DIY Table Decorations

We had our engagement party last weekend at a local pub, it was pretty last minute although as I knew I was going to be away on my birthday I had already planned an informal meal/drinks on the Sunday already with a few people. We just made it more of an 'event' and invited lots of Toms family and friends as well.

I spent most of last week sorting out who was coming, booking the room and sorting menu choice but on Saturday managed to whip up some last minute table decorations.

I have a collection of jars that I keep for things like this (Tom was amazed I finally used them as I've had them ages!) so I thought I'd make 2 types of decoration, one for flowers and one for candles. I went into town on the Friday and picked up my materials

The stuff on the left is all from various pound shops, some organza, ribbon, balloons, mini pegs, paint (I also later got some table confetti and banners). The candles are all from Wilko, the small ones were £1 each, the large ones were £1.70 and the packs of 3 were £1.75.

I started with the painted jars, squeezing the paint into the inside of the jar and moving it around with a foam brush. I had hoped to get them all a light blue colour by mixing the blue and white paint but the first one came out marbled and I liked that better!

I left them all drying upside down to let any excess paint drip out (note: because of the paint being quite thick they take forever to dry and were actually still wet on Sunday when we were using them, so if you're trying similar do them further in advance!) then moved onto the candle decorations. My plan was to wrap the jars in the organza fabric add the ribbon and voilà! The first one I tried sticking down the organza to the jar but it didn't stick very well and I discovered wasn't really needed

These first 2 I also added in another sheet of organza but the finished article was a bit too fussy for my liking and since there were going to candles inside and the material kept going over the top (Fire Hazard!) I kept the rest of them a bit more simple!

I just wrapped the jars in the organza and tied the ribbon around the top and the bottom to secure it and add decoration

At this point I actually wasn't too keen on these bit I figured once they had candles lit and were glowing softly they would look prettier.

I had some ribbon left over so glued some around the top of the painted jars

And here they are in action

My mum very kindly got us the balloon bouquet

I ended up not using most of the candles, only using the small ones from the packs of 3 to put in the jars, as I felt we had enough and there were a lot of people eating so didn't want to crowd the table too much.

I really like the painted jars and have kept them, I added in a plastic cup to each one to put the flowers in. 

The decorations in total including the balloons and banners only cost £23.60 as it was mostly from pound shops!

We had a lovely party, with a meal and then a game of skittles as we had hired the back room with the skittle alley in and an evening of (far to much) drinking! 

I will probably not talk too much about weddings etc on here (we don't even have a date set yet or anything although looking at next year) although any projects like this that could translate to a non-wedding/engagement event or home décor (I'm going to find a home for some of those painted jars in our home) I will share. I'm sure there will be a lot of projects to do for the wedding and some of them will be of interest.

6 months in - what do we miss?

OK so we had a nice post on what we love about the flat here, but what are we lacking?

Really there's not a lot, mostly just stuff we were aware of moving in and just need to get used to.

1. 'Apartment Living' as the Americans call it can take a bit of getting used to (before this we lived in a maisonette and then houses), there are people living above us and on both sides. Sometimes there can be noise from them, and sometimes I'm conscious that we might be disturbing them. We also share the wheelie bin, so have started using litter tray liners and bin liners for the cat litter and are more conscious about not filling the bin up in the first few days. Also being used to having a driveway and a garage etc it takes some getting used to living in a flat.
2. From that last point, not having a driveway or being able to park right outside our front door. There is free parking on the other side of the road and if there's no spaces there there's permit parking (Tom pays £80 per year so not too bad but still an added expense) down a side street just round the corner, only twice have we found no spaces on either road and had to park further away. I don't have the car, so it's mainly Tom that deals with this and most of the time he gets a space reasonably close, but when it's tipping down with rain and/or you have heavy shopping to bring in it can be a pain. We do have an access road out the back though so we can unload stuff and bring it in through the back garden but then we have to go and park the car.
3. On from that point, not having my own car. This really isn't a downside of the property really just something I've noticed. I could have a car (we're allowed 2 permits) but really it would be a massive extravagance financially to have 2 cars, I don't need to drive to work (Massive plus point there though!) so it would stay parked for the whole week and only be used maybe at the weekends. I really miss having my own car though, it's a minor inconvenience but it just means I've lost a bit of my independence, I have to get used to waiting for Tom to ferry me around or waiting for him to get home so I can have his car. Anyone who knows me will know this is not really 'me' to rely on someone else so much and to have to ask Tom to do stuff all the time, even if it is stuff I always did when he gave up his car at our last place (I keep trying to remind myself it's just his turn!).
4. We used to have a big living room at our last house that held our sofa, armchair, turtle tank and a drop leaf dining table. It was the first and only place we have had a dining table and I loved it. We had Christmas at home for the first time, and had Sunday dinner regularly inviting family round, we had nice meals sat at the table rather than eating off plates on our laps. I really miss having a dining table here, although I'm trying to find a small table that we can use as both a desk and a table and hope to remedy this soon. Although I'm afraid we will never be able to have 10 round for Christmas dinner again while we're living here, as it will have to be in the office in place of the desk and will be a table for 2 or at the most 4 if we pull it out into the middle of the room. I want a table where we can have the printer, laptop and cork board which can be converted to a dining table quickly by adding another chair and taking the computer stuff and cork board off it. Really if we didn't have the turtles or could move them into another room you could get a bigger table in there, or you could put a table in the entrance hallway but that's pretty far from the kitchen so wouldn't really be great as a dining room.
5. Also on that note of having people round, not having the spare room so we can't have people stay over. We still have the storage space as we have the office and the entrance hall, but we don't actually have a spare bed any more. Although we only had people stay over twice at our last place, and we have a sofa which people could comfortably sleep on or we could always get an air bed to put in the living room if we wanted to.
6. Lack of natural light in the bathroom and office, these are rooms we spend minimal time in but if I start using the office more it would maybe become more of an issue. I usually type posts on my netbook while sat on the sofa, but have been going to a chiropractor for my back recently and don't want to do this long term. Once we have a table/desk set up with a proper chair I want to actually use the office, so will have to invest in some good lamps! A solution I've thought of would again be to move it out to the entrance hallway, but in the winter it's a bit cold out there so wouldn't be a nice place to sit and work. We'll see once we get the table and get it all set up.

Really that's all I can think of right now, and none of them are really massive issues, just some little niggles we've discovered along the way. I'm hoping that I'll get used to not having a car (I'm telling myself it's greener, I'm getting more exercise and I can get another one whenever I want to!), and we're pretty used to living in a flat now and not having the same amenities as a house. The other issues are really things we can work around we just need to figure it out and make adaptations, so there's nothing really that I regret about taking this place and on balance we definitely like more about it than we dislike about it, in fact we're very happy here!

Runner - Phase 3

The third and final part, actually getting this thing made! I've spent a while gathering the materials for making my own runner, you can see the first part here and the second part here.

This is all you need (note the end chopped off the runner as it was too long), some spray adhesive (I went for carpet adhesive), tape (I used B&Q own brand 'high strength gaffer tape' as it's a strong adhesive), a sealant (which I ended up not using!) and some drop cloths to protect the floor.

Step 1 - Measure the width of fabric you need, remember to allow a good few inches either side for the fabric to fold underneath. Then cut to size. I was doing all this in the hallway and going through into the office, as it's the longest stretch of uninterrupted floor that we have.

Step 2 - Cover the whole place in drop cloths and lay out your rubber matting or rug or whatever you're using as a base. You might also need to curse at the doorway and try to find another area to do this, fail and decide to just move the rug once you get to the door or do this thing in two halves.

Step 3 - Line up the fabric and leave enough over at the start to fold underneath.

Step 4 - My technique was to then fold the fabric back into a loose roll, stick the first part down, then just keep spraying the rug and the fabric in sections and unrolling, smoothing out as you go. The pictures probably explain it better!

I knelt on the part that I had already stuck down after smoothing it out, so I could spray the next part and then fold it over and repeat, moving the drop cloth along so I didn't get any adhesive on the front of the fabric.

The carpet adhesive stuck together instantly and was dry in only 15 minutes, so it didn't leave room for error, but also that was good as it meant when I got to the door I could fold the start end up as it was dry and pull the rug through into the hallway and not have to try to negotiate the doorway.

Step 5 - Leave the adhesive to dry, then flip over. It's a good idea to use a fresh drop cloth, as you don't want to get carpet adhesive on the front of the fabric, and that stuff gets everywhere!

Step 6 - Fold the edges over and stick them down. Make sure they're pulled in tight and the edges are all even.

 Just fold the edges like wrapping a present, nice and neat you don't want any bumps showing on the top.

Step 7 - Edge the fabric with the gaffer tape to make sure it's really stuck down.

I left everything to dry overnight to make sure all the adhesive was dry and not still smelly before flipping it back over.

So here it is!

There is one more step, which would be to coat it with the poly finish, but I remembered at this point that we have a fabric protective spray (for car interiors) that would maybe be better as it's made for fabric. So Tom gave it a coat of that and we'll see if it does the job. It doesn't make it wipeable like a coat of poly might but it should stop it getting stained and doesn't make it shiny or 'crunchy' feeling as I was worried a sealant might. If it does start to show any signs of damage or staining I might give it a coat of spray sealer as well. So far it's stood up to being walked on, clawed by the cats a bit (although they got shouted at for that!) and even a bit of cat puke which seems to have come off ok.

I'm planning to make a doormat for the kitchen with the rest of the fabric and the part I chopped off the original rug, so will probably seal that one as it will be for actually wiping feet on.

I'm so happy with it and surprised at how easy it was to do once I had all the materials, you can feel the texture of the original mat underneath but it's just like walking on any rug as most have some kind of weave or pattern.

The budget breakdown is:
Fabric - £35.96 (4 metres of 'Autumn Leaves' from here)
Gaffer Tape - £5.98
Carpet Adhesive - £5.98 (I bought 2 cans just in case but only used one)
Pink rug - Free :)
Dust sheets (3 used) - £5.94
Total - £53.86

So I've got a 4 metre runner for under £55, I didn't count the polyurethane spray into that total as I didn't use it (and will use it on other projects so it won't go to waste) but even with that added on it would be under £60!

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!

Second Ottoman

We got another hamper for the top of Toms wardrobe

We put all the smaller stuff in there that was in the wardrobe in the hallway, like Toms remote control car, his telescope, board games etc. It leaves a bit more room in the other wardrobe for larger stuff like suitcases, cat carriers and the Christmas tree.

The bedroom is starting to come together a bit more, I want to get a new bed at some point and get the room into a more simple style as at the moment we have lots of different styles of furniture in here and although I like an eclectic mix of furniture and accessories (not the 'all from the same catalogue' look) this room looks chaotic and mismatched at the moment. The new wardrobes help and they kind of go with my little chest of drawers and the trunk, but the old bedside tables and the bed look so out of place. 

To be honest it would only take a few purchases to get this room looking more finished but they are large buys that we need to save up for or find second hand or cheap. When we have the furniture sorted and I can see the wood for the trees in here I want to get new bedding, artwork and either a new mirror or revamp my current one. I love to have an ongoing project though!

More Accessory Storage...

Tom remarked the other day while we were putting away clothes how he has his wardrobe to store all his clothes and I have my wardrobe, chest of drawers, the old bedside tables in the corner (my underwear, tights and socks are in them), my shoes in the trunk and my bags and belts under the bed. For someone who doesn't buy clothes that often I have a lot of them and I definitely spread them out! So I've had a clear out of the wardrobe, and I also noticed that actually my shoes took up only about half of the available space in the trunk, so I thought it would be good to get all my handbags and belts into here as well and have all of my shoes and accessories together!

The only problem is the space that was left was high not wide so I needed to layer my shoes, but the box from our old laptop fit perfectly on top of the bottom layer of shoes

 Then I put the shoes I wear more often on the top

The storage box my bags were in while under the bed fit perfectly next to them

Then I put the lid on and laid my belts on top

I moved this picture off the turtle tank as I was worried about it getting damp (it's been replaced by a wipeable print that I'll share picture of soon) and put it on here for now, although eventually I want it to go over the bed once we have agreed with the landlord where we can put some picture hooks (yay things on the wall finally!)

Voilà!

And there is an actual space under the bed now, how long do we think that will last?

Office Additions

There were 2 small changes in the office recently, this canvas migrated into here from the living room

In our first ever post you can see it's just leant on the back of the sofa, but it kept getting knocked and we were having our housewarming party the evening after taking these pictures so I moved it out of the way. This is also temporary really as I think it will get damp on top of the warm tank.

I made this myself, I would do a how to post but I didn't take pictures back when I made it and to be honest it's so simple I can do it in 2 sentences. Stick wooden letters to canvas and paint over everything in your chosen colour to make the 3D word, or words depending on your quote. Write on the rest of the words using a narrow tip marker, I used a stencil and did it in pencil first because my handwriting is awful but you could freehand it if yours isn't.

Also I put our old bath mat under the litter tray becasue it had a hole in it (the mat not the tray, it's in the middle so hidden by the litter tray but made it useless as a bathroom mat), and I've wanted to have a mat to put under this for a while to catch bits of litter so it's not strewn all over the floor. Now if only I could train them to wipe their paws on it...

This room will have some more changes made to it eventually like:

• A new desk, larger than our current one, maybe a corner desk to maximise space.
• A new desk chair - probably without wheels as it's not great on the wooden flooring
• A new computer - This one was a hand me down and it works ok but it's massive (In the picture above see how the chair cannot fit under the desk because there is a monster sized computer there, also the desk is tiny) and OLD, seriously it's over 10 years old and until last year had never been connected to the internet, but it's keeping up just about. I'd like to get a laptop or netbook.
• Depending on the desk we buy (Hoping to get one with it built in) some office storage like a small filing cabinet, so we won't have to keep the paperwork under the bed.
• Some different art to go on top of the tank - As I like the look of the canvas there, but I think it needs to be something that won't be affected by the warm water underneath (Like in a sealed frame which I might DIY)

Although this room isn't a big priority as the stuff we have in here is functional and we have lots of other things to sort out first, so this will probably all be further down the line. Although you know I won't leave a room completely alone for long so there will be small upgrades along the way...

Something Weird in the Kitchen

I was cleaning the kitchen and I noticed there was some sauce splatter from the hob on this wall

So I got a cloth and wiped it, and the wall moved.

My first reaction was panic as I thought I'd broken the flat already but then I realised it's a fake wall, it hides this

 All the pipes etc for the boiler which is in the cabinet above

It's just made out of plaster board painted the same colour as the walls, but it has this backsplash trim that I think is the reason it looks so realistic

So if you're a tenant and you have a load of pipes or wires that are a complete eyesore (I can think of at least 3 examples from previous places I've lived) and you want to cover them up, maybe consider DIYing a fake wall - this one is completely removable it's not attached in any way hence why I moved it by accident! It doesn't look too obvious either, in this picture it's the wall behind the dish drainer, to the left of the hob

It would be pretty simple, you wouldn't even need any power tools if you got the wood pre cut to size at the shop (Some DIY chains offer this in larger stores), then glue it together and just paint over. Adding backsplash or trim really would make it look realistic but if you can't find the one to match the existing trim in the room or don't want to spend the money it would still look better than a mess of pipes, note in the second to last picture the semicircle cut out of the bottom right of the fake wall though, so it sits over the existing trim and fits snugly to the wall. You could even go the whole hog and get tiles, then it would really blend in to a kitchen or bathroom seamlessly. This is going in a mental file of things to remember when we move, as there's nowhere else in the flat I'd need to do this but I wish I'd thought of it at previous properties.

Have you ever found something weird in a new house?

Friday Inspiration

I spend a ridiculous amount of time browsing Pinterest and the internet for inpsiration, so I though I'd round up some of the things I spot each week into a post.

This is exactly what I want our office to look like, from here. I also love the bed in the same post, it would go so well with our new wardrobes which I'll share photos of soon, in fact this is pretty much how I want our whole flat to look.

I would love to have a 'reading nook' somewhere in my house, can't you just imagine spending a few hours here? From here

Or I'd love to recreate something like this in our entrance hall, from here

I'm going to make one of these for all my glasses one day - From here 

I love this white and grey bedroom - From here

This quote is so true :) - From here

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

I'll be reorganising the bathroom and trying to clean up our new (New to us they're actually quite old) wardrobes a little.

xxx