Welcome to That’s Tats!

My little corner of real interiors, achievable DIY, and soul-nourishing travel, where I invite you to join me on a journey of discovery and creation without the need to cost the world or follow trends

Hi, I’m Tatjana, but my friends call me Tats.

​Welcome to That’s Tats, my little corner full of real, down to earth interiors, achievable DIY, and fulfilling travel - think affordable, mindful trips, because inspiration is literally everywhere. Thanks for joining me here, a place where I share my creative journey and longing to create the most comfortable, well-functioning, and personal spaces, and hopefully help you to do the same.

My biggest love has always been the home, so I am absolutely obsessed with interiors and with creating a joyful environment while repurposing personal treasures, or hunting for additions to the collection. Most importantly though, I love bringing a space to life to be enjoyed every day. I do this mainly in my own home, but also sometimes help others to see the potential of their spaces, treasured belongings, and most importantly memories.

You will find a little archive of posts, where in 2021 on my previous blog, I started documenting my design journey in my last unexpected home, a two bedroom new build flat. A place that was not part of the long-term vision, but that definitely helped me start my journey of healing and rediscovering myself, after quite a difficult time personally, and, well, globally.

Then, in 2022, I decided to take a digital break for the month of May, which next to September, is one of my favourites. I mean, blossom and blooms are everywhere, winter coats are firmly stored away at the far back of the closet, and sunglasses start becoming a daily accessory again. This month is full of freshness, hope, and exciting optimism - Only 2 months to go! - So yes, I’d like to not bury my nose into a screen during this time and fully experience all that is around me.

In 2022 however, once I started, I could not (and did not want) to stop. The world felt heavier and heavier (and sadly still is). Social media was taking a turn from fun and inspirational platforms to feeling draining, where all creativity and hard work is now swallowed by the infamous algorithm in favour of serving us endless ads. Additionally, I was also heavily occupied with surviving the process of buying a house - as a single person AND, stupidly, in hindsight, at a time where the market was still going absolutely nuts post pandemic, but, on the bright side, luckily just before the really bad economy destroying events that year, which will still take us decades to recover from. Well, at the end of this process, with MY house and MY keys firmly in hand, I felt extremely proud, in disbelief I actually made it, but also unbelievably drained. Quickly, the excitement of moving in was overshadowed with a dread of crushing responsibility and realisation that I actually spent my last hard earned penny on buying this place, which, thanks to the skyrocketing energy prices and interest rates, I can now maybe not even heat, let alone redecorate …

So fast forward to today, it’s the beginning of 2024 and honestly, nothing has changed, BUT in all this madness around us, and the renovation budget still pretty much a dried up well, I really miss being creative. I hugely long to design again, as ultimately that and sharing what I am up to with my little online community, in the hope my experience may help even just one of you, is a big part of what previously helped me process and keep a positive outlook. So I had a good honest chat with myself, and was reminded of what That’s Tats is all about:

A journey of discovery and creation of exciting, comfortable, and nourish spaces, full of colour and nature, but without the need to cost the world or follow trends.

So here I am, a complete newbie on Substack, without a clue of what I am doing, but what I do know is that I want to create again and share it, for all the benefits that it brings, and I hope that you join me, even if things here progress a bit slower than what we’re used to from today’s online world …

What to expect

That's Tats is a place of slow, or rather real-time progress, away from the seemingly magical instant makeovers - finger snap and all. Things are considered here very carefully in terms of purpose and budget, and are realised next to an almost all-consuming but rewarding non-interiors related full-time job. Thus, while longer posts may only be published on a monthly basis for the time being, you will also find me regularly posting updates, finds, or general thoughts in notes and I am looking forward to you joining the conversation.

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