Stylish Sunday

Oh Spring where are you? I can't see you for all the snow!  I'm sitting at my desk staring out across our garden and all I can see is the brown branches of winter with a sprinkling of snow which is slowly melting into the ground.  Hopefully before we know it the sun will arrive and my daffodils won't look quite so droopy.

As ever our house renovations continue. The brief is, try to make things looks fresh and neat for as little as possible.  We painted our bedroom is a lovely Duck Egg Blue the night we moved in (nearly 3 years ago) and I do still love the colour.  It's bright but also relaxing, an unusual choice for me because I wouldn't normally go for blue.  I think it could do with a few finishing touches to make it look inviting and this is what I'd get if I didn't have an entire house to neaten up.

- Sources

My absolute favourite's here is the bedding which is £20 (Ikea) the Lamp £9.09 (Dunelm Mill) and the side table £20 (Ikea). I think everything else works really well together.  We don't have any wallpaper in our house but this would look awesome in an alcove. 

The 2013 House To Do List

This is our rather enormous list of things we need to do, because we will be moving!  We aren't quite sure where we will be moving to but we do know we want a bigger house, with a lovely big garden and that we need to finish off this one before we can sell it.

It is exciting to finally get round to doing some of the little things we've been meaning to do for some time.  It seems slightly mad that the house will look as nice as it ever has for the people who come to view it.  Well, that is my intention anyway.  As always there are big and small jobs to be completed   It's external window ledge painting vs. clutter clearing.  I've already tried to make a start finishing off going through bags that have been unopened since I got rid of my desk whilst I was pregnant... I have to say it has already been quite cathartic, writing the list and then slowly crossing things off.  It seems like it will never end but we will get there.

In the mean time I am busy dreaming of my new desk, and I have spotted a a thing of beauty which I can only dream of working at. (Like my 'office' would ever be so organised.  Is anyone's?

Creative Sunday

Oh there are so many good ideas out there of the little things that make a house feel like a home.  I made a map cupboard for Nye's room, for storing his blankets and bed linen a while ago, but I've seen so many clever ideas and uses for maps recently.

It's going to be a long few days here as my husband just left this morning for the last of his teacher training.  Last year when he went I was in the depths of pregnancy morning sickness and working in a corporate hell hole.  Now I'm free and easy at home with a beautiful son to look after.  Frankly a 6 month old is easier and better company than a gaggle of office junkies!

I'm going to try and tackle some house DIY while Neil is away which is made much easier by the fact he stayed up till 1am so the house was tidy when he left. Love you my darling husband!

Here's just a few DIY map projects that I love!

Love where you live - County, Borough, Country.

Map Pinwheels for the perfect party

Love this lamp shade and it's associated cockerel

Can extra large letters ever be overdone!?

map lampshade!

I think I might try and make a DIY lampshade this week.  There are so many amazing ideas out there, now I just have to get to it.  Although I am always a little worried about whether doing something like that is a slight fire risk... Anyone any ideas for not setting the house alight?

Have a great Sunday!

Baby brewing 95%

For the duration of my pregnancy I've been reading various baby blogs which help me feel connected and calm about each stage of pregnancy.

I've particularly enjoyed Monkey & Squirrel's weekly bean updates.
So, as a homage to her I thought I'd finally do a STATS update (better late than never!?)

36 WEEKS

THE STATS...

• HOW FAR ALONG- 36 weeks 2 days. 9 months.
• SIZE OF BABY- Aprox 47.4 cm & 5.78 lbs 
• MATERNITY CLOTHES?- I've found GAP clothes tend to be long in the torso so I'm still getting away with a few t-shirts and jumpers but I have found that I'm already growing out of some of my maternity clothes. That said, I can still fit into some of my jeans as I'm carrying high so you win some you loose some!
• STRETCH MARKS?- None 
• SLEEP?- Well, I've currently been awake from 2am (it's now 4.12am) But the crazy sleeping and waking times come and go depending on the day. 
• FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- I'm still feeling very strong movements, whole hands, feet elbows and what I assume are knees protrude regularly. 
• ANY CRAVINGS?- I continue to eat my way through the UK's chocolate supply but I've not had such strong urges for the last month. 
• ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- I'm still off olives and I'm beginning to hate chilli because it gives much such terrible heartburn 
• VISIBLE BUMP?- Very visible and ever increasing. 
• BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- It's still 'in' but visible to others as it stretches further. 
• STILL WEARING RINGS?- Yes, but after my bath yesterday I did wonder if I would be able to get them off! 
• BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- This week still includes Christmas, so cooking for Neil's parents and grandpa at our house and amazingly having the energy to keep them entertained was lovely. I should add that Neil did the cooking not me, credit where credit is due. (It was lovely)
• WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- I have to admit I have become even more unreasonable this week and really do seem to expect Neil to be a mind reader. In hindsight want him to know what I want and respond to my every beck and call before I even ask. On reflection this is clear to me, at the time I'm too busy moaning to notice... 

Bathroom's at 50%

Yet again it has been too long, yet things have been chugging along nicely.

Since my last bathroom update we have tided up but we're still in the in-between stages.  After Neils parents left on the Sunday (weeks ago now) we were left with a fully functioning bathroom but with a long list of finishing touches to be done.  

Here's a breakdown so we can cross them off one by one.

• Fill in holes in wall left by tiles, screws, nails and bad plastering. (Sunday 13th November)
• Make good bumpy walls
• Choose paint colours (Saturday 5th November)
• Test paint colours next to tiles/coving etc. (Sunday 20th November) 
• Clean and repaint bath
• Tile remaining walls
• Stick and paint skirting board
• Finish cutting and sticking down flooring
• Wipe down and paint all walls, (decide which colour goes where)
• Find and hang bathroom mirror
• Find bathroom cabinet and arrange delivery
• Choose bathroom fittings

The bad news for today is that although we love the white we have chosen for the bathroom (that sounds mad to me, how can there be a good or bad white but I am convinced).

Oyster by Wickes

Our bargain blue paint from Homebase just doesn't look dramatic enough to really make the room and it should.  I think it should be bold and grand to suit the rest of the suite.  So it's goodbye mountain rain (which is no longer on their website) - it looked a bit like this...

So we were thinking of going for something a bit more like this instead...

Hague Blue @ Farrow and Ball

A Quick Home and Garden History

So, we were lucky enough to scrape some pennies together in June last year and purchase our first house.  I dreamed of something old (i.e Victorian or earlier) and spacious, if a little worn around the edges.  Strangely enough Zone 2 kicked us out, as out budget was barely enough for a 1 bed flat.  But, we found a place that could 'just' accommodate us in SE6.  Now we're cosying up in our slightly ramshackle little home which we love.

Timeline commences:

So here's the house when I first snapped it on my iphone 'back in the days' before it was almost repossed from the previous owner...

And this is the beautiful view from the back bedroom.  Although we have a teeny tiny garden the fact we have so much open green space around us makes up for it.

This was out first meal in our house when we met the lovely fish and chip shop owners for the first time and watched Wimbledon on the TV whilst laying on the floor in the living room.

Then the adrenalin buzz carried on and we decided to crack open the Laura Ashley Duck Egg Blue paint at about 8pm before we put together the rest of the room.  It was dark when we finished the first/second coat and realised we'd certainly need another. We decided it was time to call it a day and our first night in our new home we slept on a bed of blankets on the floor in our second bedroom (which is now my study).

The cards started to arrive the next day, and we arranged them on our beautiful downstairs fireplace and we blitzed the kitchen and arranged a few belongings that we had brought over in our cars.

But then for the mammoth moving operation... a la Street Van (even though I swore the last time we moved I'd never do it again myself) - Many arguments were had!

And once the walls were finished we put the wardrobes together.  We sneekily managed to snag some £5 PAXX frames and £15 doors in the bargain basement a few weeks before we moved.  And then it was time for Feather & Black bed frame donated by my mother.  I swear for a while there it didn't seem physically possible to put some of those pieces together without instructions.

And then it was done and it looked remarkably like it all went together!

But let us not forget the garden which was somewhat overwhelming!

And so we bring this story to a close with our new front door...