Category Archives: Uncategorized

The borders are coming along nicely. The cardoons (best pronounced in a Scottish accent) are in bloom and are full of drunk-looking bees, and the buddleia is living up to its common name (butterfly bush). Heaven.

A reclaimed brass door handle and escutcheon for the front door.  It was surprisingly tricky to find a chunky handle but here are my beauties waiting for the joiner (our neighbour) to fit at the same time as draughtproofing in preparation for demolition of the porch.  Naturally they were from Ebay sellers, but they were reasonably priced (£50 and £5) compared with reproductions.  Ebay is my new Pinterest, and luckily we don’t have a van as otherwise we’d be swamped with impulse-bought furniture we don’t need and can’t afford :).

PS N you said you’d painted the front door, can we have a quick snap? x

Okay, so it’s a year since I scrubbed and gave the bathroom a mini makeover. It’s going to be old and tired before I blog it – and I think I was waiting for it to be perfect. This past couple of weeks’ blogging has made me start to appreciate what we’ve got rather than wishing it was better. So here are our efforts.

It’s our main bathroom but on the small side (N, you have the right idea converting a spacious bedroom into a luxurious bath).  We also have a quirky sloped ceiling that accommodates the stairs to the second (or third if you’re American) floor.  And the walls and ceiling are covered in spiky artex.

Mostly this quick fix involved elbow grease, a lick of paint, some new lino, a loo seat and a sealant gun.  I’ve spared you a detailed photo of the stick on plastic bath seal removal; suffice to say it felt like the family of six who lived here had left half their epidermis stuck behind it, and the taps were stuck to the bath with rust.  Our wonderful fixer man fitted a new cheap electric shower and replaced the taps (worn and rusted gold plate) with Screwfix jobs (the ‘C’ has already worn off the basin tap but at the price I paid I’m not surprised). Total cost about £300. It’s still a bugger to clean (textured tiles and limescale) but it doesn’t feel so much like my student house circa 1998!  The vases etc I already had and the picture is wrapping paper from Rockett St George.  Here’s what it looked like before…

N, your bathroom is flippin’ gorgeous, but if I stop saying I can’t wait to have one like it then I hope I can enjoy this one a little more :).  x

We are spending a lot of time outside at the moment. In lieu of a cool outdoor kitchen or decent barbecue we have fired up the camping stove. I love the solid, functional calor gas bottle and cast iron stove even if it wouldn’t win any interiors prizes. Add 6music on my new  80s-style DAB radio, fresh thyme for the risotto, and sunshine (and perhaps a glass of something cold, dry and floral) and I’m very happy indeed.

Finally found a piece of furniture for a nook we’ve been trying to fill for a while – a Nana Smith donation – thanks Nana!
With wedgewood porcelain teapot candle holder, skull candle I’ve had since I was a teenager and refuse to burn, TKMax lamp, charity shop porthole brass mirror and a print we bought from society6.com.
Nx

Patterns, sunshine and a coat rack revamped with leftovers from painting the kitchen cupboards.  Makes me smile every time I potter past to the garden. Ironing board from Wilkos and bag 3 quid from IKEA.

Sweet peas in the garden and the home. Wigwam fashioned from a faggot of hazel poles from the local country park (a fiver!) and bottle courtesy of the Acorns Hospice shop. Dreaming about what the garden could be with a few more years’ effort. There is pleasure in budget-induced restraint. And plenty of Pinterest and Gardener’s World perving!

I need to step away from perfection and start posting! Lengthy posts about finished rooms are beyond me at the moment, so instead here you will find a few details and random thoughts. First, what happens on a wet afternoon when left alone with a paintbrush (don’t worry, it’s a knackered repro fireplace). I do need to watch myself or the entire house will be painted in shades of slate, stone and fog…

I’ve been building a good collection of vintage silk scarves for ages with the intention of making some beautiful cushion covers and I have, as usual, been procrastinating over for it some time!

Recently I finally got round to it and I think the one I’ve finished makes the perfect accessory in our newly finished bedroom.  I’ve used a 60cm x 60cm cushion from Dunelm but to be honest it isn’t really big enough so I’m intending to order some even bigger ones from a store on eBay soon.  I am not an experienced seamstress, in fact I’d go so far as to say I’m not even very competent so that’s possibly why I put it off for so long.  I’ve gone for a grey linen type backing and I’ve opted for a pillow case opening at the back rather than a zip (it seemed easier!).

I think it looks fab on our bed and I’m intending to make a couple more because they’re great for propping us up when we’re catching up on missed american sitcoms (like New Girl or Mindy which I love) on our iPad while we’re all tucked up in bed!

Nx