Thanks…
I guess a lot of people feel like this but I can’t imagine what life would be like without my other half. Who would laugh at all my bad jokes? Who would find me cute even when I’m being a pain in the ass? And who would make me smile even when I’m doing my best to be blue? (I like to imagine it might have been George Clooney… Sorry other half!)
So when I first saw this photograph, I fell in love with it instantly. It was taken by my uncle, who’s a photographer, on one of his travels and when I told him how much I liked it, he had it framed for my birthday. I think that makes it doubly special.
Filed under: Posters/Prints | 4 Comments
This is champion
The other night (in my sleeplessness) I was exploring the US Urban Outfitters and I came across this print by Enormous Champion. Isn’t it lovely? Part of me is thinking that it would look perfect in that blank space on the bedroom wall (which is almost exactly the same colour as it is here… that’s my bedside table too… spooky huh?)
The only thing is that with pillows that say ‘love’ already is that too much love for one room? 
They also do these gorgeous little wooden animals… Which will hopefully be available at their Etsy shop soon. I’m loving Squirrelly Love!
Filed under: Posters/Prints, Walls, home | 4 Comments
Tags: design, home, Print, shop
I’m forever blowing bubbles…
I’m not really but it does feel like I’ve been posting a lot of bubble-related items recently (ok, there’s only been the glass bubble necklace but it does feel like a lot I swear!) Anyway, my ongoing quest to find a ‘conversation piece’ of a kitchen light has grown into a quest to find one for the bedroom too. I really like this one from Jean Pelle – but the cost of shipping from the US, not to mention its chances of surviving the journey definitely rule it out. Anyone seen anything similar? (She asked hopefully…)
Filed under: Lights, home | 15 Comments
Friday I’m in love… with stamps
Ever since Tea For Joy did a post on her love of stamps, I’ve been intrigued. Up until then I’d never really given stamps much thought – to me they were just little brown things with a frilly edge and a pic of the Queen. Oh how wrong I was. Ok so normal stamps are still pretty much still the same, but the potential of vintage stamps is just brilliant… You can frame them, varnish them to furniture, decorate folders (you get the idea). Check out these brilliant stamps I’ve been coveting recently…
1. Japanese stamps from Three Potato Four
These are so ridiculously adorable… I love the pensive panda, the miserable bunny and the happy elephant the most but they’re all brilliant.
2. Vintage stamps from Present & Correct
I’ve only just discovered Present & Correct’s website (I knew they had an Etsy shop but boy their website shop beats the pants off that!) and already it’s become another minor obsession of mine. They sell lots of beautiful vintage prints and other goodies – including these lovely lovely 1960s stamps from Holland featuring hobbies, animals, beetroot (!) and fairy tales…
P.S. This Friday I’m also loving (make that utterly obsessed with) Florence + The Machine. Wish I could see them at T in the Park this weekend!
P.P.S. Have a great weekend everyone – hope you’re all up to something fun 
Filed under: Posters/Prints, vintage | 12 Comments
Tags: conversation piece, design, stamps, vintage
4am irrationalness?
Not feeling that great and can’t sleep so I may not be feeling my sanest right now but have come to the rather swift conclusion that I need these pillow covers (well, not these exact ones but ones with mine and the other half’s initials). Aren’t they great? Only thing is that they’re from the US version of Urban Outfitters… damn them and their lack of international shipping!
P.S. How cute is the puppy??
P.P.S. Eagle-eyed readers may be aware that these pillows are so so similar to my LOVE pillows from Lush Designs but I do tend to get a bit obsessive when I like something
Found via She Can’t Decide via Design * Sponge
Filed under: Accessories | 4 Comments
Tags: design, home, pillow
Last week we reorganised the layout in our bedroom and we’re much happier with it (no-one has to sleep against a wall now) but it’s left a curiously blank wall space opposite the bed. For people who own so many prints and pictures, we don’t seem to have one that suits the space. So I’ve been looking for something suitable and affordable… Which rules out the ‘every day I love you’ wooden sign (though I have thought of doing this diy idea version instead).
Then I remembered that one of the first ever things I wanted in my first flat was the big canvas of the Penguin cover of The Big Sleep from Art Meets Matter… it hasn’t got any more budget-friendly in the intervening 6 years but they now do it as a rather more affordable print. I’m sorely tempted it has to be said…
I’m also coveting by this one for the living room – but I think one Penguin book print is quite enough.
They also do these fab ones for foodies too… I’m loving the ‘tinned food’ one so much!
And of course one for the angsty teen girl inside all of us…
There’s loads more on the site – from T.S. Eliot to Seamus Heany to Children’s Books – which one would you choose?
Filed under: Posters/Prints | 7 Comments
Ages ago (perhaps in Marie Claire?) I saw a huge recycled lampshade made of polystyrene cups. I’ve had it in the back of my mind ever since then, thinking could we (more the other half probably than me) make one of those if we had the right amount of cups… And I’ve just stumbled across these plastic cup versions from Julianne’s Atelier. I have a feeling they look simpler to make than they really are but it seems worth a go – must remember to buy lots of cups when I next get a chance to go to Costco!
P.S. Thanks so much to the very lovely Pretty Pollys Pretty Things for the lovely blog awards – I will pass them on soon.
P.P.S. Thanks to Dreaming of An Aga for the tag too – I have a post in mind for my answer but need to take a photo first
Filed under: Accessories | 4 Comments
Is that true? I’m sure there might be a limit to how many you can have – perhaps when you can’t get onto your sofa as it’s got too many cushions on it? Regardless I’m having a bit of ‘I need new cushions’ moment (too much time spent on the sofa playing PS3 has led me to doubt the cushiness of some of our cushions). So I was thinking of trading our old Ikea cushions for some nicer, better quality ones. These are my current favourites… they might be too good for leaning on while playing Big Little Planet though!
1. Vintage Union Jack Cushion from CushLab
2. Love Cushion from CushLab
3. Love Tattoo Cushion from Rockett St George
4. British Isles Cushion from Plumo
5. Bulldog Cushion from Graham and Green
6. Donna Wilson Fox Cushion from Thorsten Van Elten
Filed under: Accessories | 11 Comments
Jewellery for the indecisive
I love this pic – it looks like someone’s just opened up their jewellery box and taken a snap. (How do necklaces manage to get so tangled up just by being in a box?) Anyway these lovely necklaces are from Me and Zena who seem to specialise in jewellery for the indecisive. They have a fab yes/no necklace, a Love-o-meter necklace, and even a love/hate necklace. If only I had one I could decide which one I would like to buy!
Filed under: Necklaces, fashion | 3 Comments
Oh no…
Why is it that you find something on ebay and think no-one else will find it? I’ve been stalking this lovely tin globe and when I last checked it was around £5. (Yes I know already have one from Nana’s Cottage House and one from Winter’s Moon but this one is so pretty!) It’s still got 12 hours to go and is currently at £216.89. Ouch!
Filed under: Accessories | 9 Comments
Tags: tin globe
For what feels like months now I’ve been pouring over design mags trying to figure out how to turn our not-so-pretty blue bathroom (see the previous post) into something that’s a little more us. We had tons of ideas so it’s been hard to whittle them down to what we’ve finally chosen (work starts in around 2 weeks!). So here are some of references for the ideas we had (we have loads more cut out of the mags but our scanner died some time ago)…
1. Green
Something about having bought a Japanese-style tub made me want to put green in the bathroom. We looked at loads of green tiles but in the end decided they were a bit too full-on for the space we have. We’re still planning to put some green in… just not using tiles!
2. Mosaics
I love love the World’s End Tiles you see in magazines – but they are very much beyond our budget. And most of the mosaics we saw in the tile warehouses really weren’t our style to put it politely…
3. Glass splashback
After going to too many tile places, we decided we’d developed a loathing of tiles and wanted to get a glass splashback instead. But in the end the practicalities got us on this one… Maybe next time!
4. Wood
This idea stayed in the running for quite a while… mainly because it felt in keeping with the bath but in the end neither of us were sure we would like it long term.
5. Wallpaper
Due to our budget (and growing dislike of most tiles) I started thinking about putting some statement wallpaper in the bathroom – which allow us to buy plainer (and therefore more budget-friendly) tiles but still feel impactful. The wallpaper we want is a lot more subtle than these though…
Anyway think that’s more than enough bathroom stuff for one day. Hope you all have a lovely weekend – and get to enjoy the sunshine. See you Monday – we’re meant to be doing flat stuff as you might have guessed but if the weather stays like this I think a picnic might be in order! x
Photos via Iff Cool, House to Home and Living Etc.
Filed under: home | 9 Comments
Us versus the bathroom wall
Now a little while back I did a post on our bathroom, otherwise known as ‘toilet in a tunnel’… and I thought you guys might like to see the progress before the real work kicks off (and because I still can’t believe that we took down a wall ourselves!)
To explain a little bit before I show the pics… most of the pictures are taken from the other side of the bathroom wall which was in the horrible little kitchenette. So here’s where it’s at right now – hopefully in a month it should be totally transformed as work starts in 2 weeks…
1. How the wall looked originally (note the cooker from the 1950s, the sink plumbed in with lead and the nicotine stained walls… nice!)
2. The other half checking out the task ahead!
3. 1/4 of the way in – no going back now! This was as far as we got on Sunday.
4. Half-way… a rather productive Monday night! Look at the clouds of dust!
5. Tuesday’s demolition!
6. Our terracotta army of 200 bricks… which we carried down three flights of stairs! My legs would not stop shaking afterwards…
7. Me in my dusty gear… wearing a rather ironic ‘i am sensible’ tee acquired from the other half. Can you tell I’m about done for the day?! (I’m also thinking I look a little like I’m a Michael Jackson impersonator!!)
8. The bathroom before… a quick recap
9. The bathroom now… ok there’s still a bit to go (!) but the window guys, plumber, joiner and electrician start their work in two weeks… I can’t wait!
Filed under: the flat | 5 Comments
Ikea… it’s a love hate thing
So the time has come to go to Ikea again… I’m sure I used to love going (probably back when I got my very first flat) but nowadays it just seems like a chore. I don’t want to think about how many hours I’ve spent in that place (5 Ikea minutes is equal to an hour in real time). This all perhaps influenced by the fact that other half greatly dislikes the trip to Ikea – and has to be bribed with ice-cream and veggie hot dogs to go.
That said… I’m a big fan of their PS range, love their range of extremely affordable fabrics and you can’t knock their bright coloured washing up brushes! And there’s nothing better than a revamped bit of Ikea… So despite my unwillingness to go, I’m appreciating Skinny laMinx’s I Wish we had IKEA cushion and tea towel.
Based in Cape Town, she designed her ‘wish list’ after someone sent her an Ikea catalogue (she’d mentioned on her blog how deprived she felt for not having IKEA stores in South Africa.)
Which reminds me that it is better to have Ikea than to not! Though I may need to be reminded of this sentiment when we’re still in Ikea debating bathroom taps at 8.30pm!
Filed under: Places to shop | 8 Comments
Tags: ikea
Chicken pillow
As a veggie I really shouldn’t like this Chicken Meat Pillow by Go Buggy Go but it makes me laugh. It’s the egg that cracks me up. (Terrible pun I know!)
Filed under: Accessories, home | 2 Comments
Unlucky for some
I have 5 of these hooks from an old school in Ireland – and while 13 might be an unlucky number, these brilliant old hooks have cured my longing for a Hang It All.
I think they’re much cooler and much more unique.
I just wish the local council would do a sale of old school stuff when they close places down (let’s not get into the issue of them actually closing places down though!) as I think it’s a real shame that they just skip stuff. Imagine how many cool little desks, chairs and coat hooks must end up at the dump… Rubbish isn’t it?
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This might have been a bad plan. For the other half’s birthday, I made a split moment decision and bought him a Playstation 3. My rationale went something like this… he would really like one, we could watch blu-ray movies on it and with so much flat stuff going, it would be good to add a bit more silliness in our lives. And of course he does love it… but I wasn’t expecting that I would love it too.
On Monday I spent over 3 hours playing Big Little Planet (it’s like an ultra-cute, ultra-customisable game)… The other half was laughing at the outfit I gave my sack person… pigtails, nifty moustache and a pair of antlers. If only I could get away with such stuff in real life!
All of which is probably not conducive to getting our new bathroom done… Who need a shower when you have a PS3? (Yeah I’m not convinced either!)
Photo found here via here.
Filed under: All about me | 8 Comments
Tags: bathroom, birthday, ps3
Norway Part 2: The yellow house
This is my friend Ellen’s house. It’s such a lovely place, with a great view over Olso from the back , and most importantly it’s yellow! The best colour ever in my humble opinion
But it’s not just the outside of the house that’s fab… my friend Ellen is also an interior designer (and is hopefully starting her own blog soon) so she’s been transforming this home since they got it last year. Here’s a shot of the wallpaper in the kitchen… how goregous is that lampshade?
And here’s a shelf in the living room – which I particularly like because I bought her the ‘knock on wood’. The Ticket print is from a shop called Yank (I got some rather nifty napkins there I’ll share another day.)
More shelves from the living room – which showcases Ellen’s amazing blue vase she found on our trip to Glasgow last year. (We also both laughing at how similar the colour of this wall is to my living room’s new colour… great minds think alike or so we like to think!)
Filed under: home, inspiration | 7 Comments
Tags: design, Living Room, norway
A bright idea…
Isn’t this lovely? Delicate old fashioned lightbulbs on a silver cord from Charm School Design. So much prettier than energy saving bulbs would be!
Filed under: Accessories, Necklaces | 7 Comments
Tags: design, necklace, vintage
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