Hot mess

So, here I am, now living in my impossible new apartment...but what to do with it???  I found myself in the novel position of being able to do whatever I want with this space (as long as I eventually return it to the landlady in pristine condition, obviously) for the first time in...well...ever.  I have always either had roommates, or been subletting, or house-sitting - I do believe that this is the very first time I have been the sole leaseholder/tenant and have free rein to make the whole apartment look exactly the way I want it to.  Gentle readers, the prospect was absolutely dizzying with excitement! 

However, there was a rather large problem with this - I was broke.  Between signing up for electricity, wifi, and insurance, not to mention the deposit and first month's rent, my bank account was totally cleaned out, which rather put a damper on my plans for making my home super-fabulous.  However, Miss K is the child of a resourceful Scottish mother and a German father whose wallet was so rarely used that moths flew out whenever he opened it, so I worked that genetic heritage to my advantage:  no money? no problem!  I swear I should have my own reality show about decorating on a budget ("How fast and how cheaply can Miss K make this place totally fabulous?") - as per the previous post, I ran around all over town looking for bargains during the big sales here, and if it wasn't at least 50% off, I didn't buy it.  Not to mention the lucky break of the previous tenant moving abroad and not wanting the hassle of moving or storing his furniture, he sold it to me for €300 (double bed including frame with under-bed storage, sofabed, bed-side cabinet, dining table, chair, two small side tables, a large tv cabinet, a microwave, a full-size fridge and a washing machine, not to mention dishes, glasses, cutlery, iron, ironing board, drying rack and various other sundries)- which also doesn't count because he hasn't yet sent me his bank details for payment, so that will be next month's financial problem.

I was also able to use various things I already owned:  a quilt (handmade by my lovely sister-in-law Belle Soeur) became a sofa cover, snazzy postcards were mounted in clip-frames and now adorn the walls, exquisite Louboutin shoes became decorations in their own right.  And my visits to every flea market and homewares store in town (I mean, seriously, if there is one I didn't get to, I would be very surprised - I even stopped in at the one with the life-sized, anatomically-correct bronze male nude in the window.  Hee!) yielded results - I am now living in the best version of this apartment that I could make happen on this exceedingly limited budget.  And it's awesome: white walls, wooden floors, black furniture, and my little touches: orchids, leopard print, peacock feathers, baroque mirrors, perfume ads from the 1920s and 50s, paintings of Buddha, silver candlesticks, and silk-covered feather pillows in  rich shades of turquoise and magenta.  It's tranquil, relatively minimalist but slightly exotic, definitely glamorous, with a hot mess of eclectic styles that somehow work together - in other words, perfect for me.

But you may be asking yourself: why is Miss K not posting any photos of this proud accomplishment?  Well, because I'm not quite done yet.  It's about 95% finished, but I still have a couple of photos being enlarged for framing, a few plants to acquire, and a little bit of shelf painting to do, but once that's done, rest assured that I will be sharing my photos with you - are you kidding?  If I could have y'all over for cocktails to show it to you in person, I would...