Living Room Makeover

When we first decided to move house, 2.5 years ago, we spent a day looking around the house and prioritising the work that needed doing. 

We gave ourselves a month to overlap the move, so we still lived in our flat, but were at the house everyday decorating.

There was one room that we decided early on needed to be decorated before we moved in - the living room. People would come and visit us and the 1940's look just wasn't us, so we wanted to make sure the one room that they saw, and that we spent the most time in, was more modern. 

Deciding on paint was a quick job. You'll remember my post here, where we were testing different colours. We went with Dulux Natural Wicker. It went on a lot more 'corn yellow' than we anticipated but it dried far lighter, almost to the shade on the tin. We've never hated it, and luckily it matched the cream gloss wood that you'll remember is EVERYWHERE in this house! 

But more recently, as those of you who follow my regular posts here and on Instagram will know, I'm a real sucker for whites and greys, and when we visited a friends house recently, I fell madly in love with her walls. So much so, that I immediately went and ordered 2 litres of the same paint a few days later! 

This is the Albany 'dovecote' paint that she used and I am going to be using soon. 

If you look at the skirting board, you can see the walls are very close to white, but the paint has a lovely warm blend to it. 

We also have a bare wood floor, and are shopping around for a new fluffy rug, so I know it's going to match well.

With the wood floor, beige walls and brown sofas, it's just always felt a bit too matchy. 

I still haven't found the time to paint the skirtings white, or paint the fireplace tiles white, so that'll be a job for when we do the walls, and hopefully add a real clean feel to the room, which currently only has white paint on the ceiling and above the picture rails (but it's not been repainted in a long long time!) 

Stay tuned over the next new months to see this transformation take place! I'll be blogging every day for a week with updates on the progress, and lots of before and afters (because we know everyone loves them!) 

Xo

10 tips when decorating an old house

When we were offered the chance of buying my Grandparents old house 2.5 years ago, we jumped at the chance. Okay, we thought. It needs some work. But it's liveable! Boy, did that mindset change.

As soon as you move in, you start noticing things. Stupidly we didn't get the house assessed before we moved in, and having been vacant for 6 months, it had really run itself down. Mould, dust, cobwebs, it was starting to look dreary. The only thing to do to wash away that feeling was to decorate.

1. Start with the most used rooms.

We gave ourself a month to decorate before moving in, living out of our flat, spending long days painting the new house. We started with the living room - the focal point, the main room. We stripped it (which was far easier than we anticipated as the paper was so old and stiff it just fell off in strips!) and painted the blank walls. 

We did the living room then our room, then the bathroom and toilet. The rest followed. 

2. Timing

We moved in August, the height of the U.K. summer, so we could paint with the windows open, take a break in the sun, then carry on. The motivation from the weather was brilliant and we got the living room done really quickly. 

3. Pace yourself.

When you buy an old house, there's a LOT to do. Sure, I'd have loved to have been able to afford to do up the whole house within 12 months but it just wasn't going to happen. We hope to be here for a long time, so what's the rush! And on that note...

4. Decorate room by room

Finish one room before starting the next. This is one of those bits of advice where I say do as i say, not as I do. I'm impulsive, so there are things in all the rooms that need finishing, and it's not a good feeling.

Instead, choose a room and commit to finishing it before starting another. 

5. Stick to themes

Whether your theme is white, minimalist, pastels, bright, feature wall, or something more specific like the popular Union Flag London theme, or the ever popular shabby chic look, make sure you pick a theme and commit to it.

Since moving in, we knew we eventually wanted a white minimal nautical hallway, farmhouse style kitchen, clean white and mint bathroom and toilet, minimal cream master bedroom with light nautical touches, and the two spare rooms; one a future nursery, white, grey, peach and mint, and the other to host memories of our wedding holiday in Arizona and Nevada. 

Along the way we've experimented with the smaller spare room, and painted it twice with the intention to finally decorate it as an office in the coming months. 

 

6. Buy as you go along

This makes personalising rooms so much cheaper. 

We hope to start a family in the near future, so with the plan to decorate the larger spare room as a future nursery in mind, I often see things that match our vision for the room.

I have a storage box labelled for each room in the house and each box has things in it for that room. Our nursery box is full to the brim, as is the office box! 

It's a great way to make sure everything matches, and to keep track of what you've got and what you still need. 

7. Look for a bargain before you commit 

Everything I see that I want for a room, I first try and source from cheaper means. There are some things I won't scrimp out on, that only handmade etsy stores or Instagram sellers can make, but for things like wall vinyls, prints and paint colours, I feel much better getting them cheaper and using the savings for something else. 

For instance, I have two light boxes.

One is from the lovely little company, and the second I picked up for 1/5 of the price at The Range. Of course the quality of the first is higher but to an outside eye they look exactly the same. 

You'll remember my previous post about bargain hunting - this wall in our spare room gets so many compliments. In total it cost around £20, with the items all being from Tiger (where nothing's more than £30), Primark and the Range. 

8. Colour match! 

I had never heard of F&B or Annie Sloane when we lived in our flat. But now, I'm addicted to browsing endless shades of cream, white and grey. But they're expensive. We used B&Q colour match to create a more affordable version of the colours we loved and in all honesty, who knows? It may not be the exact same finish, but I'm not bothered. Only I know that, after all!  As for AS, a little goes a long way, so I bought one tin of old white and a sample pot of a teal shade and that's lasted me for months. It's great to have in the cupboard for random projects, but it's equally nice to know there are many more versions of chalk paint now that make it again more affordable. 

9. Pay homage to the house as it was when you moved in 

We framed a piece of the old kitchen wallpaper and carpet and it hangs in the hallway now. It's so funny when people ask how it looked before being renovated and we show them that!

We also have the old front door key on a piece of string, painted in holographic nail polish and we hang it on our Christmas tree every year! 

10. Utilise social media

People have amazing ideas. There are some incredible home designers on instagram and Pinterest, so use them for their knowledge! Don't be afraid to ask them questions too, they love what they do and love helping you achieve the same look! 

Do you have any tips that really helped for your move?

Speak soon!

XO

Spring Cleaning

The sun is finally starting to show his head, and with only a month until Spring officially starts, it's that time again - spring cleaning! I like to cling onto winter after Christmas is over. It took real effort to pack the winter decor away...but I feel so much better for it.

Every year, as I mentioned in a previous post, we get festive tartan throws for the living room. They are from the Home range at Primark, although you wouldn't know it to look at them. They're between £3.50-£5 each, which means that once winter is over, I can replace them at very low cost, and Scout gets two new blankets for his basket! (My dog can't have a normal soft basket as he un-stuff's EVERYTHING so he has a wooden surround, and LOTS of blankets!). 

Primark's spring range is very hippy, boho looking. It's adorable, but it's not my style (I love boho, but just not the over-patterning of everything) so I'm in that transition waiting for their next influx of stock...I just know their summer line will be as spectacular as the adorable pineapple/ice cream/flamingo prints from 2015! So right now, it's back to the yellows - nothing says spring more that yellow and white, and you just know I'll be straight on the daffodils when they're in bloom! They're one flower that lasts more than 2 days, and bunches are really cheap.

Another job during spring cleaning is to battle mould. We live in a very old house, it was only £2000 to buy new when my Grandparents bought it...! So it's only single brick walls, not cavity walled, and only half the house was double glazed, with some of the back rooms still having the old aluminium windows. Luckily having had the kitchen done, we only have two alu windows left but the newer ones still need replacing as they've all blown their seals. Anywho! I am in a constant battle with mould and am always after tips to help prevent it, until we eventually have every interior outer wall replastered with a false wall to create a cavity, which is what our builders did in the kitchen. 

But my favourite part of spring cleaning is the cleaning itself >.<
I know, isn't it sad! But I love washing all the cushion covers from the sofa, pulling up the rugs, moving the sofas and steam cleaning the wood floors. I love chucking all the glassware in the dishwasher (I have still only used it twice...!) and seeing it sparkle when comes out, hanging the washing on the actual washing line and not having to stick the heating on because we haven't reconnected the tumble dryer yet...I just love it. 

 

My tips for spring cleaning....

• Make a spring/summer playlist! Spotify is super for free music streaming, and you can find almost anything on there! Make a happy, bouncy plasylist to keep you entertained as you dance around with that duster. 
• But first - coffee! Give yourself a boost, you're going to need it ;)
  
  
  
  
• Light some candles. We use Yankee burner tarts on a Scentsy electric burner. We love the seasonal smells, but also stick with our all-time favourite classic of White Cotton. COnvince yourself your washing smells great! ;) 
• Commit the whole day to it, and start early! I get up around 9 on my day off. I stick the news on, have a cup of honey and lemon tea then crack on with the cleaning. I'll usually be finished by 12/1 and then I have the rest of the day to enjoy my lovely clean house before 3 long days at work! 
• Treat yourself. Buy yourself something small as a reward. I found this adorable stag/deer head chalkboard in the winter stock sale at Wilkinson's yesterday for £3. I'm slowly collecting bits for the man-cave / second spare bedroom, so this will be perfect! 
  

What do you love about spring cleaning? Do you have any tips? 


xo

 







 

Bedrooms, and more, on a Budget

We all love a bargain, and for those of us who fall in love with every seasonal theme we see, it can often end up getting expensive to keep up to date with what we love. Being a psychologist as well, I fully support the idea that a cluttered room is a sign of a cluttered mind. Although these days, they're saying that people with messy houses have a high affinity for creative reasoning. Who knows, but what I do know is that when there's mess in our house, we end up having a meltdown and the biggest spring clean we can manage. We just hate clutter, and although I love keeping memories, I've started to throw out so much 'rubbish' that I've been hoarding. 

My secret talent is bargain hunting! Now I love supporting handmade etsy stores, and local businesses, but sometimes the price just doesnt justify the item.
If I see something I just have to have, unless it's mega special and I know I can't leave without it, I have a system.

* eBay. Most things I love can be found second-hand on eBay, for far cheaper than their RRP. Always havee a quick search before committing to new, unless you're happy paying out for it. I've found cushion covers for £2 each, when in large stores they've been £7-15 for one pillow. 

* Gumtree. I'm not a huge fan of the second-hand local selling site, but I have come across a few bargains from people moving house and wanting to get rid of furniture quickly. Just be careful how to arrange payment, and check electrical items work before handing over cash! 

* Facebook selling pages. These are fab, especially when they're local and you can collect for free or have it delivered for a couple of pounds. It's also great when people you know are selling things - you often end up getting them for free ;) 

* Avoid labels. I'm not mad about labels at all, whether its for clothing (although I love my Fat Face and Saltrock items!), or anything else, and when it comes to home-wears, I prefer value over brand names. I treated myself to a few items from the home range at NEXT when we first had the kitchen done, but most of the rest are all generic versions of popular brand items. I originally bought a lightbox for £50 for my kitchen - I love them, and think they're so versatile for occasions and look adorable. But then I found that The Range were stocking them for £10....!!! No brainer ;)
 
Primark's home range is amazing, and if you haven't ventured into the aisles of candles, throws and decor, I suggest you get your butt in gear! The great thing about their range is that's it's constantly being updated. They have seasonal themes, but in between they tend to update their shelves every month or so. You'd expect bad quality from the cheaper end stores, but even their Home range is up there with other budget home ranges such as B&M and the new New Look home range. 
Their range has caused one issue, though. I am obsessed with bedding. Over winter, we slept in their super warm extra thick cotton sets, through summer, the thinner, pastel shades are a welcome change. 

The great thing is that they display the sets in store, so you can see what matches. As I write this post, the current range is a bohemian hippy style, with camper van prints and spirograph style patterns.

Here are a few images from the themes in our home....

Our smallest spare room is a future nursery, so the theme has always been fun, childish and uni-sex. The theme was based on Primark's last summer season range - flamingos, pineapples and pastels.

Mint frames and sunshine box - Primark
Cloud shelves - Tiger
House frames - The Range

Day Bed - IKEA
Bed set - Primark
Pineapple cushion - Primark
Flamingo cushions - Primark

Ice cream lamp - a lovely little company
LOVE letters - The Range
Wooden Owl - The Range
Strawberry jewellery box - Tiger
Box frames - Primark
Flamingo mug - Primark

Frames - Primark
Glitter paper and buttons - Hobbycraft

ARIZONA and NEVADA silhouettes

Primark summer theme

I also love the George at Home, from Asda. I still find lots of their items on the pricey side, but they too do some great seasonal items, and when I was in my 'stag and deer' obsessed phase, they definitely helped curb the appeal by supplying more than enough items to keep me happy! (They also do cheap Yankee tarts, if you're like me and love them!)

After I've been to Primark, I always head to The Range and B&M. B&M is a monthly/fortnightly trip because we don't live overly close (20min drive, as opposed to 2 min drive to The Range), and it's not on our travel route to anywhere, so we have to make an effort to go there.  B&M is my guilty pleasure for kitchenware - they sell the cutest mason jars, and those kitsch, shabby chic homely items that you always see on Pinterest and Instagram but have no idea where to buy. We bought two sets of mason jar glasses before Christmas and everyone loved them for their mulled wine, complete with cinnamon stick and orange slice. 
B&M also do great imitation items. I say that because I often find versions of things in there that I see in places like Dunelm Mill and Next, but for half the price. This little candle holder is ceramic. I almost bought one from Next that was an electric version, with a bulb inside, but for a fraction of the cost (this one was £6.99), we get to burn our favourite Yankee candles and it looks just as sweet.

My other secret is the 'all or nothing' deorating rule. 

It's almost Christmas, and you love the Nordic, tartan theme. It's everywhere, so you buy the curtains, the rug, the throws, the cushion covers. 

You have a choice. After Christmas you pack them away and only dig them out again next year, or you keep them up all year without the decorations that make it christmassy. But you have to commit. If you're going to do the latter, then you can justify spending more for more durable products, but if you're only getting it out for 6-8 weeks of the year, then my advice is to keep it cheap. 

So there you have it. Making a house look homely doesn't need to be expensive, nor does following the Pinterest and Instagram trends.

Be sensible, frugal and realistic - do you need to spend £32 on a kettle when theres one just as pretty, that does the same job, but without the brand name on the side for £10?



Let me know your secrets! 

Right on our doorstep

Sometimes I think it's easy to take for granted just how amazing our local area is. We're really lucky being situated on the South Coast, surrounded by inner cities, countryside, the gorgeous Moors, and of course more beaches than you could imagine down through Cornwall and up into North Devon. 

We decided to have a wintery adventure, seeing as the sun was out and the pup needed a good run. We headed to Seaton beach in Cornwall - somewhere many of our friends always recommend, as well as other dog owners. We hadn't taken pup to the beach before - we usually head to Dartmoor and let him explore for hours, have a swim in the rivers and make friends with the Dartmoor ponies. But we fancied a change. We love the beach, and I think it's much more exciting to visit the seaside during winter, donned in big coats, hats, gloves and wellies. It was one of those scarf and sunglasses sort of days.

Well, after a wrong turn and getting wedged on the steepest hill ever, we finally made it to the beach. It was a beautiful afternoon watching the sun set, watching the dog bounding through the incoming waves, submarining his face under the white wash, and digging holes in the sand. This is exactly what we needed this week.

Bathroom - Loading....50%...

Eek! We finally had our bathroom tiled, and I am so happy I almost want to sleep in the bath just in case I wake up and it was all a dream. 

For those who don't remember, when we first moved in the bathroom looked like this..

It's a small space, due to the humongous great airing cupboard (soon to be removed!). A few months back we got a whole new bathroom set. We'd had the bathroom replastered due to mould and it was the perfect time to replace the worn out old units. Plus they were beige, gag. Once they were in, I painted the plaster with an undercoat and then a top coat of Dulux mint white, which looked so white at first but darkened over the days following. But after the shower curtain rail pulled a chunk of plaster off and I accidentally flicked dark blue paint everywhere opening the tin, we just knew it was time to get the tiling done and hide all remnance of my butter fingers! 

The builders started by mounting the white ceramic tiles...

Then filled the gaps with silicone.

The tiles are so lush, the bottom photo was taken in the dark with just the camera flash to show you a better idea of their size. They're slightly more cream than white as they have to dry before we can wipe them clean of builders dust so will be more white. 

We also bought some black vinyl flooring a long time ago but another builder told us it would bubble up with the humidity so we stored it in the attic for another project. Our current builders have reassured us it can be laid in the bathroom, as long as they prep the floor beforehand. The space is so small we could have used an offcut, but since we got the flooring roll anyway it seemed silly to pass up the offer! We also bought a gorgeous metal towel rail a long time ago to replace the old radiator but we realised we accidentally got an electric one...so will be trading that in asap for one that connects to the boiler. 

Sometime in the future we are removing the airing cupboard, which won't be a huge job, and housing the boiler on its own, to open up the space below for a small storage unit to fit in. The bathroom isn't a room either of us are bothered about as a priority, but with hubs disabilities, the difference between having to have a bath or a shower is monumental. He's very happy it's almost shower-proof! We just have to find a glass shower door now....

Project bathroom, halfway there. <3 

House Update

I've been sat in the kitchen doing some bits for work, and I had a sudden random flashback of how the room used to look. It's just nuts to think that only a few short months ago, this space was two different rooms, and hadn't been touched in a good 20 years...! 
The difference is catastrophic, and its the little things that make the most difference I think.

New double doors - they totally open up the wall, and with so much more light coming through the room is so bright and welcoming. 

Radiator - we moved the plumbing from the larger wall to the wall between the alcoves. We had a new radiator fixed up and bought a beautiful radiator cover to house it. Its more central so helps warm the room quicker, and frees up the space on the other wall. 

Lighting - the old fashioned lights were taken down and replaced with spot bars, which mean we can light one half of the room at a time, or both together at night.

Sink and window - The positioning of the window above the sink wasn't an accident. I want nothing more than to stand at that sink clearing up after lunch on a warm sunny Sunday and watch my children play in the garden through the window. I need children first, but that's only a small issue ;) haha! 


We've been toying with some ideas of what to put in the left alcove. Hubs has always wanted to build cushion-topped storage benches, which I was more than happy with, but I recently found a gorgeous welsh dresser which I've got coming this weekend - hubs has always wanted a coffee station, so I'm hoping to move all the coffee bits to the dresser, and free up a cupboard in the kitchen. Not heard of a coffee station?! Don't you realise, there's a whole new world out there waiting to be discovered that doesn't involve 3 in 1 coffee sachets, long life milk and sweeteners! 
There are some great coffee stations on Pinterest, so my inspiration is endless! Here are some of my favourites...

I have had a lovely few days off work, but I'm back tomorrow for four hectic days that are also filled with appointments for me and hubs, but I'll be back soon to show you the coffee station! Oh, and the bathroom before and after....we've got the builders in today and tomorrow so watch this space! 

xo