The fun part of moving is… re-decorating! 🙂
Having left our furniture behind in Belgium (the things worth keeping), we literally start afresh. No limits (I’d wish – time and money are the big party-poopers, as usual).
Soooooo, let’s start with Ikea. Sydney boasts to have the biggest of the southern hemisphere, funny enough it’s comparable to the one in Brussels and Antwerp. I say funny because all stores here seem more American size to us.
I absolutely love the combination of strong branding with clear and simple communication. Plus cheap design of course. What’s not to love? (the cheap labor maybe knocking down all honest competition… :s)
Another phenomenon here is the ‘Supa Centa’. What are the odds this name was invented by some dreadlocked Aussie surf dude smoking the grass with his reggae friends? Anyway, it’s a mall with all furniture/home decorating stores with eloquent names like ‘The Sleeping Giant’ , ‘Fantastic Furniture’, ‘Barbeque Galore’, ‘Snooze’ etc. We bought a hoover at Bing Lee (the chinese version of “Vandenborre”: always up for bargaining ;-). Also, Bram had to drag me away from ‘Howards Storage World‘, a store specialised in ORGANIZING YOUR STUFF!!! Love it!
Last but not least, Sydney is a fast paced city with people frequently moving, and immigrants and backpackers coming and going all the time. For those just settling in this means Garage Sale Heaven! You can often find ads in apartment buildings or posted on the street. Gumtree and Ebay are good online alternatives. Across the city there are different ‘op shops’ and vintage stores to be found as well.
Oh and then there’s this. A tip from one of our neighbours, yaaaaaay 🙂
And this is what our bedroom looks like now:
Your bedroom looks so grown up. It’s gorgeous.