28/12/2014
Our Christmas
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas break. Ours has seen plenty of family, food and festivities (with sadly a minor bout of flu for the boyfriend). Here’s some pictures from Christmas Day, which after a croissant filled breakfast and few presents in our new home, we spent mostly at my parents’ house eating delicious food, enjoying a brisk walk and lazing by the fire. I was lucky enough to get some fabulous presents and am so pleased to report all my handmade gifts seemed to go down well too!
Poor Sammy spent Christmas in a cast with a dislocated toe!
18/12/2014
Bedroom feature wall: before & after
Three weeks in and all major decoration work to our bedroom is finished! And while it definitely needs a bit of dressing (eg. curtains and some accents in a contrasting colour) I just couldn't wait to show you our Farrow and Ball* feature wall.
Having worked in several historic houses I've always loved Farrow and Ball paints, the first time I came across them was seeing the gorgeous Ballroom Blue in the Bath Assembly Rooms - quite an introduction. So it's a bit of a dream come true having a drop of Farrow and Ball in my own home! I knew I was after a mint/duck egg colour for a feature wall in our bedroom and found this in Teresa's Green No. 236. Choosing simply from the colour chart and online pictures was a bit of a worry but it's exactly the colour I was hoping for. It was really nice to paint with too, quick drying and has a nice chalky finish (we used estate emulsion).
So here's the before...
and after!
This is the only room in the house where I can picture the 'finished' look - I had it decided after just our first viewing! As you can see we've painted the other walls a brighter off-white (they were cream previously) and painted the woodwork in brilliant white. You can't see it in the pictures but we've also put down new cream carpet, so all in all it is brighter and feels much more like 'our home' now!
Right, I'm off to go and stare at my new wall. And buy some curtains.
*post in collaboration with Farrow and Ball.
Having worked in several historic houses I've always loved Farrow and Ball paints, the first time I came across them was seeing the gorgeous Ballroom Blue in the Bath Assembly Rooms - quite an introduction. So it's a bit of a dream come true having a drop of Farrow and Ball in my own home! I knew I was after a mint/duck egg colour for a feature wall in our bedroom and found this in Teresa's Green No. 236. Choosing simply from the colour chart and online pictures was a bit of a worry but it's exactly the colour I was hoping for. It was really nice to paint with too, quick drying and has a nice chalky finish (we used estate emulsion).
So here's the before...
and after!
This is the only room in the house where I can picture the 'finished' look - I had it decided after just our first viewing! As you can see we've painted the other walls a brighter off-white (they were cream previously) and painted the woodwork in brilliant white. You can't see it in the pictures but we've also put down new cream carpet, so all in all it is brighter and feels much more like 'our home' now!
Right, I'm off to go and stare at my new wall. And buy some curtains.
*post in collaboration with Farrow and Ball.
14/12/2014
Recently I've been... (moving home edition!)
Painting, we painted all day for a whole week and then most evenings for two weeks and we're still one room away from finishing the upstairs! However, it really is worth the effort as the new house already feels more like our own. I can't wait to reveal pictures!
Baking duh na na-na-na-na.... BATMAN for the boyfriend's birthday last week. It was the first time using our new oven, so think I could have done slightly better but am pleased with how the bat symbol turned out. The cake disappeared in just over a day though, so it can't have tasted that bad.
Reading (because our TV doesn't work in the new house yet, dodgy aerial) And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, a really beautiful book based on the story of a brother and sister separated as children. I've read her A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner too, both great reads.
Buying cute tinsel from ikea - because it just wouldn't be Christmas without gold foxes. Plus it's the only Christmas decoration we have up at the moment!
Baking duh na na-na-na-na.... BATMAN for the boyfriend's birthday last week. It was the first time using our new oven, so think I could have done slightly better but am pleased with how the bat symbol turned out. The cake disappeared in just over a day though, so it can't have tasted that bad.
Reading (because our TV doesn't work in the new house yet, dodgy aerial) And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, a really beautiful book based on the story of a brother and sister separated as children. I've read her A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner too, both great reads.
Buying cute tinsel from ikea - because it just wouldn't be Christmas without gold foxes. Plus it's the only Christmas decoration we have up at the moment!
16/11/2014
Taking a quick break... to move home
Things have been a bit quieter than usual around here lately and for that I apologise, but it’s all for a fairly good cause as we should be moving into our first home next weekend!
I say ‘should’ as I will not relax until we have the keys in our hands, but even so there’s a lot to do in preparation and rather than stress myself out by trying to do it all and keep blogging, I figure a quick break will mean I can focus on packing, cleaning, painting and all the admin – changing address, bills etc. (a.k.a. the not-so-fun bit).
In the meantime, I thought I’d leave you with a few of my favourite interior decor blogs -
Apartment Apothecary
Patchwork Harmony
Beauty Full Homes
And a brilliant idea from Leanne on her new blog - this little space of mine, seriously wish I had been doing this for the last year, but am definitely going to start now!
I say ‘should’ as I will not relax until we have the keys in our hands, but even so there’s a lot to do in preparation and rather than stress myself out by trying to do it all and keep blogging, I figure a quick break will mean I can focus on packing, cleaning, painting and all the admin – changing address, bills etc. (a.k.a. the not-so-fun bit).
In the meantime, I thought I’d leave you with a few of my favourite interior decor blogs -
Apartment Apothecary
Patchwork Harmony
Beauty Full Homes
And a brilliant idea from Leanne on her new blog - this little space of mine, seriously wish I had been doing this for the last year, but am definitely going to start now!
08/11/2014
Recently I’ve been...
Reading Bustle & Sew magazine after winning a copy on twitter. It’s full of cute craft ideas and tutorials as well as recipes, seasonal inspiration and features on makers, fabric and more. Hopefully if I get my Christmas knitting done on schedule (see below!) I’ll have time to make their floral Merry Christmas hoop.
Knitting Christmas presents, I've set myself a target of at least three knitted presents this year and so far I'm one down two to go, which I’m pleased with. I won't be revealing what I've made until after Christmas though - you can never too careful!
Pinning A LOT of home decor inspiration! After a long (stressful) few months we exchanged contracts on our first home last week. I won’t relax until we get the keys but am allowing myself to start planning a little. Fingers crossed we’ll be in before Christmas. Image here.
Enjoying the new lease of life my house plant seems to be having, it was given to me about three years ago but had been looking very sad for the last few months - the boyfriend threatened to get rid of it several times! But all of a sudden it has grown about 10 new leaves. Happy days.
Knitting Christmas presents, I've set myself a target of at least three knitted presents this year and so far I'm one down two to go, which I’m pleased with. I won't be revealing what I've made until after Christmas though - you can never too careful!
Pinning A LOT of home decor inspiration! After a long (stressful) few months we exchanged contracts on our first home last week. I won’t relax until we get the keys but am allowing myself to start planning a little. Fingers crossed we’ll be in before Christmas. Image here.
Enjoying the new lease of life my house plant seems to be having, it was given to me about three years ago but had been looking very sad for the last few months - the boyfriend threatened to get rid of it several times! But all of a sudden it has grown about 10 new leaves. Happy days.
02/11/2014
Autumn wanderings - a visit to Lancing College Chapel
Despite the return of summer over the last few days (!) last weekend was a wonderfully autumnal one, and extra special as I got to see inside the amazing Lancing College Chapel.
The Chapel sits on top of a hill overlooking Shoreham River and can be seen from quite a distance, so I've spent years driving past it and wanting to see inside (no surprise given my love for historic buildings). We finally made the journey up the hill to coincide with Lancing College's annual craft fair; sadly my Mum and I really didn't think much of the fair. But the Chapel on the other hand was amazing.
It's full of ornate stone and wood carvings, stained glass, chandelier lighting and huge ceilings. I'm so happy we finally got to see inside. Surprisingly it's only about 100 years old too and was built just before the war, it’s newer than Lancing College School whose students use it regularly. Seeing their choir books shelved in the crypt, added a really lovely atmosphere - trying not to make the typical Hogwarts reference here but I can certainly see a similarity...
The Chapel sits on top of a hill overlooking Shoreham River and can be seen from quite a distance, so I've spent years driving past it and wanting to see inside (no surprise given my love for historic buildings). We finally made the journey up the hill to coincide with Lancing College's annual craft fair; sadly my Mum and I really didn't think much of the fair. But the Chapel on the other hand was amazing.
It's full of ornate stone and wood carvings, stained glass, chandelier lighting and huge ceilings. I'm so happy we finally got to see inside. Surprisingly it's only about 100 years old too and was built just before the war, it’s newer than Lancing College School whose students use it regularly. Seeing their choir books shelved in the crypt, added a really lovely atmosphere - trying not to make the typical Hogwarts reference here but I can certainly see a similarity...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
