Conversation Pieces

It’s been a rather unexpected week. It started out so so happily (as you may have noticed!), then went a bit crappy (a close relative managed to be not so nice about my lovely engagement and other half) and then it got good again as the people who do actually love me rallied round and showed how much they care – with a pizza muffin, some parsnip cake and yellow lilies! (Pizza muffins may be my new favourite snack!)

Anyway, in place of having a random rant (which Wednesday and yesterday I was so tempted to do), I’ve decided to share some very lovely unexpected things that also make me smile. I hope they make you smile too.

1. White Rabbit Lamp from Caravan
It’s a bunny and it’s a light… random, yes, but also rather delightful in an Alice and Wonderland kind of way. (The other half thinks it’s a tiny bit creepy though…)

2. Butterflies in the Stomach Necklace from Tilly Bloom
If only being nervous was this pretty…

3. Gather (Square Moss Ring) from Adorn Jewellery
I’ve never had a ring that needed watering and pruning… I’ve also never had much luck with growing things but surely I could manage a ring’s worth?

4. Ninja vs Pirate Mobile from Salty and Sweet
Ah the age old question who is better… ninjas or pirates? For a very cool baby indeed (though don’t be surprised if they grow up to want to be a pirate or ninja!)

5. Le Petit Dej’ Breakfast Tray from APlusRStore.com
Just because…

6. Ears Cup with Saucer from MomaStore.org
Exactly the kind of cup you need for a girlie catch-up perhaps?

7. LightBulb Candle from SpoonSisters.com
Love this idea… a lightbulb candle you can ‘plug’ into a lampbase I’m thinking you’d never be able to use lampbase again but maybe it would be good for old vintage ones that are too dodgy to rewire (that’s if you can bare to get them covered in wax)?

8. Clutch Light by Scott Jarvie
How fab is this light made of straws? (Yes straws!) So pretty – whether it’s on or off.

P.S. Have a lovely weekend everyone xx

P.P.S. This is what my pizza muffin looked like…

5, 6, 7 and 8 found via Point Click Home

One whole week and no blogging… I had hoped to return with tales of bathroom bliss and renovation harmony but we’re not quite there yet. We’re currently a week, a weekend and a day over schedule (mainly due to an AWOL plaster) but fingers crossed all the tradesmen should be done tomorrow. After that me and the other half just have to paint the walls, the new windows and door, do some wallpapering, hang a mirror and a cabinet and then we’ll be done (can you guess what we have planned for this weekend?)

So in lieu of some bathroom pics, how about a few pretty (and random) things from my current Etsy wishlist…

1. Perfect Match Necklace from Yellow Goat
I’ve had my eye on this for ages… it’s just the perfect combo of quirky, sophisticated and a little bit of romance.

2. Yellow Melmine Cup Set from Post Road Vintage
I may have just bought a vintage yellow tea set at the weekend (will take pics once I’ve cleaned them all up) but it doesn’t stop me wanting this one too. You can never have too many cups right? (I know that’s my reasoning on everything…)

3. Bears in Love Under Glass from kgrandey
Bears hugging under a bell jar… what’s not to love?

4. Coat Hangers from Pamola’s Nest
These are so sweet – I’m bookmarking them for a future crafting project (once the renovation is over!)

5. Kitty and Dude Gun and Wing Cups from Velvet Boutique
When I got my first flat, I really wanted to get these gun cups… there’s now a wings version too and you can have them plain or decorated in the patterns below – whatever you prefer. Which is pretty cool it has to be said!

Aside from all that, I also wanted to say thanks for all your lovely supportive comments and emails – you really are the sweetest lot of people I have never met!

Wish tickets from A Little Much

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!

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…)

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…)

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

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

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.

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.

Via fffound

So I’m back from Norway, where I had a stupendously good time (will show you some pics soon), my red Bobbin Glorie has arrived (ooh she’s so pretty!), I’m gearing up for the Moonwalk on Saturday (followed by seeing Take That on the Sunday!) and all in all I’m feeling really happy… and loved up. Which is strange when you’ve been in a relationship as long as me and the other half have but good strange… So I thought I’d pass on the love (and an award) since it’s a Friday and you’re all so lovely

1. Simplify our love tile from Rob Ryan
I love this gorgeous tile from very talented Rob Ryan… and they’re finally back in stock at his Etsy shop. Yay!

2. Heart Yo-Yos from Somethings Hiding in Here
Love is a little like a yo-yo – sometimes in love you feel up and sometimes you feel down… And don’t you just love the cross-stitchness (yes a trip to Norway hasn’t cured me of that!)

3. Love Card from Curious Doodles
Love how simple this is… it’s so a ‘I could have made this’ kind of thing. Except I didn’t.

4. We Make Sense via fffound
Even if no-one else understands us…

5. Sampler Love via fffound
Only just realised how many cross-stitch/sampler things are in this post. Anyway, no idea who Helen and Lito are but I think this is so sweet.

6. Every Day I Love You from Rockett St. George (via Poppy Talk)
How romantic is a bit of old wood? Very apparently!

7. You are loved via fffound
Because everyone needs to be told that once in a while.

7. A rather lovely award
Before I went away, Kerry from The Seventy Tree gave me this rather nice award. She has a totally fab blog – and is a fellow lover of yellow – so if you haven’t been there before, get over there as it rocks.

And now for the passing on of the award. Here’s some blogs I think are rather lovely too…

Eden Rose
Her Little Place
Lobster and Swan
Fieldguided
Little Doodles
Slices of Beauty

Check them out if you haven’t already and have a fab weekend xx

Via fffound

So I’m back from Norway, where I had a stupendously good time (will show you some pics soon), my red Bobbin Glorie has arrived (ooh she’s so pretty!), I’m gearing up for the Moonwalk on Saturday (followed by seeing Take That on the Sunday!) and all in all I’m feeling really happy… and loved up. Which is strange when you’ve been in a relationship as long as me and the other half have but good strange… So I thought I’d pass on the love (and an award) since it’s a Friday and you’re all so lovely

1. Simplify our love tile from Rob Ryan
I love this gorgeous tile from very talented Rob Ryan… and they’re finally back in stock at his Etsy shop. Yay!

2. Heart Yo-Yos from Somethings Hiding in Here
Love is a little like a yo-yo – sometimes in love you feel up and sometimes you feel down… And don’t you just love the cross-stitchness (yes a trip to Norway hasn’t cured me of that!)

3. Love Card from Curious Doodles
Love how simple this is… it’s so a ‘I could have made this’ kind of thing. Except I didn’t.

4. We Make Sense via fffound
Even if no-one else understands us…

5. Sampler Love via fffound
Only just realised how many cross-stitch/sampler things are in this post. Anyway, no idea who Helen and Lito are but I think this is so sweet.

6. Every Day I Love You from Rockett St. George (via Poppy Talk)
How romantic is a bit of old wood? Very apparently!

7. You are loved via fffound
Because everyone needs to be told that once in a while.

7. A rather lovely award
Before I went away, Kerry from The Seventy Tree gave me this rather nice award. She has a totally fab blog – and is a fellow lover of yellow – so if you haven’t been there before, get over there as it rocks.

And now for the passing on of the award. Here’s some blogs I think are rather lovely too…

Eden Rose
Her Little Place
Lobster and Swan
Fieldguided
Little Doodles
Slices of Beauty

Check them out if you haven’t already and have a fab weekend xx

Remember those really frustrating laminated cardboard milk cartons from your childhood? The ones on which you had to pull out a cardboard spout that hardly ever worked or ended up tearing and creating a really irritating dribble when you poured? Well, you’ll look upon them in an altogether more fond light once you’ve seen them reincarnated by Hanne Rysgaard.

The Danish ceramics designer has given the now obsolete carton a makeover that transforms it from a boring everyday item into a beautiful porcelain object worthy of the most prized position on your sideboard or mantlepiece. The plastic version we use these days has also received the Rysgaard treatment – and wouldn’t the supermarket be a brighter place if your daily pint came in designs as pretty as these?

Zoë says: Since I’m away, this week’s “Friday I’m in love” comes from my friend Linda, who’s a sub-editor, a super mum and an all-round sparkly person.

Remember those really frustrating laminated cardboard milk cartons from your childhood? The ones on which you had to pull out a cardboard spout that hardly ever worked or ended up tearing and creating a really irritating dribble when you poured? Well, you’ll look upon them in an altogether more fond light once you’ve seen them reincarnated by Hanne Rysgaard.

The Danish ceramics designer has given the now obsolete carton a makeover that transforms it from a boring everyday item into a beautiful porcelain object worthy of the most prized position on your sideboard or mantlepiece. The plastic version we use these days has also received the Rysgaard treatment – and wouldn’t the supermarket be a brighter place if your daily pint came in designs as pretty as these?

Zoë says: Since I’m away, this week’s “Friday I’m in love” comes from my friend Linda, who’s a sub-editor, a super mum and an all-round sparkly person.

Came across this feathered shuttlecock lightshade on my continuing quest to find a funky light for the kitchen. I think a cluster of them might look pretty cool – but I’m rubbish at badminton (as far as I remember) so the appeal ends there for me. The search continues…

P.S. Trying to be very grown-up here and not snigger over the word ‘shuttlecock’… Not really working!

I stumbled across Johanna Öst’s blog the other week and I was immediately in love with her outfits, her decor and her drawings… Wish I (and my home) looked this stylish on a daily basis!

I’m also so in love with her ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ big toy!

P.S. Make sure you roll over the header on her blog… it’s very cute!

Saw this beautiful wallpaper by Aimme Wilder over at 50 danska kvadrat. The wallpaper comes with a cloud face wall sticker which you can place anywhere on the design. How cute is that? I also now want that wooden bear and stool!

Aimme also does these great wallpaper designs (in case clouds aren’t your thing):

1. Mountains…

2. Pigeons… yup, it’s hard to see in this pic but the pattern is made up of pigeons!!

3. Robots… think this would be great for a little girl’s room (so much better than Barbie right?) and there’s a globe in the pic too!

Now I discovered Eurovision a bit late in life… I was a student studying in Denmark (which itself is a strange enough fact) and a boy we knew there was having a Eurovision party. I’d thought this would be a party party but instead it was a room packed full of Danes intently, silently, watching the TV screen.

A friend patiently (and quietly) explained the crooked voting system where everyone votes for their neighbouring country and not the best singer – and that the UK commentator Terry Wogan was going to get progressively more drunk as the night went on. By this point I was vaguely confused but enjoying the cheesy randomness none the less.

And then it became apparent that Denmark were winning. The party went mad – and then went even more mad when the Danish entry “Fly on The Wings of Love” was announced as the winner. Afterwards we all went out and danced in a little poky club to that same song all night (I kid you not – they did not play anything else!!) So since then Eurovision has had a special place in my heart.

It’s a bit late to invest in these British pillows and bunting from RE for tonight – but I thought they were worth sharing anyway. If I had one of the cushions I’d be waving it about in place of a flag (but also secretly supporting Denmark and now Norway in honour of my friend Ellen). Hope you have a great night if you’re watching it – I’m off to go and listen to what our UK entry actually sounds like (as you can tell I’m still a bit of a slap-dash Eurovision lover!) xx

Now I discovered Eurovision a bit late in life… I was a student studying in Denmark (which itself is a strange enough fact) and a boy we knew there was having a Eurovision party. I’d thought this would be a party party but instead it was a room packed full of Danes intently, silently, watching the TV screen.

A friend patiently (and quietly) explained the crooked voting system where everyone votes for their neighbouring country and not the best singer – and that the UK commentator Terry Wogan was going to get progressively more drunk as the night went on. By this point I was vaguely confused but enjoying the cheesy randomness none the less.

And then it became apparent that Denmark were winning. The party went mad – and then went even more mad when the Danish entry “Fly on The Wings of Love” was announced as the winner. Afterwards we all went out and danced in a little poky club to that same song all night (I kid you not – they did not play anything else!!) So since then Eurovision has had a special place in my heart.

It’s a bit late to invest in these British pillows and bunting from RE for tonight – but I thought they were worth sharing anyway. If I had one of the cushions I’d be waving it about in place of a flag (but also secretly supporting Denmark and now Norway in honour of my friend Ellen). Hope you have a great night if you’re watching it – I’m off to go and listen to what our UK entry actually sounds like (as you can tell I’m still a bit of a slap-dash Eurovision lover!) xx

A. Yes.

We gave up this lovely multi-coloured bathroom below in our old flat…

For this bathroom in our new flat… (Believe it or not the window actually looks more scary without the silver insulation stuff – if the windows guy would hurry up and make our new windows it would be a big step forward!)

But this is all about to change! Here’s the first brick from the wall we’re taking down (that’s the wall the toilet roll is currently on and the bit of wall with the cr*ppy shelf on it)…

So we’re a whole lot of bricks closer to our planned Japanese bath, his and hers sinks and a much-longed-for shower. Yay!

So I’ve just spent the day wandering about in the sunshine and rummaging through stuff at the Funk Fair – which was indeed very funky and saw me part with all of my spending money (and most of the other half’s too). But I’ll leave the sharing of those finds for another day – as today, following on from my earlier post, I’m going to show you my current favourite bits of my home…

1. The view
I’ve mentioned this before but we used to live in a ground floor flat in a not so great area which pretty much meant we had the blinds down all the time – so we’re constantly still amazed by having a view at all… let alone the view we have now.

2. The period features
The previous owner of this flat did not modernise a single thing in this place. Which might a lot of work for us but also means we have struck gold in having an original working doorbell (it always makes me think of ye olde shops when it rings!), beautiful cornicing and keys for every single door (we’ve left on the labels as we kind of like them).

3. My dressing table
I got this dressing table for free from a woman who didn’t want it any more! After spending months living out of boxes and knowing where nothing is, it’s so nice to sit here and get ready in the morning – and I get a great view of the new wallpaper!

4. Our bed
It’s yellow for a start, it’s comfy and I love our pillow covers from Lush Designs.

(And below is the obligatory pet shot you always get in home photo shoots!)

5. The other half
Well without being too sappy… home is where the heart is so as great as this place is, it wouldn’t be the same without him. (Also for anyone who’s seen our ‘before’ pic, you’ll notice the green is well and truly gone now!)

P.S. You’ll notice that in the true spirit of being anti-Elle Decoration for one day I’ve just taken a pic of the living room as it is, clutter and all… so you may spot a glimpse of some of today’s finds scattered about the floor and a few of my current projects!

P.S.S. Hope you’re all having a fab May Day Holiday weekend xx