Curtain call

Yesterday, I was at the country estate (ahem), doing the final preparations for overnight stays. I washed the bedroom windows and removed the inner panes. I had thrifted some curtains as I feel they are necessary for privacy. I was originally looking for some gingham curtains, but then I saw these!

Oh boy! They are acrylic curtains from the 60's or 70's in teal and green and they are 🌟perfect🌟 for this room as it is right now. I think the walls were painted around the same time these curtains were popular 😄 Somehow, they make the green walls look better. Yes, there's only one curtain per window, what you gonna do. 

(By the way, have you tried buying new curtains recently? Everything is monochrome beige or white, ugh!)

Mattress is mattressing, check...

Last rodent portals covered, check...

Proceeded to scrubbing the outhouse! 'Tis a glamorous life. Yes, there are fallen trees looming over us but never mind that now.

It was basically impossible to photograph inside. There were old wasps nests and fly stains on the untreated wood walls and floors. I scraped and scrubbed everything from the ceiling to the floors. It got a bit cleaner, but none of the stains actually came out. I think painting is the only course of action to make it look clean again. At this point in the day, it was 27 degrees in the shade and thunder was rumbling in the distance. The mosquitoes had spawned since last weekend and boy, were those bloodsuckers hungry. 

I'm planning to paint the inside a sunny yellow with Ottoson's linseed oil paint in Yellow Ochre. The walls will be the lightest hue, the floors the middle and some details will be painted in the undiluted colour. This part of the garden is very shaded so the outhouse needs a bit of cheer. White is so boring, don't you think? Using colour can be perceived as "neutral" when applied with skill. With this I mean that colourful interiors can also feel balanced and restful, you don't need white for that.

For the outside, I'm thinking Ribban Green. A new set of steps would also be a nice addition for safety, in a heat treated wood. And I need to do something about the standing water in the ditch, these mosquitoes are not good neighbours.

The garden is really starting to green. I wondered on the drive there if there would be any apple blossoms, as I've started to see those in the city. And there was, even on some trees I presumed dead ("Steven! I thought you were ded!"), but you can really see the apple trees are struggling because there are flowers only on a few branches here and there. The biggest oak tree is a bit behind in leaf growth, wonder if that's normal? The smaller oaks in the yard seem fully leafed out.

Today, I treated myself to some thrifting. I found this oil painting of bread that I immediately liked. It's painted with skill and felt very homey and atmospheric. I'm thinking of hanging it close to the baking oven ☺️ 🥖

I also found some cutlery and this old organiser! It has dovetails in the corners and looks old and well-made. I've never seen anything similar thrifting so I had to grab it, even though it was pretty dirty and worn. Hopefully I can clean it up. I decided earlier to try and find some old Sorsakoski steel cutlery for the cottage, and immediately found some. Usually you can find these in random boxes at thrift stores, which you then have to dig through, but it's just part of the fun! I like the Musla clam motif also, those are a bit harder to find in stainless steel. But I found this ladle for 2 € which was a nice price. 

I never really know if you can get this old flatware buffed up or not, usually it looks a bit dull and grey at the thrift. It seems to be a bit of a gamble, since one of the spoons I bought was perhaps too tarnished and didn't respond to my buffing efforts. But the others I bought seemed to clean up nice enough! It's just so fun to have something to be on the hunt for 🧐. Old things also add to the general ambience, details are important.