Tuesday 30 April 2013

Payday Wish List


My monthly round up of what's caught my eye this month, not necessarily things that would ever go in our flat but maybe one day we might have room for!

Firstly Etsy, I could spend hours just browsing here and filling my home with pretty things so it's the perfect place to make a wish list...

Like this coffee table
Or this one (is my obsession with midcentury furniture obvious?)
And this trunk, oh this trunk is perfect for our living room (shame it's expensive and in America!)
Then from Next, this bright and happy bedding set
This garden 'Pod' to snuggle in and read a book
And from Matalan, these woven baskets would be useful and pretty
As would these wire baskets in a bright bathroom or bedroom, although I think they are made to be used outdoors
Then finally this storage stool (only £25!), they actually have a range of storage stools, boxes and ottomans at really good prices, I could go on a storage buying spree right now!

Monday 29 April 2013

Follow me!

Google Reader has nearly had it's day, so I've been trying out a few new blog readers to keep up with the blogs I follow at home and on my phone.

The one I've settled on is bloglovin, it's easy to use and very intuitive. It's pretty easy to sign up and if you use Google Reader at the moment you can migrate all your followed blogs over without having to start all over again. It also has a good android app that links up with your account so you don't end up with posts you already read on your laptop still showing as unread on your phone.

So...click here to follow me on bloglovin!

xxx

Sunday 28 April 2013

March/April Flowers

I'm going to try out a new post that I'll do monthly on flowers that I've had, as it might make me stick to having them in the house more often! Most of February and March were covered in this post on flowers, but also in March I got these, total £6.50 for both bunches.

The obligatory daffodils but I also wanted to get something else as well, I used some for some smaller pots around the house, on the desk in the office
In the bathroom
In the bedroom, made from the broken flowers with really short stems from the bunch and a few daffodils as I can fill this vase to the brim without it showing.
Yes that is my finger on the bottom left of the picture, Jazzy was being really clingy for some reason and kept trying to nuzzle the camera or jump onto the table in front of the flowers so I was trying to keep her out of the way. I really need to get Photoshop or something!

I do like daffodils and while they're in season will carry on getting them but will try and get some other flowers with them as well. On mothers day I bought some daffodils and tulips, when I gave them to my mum my niece Grace who is 3 said 'Oh Granny's favourite!' I said 'Oh yes flowers' not thinking she would know the different types of flowers being 3 and all, she looked at us like we were silly and said 'No abadales!' meaning daffodils as she had seen some at mums a few days before and had been told what they were called, bless her!

Also these carnations at the end of March/start of April just from the supermarket with the food shopping
Again I spread them around the house in smaller vases, in the bedroom
And the bathroom
Also a few days later Tom brought these home


Although they are beautiful, they were unfortunately relegated to the bathroom because lilies are poisonous to cats, and Jazzie does like to eat flowers and plants if she gets half the chance. I didn't want to chuck them out though so thought as we keep the bathroom door closed and the cats couldn't really get to them on the back of the loo (There's nowhere to sit and nibble on the flowers any way) it would be ok. They do make the bathroom smell lovely though, which is always a bonus!

So that's the flowers we have had in March/April, we also added some plants to the back garden and generally got it ready to be used (is everyone else as impatient for summer as we are?!) and have a post coming up soon!

Friday 26 April 2013

Friday Inspiration

Busy busy busy this week! We have a work event tomorrow that I've been working towards and planning for the last few weeks/months so hopefully all goes well but I've been doing all the last minute things this week, off out for a meal this evening to relax!

As always I have still been pinning away on Pinterest (mainly while on the bus to work!) and this is what's caught my eye this week

I really like this DIY, and might even give it a go for my dressing table area once the bedroom is more 'together' and we have a colour palette decided
I am in love with this bathroom entrance, the rest of the property is beautiful too
From the same blog, although before I started following it (I had just pinned the image on Pinterest), this room is gorgeous and I'd be ecstatic to have a wall of bookshelves
I really like this canvas, and it would be pretty simple to do yourself. I'm a fan of DIY artwork, but cannot draw or paint so these kind of projects are perfect!
This coffee table is right up my street, it reminds me of one we used to have that I have debated getting back but really a round table wouldn't look right with our corner sofa. The floor to ceiling windows/room dividers are also lovely and let in so much light

Have fun weekends everyone!

Thursday 25 April 2013

Cat's Crockery

Our cats have been eating from old plastic bowls for years, and while they don't care (They'd happily eat off the floor probably) I've been wanting to get them some nicer looking bowls seeing as I have to look at them every day in the kitchen. I've been keeping an eye out in pet shops but all the designated 'pet' bowls seemed a bit naff, they all have paw prints or fish or bones on them which doesn't really tie in with the look I'm going for in the kitchen. I started looking out in other shops for any cheap bowls that would be suitable for the job, even if they weren't necessarily pet bowls.

I was browsing in HomeSense after a trip to the big B&Q in Gloucester (The one in Cheltenham is closer but smaller) to get the materials for the runner, I was actually just killing time as I was meeting friends for lunch down the road and was really early but didn't want to drive all the way home then back. I do love a good browse in HomeSense as they have such pretty stuff and it's all at such good prices, but on this occasion I had no intention of buying anything.

Then I found this double bowl and got a bit of inspiration as the cats currently have a plastic double bowl for their water. Yes the fact this picture was taken in our kitchen gives away that I bought it, I also bought the small bowls for food, they're quite shallow actually like finger bowls or plates which is perfect as they're easily rinsed over.
The small bowls were £2.99 each, and the double bowl was £4.99, they would be nice for chips and dips not that they will be used for anything other than the cats now they've slobbered all over them!
I didn't get another double bowl for food because Minty can't have dried food as when we first got them she got cystitis and dry food can be a cause of this, but then when we took them recently for their jabs Jazzies teeth are really bad and she needs to go and get them scaled. She now needs to eat dried food to clean her teeth, they are probably so bad because she has only been eating tinned food for the last 2 years because of Minty. So we now need to try and give them different food a few times a week which is a pain in the backside but better than having to take them to the vets all the time for teeth cleaning or antibiotics!

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Runner - Phase 2

After choosing the fabric for my runner I needed to get the rubber matting that it mentioned in this how to.

I really struggled to find any that didn't cost a fortune! In our local DIY shops they didn't have any, and I looked online and there were plenty of places to buy it but it was quite expensive. Costing more than £70 for the amount that I wanted! This meant the whole point of DIYing a rug would have been lost as I would still be paying more than I wanted to.

Tom and I had a bit of a brainstorm about alternatives, and I put out a wanted ad on freecycle for carpet remnants or rugs (condition or colour not an issue) and waited for a week. I was just about to give up, and try and find somewhere to buy carpet remnants, when on the Friday I got an email from Roz that they had a long rag rug runner, she had tried to dye it red but it had gone a bit patchy and they were moving and wouldn't need such a long runner so she hadn't tried to rescue it. I went to pick it up and it was massive at least 4m long and just the right width!
I could see what she had meant about the dye job but this didn't worry me as it was going to be covered up, I had debated with myself in the car on the way to pick it up trying to re-dye it grey but it had a few holes in it and was actually too long so I was going to have to chop a bit off it. It would be better to be covered by the fabric.

I love this about freecycle, Roz had a rug that had been well used and she had tried to get more life from but in the end didn't need, and I needed a long runner but its appearance didn't matter at all, so freecycle hooked us up and she got rid of the old rug, I got just what I needed and nothing went into landfill!

I've just got to gather the rest of my materials (spray adhesive, gaffer tape and polyurethane spray or some kind of sealant) then I'll get started on this project for real!

Sunday 21 April 2013

New Art

I liked the look of this canvas on top of the tank in the office
But because it was hand painted and not sealed or wipeable I was worried it would get a bit damp on top of the warm tank (you can see in the picture above the water steaming up the tank a bit) so I took it off and was looking out for something to replace it.

I then got Groupon email a few weeks later with an offer to get a large world map art canvas for £35 (rrp £160) from here

I love maps, especially in an office space as they look very grand but I didn't want anything too dark as this is a small room with no natural light, so these were perfect as they are art prints of world maps in text, paint splatters, words, music notes etc all in the shape of the world map. I've not ordered self assemble canvasses before but this was actually very easy to put together, I just laid it all out on the bed stuck the bars down as instructed and then cut the corners. The hardest part was rolling the bars in to tighten the canvas as I would roll one and the one opposite would unroll but I was doing this on my own so I think it would be pretty straightforward with 2 people.
Here it is, I like that the background is white so it's a splash of colour in here but not too overbearing. I was torn between this and this other one but wanted to keep the background as light as possible. 
We have put the candles and photo frame back up on the tank in front of it that are on the desk below, we can still open the lid to the tank enough to feed the turtles with the canvas and the candles etc on there and just have to take it all off to clean the tank.
Some details, it looks pretty cool in person and as it's a print we're hoping it will be able to be wiped down (So far when I do the dusting I just run a cloth over the bottom of it) but if it does show any signs of getting a bit damp I think I could seal it with some spray sealer.


That's our new addition in the office, hoping to sort out a new desk at some point but it's pretty far down the list (After all the bedroom furniture). I'm leaning toward getting a table that we can use as a desk and also to eat at, as since I got my laptop I don't use the desk so much but it would be nice to still have one and we miss having a dining table.

Friday 19 April 2013

Friday Inspiration

Well this week has flown past too! Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

I've seen quite a lot of inspiring images this week, as usual more on my Pinterest.

I love mid century furniture, and you can find so much of it in second hand shops for not much, the large artwork here also balances out the low side board
I want this exact thing for our TV unit (I've kind of decided I don't like ours)
I'm pinning ridiculous amounts of desks and offices at the moment, and I'm interested in the idea of a desk/table like this that 2 people could also eat at so it serves a double purpose
I'm loving this idea, you wouldn't have to use it as a headboard it could also be used for large scale art that you can make at home and lean against a wall - perfect for tenants!
I have no need for a nursery (and not planning to need one for a long time, don't get too excited mum!) but if I did it would look like this, it caught my eye on Pinterest because the colours are unusual for a nursery (most on there are in pastel colours or neutrals like white or grey) and I love the chalk board and painted ceiling! Really I could just move the cot out and a bed in and quite happily sleep there myself...
p.s. if you click through that last one the rest of the nursery and the baby are also pretty adorable!

Have great weekends everyone xx

Thursday 18 April 2013

Flower Girl

I've never really been too fussed about getting flowers, and good job because I don't get many (hint hint to a certain someone), but I do like the look of fresh flowers. They really brighten up a room. At the start of the year I was given some daffodils by a friend as a house warming gift, and these tulips for helping a colleague run some meetings over last year
They just make the room a bit more colourful, I have one vase but it's a bit too big really, so I used this pot for them and I like the look of it on the coffee table.
I did get some flowers from Tom on valentines day, which did warrant using the big vase!
I've started to buy small bunches of flowers myself, mostly daffodils as they're in season and cheap, usually only £1 a bunch so always I get 2 bunches.
I like to get the ones that are still closed as they open up in a few days and last a bit longer than the ones that are already open when you buy them I think
And once they do open they are just as pretty

I'm going to try and keep up getting flowers regularly as I like having them around. Unfortunately I don't pass anywhere daily that sells flowers so try and take the opportunity when I do, like in the supermarket of from stalls in town so we will see but I hope to get some at least once a month if I can, unless someone starts to buy them for me... :)

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Runner - Phase 1

We need to get a runner for behind the sofa in the living room, as the carpet there is getting so much wear that it's starting to look a bit grubby and worn, and being tenants we don't want to lose money off our deposit. I have been looking out for one for a while but we want a 4m runner and for a nice one it's quite expensive, even second hand. I also struggled to find what I was looking for in this size, most runners seem to go up to 2 or 3 metres but longer ones you have less choice.

What I wanted was a rug to go with the rest of the colours in the living room, which are grey, black and white. I settled on grey as I though a white rug would get dirty quite easily and black is a bit dark for the room. A pattern was fine just not too busy as it's in a very narrow space and might look a bit much. It also had to be a low pile or a cloth type rug, as the cats would pee all over a deep pile (They pee on the bath mat if they can get to it and a deep pile door mat we once had) as I think they confuse it with dirt!

After seeing the tutorial from this Friday Inspiration post, I decided to have a go at making my own as I'd be able to decide the material and size, and it might be a bit cheaper.

So I ordered a load of fabric samples in my colour palette, this is them laid out in order of preference, from top left to bottom right.
The three on the top row were definite favourites, the two on the right are actually from one fabric I just wanted different areas as the pattern was quite big. I was quite keen on this one as I liked that it was grey but with the cheerful bit of green, but when Tom looked at them he said he doesn't like green in décor, it reminds him of his family's old 80's living room carpet apparently. So that one was out and the top left was favourite, the rest were discounted because they were too light, too busy or we just didn't like them as much in person as we did online. I do want to get some colour into the living room eventually but we don't know what this will be yet and I didn't want the rug to be a main feature in this room, as it's just going behind the sofa to save the carpet and I'll add in colour with artwork and maybe some cushions and a window treatment.

The fabric is called Autumn Leaves in Sable and it's from www.terrysfabrics.co.uk. I've got 4m of it on the way to me, and we're just figuring out something to attach it to as the rubber matting is actually proving difficult to find in the length we want! I have feelers out in a few places and also ideas for alternatives, and will do a how to post one I get all my materials.

In the meantime this will be the pattern for the new rug, and I'm looking forward to the fabric arriving to see it to scale!

Monday 15 April 2013

What I Wore

This is what I wore out on Saturday night
Dress from Madam Butterfly, £15, belt from Primark, Necklace vintage from Etsy, gold bracelets from Topshop (about 10 years ago!) and gift from grandparents from a trip to India.

So there it is, not sure what else to say, I wore flats because we were walking into town and I'm a wuss about heels. This dress was really light and floaty and I can imagine wearing it in summer with some wedge sandals, but for now flats tights and a leather jacket it is!

I probably won't do outfit posts too often as I don't very often wear very inspiring outfits! Also anyone who knows me will know over the last year since giving up smoking and going to America I put on a bit lot of weight, I'm losing it slowly (although I actually want to keep a bit of it!) but I'm struggling to dress my new shape, any advice definitely welcome!

Sunday 14 April 2013

Bed Browsing

I'm torn between a few styles of bed, I'd like a traditional one in dark wood to match the wardrobes, or a fabric covered one with a tufted headboard, or maybe one with a shelf or thick headboard like in this post. I've been having a browse around and the ones that have stood out are these.

I like the neutral colour and headboard of this one, it could look great with white bedding or you could jazz it up with some bold colours.
The colour and style of something like this would go with our existing furniture, but I'm not sure if it would make the room feel a bit oppressive having all that dark wood in it
Something with a simple shape like this might lighten it up, I like the detail on the headboard
Or the sleigh style but in a lighter colour
I do also really like the idea of a grey bed
And whatever we end up getting I'd love to have something like this behind the headboard or built in to it
That's the few styles I'm looking at right now, by the time we buy one it might well be different! What do you guys think, any preferences?