The Interior DIYer
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Desk update

I’d like to say I’ve spent the past week doing something really fabulous or important, but instead I’ve been scanning roughly 13 years worth of paperwork. I borrowed my brother’s scanner and as boring as it sounds, I scanned and recycled 90% of our bank statements, payslips, Revenue letters and Irish Water bills [I scanned them just for the craic] and it’s been such a mental and actual clear-out in our apartment. I went crazy the first morning at my desk and scanned about 200 documents while Robert and Cora were out for a walk. It was my kind of other-people-would-find-it-boring heaven. 

Since I’ve spent so much time at my desk lately, I took some pictures of it as I don’t think I’ve photographed it since we got our nearly new mahogany desk. I’ve gotten some new desk stuff over the past while but never got around to sharing any of it, so I figured today was a good time. 

For Christmas 3 [or more!] years ago, Robert got a Big Lebowski Kit solely for the rug mouse pad that came with it which is so perfect for our desk. It really tied the room together, did it not. Then roughly 2 years ago I picked up a nihilist’s screen cloth [because Lebowski theme] along with a load of other stuff one day in Dust [I wish I visited their shop so much more when it was open. Welp]. They no longer stock these screen cloths and I tried looking for one online but it turns out if you google anything nihilist, you’re going to find some weird stuff. I use the cloth a lot, especially since getting a touch-screen laptop for my birthday last year. My old laptop didn’t work unless it was constantly plugged in, it sounded like it was about to take off and it was always searingly hot. Robert convinced me to get a new one, “you’ll probably be relaxing a lot in your last month [of pregnancy] and when the baby arrives.” LOL on both accounts because that didn’t happen. But I do use my new laptop a lot and its matte black and rose gold-esqueness is completely okay with me. 

I love Paperchase diaries but not necessarily their covers, so my diary got contact-papered again this year. I haven’t bought much of anything recently, but one small thing I did impulse buy the other week was this pen from Sostrene Grene for -wait for it- €0.83. It’s a surprisingly good pen for that price and has a really cute crown and pearl detail. I keep it along with my diary in my handbag all the time and as boring and possibly snooty as it sounds, I love taking them out and writing down appointments, events and silly milestones. 

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Anybody? No? Dust.

Earlier this week I finally made it in to Dust. After stalking Sarah and Lisa on their Dust journey and updates on all the amazing things they find and stock, I finally stopped in to their shop. And can I just say. Yes.  
Zebras, unicorns, faux hydrangeas and viridian. Dark moody hues splashed with vibrant colours and accessories. High gloss black floors, stairs and banister. I could not fault the place. My eye balls were in heaven … 

Dust sell the most beautiful [and convincing] faux flowers. Faux-rangements? I love how they’ve mixed them too in their presentation – not just strictly one group of flowers. 

And can we talk about the colour on the walls? Lisa and Sarah went with Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue that acts almost as a neutral. A deep oceanic hue that makes everything stand to attention and changes so much as the light changes. I’m seriously thinking adding this wall colour to our apartment. Maybe repainting our burgundy wall with it? I now want to change our entire apartment.

Everywhere you turned, there were more gems. It wasn’t possible for me to leave empty handed, so I picked out a few things. One of which is a nihilist’s screen cloth to perfectly match The Dude’s rug mouse pad husband got me for Christmas last year [I painted the final wall in our living room which is behind our desk, so I’m hoping to share an update on that space soon!]. 

I was unfortunately very limited with what I could buy that day as they all had to fit into my handbag as I was on my bicyclette. But I’ve learned my lesson. Next time I’m bringing the car. 

Dust is located just off of Camden Street on Grantham Street. Don’t ask, but for some reason I thought it was nowhere near that. Now that I know Dust is a stones throw from the beginning of one of my favourite charity shop routes, I will be stopping in every. single. time. 

And finally, I am forever reminded of the below whenever I see a Dust update pop up in my social media feeds … Anybody? No? Dust.

Happy Friday everyone! Why not enjoy some Dust this weekend? It’s actually very low in fat, so you can have as much as you like.
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New dainty pink living room rug!

I’ve had a bumpy relationship with rugs in recent years. Well, really just one rug in particular. We bought an IKEA Stockholm rug 2 years ago and I thought my life was complete. It was luscious black and white stripes and I hearted it big time. 

But then life happened and that rug went completely to shit, so I repaired it, sold it last November, and had been on the lookout for a second hand low pile rug since [check out this post as to why I went with low pile. You especially should read it if you have kitties]. 

Months passed. I found a couple of rugs on Adverts.ie but for one reason or another the sales fell through or the sellers ended up being awkward and I didn’t want nothing to do with their rugs. 

I was patient. I wanted the right rug and I waited. Perched on my laptop, looking for scraps. Then one day I found this beautiful, geometric, dainty, dusty pink rug, and I found it 19 pages deep on Adverts. And it was priced at 15 euro. 
FIF. TEEN. EURO.

Yes, it needed a serious clean, but I saw its Christine Dovey fangirl potential. I arranged to meet the seller on O’Connell Street at 20:00 that night. It was pouring rain and I was frozen, but I lugged that baby home, invested in some heavy duty carpet cleaner [I typically buy eco friendly everything, but I set my beliefs aside to go chemical warfare on a rug. We’re going to have our feet / cats directly on it afterall], cleaned that baby and laid it down good with a fine wine in front of the TV. 

I count myself very lucky that I spied this rug and was able to get my hands on it. It’s not technically the correct shape or size for our room, but I am partial to a bit of asymmetry and as we’re not in the position to make an investment in a larger rug at the moment, it fits the bill.

It doesn’t have any labels on it, so I have no idea what brand – if any – it is from. All I know is it’s pink, fabulously fabulous and ties in wonderfully with our Bill above the TV. 

“That rug really tied the room together, did it not?”

 – Walter Sobchak 

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Walter.