It was the end of the 90s and we thought we were quite smart! Well, yes, we were! The future and the year 2000 was at hand. It was also the fashion to “go live in an apartment”. Everybody was moving into an apartment, looking for an apartment, looking for roommates already in an apartment or with whom to move into an apartment. In my circle of friends, some had already taken the plunge; I was on the verge of taking the plunge. This idea had also sprouted in me and I was now applying myself to the task. Every Thursday, my future roommate and I would get the local newspaper, Le Voir, in order to scan the classified ads of the rental section with immense devotion and the hope to find the best deal between the Mont-Royal and Laurier metro stations.
Of course, I had a few items in my trousseau, but any self-respecting new tenant had to go on a pilgrimage to Ikea. I had no choice! The obligation to fill your big blue bag with useful items (or not) was a must, like an initiation to have full access to the comfort of a home. A must to well prepare our journey: borrowing a tank, preferably a van; getting up early on a Saturday morning and facing the colorful crowd, but especially the suburbs! It was necessary especially not to forget our measures taken approximately and written on bits of old bills… On the spot, we snooped, we tried, we ate our meatballs and then we left with a happy heart persuaded to have become masters in organization.
Of these journeys, there is not much left for me, except the bedside table “Aspelund” in MDF veneered style walnut wood. It has been with me for several years. It is quite versatile. It was used in the bedroom but also in the living room and even in a bathroom. (wow, we had a large bathroom in that apartment )! I wanted to keep it because its storage space is quite large. I also had some nice transfers from the Iron Orchid design company. A transfer is an image that can be added to a decorative project. It is printed on a transparent vinyl and is self-adhesive. By rubbing on it with the small tool provided for this purpose, it adheres to the surface where you want to add it. For transport and ease of application, a grid paper protects it and helps in positioning it on the new surface. Several really interesting models are available like; letters, flowers, butterflies and birds. Everything to satisfying the nostalgic in me.
As much as I love to use many different styles like screaming, avant-garde, pop, punk, contemporary with hard lines and strong colors; as well as mixing things that may seem disparate at first glance; I can’t resist adding texts in attached lettering with dried flowers! That’s what I’m all about! In love with paradoxes! With Aspelund, I let my blue flower express itself.
After sanding and applying Zinsser Bubbleye’s 1-2-3 primer, I applied a layer of nostalgic rose! The old-fashioned effect created by the layer of white was worked with steel wool.
There is something soft and reassuring that comes with nostalgia. For me it is like an old blanket with which I like to wrap myself and look at the effects of time that has passed. It allows me to curl up in a world of pink reverie where time is frozen. To replay the scenario of my life, to be the main actress or to make a simple cameo. I put this blanket on so often to protect myself. Like a crystallized cocoon, but the little mirrors in this crystallized cocoon started to shimmer so brightly that they burst in all directions. So much so, that time has left its linear trajectory with the only possibility of integrating all these parcels of life to now move forward. Letting go of what no longer fits, reshaping our ideals and reviewing our aspirations. Polished, smoothed and newly varnished like Aspelund!
