devilishly pleasurable: three hours of beautification

Yesterday was an intense brain-draining day. After I was done with work, I was rushing a report out for a client last night, and ended up finishing at 7am. This meant that instead of sleeping tonight five hours after I awoke, I put on some jazz, lit the flat with candles, scenting it with ylang ylang, sage and black pepper, and kicked back to relax. Then I looked at the mess that I had made over the past few weeks-- deliveries since preprepre-Christmas that had just arrived recently due to snow delays, laundry hanging around the bathroom, the kitchen that looked like a bomb had just exploded in it. I shifted to Chambermaid mode*. And then I decided, it was time to kick off my decoration plans. I had pledged to stop buying stuff for the house pre-Christmas until finances start improving**. All I had were four new white feather boas, inspired by the restaurant we went to during New Year's Eve. With all the ideas ticking about in my head all the time, I rubbed my hands in glee and started shifting stuff around the house.

*My mother would be so proud. D was shocked that all my life I have magically evaded housework so I had to clarify that my (younger) brother knows housework, just that I started to earn and therefore paid him to do my share. "I am going to have words with your mother" he said, instead of offering to mop the floor when I admitted I have no idea how to do it and called the dustpan "small sweeping device". To which I sheepishly admitted, "I thought that when I grew up I would have maids" and he burst out laughing. In my defense, though, in the past year I have learned how to sweep the floor, wash dishes, change the sheets, do the laundry, etcetera amen. Vast improvement. Oh God, why am I justifying.

**But seeing that I will be a student for the next N years, it is hard to imagine just when.

The three-way gold mirror came downstairs. I got it from a Gumtree ad***, and picked it up the day I moved. It has since been cleaned and the horrible sticker removed. And ooh, I found a use for my Egyptian beaded headpiece I got from my bellydancing class back in Singapore. My teacher always brought back so many beautiful things from Egypt, every lesson I couldn't resist but buy something. . Those were the days.

***To this day, The Best Friend still thinks I am lying when I insisted it is £10 only.

I always feel like Cleopatra in that headpiece :)

The Black Shelf now has an Art Deco clutch I got from Past Times. Basically, the living room is now adorned with loads of candles, feathers, fascinators and whatever catches my fancy. . .

The pink rug was shedding too much upstairs. Coupled with my long hair**** it becomes a nightmare to clean the carpet up. So downstairs it went. I feel like layering rugs, and envision a huge black shaggy pile rug covering a large part of the exposed wooden floor boards. Let's just hope one will pile up on Gumtree soon. Also, I love how my boots match the chaise.

**** D always goes, "I look at you and think, how come you still have hair left on your head. You're like a cat".

Quite obviously, there's no longer any space left for the books on the shelves. Imagine if I brought my whole wall of books over from Singapore. I would be hapless. The Quadrivium just arrived-- it is an amazing and mindblowing number, courtesy of D. Yet another lovely addition to my eclectic collection. What cracks me up about my books is how the other day D's friend came over and later said, "I have never seen anyone with Nietzsche in their shelves before. You must be the smartest person I have ever met". And I burst out laughing, because. . just look at the amount of frivolous chicklit next to Osho, Hegel and Dawkins.

The lights from the Ficcus Christmas Tree are now wrapped around the yucca's trunk. Even though my grandparents were agrarian, and my parents love gardening, I keep forgetting plants have needs. Nor really notice their leaves and such. They're D's department. I love their energy, but . . well, it is not like an animal who wakes you up in the morning.

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And, this is what I am proudest of. The bedroom finally looks like a bedroom now. Those of you who have seen photographs of The Lair will know the bed is on a raised platform in the attic bedroom, complete with beams above, which makes me feel like I am in a yurt (childhood dream to own one!). I wrapped white feather boas around the beams, and changed the sheets. I love the combination of fuchsia satin sheets and white Egyptian cotton duvets-- feels divine! And when I go to bed I can open the skylight blinds and watch the stars above. . or open the window and feel the icy wind kiss my skin :)

The beam above the bed has a strictly-white theme. With white starry fairy lights-- the beauty of them is that they are battery-operated and only £1 (from Poundland). And then I found those white fluffy balls in one of my craft boxes. I remember them coming with some lingerie I bought back when I was 16 and saved them because I knew they would come in useful one day. And indeed they have!

The other beam has got black in it. That's actually a blindfold from Coco de Mer bearing the wisest message ever-- always be desired and never possessed. And then, a lace shrug I got from Ms Selfridge sales at £5 down from £35 or something ridiculous. I love how I can wear my furnishings and have my house wear my accessories.

The bedside is now streamlined and much neater. Although more storage boxes would be good for the other stuff I am hiding behind the bed, I am loving the look for now. The white lace shrug was also from the sales, and the cushions have migrated upstairs. A light-coloured vintage Moroccan scarf now covers my hand luggage (storage!), Arabic lanterns and an origami lamp now added, whilst my Indian jewelry box which stores my larger and more opulent rings has been shifted to the bedside. White sheepskin rugs lining both sides of the bed would complete the look. . but sheepskin is so costly!

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I am loving the dresser too. The white mirror and the porcelain vase moved upstairs too. I found the gorgeous feathers for a pound each at some local craft market and it hit me that that's what's been missing from the vase, besides layers of pearls. My necklace holders and resin hands bearing rings now sit on my dresser together with a grey-feathered hairpiece. I finally have a usable mirror upstairs!

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And, the one who brings warmth, cosiness and smiles to The Devilishly Pleasurable Lair-- The Chocolate Robber! I was shaking my rugs out of the window when I heard her meowing softly. She got all excited, trying to jump up to my window. Plus it's subzero temperatures outside, so I braved the cold and went downstairs to let her in. She now sleeps on the zebra rug which lines the bottom of the stairs, purring melodiously as she has her adventures in Sandman's Turf.