At long last we got the keys to our new flat on Friday! Before we moved in, substantial damp work had been done to the property, so when we walked through the front door it looked a complete mess...but as it's been a long bank holiday weekend, we've managed to get quite a bit done already.
Here's the bedroom before and a progress shot to show where we're up to now...
We painted all the walls white and have laid new floors, and it's looking much brighter already.
In the hallway all the boards needed to be replaced, which we're halfway through doing:
But the biggest job of all has been to rip out the kitchen and some walls to open up the space - we'll be installing a new kitchen in the near future, which we bought on ebay for a snip! Can't wait to have it all installed. The lovely Theo will be taking on the job - good job he knows how...
Theo and I both have the next week off work, so hopefully we'll get lots more done over the next few days.
On holiday in St Barths I came across the stunning hotel La Banane. I am particularly in love with the tiled floor, although I'd probably only consider this if I was living in a hot country. Also really like the modern take on the 4 poster bed...
My mum has just received the armchair back from the upholsterers, and it looks absolutely amazing! So pleased with it - it will take pride of place in our new living room. Can't wait to get it home. At the moment I've only seen this picture of it and not the real thing, but I am really pleased with it.
As previously mentioned, the fabric is Dandelion Clocks by Sanderson and is everywhere at the moment (including the wallpaper in Hollyoaks...not very happy about that!)
I came across this paint-by-numbers wallpaper today. The perfect way to get your decor to perfectly match your furniture! It's £40 a roll which is much cheaper than I would have guessed. I love the top one - might buy a roll to use for covering furniture. There's a brilliant Sunday Times article on how to wallpaper a chest of drawers here. And below are some inspiring pictures of a small Ikea set of drawers which have been decorated with patterned paper.
And below are some inspiring pictures of a small Ikea set of drawers from Shine Design which have been decorated with patterned paper. I have some of these drawers myself which are plain wood at the moment and it would be nice to do something creative with them. Stay tuned!
Anyway today is Christmas Eve so I will be signing off for a couple of days to enjoy Christmas - hope you all have a lovely break and come back soon!
As I mentioned, we've got lots of books that will need to be stored. We've got a couple of big Ikea Expedit bookshelves which I really love, but I'm not sure they will fit into the new living room configuration. I may have to have a look at Ikea Hacker for some ideas, but Theo may well be getting out his tool kit to create something custom that will fit the space.
Again, not totally house-related, but I wanted to share with you this little project I did for my cousin who has just had a baby boy. They're moving up to Scotland too, so he will be cold and will require little knitted things to keep him cosy!
The socks at the top are available as a free pattern here. And the shoe pattern is also free, here.
I packed both gifts in a box from Paperchase, and cut away a section on the top to stamp the baby's name. I used my lovely little red typewriter to type a label for the box. Hope they liked it!
