Our Kitchen - Moodboard

Since we were able to finally fix the floorboards in our kitchen, we've been talking so much about how we'd like our new kitchen to be.  So, to see how the colours would look I created the mood board below.  The only problem is, now I can't wait to get started!

Our Kitchen by jenni-clutten on Polyvore

May Retail Therapy

We're on a tight budget these days and any extra pennies are  being saved up in babies new bank account.  But for those that have a few extra £'s here are some things I'd love to splurge out on.

I loved this full price I love them more @ £20!  - Joules Outlet

Or for some colour in the work wardrobe - H&M

I rather like this £1.99 dress... - H&M

Urban Outfitters - New summer bedding anyone!?

For the Nursery - Heals

Heals = Living Room Happy

Christmas Sale Preview

I just thought I'd have a quick browse on the John Lewis sneak preview sale sight and what a mistake that was.  I've fallen in love with these chairs...

John Lewis Flore Chair  £75 - £49

They'd really make our dining room table which I hasten to add is now in our dining room ready for our first ever Christmas at our home.  Neil's desk is currently relocated and we have become quite quickly attached to the idea of a formal dining room.  We shall see how convincing Neil to get rid of his desk works out, it will very much depend on finding somewhere else to store all our bits.

Bathroom skirtingboard

Yes, it is 5.54 and i am oh so awake in my sofa bed considering whether yesterdays skirtingboard painting in dry! Its all sooo exciting eh.

We bought all new skirting for the room (twice) but when we came to take it off it would not budge! (With the added problem that in some parts there was nothing behind it and it seemed to be holding up the walls...)

So old skirting it is, and what an excellent job the previous occupies did.
 

So, after a quick hoover and wipe i made a start as we're hoping to lay down the new floor tomorrow *happy dance*

So ta da! 'new' and improved skirting.

And here's what the rest of the house has decended into!

Bathroom DIY begins

After all the endless chatter of bathroom rennovation I am astonished to announce that operation re-do has oficially commenced.  A very brave and dedicated Neil has been working alone over half term to clear it out before his parents arrived today.

Here we have stage 1, tiles removed from around the bath and toilet and majority of flooring removed.  On the right you can see the pedistal for our new sink!

Tiles behind the bath removed

Gemma getting in on the action!

And then day 2 commenced where Neil removed more of the grout from the wall and smashed up the bath ready for its collection this morning.

My biggest irritation so far is that we didnt really take any proper 'before' photos and I'm worried that its going to be easy for us to forget how it looked before and therefore wont allow us to truly appreciate what an acheivement it will be once it's done.

However, going from an ill fitting dark wood floor to a posh waterproof vinyl floor with freshly painted walls and a gorgeous bath and sink should be enough to make us realise the distance we have traveled so to speak.

There have been a number of last minute alterations, including us having to pick out some tiles at 10.30 last night with the realisation that throwing more tiles over the mess that is now on the walls was a quicker alternative to preparing them ready to paint.  So in the end we went for these, which we picked up at 7.30am this morning.



Bevelled Edge Ceramic Wall Tile @ Wickes £9.59 per Sqm

We also got some of the black line tiles to try and add a bit of detail but I'll see what I think of those tonight when I get home!  The next thing to choose is the grout. I think they'd look nice with a dark grey. But we shall see...

Nursery Painting: Day 1

Yesterday I was called by the agency I work for and asked if I would like to be put forward for a job working in HR part time for the next 3 months.  With the interview tomorrow and the job possibly starting on Tuesday I thought I should make the most of today.  I'm an impatient thing anyway so the massive tin of yellow paint was just too much to keep my mitts off.

The unfortunate thing is that Neil is still working on his Thesis and there is A LOT of furniture in the Nursery so I was limited to a small corner near the door but nevertheless I have achieved 2 coats of yellow paint.  It's probably for the best that I wasn't able to go crazy with the paint fumes anyway.  But I do feel the urge to test out which of our greys will go best with it.  I think the lighter one but Neil thinks the dark will be better.

So here's what the end result should look like in the end.

And this is the first corner, the one by the door on the picture. (Again this is not a true reflection of the true shade)

Neil thinks the story of the colour is a bit like this -

Nursery Update - Colours chosen

I spent yesterday afternoon clearing out a few more shelves on my bookcase which enabled me to use one just for baby books which we've been collecting.  Many of them aren't really suitable for newborns but we've plenty of bedtime story material for the next few years!

There's obviously still a lot more to get rid of in the Nursery and I'm even considering getting a smaller desk and giving mine away as I really don't need one the size I have at the moment.  In an ideal world I'd like a nice wooden one but we shall see if something suitable comes along on freecycle.  Yesterday out of interest I also decided to look up paint colours online as Neil and I have been discussing painting a few walls in the nursery a nice and bright yellow sunshiney colour.  Lo and behold I find an absolute bargain on the exact colour we were looking for at Homebase and in the tough durable paint that is probably most appropriate for a room that is likely to have a small child dribbling all over it!

This is the colour we went for, it's on sale as it's about to be discontinued for £12.93 for 5L which seemed too good to resist so I reserved it immediately.  On collection it is clear it will look nothing like the image above and is much more akin to a very bright yellow sherbet. (It's so difficult to describe colour and the feeling it brings isn't it!) We're pretty sure we're going to team it with some of the grey we have left over from our downstairs rooms to tone it down a bit.  I'm itching to get the paint brush out but the room still has so much clutter and I am not looking forward to covering over the lovely Laura Ashley Cranberry that I have on one wall at the moment.  Nevertheless it will get done and look so different and really mark the fact that it's no longer my room and that the baby will have a lovely sunny room to grow up in.

For inspiration I'm compiling some images to keep me motivated.

Via Baby Centre

Via. Project Nursery

Via. Project Nursery

Via Project Nursery

We wont' know for a few more weeks whether it's a boy or a girl and at the moment I'm liking decorating whilst not knowing, that way our decisions aren't influenced by thinking about pink and blue.  And in the end something that isn't so gender stereotyped will probably last longer in terms of suitability for any new residents.

Via Heather Thompson

The image above is purely just for droolovision, the bookshelves are gorgeous (if a little bland all in white) but the cot is a Stokke and I have been admiring these heavenly things for a few weeks.  I have to say I think our Ikea Donation is just as classic and probably more practical as it's not round!

That's all for now folks, I am exhausted!

Announcement

So, I announced to the social networking universe (and the real one) last week that Neil and I are expecting a baby in January.  It's been such a mix of emotions; excitement, joy, and disbelief at how quickly it happened.

We're overjoyed by the news, but for me the reality of all the appointments and changes and supplements and god knows what have already taken over and for a person that hates fuss over my health its going to be a long 9 months!  I've already had my first appointment with the doctor, it was actually my first appointment at my new doctors since I registered there nearly a year ago.  The doctor was really nice and asked me all the general health questions, weight, alcohol, cigarettes etc etc.  Since then I've been back to have my bloods taken which I can do at my surgery as it also has a Phlebotomy clinic.  I'm glad I got it done before I started my new temp job and I was very thankful that the nurse was really kind to me and managed to keep me from fainting whilst she took my samples.  For the first time in all my blood giving experience she took it from my hand as she couldn't find any veins in the crux of my arm as usual.

We're also recently been waiting to hear from the hospital I chose to have all my maternity care in, we don't actually technically live in the remit of the hospital that Neil really wanted me to go to it.  But, at the doctors appointment when he asked me, before he'd even asked the question it appeared on the screen and it left my mouth without a thought entering my head.  It was done and we kept our fingers crossed that they wouldn't notice!  But lucky enough, we got a letter today telling us that we have nuchal scan on Thursday 14th July! It's going to seem so real then.

I've obviously already been thinking about re-decorating our spare room (my study) here are a few of my ideas.

AWESOME shelves

Hello yellow cot, I love you!

love love love

Going to do this with a tallboy for baby

Upcycled pine TV stand - Before and After

Ever since Neil and I were first gifted a pine TV stand when my dad arrived with a van load of belongings from his cow shed, I've been meaning to sand and whitewash it.  This was in the hope of making it look less like a hand me down and more like a priceless style icon (haha). But as procrastination hit new levels on Tuesday afternoon I decided to go for it, threw everything neatly placed upon it, onto the floor and carted it out to the garden for a re-vamp.

At first I thought it would take all afternoon to sand it down but then I got the paint out and thought after all the sanding, mixing up paint would be like the silver lining of furniture decoration!

So here we are ready to begin - TV stand in sight, Neil's Christmas present sander in hand.

And we were off, hand juddering away as we stripped what felt like 10 layers of varnish! (With sunglasses on to protect my eyes from the dust)

I think in total all of the sanding took about an hour on and off.  It was really difficult to do all the edges and the inside of the shelves.  Therefore on the protruding surfaces I sanded diligently, but I have to admit I didn't work so hard to do the internal bits (praying the paint would just cover anyway...)

 So once I was at this stage it was time to mix up the paint.  I have to admit that I am very lucky to have stumbled across exactly what I was looking for by chance, in an amazing shop on our honeymoon, The Brooklyn General Store.  They sell the gorgeous Old Fashioned Milk Paint and we decided to go for Oyster White and got enough  to use on both the tv cabinet and a pine sideboard we also want to recreate.  Here I am mixing it up. It says to add water and powder in equal parts but when I started to apply it I realised it was far too thick so just added some more water to get the washed effect I was after.

Once mixed it was really easy to apply and even covered the parts I hadn't sanded down very well. But it was clear that it was drying quicker and with a nicer finish to the bits I took more time on.  So, where I only needed one coat on the top and sides I needed two on the insides.

And here we are with the finished product, awaiting a slight retouch which I've just done today. (Needed to get it in place to surprise Neil when he got home from work so please ignore the messiness!)

And to top it all off, Gemma even fit in some sun bathing!