It's good to be back!

Phewwww it's been so long! I can't believe that I am sitting here at MIDDAY with the time to write a blog post! After the craziness of the past few weeks at uni it is such a pleasure to have time to enjoy some posting. But do you know what? I'm a little nervous! I feel like I've lost my voice, my mojo - I mean I'm pretty sure it won't take me long to get back into the swing of things but it just feels a little odd and I'm finding myself panicking about what to write! So I thought I would quite simply pick up where we left off. I remember promising to follow up with posts and thinking "Come on Christina, if you make these promises you have to stick to them and is that gonna happen?" Well, it didn't did it, and for that I am very sorry but here I am and this time I won't break the promise. 

Sooo...accessorising your home right? I shared my thoughts on colour and let you in on the magic of discovering plants. So I think what I was going to say next is how to combine these things in your home. So like I have said in the past, I am very much a learner driver in this field, but I have picked up on a few golden rules on accessorising and creating displays that I am excited to share with you. I never used to put much thought into accessorising my home, but now I do I am totally hooked, swapping things up all the time keeps things exciting. 

HERE WE GO:

1. GROUP IN ODD NUMBERS - so this age old trick runs right through design and is not only used within the home. Keep your cushions, candlesticks, vases and anything else you have on display in odd numbers, it's easier on the eye that way. 3 is often a good number but if you fancy making a little a little more impact go for 5 and really follow it through with the next few points!

2. VARY THE HEIGHT - again to keep things exciting and visually stimulating you need to lead the eye to different levels within a room or across a mantle. This could be as simple as grouping a flat book to give width, with a tall thin candle to give height, and something to fill the space in between. This trick should be applied within your rooms too. A standard lamp, a low shelf,artwork and mirrors hung at different heights will all add visual intrigue to your space.

3. UNITE YOUR GROUPS - you can group any accessories together. Anything! Thats all part of the fun. To reign it in though you could try popping them all on a lovely little silver tray or a pile of books. Not only does this make a nice little vignette but it grounds your accessories ensuring they don't end up looking like a pile of random things on your coffee table! (of course if 'lovely little silver' is not your cup of tea, go for chunky wood or distrained painterly - whatever you want.)

4. SPEAKING OF BOOKS - this has been a game changer for me, I used to hideaway my Jamie Oliver cookbooks, well not anymore. Making features of your cool books adds personality to your space. They also stop your decor feeling too uptight and contrived and make it feel magically inviting. 

5. GO UNEXPECTED - I am not as developed in this area as I'd like to be but throwing in the oddball accessory has the potential to up the anti in the cool stakes. This could be a quirky piece of art, something in a bold colour, or something from a completely different time era to the rest of your decor. By all means stick with your candlesticks and vases that you love, but too much of the same thing will make the space feel boring and predictable. Excite your guests and yourself by throwing in the unexpected. Not only will you gain cool status by doing this but it also unlocks the secret of really   loving the space you live in. If you don't try new things someday, you will end up living in the same four walls as you were 5 years ago - and that can't be exciting for anyone.

There are lots of hints and tips out there but I'm learning that these posts need to be realistic and not take over your whole evening. Take these and TRY them, what is the worst that can happen? Once you start, you'll be amazed at the thoughts you can't stop thinking. Head on over to LD pinterest page, I've created a board just for home accessories highlighting these little tricks.

XOXO

P.s I gained my voice back pretty quickly really didn't I - never has been easy to shut me up!

Feeling deflated...wine needed

So I've made it to Wednesday and I'm totally flogged! With only a week and a half to go until my studio deadline, I've literally been working flat out 10 hour days and pretty much everything else has  out of the window (including getting dressed properly some days) Hence the lack of blog posts! I promise I'll pick up where we left off with the accessories posts as I have much more to share, but for the time being Im afraid your going to have to bear with me as I'm trying my best to be wonderwoman but it's just not as easy as you'd think!

The pooches are looking just as fed up as I am today...

As I don't have much else exciting to share at the minute (hold tight though 'cos I promise good things are to come(, here's a little insight into my painstaking world of double French seaming and hanging chair problem solving! 

XOXO

A positive mantra...

So here’s a thought, its Sunday morning, I'm up at the crack of dawn finding myself a little 'me time' (I've even managed to shut the dogs out - mainly because I spent at least half an hour hovering our wool sofa yesterday and don't plan on putting myself through that again any time soon!), sat here thinking why do we tend to over think things? I'm talking about everything, not just design but life in general. 

(Stay with me on this, it's a bit of a waffle-y post, but it's made me feel better just writing it!)

I had this conversation with two good friends yesterday, one of which was describing a scenario that put her smack bang in the middle of lacking spontaneity and preconceiving the day ahead, which she highlighted how in turn it effected her gorgeous weekend trip away (albeit not majorly, this party girl doesn't let much stand in her way of a good time!).

So this got me thinking, why do we overcomplicate EVERYTHING? As humans is it just in our nature to come up with an excuse not to do something, or to put something off til' a later date? If we want something so badly why not just go out and get it? Or do it? Or use it? Or WHATEVER.

What stands in our way? The answer, I reckon, is us. It's mainly ourselves and our self conscious creating barriers that don't even necessarily exist. Yeah thinks like money and resources obviously come in to it, but how does it go; 'where there's a will there's a way?!'
Honestly I think as reactive people sometimes we are scared of SUCCESS, just as much as FAILURE. 

After all success takes time, hard work, dedication. It means living up to the bill, and once you're there, maintaining that position. 

So any way, besides just getting this off my chest, I think what I'm trying to say is...

LETS STOP PUTTING THINGS IN THE WAY.
Surely life would be much richer, happier, more enjoyable and rewarding if we just GO OUT AND GET IT and stop worrying about things that COULD be a problem.

I can hear you saying, 'What on earth does this have to do with this girls design blog', which despite feeling that becoming an art student has given me the free pass to drink red wine and become all deep and artsy, I'm thinking this totally links to EVERYTHING going on in my life right now, and so there is some smidgen of possibility that it does to your life too?

So today I’m channelling a new mantra…

If you want that lovely looking cake on the counter go get it, stop worrying about how it will affect your plans for tea time, and ENJOY IT. 

Happy Sunday guys

xoxo.

P.S Ill post up a lighter, more design-y, picture-y post later today - just to compensate for this one!

HOUSE RENO CONTINUED...a proper grown up bedroom.

Good morning, things are pretty manic this week after the Easter break but it's great to get back in the studio. There's a bit of a mad rush now until our studio deadline in little over three weeks but I'm gonna try my best not to let the blog posts slip!

Last week I shared with you a glimmer of our very own house reno, starting with the living room and conservatory. Well I thought seeing as though were getting to know each other nicely it's about time to share a few more snaps of the pad...

Today lets tour into the bedroom, which I think has to be my favourite room in the house.
Evidently, it's got a pretty different vibe to the rooms you saw last week -  I'm blaming this on my girl/ interior/ career and all round general crush, Abigail Ahern. Since I started reading her books and following her, interiors stuff just makes so much more sense and our house has definitely got A LOT COOLER! 

I plan to incorporate THE TIPS and cooler colours we've used in the latter renovations (bedroom, hall and main bathroom) into the rooms we did first (kitchen, conservatory and lounge) later on - Craig is about ready to kill me already so I'm not sure he can handle another paint job quite yet! This is not to say I don't like these rooms, I just feel they lack, hmmm, spunk.

So the master bedroom originally had a small, awkwardly (and stupidly) fit bathroom on the side, we knocked the dividing wall down and very, VERY BRAVELY opted to go for an open plan wet room in the bedroom space - complete with toilet! Yep you heard me, our loo is open into our bedroom. To be honest I've heard just about every man and his dogs opinion on this that I'm wayyyy past caring, it might not work for everyone but it WORKS FOR US, its our home and WE LOVE IT :D

P.S Please excuse some of the earlier photos, mid- reno we were just snapping with iPhones so the quality isn't great.

And AFTER...

 

Forgive me for the photo overload  -  I'm practicing my photography skills! I've also added some pics mid- decorating below to show the progress. Again, this room is not totally complete - we're waiting for some wood sills and we need way more art and 'stuff' to make the space more interesting, but hell it's one big improvement don't you think???

 I'll post up some pictures of the sill when it comes, hopefully that will be next week. 

This room was HARD GRAFT and did almost break us (just kidding - came close though!), but to say we now have a gorgeous room that is so MUCH MORE than a room to sleep in is amazing. Craig did much of this work himself (obviously under close supervision), but that really helps with savings if you can do it. I think if we'd have had to pay labour we would'nt have been able to afford a room like this. Have a go I say, you might surprise yourself!

  I've never really had a proper grown up space like this before, and I'd say the colour plays a MASSIVE part in this feeling, it creates such a 'hunker down' feel. So many people knocked this idea of DARK BLUE walls. "What all over?", " YES MAM EVERY WALL WILL BE PAINTED DARK". My advice to take from this - tell everyone who is interested that you're painting your rooms white, then let them be pleasantly surprised when they see how gorgeous your newly painted dark walls are! I was nervous as hell when I started painting the walls, but I stuck with my instinct ( and Abigail Aherns advice) and went for it. And now I feel there is no going back, you'll see what I mean when I share with you some more snaps of the latest paint jobs.

Be brave - it's game changing!

XOXO.

P.s We used Farrow and Ball Hague Blue Estate emulsion on the walls if your interested ;)

Decorators notebook...

Good morning, today I'm sharing a shopping spot, if you're hunting for lovely home wares and have an ethical conscience, look no further than Decorators Notebook. The brother sister partnership that created this unique little online shop search the globe for unusual handmade items made by real artisans, then they make it easy for you to buy them by bringing them altogether in one place.
http://www.decoratorsnotebook.co.uk
Products range from textiles to accessories to kitchenwares along with loads more gorgeous stuff. If you are always on the hunt for beautiful things, you definitely should give this place a look - if not only to sign up to their newsletter to assist their pledge to give children across the world a better education ( they donate one exercise book to UNICEF for every one person to sign up!!!- isn't that brilliant!) Head on over and shop til you drop, in the mean time here are my fave picks...

Double sided picture frames in a copper finish from £12.95 - I'm desperate for these for my hallway, thinking of making a gallery wall and these would be perfect with photos swell as memory clippings we've collected. 

Kenyan Basket collection from £18 - every room needs a basket, or three! baskets are useful little things that can be used for just about anything and will instantly ground a space and make it feel cosy and warm. These have the added bonus of being hand woven so your's would be completely different to the next shoppers!

Woodfired terracotta cups from £9.95. I am just desperate for some rustic ware like these ever since attending Abigail Ahern's design masterclass (www.abigailahern.org) and being served up gorgeous coffee in equally gorgeous little cups like these - made the coffee taste even better! 

Finally I couldn't miss this feather print cushion as I'm feather mad at the minute! It's neutral pallette and subtle design makes it a quirky little addition to any style of seating. It's a bargain in the sale at £30!

http://www.decoratorsnotebook.co.uk
XOXO.

Spring cleaning!!!

So today is the first day of the Easter break and I'm determined to get my studio looking cool and feeling organised which will inevitably make me want to spend every minute in there making gorgeous stuff :) wish me luck! I'm gonna need it ...