Garden Tealight Holders

I recently won a set of gorgeous tealight holders from Red Lilly's store via a giveaway run on Karen Barlows blog. I never win anything so was very excited, when the parcel arrived it was so beautifully packed that I didn't want to open it! There are four tea light holders in the set, each one a different colour with a metal hanger which I love!

For more info on the set click here.

 

The tealight holders are currently on my garden table but seen as they have such cute metal hanging loops, I'm thinking of hanging them on the pergola - perfect for summer evenings!

 

Excuse the table - its in much need of some tlc this Summer!

The Red Lilly online store is full of gorgeous items for the home and garden - pop over and take a look!

Thank you for reading xx

Before and After ~The Downstairs Loo

Our downstairs loo is tiny, its so tiny I hardly ever go in there. We have thought on many occasion about taking it out and having a nice spacious area at the bottom of the stairs - maybe with a desk in or a nice comfy chair and make it a reading area? However we found that it proved to be invaluable during potty training so for now it remains!!

So, as it is staying it has also been turned white along with the rest of the house!

We had a not very pleasant green carpet going from the hall, up the stairs and onto the landing that was there when we moved in - and it was also in the downstairs loo! I hate carpet in bathrooms so I pulled it up, and wish I had done so sooner as these lovely floorboards were under there!

 

I pulled up the gripper rods, sanded them, filled in any holes with wood filler, sanded again, undercoated with Farrow & Ball Wood floor primer & undercoat in white & light tones, and then gave it two coats of Farrow & Ball Floor paint in Cornforth White.

 

It was well worth the effort! Really pleased with the result! Also, love the metal basket from Sainsburys - perfect for the downstairs loo! The skirting is painted in Farrow & Ball eggshell 'Strong White' and the walls are painted in Crown emulsion 'Sail White'.  

As you can see I have gone for a coastal theme, not very original I know but very pretty :) The ceramic bowl was made by my Partner, we have a matching one in the bathroom which you can see here.

 

 Charity shop mirror painted in Annie Sloan 'Old White'.

 

 

As well as painting the floorboards in the downstairs loo, I have also painted them in the Hallway but will save that for another day! The stairs are next eek!

 

Thank you for reading xx

 

 

 

 

Today I am linking up with:

The Dedicated House ~ Make it Pretty Monday

Paint Rollers

I first saw Paint Rollers on the recent series of Great Interior Design Challenge, the lovely and very talented Sarah Moore used one on a bedroom wall and on a duvet cover.

Sarah Moore's winning bedroom design, using the Tussock roller.

 

 

I then saw them in again in the lovely magazine, Daphne's Diary (if you haven't read this yet then I definitely recommend it).

 

 

All images taken from Daphne's Diary

Hello again Ikea

A while back I wrote a post entitled goodbye Ikea, all about wanting to remove the mass produced flat pack furniture from our home and fill it with one off pieces. However, I find myself going back on my word and back to Ikea, there is no getting away from its practical affordable solutions which are perfect for a family home. I'm particularly drawn to the Ikea hacks I keep seeing on Pinterest, the idea of making it my own is very appealing so this could be the way to go!

A few brilliant examples of Ikea hacking:

Book shelves made from painted spice racks (here) £3 each.

House in France

My Parents have bought a house in France and I wanted to share pictures with you of the fantastic interior! Genuine retro interior design:

White Painted Floorboards

One of my latest obsessions is white painted floorboards! It seems that they appear on every page of every Home book or magazine I read (and I read a lot!!). So what to do about this obsession, bearing in mind I have two young Children should 'white' and 'floor' be combined???

Here are some beautiful inspiring examples I have come across:

(Selina Lake)