Lamps - an old subject

Some typical subject for this blog has been lamps. 

We have though lived in the house for about 12 years and still, there are plenty of lamps to fix. One of the rooms that have deserved a bit of love "lightwise" is the kitchen, as when the sun goes down, it is basically impossible to cook (and still it is, on the southwest side of it) as it is dark, no matter which lights one has turned on.

I have had hard time thinking what kind of lamp would suit in the kitchen. The current kitchen is not what should be the "final" kitchen and the idea I have in mind for that one is closer to a modern interpretation of a turn of the century kitchen (we are talking of the beginning of the 1900-century). 

The kitchen spot that needed a lamp/light

I should have therefore been thinking of some wall lamp in Jugend style, but I never managed to find any that would convince me. Also, we had at the same time to provide some form of lamp in the pentry. 

When we came to view the house when it was on sale, there was a nice globe there. When we moved in in the  house there was just a lightbulb. I was hoping to find something that would fit that without having to make drastic changes, but that was not really possible.

The lightbulb support that was in the pentry

I had a thought in mind on how we should fix both places, but at the end I bought something on some Facebook private advertisement which was at least cheap and retro. It would work great in a beautiful kitchen (or bathroom) from the 40s-50s, in pastel colors, but well, it works for now at least. 

One of the two lamps (looks like Mumin) before being mounted

The one in the pentry became even less optimal. The cable positionin was not allowing the lamp to be mounted where there was the lightbulb and now I have a memory of the fact that the globe vanished before we could move in. I actually wonder if it had been on that wall for a while...

So, be light!

A less perfect implementation of my idea

Fixing "cremekoppar" in a Jugend cabinet

 As usual, lately, time is not enough for documenting everything that is happening in the house, even though the step forwards in our eternal project (fixing up this house) have been also limited. 

It feels as the last four years, time and energy have been even more scarce than before.

Several months back I bid on a fine Jugend cabinet, not too big, to have in the last free corner of the living room, where the piano is. I was more hoping to get a furniture for Mattias' vinyl collection, but I didn't find anything suitable while this cabinet seemed in my head perfect for the spot. 

The cabinet in the corner of the room, behind the couch

It is just today, many months later, that I finally cleaned it up at best as I could (the velvet has stains and dust that I didn't manage to get off). I probably need to give it a hand of "Fulgentin". It took me some time even to just remove the tag from the action house...

A cute detail from the cabinet

Mattias few months ago asked me what we should put in there. To be honest, I had no idea, except some very faint thought of placing a bit more visible some "cremekoppar" (creme cups?) that I had bought possibly few years back and that have been in their beautiful boxes since.

I love porcelain, especially the old Swedish one. I bought once a big set and since then I bought three more (not as big) and indulged in looking at many more on the internet, but restrained myself from buying anything more as space, even in a house like ours, is limited. 

But this. I saw them passing by on an auction and fell in love with the simple and elegant design. I had no idea what a cremekopp was and I still think that the usage of them will be very limited (some form of broth, some chocolate creme or what). They are more cute than useful. 

A good display of my 11 (+1) cups

This specific set should include (I think) about 13 unique cups as each of them has the king emblem on them. His motto and some historical detail about Rörstrande is written on the back of the little plate. 

One of the cremekopp, the "first" one. 

Eventually, today I moved them from their "hiding" place and managed to find a good way to display all of them (minus one, as it is a doublet).