I believe there aren’t a lot of people as slow as me when it comes to decoration. We moved to our house a month before Inés was born (move when you’re eight months pregnant – that’s me), more than five years ago, and I had the impression only two spaces were more or less finalized: the kids’ room and the hallway.
I say «had the impression» because with today’s post I officially declare the kitchen done. And please believe me when I say this is a huge step for me: the kitchen is one of the main reasons we bought our house. It’s also a very symbolic place for me as it was featured on one of the first pictures I posted on Instagram (you don’t want to see that poor-quality photo which was eventually followed by more than 1700 posts…).
There were actually two reasons why the kitchen was unfinished for me: the painting and the lamps. Repainting the walls was a big thing: ever since I first visited the house I disliked their cream color. However, at that time I told myself it wasn’t a good enough reason not to buy the house of our dreams and that I could always repaint them. In the end it took us five years to actually get it done but now my kitchen is just how I had always imagined it: totally white.
Lamps were the second pending matter. I had bought some online but I didn’t like them from the moment I took them out of their box. Not sending them back out of sheer laziness and rushing to decorate the house as soon as possible (a bad idea) had made me live with them for too long.
The truth is that here in Switzerland it’s very difficult to find nice modern lamps which don’t cost an arm or a leg. But a month ago I saw the light (quite literally) when I spotted an Instagram ad (finally something good from Instagram advertisements). It was a new Swiss online lamps shop that really appealed to me. I spontaneously left a message, something like «Finally an online lamps shop in Switzerland!».
My comment led to a private chat with Emilie, the young entrepreneur behind Ekkla, the business she started with her boyfriend Julien. I’m fascinated by people who do everything to make their dreams come true and Emilie is one of them. We talked about my frustration regarding lamps. I told her I wanted to change the dining-room and kitchen ones and a few days later she sent me a couple of photos of my living-room and my kitchen (she had found them on my Instagram) with a few suggestions. I was totally amazed because all her suggestions were great and it was actually the first time someone helped me so much with decoration.
I liked her lamp proposals so much that I ended up ordering the kitchen and the living-room ones (in fact, the prices are very reasonable). Today I’m showing youw the kitchen lamps. They have an industrial look which contrasts with the wooden furniture. I had always dreamt of a totally white kitchen but I never dared to make the move.
Now I really feel the place we loved most when we first visited the house looks how it was meant to look.
I hope you like the final result and let me be clear: the kitchen is never ever as tidy as this. I made sure it is because I wanted some nice shots of it. Normally the toaster, the feeding bottles, Inés’ treasures, etc. accumulate on the counter until I get possessed by Mary Kondo again.
