at first we lived with the frigging hideous stencilling.  For a year or more.  When I got to sorting it,  it felt right to decorate it in harmony with the age of the property (1896) , and to also make it warm but neutral and in some ways a little formal.  A little less 'Changing Rooms'.  And not so yellow, red and green - the traffic light school of home decor!  Though ironically I ended up choosing a colour for the anaglypta which was not unlike the one that had been above the dado rail in the first place.

Now I'm looking at a much smaller space and I wonder how to make it seem more spacious, doing 'enough' to it without going overboard.  The kitchen fitter came in yesterday to measure up and I suffered option paralysis when it came to choosing which ranges I was interested in.  It's curious as many of my friends seem to know my taste better than I do, they point out something and say 'that's so you!' and they are on the money.  For myself, I can't close my eyes at the moment and picture how the flat will look - apart from lusting after a Danish sofa for the sitting room.  But apparently they are difficult to track down because of course they aren't compliant with current fire regulations so have to be (expensively) reupholstered before sale nowadays.  But I found some here... along with a classic case in point of my indecisiveness - I saw this sofa and thought - perfect!  That's exactly what I am looking for...

   

Yup, that's the one.  Then I scrolled down the page...

Oooooooohhhhh.....

How exactly do you marry up those styles (in a house without separate wings)?  How can my tastes fluctuate  so wildly, like a compass near a magnet?  Don't tell me it's just about the colour.  Hmmmmm.

In other news, there has been a little crafting.  As I confessed yesterday to Ting as we were knitting in London Fields, bathed in glorious sunshine,  I have been a bad sister and still haven't bound this, (for my brother's friend's baby) though I'm really happy with the way it has turned out:

[Well, that was after I ripped out the tiniest machine stitches because (and this always happens with me - can you offer any hints. might be to do with tension?) while they looked ok in the middle of the quilt, the end of the line was puckered and I couldn't live with it, so I ripped it all out. Painstakingly, and of course the initial idea behind machine quilting was to make it all quicker and then it took me a week's worth of evenings to remove out the miniscule stitches...]

The Clap is also coming along...

I'm meeting a couple of lovely ladies, co-incidentally both fellow clappers today to wander down the King's Road to look at house stuff, get a little knitting in, then catch a movie perhaps.  What a lovely way to Sunday.   

Comments

[ainelivia]

Hallo fg, your post today makes me feel much better. I'm not the only one "amassing supplies" and running out of space to store.
It's just that I tend to buy stuff, thinking do I want to come all the way back for this when I could use the time making something. I bet you know what I mean.

Your "unbound guilt", sorry I meant to say "unbound quilt"!! The photo tells me that the wadding might be part of the problem, I have encountered this too when I began to machine quilt and stopped being so purist about the quilting.

Machine quilting is so much faster, though the unpicking of machine quilt stitches is horrendously and frustratingly slow.

So here's my newly discovered solution to my problem. Talking about this problem to a supplier one day, she suggested I use Thermodore Wadding. It is flatter, I think the technical term is "low-loft wadding". Just finished machine-quilting my latest where I've used Thermodore. The quilt construction is Top, Thin Voile Fabric, Thermodore Wadding, Backing. I have been able to machine quilt through all four layers without running into the stitch problem you describe, which I've experienced soooo often in the past. And it is such a relief. Whoo-hoo.

Another thing to look at is speed control lever on your machine, mid to slow I find best when machine-quilting. And also the foot-pressure dial.

And I have a question: in the photo the wadding and backing are bigger than the top. Is there a method reason for this? I was wondering if you use the backing to fold forward and create the binding. Which would save on creating a seperate one. Interesting, please let me know, I'm curious.

Good luck with the refurbishing. Love your phrase "traffic light school of home decor".

[claire]

My recommendation is that you sort the stuff you don't want into a huge pile in the middle of the floor and invite people over for a freecycling party.

(don't tell them that the "cost" of the item is that they need to help pack a box)

[julie]

It's strange that when you go back everything seems slightly smaller - I've had that happen to me before too! Good luck with getting everything sorted.

[Helen Conway]

Get the second sofa - the arms are much more comfortable for leaning against when you are curled up knitting. Unless those bin bags have loads of cushions in which case I guess it doesn't matter!!
Do you ever watch spendaholics on TV? Not sayng you are one - its just that the presnters make the 'subjects' sell all their stuff and its amazing what goes on ebay.. maybe you get enought for that Danish sofa?
PS Glad to see at least one lawyer is doing his job!!

[dottycookie]

Oooh, your new front door is gorgeous! Your feelings about the flat being larger in your memories ring horribly true - we had the same with our house, but we had fallen in love with it at first sight so that was that. Somehow it meant I even managed not to notice that all the woodwork in 2 of the bedrooms had been painted royal blue - I mean, really, how could I have missed that?!

It will all be beautiful - and all yours!

[Fliss]

Having just moved into our new house, we realised that we needed to marry up our own distinct styles, and the individual style fluctations that we both have. On the one hand there's all the space age perspex and light fittings, on the other there's the mass of 70s teak and oak that we've amassed. Throw into that a varied art collection, an assortment of fabrics, a ridiculous collection of vintage B&O stereos, not to mention the pervasive laminate floor that we inherited and it's a recipe for disaster. Actually, with careful planning the room looks great, and it IS possible to get round all your taste extremes. Colour is important - use a wall colour that ties all the pieces together and an accent that links across. We've orange lights, a purple sofa and a cream sofa that are tied together by a fawn/musroom on the walls and matching rug. A fabulous picture on the wall we bought also has all the colours in it for extra cohesion. Zone your stuff. We have several different wood finished going on, so have not put more than one wood piece in the same area to minimise the clashing of grain (a REAL pet hate of mine!). Oh, and I know what you mean about forgetting about the royal blue bedrooms. I'd conveniently forgotten the aqua bathroom walls (why God, why???? It's not the 90s - move on people) and the orange kitchen 'feature' wall. Good luck with it all - can't wait to see progress. I may even nick some ideas!

[Christine]

With regard to the puckering of the quilt, - you need a 'walking foot' and use the lowest speed on your machine. At least, that's what worked for me!

[Rebecca (living sustainably and felting in rural Ireland)]

Hi. Wow so much has happened since I've been away digging spuds and eating pigs! I LOVE the black and white flooring, and I vote for sofa number 2!
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[Rebecca (living sustainably and felting in rural Ireland)]

Hi. Wow so much has happened since I've been away digging spuds and eating pigs! I LOVE the black and white flooring, and I vote for sofa number 2!
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