Spring is in the air

I'm sure I heard birds this morning that made it feel slightly more spring like!

Just wanted to capture a few pictures to see how the house is going to transform over the next 6 months.  So excited to inject some colour onto the very plain walls, just trying to find the time to get sorted! 

Going to go for a bold green on this back wall, I want it to feel cosie and homely- this should compliment the Reds and oranges. It's a big room so it can take statement colours. 

My collection of plates would look better on a colourful background.

I'm beginning to collect and make cushions, mixing old fabrics which I've collected over time together with more contemporary prints. 

These sofas were a bargain for £100 off eBay, I've tried to jazz them up with throws- although I'm planning on putting some brighter ones on them. 

This baby is our next project, although I am trying to encourage Ant to take a small break after none stop slog with the house! The plan is to transform it into a studio/annex/hide out! Ultimately I want to run workshops and work from here. It needs knocking down and re-building, but we will keep all the character and re-use the bricks, it'll just be water tight!

We're calling it The Bird House (there's a sweet little stone ledge with a hole on the outside!)

This was ripped from the old kitchen, I absolutely love it but it's completely coroded, so we're using it as an outdoor fire. 

Unpacking....still!

Our outbuilding is like a tardis of never ending boxes to unpack, half of it I've not seen since our first house 5 years ago!

All sorts of treasures have been appearing, and it's kept the boys entertained for hours....

Antique picnic sets, fans collected in Thailand, an umbrella from Japan, my grandpas chess set, cigars from our travels in Cuba and all sorts of other random stuff! I lived without it but now I can't bare to get rid of it! 

Brights brights brights

No surprise I absolutely love these prints by Matthew Williamson for Osbourne and Little- particularly 'Jungle beat' used to upholster these chairs...

This wallpaper by Cole and Son is pretty cool too. 

I've started on my bedroom on the house, I already had lots of bright throws and cushions, but need to finish making the curtains, get a few more furniture bits and light fittings. 

I've gone for yellows, oranges and greens , which although pretty vibrant it's a harmonious colour scheme...

Which is a group of hues that sit next to each other on the colour wheel- this means it's quite calming and subtle. So although the main colours I've chosen for the bedroom are vibrant, they are easy on the eye and make a good blend. I can add different, more suble tones of these hues, with painted walls and further accessories to calm everything down if I decide it's a bit bold. 

I've added these little hand made paper mâché storage baskets in for even more colour!

Workshops 2016

Rupert's room

It's ridiculous how much stuff we had stored away- things collected on our travels to South America and the Caribbean that I haven't even had out before...I knew there was a reason to hold onto everything rather than cull everything when we moved! 

Here's a mood board I put together, I just wanted his room to be bright, fresh yet homely...

Ruperts room before-

After...

Mix of old and new furniture, the chest of drawers is an eBay bargain made of elm wood. 

The giant balsa wood toucan, brought in Equador, has been proudly displayed in every house I've lived in, from students  flats to rented houses and even caused a fall out between my divorced parents over who looked after him! 

Here is his final home and I think he looks rather happy next to the tropical Roman blind, which I made before we moved in. 

I made this hand printed chair a few years ago, fits with the theme in his room. 

Home made wall stickers inspired by a visit to Cuba. 

This time last year...

A few reminders of what the house was like a year ago- can't really believe we're in! 

Ready to dress...

After all this time, hard work building and renovating  our house, it's the moment I've been waiting for! 

May the interior design commence....well, when I've saved a few pennies!

Here's some pictures before I clutter up and colour in our new house!

The kitchen is my favourite room so far, purely because it's the only room with some colour. We had so many decisions to make at the end of the build (from door knobs to taps to architrave) that I didn't want to make quick decisions on colour and decorating that I may regret.

I also think it's important to get a feel of the space and see what evolves. Sometimes a design idea will just pop into my head- from a feeling I get rather than thinking about too hard. 

The inglenook before being lime plastered and tiled. 

Really love the feel of the hall, we chose external stone floor tiles, to give it a rustic aged feel, it looks like they've been there 100's of years. The mixed textures of brick,  layered stone (all original but sand blasted) and timber give real character and when the down lights are on it's really cosie.

I'm planning on putting a nice big arm chair in the corner, or maybe a little table and chairs for Rupes and Bob. 

Finished en suite, really happy with my colour and pattern choices, although in future if we re-decorate I may go for a darker shade of paint to make it feel warmer and cosier- I'd probably pick a darker shade of blue from the decorative wall tiles. 

We're putting shutters on the windows, which i need to decide a colour for. 

Rupes room before it goes tropical! 

My bedroom, planning on lots of brights for fabrics and bedding, but keeping the walls light and airy. 

In the nick of time we finished the bay window in time for Christmas, it's Douglas fir and in time it will go silver and look aged. 

The big paper star is a bargain from IKEA....works really well, so going to keep it up after the festive season. 

To finish, a couple of pics in the snow...this time last year we were living on a building site, getting a bath in a box and going into a shed to do my washing...so VERY happy to be in! 

Strangely going to miss the hussel and bustle of builders coming and going, and all the excitement of things changing and evolving....still lots to do though, think it'll be a project to last a life time! 

Excited to unpack all my boxes of 'stuff'- start adding some colour and bring this house to life!