Nursery and interior rearraging

[Rosie on her new chair.]

Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I know I have! I've been doing some of my favourite things - interior design and shopping. :-)

I went to Bristol to see the OH's parents and pick up the lovely chair and chest of drawers they got for us. We went to Ikea because my little sister is pregnant and they don't have much money so I thought it would be nice if I went and got them some things to kit out their nursery. They don't live in a period cottage and pretty, girly and beige are not her thing, so I thought the brighter the better! It's so much fun working with colour. I bought a multi-coloured rug, I did pick a similar one up in the children's department, but it was 4 times the price. As soon as you add 'children/baby' to the description of an item it's like a license to print money! In total I got a big rug, a cute bright green bug light, some bibs, a few round bright round rugs, a big pack of face clothes, 2 x shelves and brackets, a clock, a toy store, a rat toy, a set of bunting print single bed clothes, a really pretty hot air balloon mobile, a blanket and 2 rolls of fabric (plus some tea towels for me, paint brushes, and 2 rugs) for £77! I also found a few things in my stash that I can give her, including some baskets to sit on top of the shelves for storage of wipes, nappies etc, 2 white hand towels, a pair of blue and white curtains, a cream lampshade and my brightly coloured quilt that I made a while ago (perfect size!).

[Ikea booty.]
[Lampshade from my stash jazzed up a bit.]

[2x bright picures to jazz up the cream walls.]

[Felt picture - I spotted this big canvas in my craft room this afternoon and had a brain wave that I could use some felt to make a children's picture. That's rosie there :-).]

I made the above pictures for her nursery very quickly and simply just to brighten up the cream walls and to match in with all the lovely bright colours. As I was taking this picture I noticed the quilt I made earlier in the year behind it, which would be the perfect size for a cot quilt and will look lovely wih all the other colours.

On Saturday I helped the OH's mum with a little project of hers, this lovely grey 1950s unit (already painted in this pretty colour) looks lovely from the front, but there was no proper side to it so we use some old white melamine and glued it on. I also helped rearrange the end of the room to make it look relaxing and welcoming, and to try and make the most of the views of the garden.

In the sitting room, OH's mum originally had brown on the walls and rather muted colours, which aren't really her style and also are a little bit dated now. She had already painted it pink but it needed ust that something extra to bring it all together. I had seen this multi-coloured rug on Hen's blog and it reminded me of her lounge so when she said she had been looking at it for a while too she decided to bite the bullet and get it. I think it all looks wonderful now. We also painted the wooden frames of some of her pictures in the bright green.

[Sitting room: Before]
[Sitting room: After]

[Dining room]

See, it just goes to how that you don't need to spend a lot of money to improve the look and feel of a room. A simple bit of rearranging and repurposing things you already have can have the same effect.

Old and new

[New fairy lights.]

Hi everyone, I'm settling in nicely to being off now for 10 days! :-) So far I have played a round of golf and actually did surprisingly well, been to visit a lovely golf club in Ditchling, sanded and painted the front door, organised for loads of things to be delivered, and got a gardener to come round. No, I'm not posh but I just do not have the time to look after the garden and well as it deserves so I'm going to see how much it costs and what advice they can give me.

Anyway, I have been accumulating magazines over the last few years and last night I fancied reading a magazine in bed rather than looking on the internet. I gathered together some summer magazines and came across this issue of "Country Homes and Interiors" magazine. I remember admiring this lovely house in particular and nearly fell out of bed when I realised it was Kate Forman's house (at the time I had no idea who she was). Isn't it lovely? I mean, I wouldn't want ALL my furniture painted white like hers, but it really suits her style. You can see that she has done it on a shoe string also which makes it that much more achievable for us mere mortals.

I have bought lots of things lately, but not had the time to open the packets (terrible isn't it?) let along share them with ll of you so here goes:

I ordered these pretty flower fairy lights from Dotcomegiftshop, which is great for little bits and peices. I also ordered this door mat and pretty twine heart to go on the door. Thought it would jazz it up a bit. I've also ordered some of this fab frosted film from PurlFrost, you can choose from a range of period of contemporary designs. I've decided to have the name of the house and a border in the glass window above the door. I thought that way people won't be able to see in when you walk down the stairs! We had one made for our old house and I was so pleased with it I thought I'd order from them again.

[New plant pots.]

[New picture from Debbie's English Treasures.]

[New door mat and twine heart.]

[Wonderful window film from Purlfrost.]

I also bought this pretty picture for the guest room, which is rapidly turning into the flower room! I guess it's where I can have an experiment with that Kate Forman shabby chic style, I don't think that look goes as well with the copious amounts of original wood panneling (I can't bring myself to paint over 150+ year old wood!) and exposed bricks throughout the rest of the house.

[Guest room - too girly and shabby chic? I'm undecided.]

I've found some great companies over the last few days, 1 of them is this great carpet company: Crucial Trading, they do some great jute carpets for £11 a metre. I'm thinking of getting the whole of the downstairs done with this because it's natural, hard wearing and looks really nice. We lifted up the carpets and we do have sanded and waxed really lovely floor boards (they look like cherry wood or something like that), but having lived in a house with floorboards and knowing how cold and noisy they are I have decided against them. Besides, we don't have gas here and the house gets very cold indeed in the winter so having carpets is far more energy efficient.

Now onto some more goodies - Tim's mum went to a house sale and picked up these beauties for me, aren't they lovely? For very cheap too! A lovely solid oak chest of drawers and a nice chair. :-) It's great too because it means that my sister can have my old blue chest of drawers for her nursery, the tp can then double up as a baby changing area.

[My blue chest of drawers will now sit in my sister's nursery]

Ooh, before I head off - I've got a place at college to study a city and guilds in Interior Design, I was a bit down hearted because it was touch and go whether they were going to run the evening course, but they are now and I'm so pleased! :-) At one point I was toying with doing a PhD or an MPhil, but I'll wait a couple of years until I can freelance I think and then do that.

Anyway, I'm just about to settle down for lunch. Enjoy the rest of your week! :-)

The wonderment of the English country cottage

I thought I ought to get back into the blogging loop with a post about one of my favourite things: cottages! I am a bit schitzophrenic when it comes to houses because I love grand Georgian houses (below) with their elegant rooms and the sense of 'space' that we all seem to crave, but also I love cozy cottages.

[Georgian house - The Cantry]

No matter how many lovely Victorian town houses with the magnificent cornicing, plaster work and high ceilings I see, I still hanker afer the nooks and crannies, odd rooms and low ceilings of a cottage. There is something inherently magical and romantic about the English country cottage.

Of course, a cottage would not be a cottage without the lovely garden overflowing with old fashioned roses, wisteria, peonies, and hollyhocks.
[Lovely house for Sale in the village here.]

The cottage garden is something that goes hand in hand with cottages. I wasn't aware of the worldwide popularity of this type of garden was until I came across a lady in Germany who probably has one of the most beautiful gardens I've seen.

I'm sure most of you at some stage have had house envy, you know when you look in Country Homes and Interiors magazine and you see these perfect houses with their enormous kitchens, flagstone floors, agas, huge bathrooms (the list goes on)...well I'm usually quite restrained, but I was suffering from that myself yesterday. Then it hit me - how can I be so selfish? I am so lucky, I have my cottage what more could I want? I mean, yes the carpets were laid in 1970, the bathroom is a hangover from the eighties, it needs rewiring and just about every wall needs replastering, but it's mine!

Mixed bag

Today is a bit of a mixed bag of a post. I had a really good weekend. Went to the village pub (more like Michelin star gastro pub!) for lunch on Saturday for a lovely treat.

On Sunday I went round to see my dad who's just been awarded an MBE. Well done dad! I'm so proud of you - all those years of hard work have paid off!

In between all this I spent hours and hours cleaning and scrubbing the house. My god, it was disgusting! I'm usually so so tidy, but I have been either exhausted or out so it was thick with dust and filthy. I can't stand living like that, I like everything pristine part of the reason why I think me and children do not mix. I think I would have a nervous breakdown with all that cleaning and tidying. I don't know how you mums do it. When my friend brings her children I follow them round with a cloth and a dust pan and brush (I'm not joking either!)!

I have a wedding to go to in August so I've been looking for a dress. I like quite funky clothes that are a bit quirky so most of the dresses in the shop are not really my cup of tea and are designed for twiglets with a minus A cup (total opposite of me). I discovered this site online that sells rock chick type clothes (some of which are bizarre), but they do sell some really pretty 50s style dresses, but using quirky fabrics, like Alexander Henry's skull and roses fabric. I really like this dress (below). I thought it would go with my black hair and fair skin. I can just see it with a pearl necklace and earrings, bright red lipstick and some red peep toe shoes. What do you think?

I love the fact that from a distance it looks quite sweet and girly and then close up there are some saucy ladies on it. It's very 'me'.

Anyway, after this week I should be back to my old self again and have some time to do my own thing.


TTFN

Sian x

I survived...

This is the first time I have stopped since the beginning of last week. I've been working from the crack of dawn until 8pm for the last week, culminating in me working until 10.30pm last night. I am exhausted, my house is messy, I have no clean clothes, the fridge and the cupboard are completely bare, and I haven't even opened the door on my craft room! I've actually lost weight, which ordinarily would be a good thing, but I just haven't been eating due to lack of time! I'm taking Thursday afternoon off or working from home so that I can have a 2-hour golf lesson. I just need to not do work and not have to use my brain for a bit.

Last week my first advisory board went really well and the client were very pleased indeed. I've received a pat on the back from the big bosses, which makes it all worth while. Naturally I hated giving the presentation at the end, but that's an issue that I need to sort out for myself. I'm my own worst critic and just need to learn to accept that I'm not Martin Luther King (as Yasmina said on the 'Apprentice' - good wasn't it?) and move on.

I binned the crappy Argos bike and ventured to the Evans bike warehouse sale in Crawley. I ended buying this beauty:

I've been out on it and I'm very pleased with it! :-) My golf clubs arrive on Thursday so I'll be properly kitted out!

I didn't have a stall on Sunday, I decided that I have enough stress at work and couldn't pile the stress onto my weekend so I bailed out. Instead, we opted to dig out the ivy over the garage and re-paint the wall. I don't think I have a before picture of this, but the wall had gone brown, there was a rotten trellis and it was covered in thick rather boring looking ivy. It looks fantastic now! We'll be planting the lovely fragrant jasmine in there just to make it look a little less industrial.



Here are some pictures of our veg plot. The garlic didn't work unfortunately, which was shame because 2 years ago we had a really good crop of garlic.


[Bottom to top: potatoes, sweetcorn, tomatoes (various Italian), onions, broad beans. French beans and runner beans have just been planted for a late crop and we have some chilli and aubergine plants on the window sil.]

[lovely toms grown on the window sil from seed]

I'm going to take it relatively easy for the rest of the week. I have a pitch next week, but I'm trying not to think about that now, I just need to get my life back in order and not let work take over. Anyway, it's good to be back!

I hope you are all having a lovely week! :-)

TTFN

Sian x

The worst week of my life?

OK, slight exaggeration, I'm not dying, but it's just a bit of a crap week!

1) The bike did eventually turn up at 5pm, but when I unwrapped it the wheel was buckled and it had been put together by monkeys! Note to self: do not buy a shitty £100 bike! I'm now going to the big Evans warehouse sale to get a decent bike.

2) The next thing is I've been so super organised, working late and getting so much done, but then one little problem, which may not even be my fault, could jeopardise the whole thing and just be a pain in the ass! See the thing I hate about my job is the fact that I am responsible for so much. One little thing could suddenly mean you've lost a £1 million account!

3) There's a company meeting tomorrow, I'm doubtful it's going to be good news because they called it last thing on Friday. Call me cynical, but I reckon it's probably redundancies. I don't think I'd get made redundant, if I did they are crying out for twits like me who choose this career - there's a reason there are so few of us! A really lovely girl I work with (she's left now) got told to pull her socks up or they might be getting rid of 'dead wood'!! Shocking isn't it? I thought she was doing really well, but I guess you are not allowed to learn in this job or make any mistakes heaven forbid!

4) I applied for an HND course in Interior Design and it's been canceled.

So there you are, I have a couple of awards from peeps. Thank you - hoorah, something nice! :-) I will be posting about that soon and also about the lovely swap goodies (we did a mini swap!) I got from Mary from Missouri! :-)

Some pretties (I hope!).

OK, so after my foray into politics I thought it was about time I presented you with so no-brain-activity-required pretty pictures!

Here's my cabinet with all the pretties on it:


Last night we went to the driving range. I also bought some golf shoes so now I'm all kitted out! We stayed for dinner, the food there is so good. We came to conclusion it would be nice to go away on a golfing holiday. It's so nice to be outside in the fresh air doing something fun. I've booked up for a 2-hour lesson every 2 weeks. By the end of the year if I haven't got a swing like Tiger I shall be very disappointed! ;-)

It's just occurred to me I have a busy week next week - going to Paris for 2 days (work, not fun) and then on Sunday 7th I've got a stall here at the Old Dairy Open Farm Sunday! Eek, I haven't made a single thing. I'll have to get cracking this weekend. I'm thinking of making some union jack bags, crochet flower brooches, soap sets, cushion covers. Just keep it nice and simple really. :-)

I'm confined to the house today waiting for the bike that I've ordered to turn up. They say they will deliver between 7am and 3pm, but knowing my luck they will either turn up at 2.55 or not at all! Hope you all have a lovely day in the sunshine!