DIY Tutorial: Faux Fabric Cable Light Fitting

I have something of a thing about light fittings. I feel like they're a really important feature in a room, and in most of the rooms in our house we've completely changed them for something that's a focal point. However, striking light fittings aren't cheap, and if they are then they're almost always striking for the wrong reason, so in our two spare bedrooms we've left the plain white fittings up, and with a little help from some cotton yarn given them the look of fabric cable without re-wiring anything! 

As you can see, it wasn't the most attractive thing, but wrapping the cable is quick, relatively easy and after changing the discoloured part of the lamp holder for a new white one, and hanging a new shade, it look significantly less...blah. 

First, unscrew the ceiling rose, and thread the end of the yarn up through the hole. Tie it to the top of the cable, then screw the rose back up.

Then just get wrapping! Keep the loops as tight close together as possible, sliding them up the cable to close up any gaps.

Your arms will definitely ache, but it's much easier to wrap the cable with it still attached to the ceiling - in our other spare room I took the fitting down to wrap it and everything kept getting tangled up.  If you need a rest, stick the yarn to the cable with a piece of masking tape and let the ball trail to the floor (watching out for any cats who may have come along to "help")

Keep wrapping until you reach the bottom, then tie the yarn off with a knot. 

Cut off the excess, add your shade (ours is from Next) and you're done!

Much better I think you'll agree.

I'll be sharing a full reveal of this room soon. One day it will be our first child's room, and it feels like a really positive thing to be getting a room ready for whenever and however they arrive. If you'd like to read our IVF journey so far you can find it here.

Some Grateful Thoughts on Friendship

I've never been one for big groups of friends. I am a definite introvert (well, webtrovert really but that's a different story) and crave my own company, so without really being aware of it, I've always been quite selective about who I choose to open up to and spend time with.

I've been thinking in the last few weeks about the types of friend I have in my life. One of the lovely, and absolutely unintentional things that happens when you're honest about struggling with something is how many people rally round to prop you up. I've been feeling so lucky to know so many people who may not have any idea what this feels like, but who somehow seem to know just what to say...

There are the friends who were once colleagues and who I miss everyday. The ones I cleaned up bodily fluids with, looked out for and kept safe, argued with over the best approach to a situation, and compared bruised shins with after one of 'those' days. To quote J.K Rowling 'there are somethings in life you can't share without ending up liking each other' and it turns out working in SEN is definitely one of them. When you've wiped someone else's spit off each others faces, laughed till you've cried about how ridiculous your job is, asked 'is my forehead bleeding?' and inadvertently shown them your boobs while trying to prevent a child pulling you over by your clothes, there really is no going back.

There are the friends who were once 'best' but who, as often happens when you go on separate adult journeys, I don't see very often anymore. Every few months, or maybe even longer, we meet up for a catch up and put the world to rights over eggs benedict and tea, and at the end of the conversation she simply says 'let me know if you need anything.'

There are the friends I call family, the ones I've known since we were both babies. The ones who I forget to reply to and catch up with via our parents letting me know what they've been up to but who still know exactly what I'm thinking. The ones who pop in to see me at work, and forgo all the 'stay positive, it'll happen, at least you have an answer' conversation and just go right in with 'this is shitty isn't it, and it's bloody unfair that it's happening to you'.

There are completely unexpected friendships. One of the people I most enjoy spending time with is 13, a big fan of sausages and Mr Tumble and technically my employer. I love hearing about his day, teaching him how to buy his shopping, watching him carefully make choices and most of all hearing his jokes. He is the epitome of doing what makes you happy without giving two ticks about what anyone else thinks; whether that's echolalia re-runs of countdown, jumping, flapping and clapping as fast as you can or telling me, with half a grin and twinkle in his eye 'giraffe, hippopotamus and elephant are too big for a pet.' He has no concept of the worries of adult life, as long as there is gravy, he's happy and that's so refreshing to be around.  

There's the friend affectionately known as 'work-mum', who would be the first person I'd call on if my  actual Mum was away. The one who I have the same shared experiences with as my other colleagues but with whom I also share a love of sewing, house plants, swapping books, drinking coffee and 'putting the world to rights in a safe space' (read: bitching) Always on hand to help me out with the above friend, and he loves her just as much as I do.  

There are the friends I talk to everyday and who I tell absolutely everything to. The ones I send pictures of my dinner to, who know when all my appointments are. The ones who's conversations start with 'what's a Prince Albert?' and who I messaged within 30 seconds of flushing my moon cup down the toilet. The friends who talk so often I wake up with 85 unread messages if I have an early night, and who I can message at midnight with 'who's awake' when I'm feeling like a horrible jealous person and someone will be there to say 'I get it.' These three girls get me through my days.

There are friends I haven't known for very long in comparison to some, but who I knew immediately would be in my life forever. Who I can be completely honest with, cry in front of and tell off for not eating any lunch! The type of friend who knows the minute they look at you that you're not ok, and who will rush over to give you a hug.

There's the friend I hadn't seen for five years, but who can still effortlessly teach me things just like when we were at uni together over a decade ago. Who I can talk with all day as if we've never been apart, and who I'm still convinced lived a parallel childhood to me.

There are the friends I've met online who I've never met in real life. The ones who message after I've shared a vulnerability to say, "me too, I know just how you feel.' The internet has many flaws, and I've fallen victim to lots of them, but one of the things I have always found, particularly on instagram is how supportive the community is, and I'm still always surprised by the number of people who pop up to say, "I'm with you. I've got your back."

There's my best and oldest friend who I sometimes don't see for months or speak to for days but it just doesn't matter. Long distance friendship is a tough thing to deal with sometimes. It's rubbish when all you want is a Chinese and a chat with the person who knows you the best of all, but when you both understand that life just gets in the way sometimes, when you've both got jobs and mortgages and no money left to buy fizzy sweets, never mind train tickets or petrol, you get by with making plans and reminding the other that you love them lots.

I'm pretty lucky, don't you think, and I'm grateful for that every day.

Remembrance Sunday: Grandad's Evacuation Story

My Grandad is in his eighties now, and is beginning to struggle more and more with his day to day memory. A subject that still prompts his memories to flood back to him, even more than seventy years later, is remembering his childhood. He was evacuated from his home in Lowestoft in 1940, sent up to Derbyshire on the train to escape the dangers of the second world war, with a little packed lunch and a label round his neck.

I thought that today, on Remembrance Sunday, I would share a little of his story with you. Over to you, Grandad....

"Being a young boy when World War II was declared, it was quite new to see workmen lifting sacks with sand off the north beach and filling lorries with those sacks, then watching them lay bags around the town hall and other buildings, but all seemed quiet and no changes apart from an aircraft now and then, I know that school was carrying on as usual.

This was until I ran home with a form for my parents to sign, I did not read it but other lads said it was an outing by train. As in those days we never travelled, or had even been on a train, I thought it would be good. My brother Alan arrived home with his form for our parents, and he was told it was to live with other people. My parents told us we would not be going as they did not want to lose us, but a few days later I think they had been talked to about dangers, and they said we could travel but only if we were together and lived together. 

It seemed to me the day of evacuation soon arrived, I had just reached my birthday of 8 years and 1 month. I was to report to class with my small bag containing water, a stick of barley sugar, a sandwich, and a comic. Most of the class were present, mostly with parents. My mother had another child by this time, now six months, but another mother tied my label round my neck and told me to hold her daughters hand, “look after her” she said. I did not have much of an education dealing with girls, but I held her hand while we moved from the classroom down to the railway lines. Outside the station I was still holding her hand and trying to find my brother, as the teachers said we would be together. 

On the other side of the road, mothers and some fathers were waving to us and some of the ladies were crying. Then we were told to move into the station in a line, we all moved in pairs onto the platform and then onto the train. I still held hands with the girl and we sat next to each other, no teacher or anyone told us how long we will be on the train, whether it be an hour or whenever, so I did not work out when to eat the sandwich I had in my bag, or even the barley sugar.

We were told to sit. I recall our carriage was very quiet, occasionally some child pointed out types of animals in the fields, then everything went quiet again. I do remember that on one occasion the train stopped at a station for ladies to come and pass us drinks between, but I cannot remember if it was water, milk, or lemonade, but the train was soon on the move again. 

We arrived in Derbyshire, I think about 2pm, I cannot name the station but we had to board a coach for a few miles to a school in Scarcliffe where we had to sit on the grass and were given sandwiches and a drink. This is where my little companion and I were separated for some reason. There were several small coaches outside the school and, with lists in their hands, teachers pointed out to us which coach to board, then after a short distance we were told to leave the bus. After this we had to line up in fours with the children from another coach. We were then told we were going to ‘parade’ and march to the school in the village, Bramley Vale, Derbyshire. It was only 300 yards away, and we must show people how smart we were. 

At the front of my column two boys from Wilde School carried our banner ‘John Wilde School, Lowestoft’. The two streets to the Bramley Vale School I noticed were covered in adults from the villages, some applauding, and some ladies crying which I admit on the day I could not understand. We were shown into classrooms and told to sit at the desks, I sat wondering why my brother was not with me.

After a short while, ladies from nearby were taking children when they were called out, after a short time I was almost alone, and I admit I was on the verge of tears being alone. I know I have read many letters similar to the above, and the writer nearly always quotes he was the last getting a home. In my case, looking around, I saw one lady waiting in the classroom. I later learned she was one of the first to arrive, to pick up two boys, preferably brothers, and that the organiser said “You had better take him, he is the last.” The lady had come over to the desk and said “You come with me my duck.”

There have been many thoughts over the organisation. One idea is that Alan should have travelled with John Wilde School, or that the lady in next door had asked for one boy to play with her son, but had got two brothers instead. I assure you that I got the best of the mix up. 

I have been told many times in my life that I am a lucky person and everything must go my way. I cannot agree with everything they quote but in my evacuation to this lady, I must have been one of the luckiest school boys who left lowestoft in June 1940. The lady who took me home was Mrs May Holmes, and she lived only 7 houses from the school. Her husband was Mr Reg Holmes and he was home having finished his day down the coal mine. I clearly remember them asking my name, to which I replied “Terry Smith Miss”. They had laid me on the sofa, and I fell asleep right away, I think I slept around two hours. They then told me their names, but straight away I called them Aunty and Uncle. ‘Aunty’ lasted all the 4 years, 3 months I was evacuated, but ‘Uncle’ soon changed to ‘Nunk’. Aunty always said ‘Terry’ but Nunk always called me ‘Bloz. 

Aunty and Nunk loved children, but I later learned they could not have their own. When I awoke on that day on the sofa Nunk said “How about a walk, I have to see someone?” Aunty suggested I was tired but I said I wanted to go with ‘Uncle’, and from that day I knew, at my small age, that I had been lucky"

***

From the stories he tells, my Grandad certainly was lucky. From new clothes and trips out, to being given his own little allotment and taught to grow vegetables, he tells stories of a really wonderful four years in Derbyshire. He stayed in touch with Aunty and Nunk for the rest of their lives, and I know he will be forever grateful for the safe home-from-home they gave him. While he was away, his family home was indeed bombed; the bedroom his shared with his brother was destroyed and his own grandparents were killed. Thank goodness that, despite their initial misgivings, my great grandparents decided to send their children away - I can't quite get my head around the idea that if they hadn't, my life wouldn't have existed at all. 

And that's the whole point of this day - to acknowledge and honour the hundreds of thousands of people who have made our country, and our families the way they are today: those who fought, who defended, who did things they never imagined possible and certainly didn't sign up for, and who had to live forever with the horror of the things they saw. Those who operated radios and broke codes and flew planes, who filled the roles of the men and boys sent to war, who welcomed children into their homes to keep them safe, who gave their lives for the sake of future generations, and of course for all those men and women who continue to do so...

"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them." 

Currently Coveting - Wednesday Wishlist

Well hello there! Today I'm bringing you another little round up of things I've had my eye on recently! There's a real mixture here - we've so nearly finished decorating our bedroom so a couple of these bits I've got in mind for in there, and my sister is moving out this weekend (hoorah!) so as of next week we'll have our spare bedroom back! We'll be keeping it as a spare/guest room so it'll need a bit of a jazzing up and a few of these things would be perfect in there! There are also a couple of things that have definitely crept in because Autumn is on the way. 

Here goes... 

Wooden Flowers - Anna Winscombe

I love having fresh flowers around the house but I'm always a little reluctant to buy them for myself for a few reasons. One, they're expensive, two, I'm rubbish at remembering to change the water and wilted flowers don't really have the same effect, and three, I seem to be allergic to everything at the moment, so flowers in the bedroom isn't really conducive to a good nights sleep. However, these wooden flowers from Anna Winscombe would solve all my problems. I already have a beautiful little wooden bird brooch from Anna which I love, and I think these wooden flowers are really minimal and striking - and definitely won't make me sneeze! They're available in lots of different sizes, but the spot I have in mind it quite large so I think the larger ones would be perfect!  

Salted Caramel Dreams - Chloe Timms

As you may remember from my podcasts post, I've recently fallen a bit in love with Edd Kimber. I spotted his recommendation for this book on twitter a few days ago and it sounds bloody AMAZING!! I'm a huge fan of salted caramel (actually, I'm a fan of salted anything!) and an entire book of salted caramel treats sounds right up my street. Salted Caramel Dreams comes from Chloe Timms, of London based Fatties Bakery. The amazon listing for it allows you to look inside, and some of the recipes sound delicious (not to mention incredibly indulgent and definitely for special occasions) - caramel rye truffles, salted caramel custard and...brace yourselves...chocolate chip salted caramel peanut butter!! I need this book in my life for all the Autumn and Winter occasions when treats are in order! 

Black and Brass Hook Rack - Cox and Cox

This is maybe a bit boring, but whenever we buy something for our home, even if it's something small, we like to make sure we love it! Now it's starting to get a bit chillier, my dressing gowns and onesies were starting to litter our bedroom and I was getting on my own nerves leaving them all over the place. I've been using an overdoor hook to corral everything which is working well as there's not much point pointing them away when I wear them everyday, so hiding them behind the door keeps them accessible yet out of the way. I don't love it though, so I've been on the lookout for a small rack of brass hooks that will sit on the back of the door. This one from Cox and Cox is a little pricey, but it would be perfect! 

Take My Hand and Run Print - Oliver Bonas

As soon as I saw this print I loved it. Since we were in our early twenties, D has done a daft running game where he'll grab my hand and run down the road, or through the reception of a hotel, or down a corridor in an attempt to embarrass me. He first did it when I was about 20, we were staying at The Strand Palace and felt completely out of place in such a posh hotel. Far from being embarrassed though, we both just ran along the corridors laughing like kids. He's done it ever since, and this print from Oliver Bonas makes me smile just thinking about the silliness. I'm kind of waiting for it to go into the sale, but I know I'll be disappointed if it sells out so perhaps I should just order it - such first world problems!  

Doftklint Bedding - Ikea

We've recently recycled all our old bedding in favour of some crisp navy sheets which are making me want to go to bed at 7pm every evening! What I didn't consider before piling them all into the textile recycling bin is that we will need to make the spare bed up once my sister has moved out. So, I set about finding some cheap-but-stylish bedding and I think this graphic set from Ikea might be the one! The room is currently grey and yellow, with white walls, a yellow light fitting and grey carpet and curtains. I'd like to add a little more colour to the space while keeping the things we currently have so this set would tie everything together nicely. It's really cheap (somewhere around £25) which is fine as it won't be used often, and I love that the double and king size Ikea bedding sets come with four pillow cases!   

Bath Caddy - Rustic and Retro Furniture

One of my absolute favourite ways to relax, switch off, warm up, or just spend an hour on my own is to run a really deep bubble bath. I'm firmly of the opinion (so much so that I wrote a whole post about it last year) that unless you have candles, a pile of magazines, a drink, some music (or an audiobook) and potentially some snacks then it's not worth it and you might as well have a shower! I love a bath all year, but when it's cold outside there really is nothing better than sinking into the warm water and finally defrosting. This gorgeous wooden bath caddy from Rustic and Retro Furniture on Etsy would bring together all the necessary bath elements perfectly; somewhere to prop your book to prevent soggy pages (or perhaps a phone or tablet if like me you've taken to catching up with vlogs in the bath) little cut outs for tea lights, a genius slot to slide in a wine glass if its a with-wine kind of bath, and also plenty of space for a mug if it's more of a hot chocolate affair! 

Copper Piper Rail - The Little Deer

Once my sister is gone, our spare bedroom furniture will consist of a kingsize bed, a bedside table, bookcase and a corner desk. We have a third bedroom too which will be used as a nursery when we need it, so for a while this room will be a combination of office, yoga space and guest bedroom. We therefore want there to be somewhere to hang clothes if people stay but don't want to fill the space with a wardrobe. This copper pipe rail from The Little Deer is beautiful enough to be out all the time, and could also be used to display blankets, maybe with a box or basket on the rail at the bottom for yoga props and candles. 

***

There we have it! I don't always actually purchase the items on my wish lists (although Father Christmas and the birthday fairy do look through them every now and then) but there are a few on this one which I think will definitely be coming home with us. 

Talking of the man in red...I'm considering doing some Christmas gift lists this year. What do you think...who would you like to see gift guides for? Would you even want them to be categorised? How about a DIY gift list? Let me know what you think, either here or over on twitter or instgram!    

My Biggest Blogtacular Takeaways

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about my goals for this years Blogtacular, the biggest and best blogging conference in the country (and quite possibly the world.) This was going to be my second time at the conference, and I was really excited to be able to go to the pre-conference party at West Elm this year too.

As expected, Blogtacular was exactly the creative confidence boost I needed, and as well as catching up with some friends from last year and meeting some people I've got to know online in real life, I also met so many new people which is one of the best things about the event as a whole. I think working from home in any sense can be really lonely, so meeting people and having real life conversations is a huge thing, especially when everyone just gets it when you explain what you do!

For me, the weekend began on Friday evening at West Elm on Tottenham Court Road. I'm not always the most confident when it comes to introducing myself and talking about what I do in person, I could definitely be described as a webtrovert (reserved in real life and much more confident online!) Given that I've been feeling much more at ease with what it is I do and had my introduction nailed I found it so much easier this year to throw myself into talking to people (the wine may have helped a just a little.) The party was a great opportunity to catch up with people and also become familiar with new faces so that by Saturday morning when the main even kicked off I didn't feel like I'd arrived at school on the second day of term when everyone had already made friends the day before!

As well as the wine, window shopping and casual conversation, we also sat down for some round table discussions about various topics. I joined the instragram chat which was chaired by Katy English. It was so refreshing to sit amongst a group of people, some with 300 followers, some with over 15,000 and realise that everyone has the same issues - the algorithm, the lack of community, being followed fake accounts and online legging shops and above all, absolutely loving what we're all sharing but feeling a bit disillusioned with it all. The over riding feeling - and one that I totally agree with, was that all we can do is keep doing what we really love, only posting what is a true reflection of us and not what we think we get us more likes and followers because thats just not sustainable - or much fun! 

At eight o' clock the following morning, I set off for the main event. Over an amazing breakfast, I began to make final decisions about which workshops to attend. The day opened and closed with a keynote, with three workshop slots in between. I found it even tougher to decide this year, but in the end settled for Kayte Ferris of Simple and Seasons' Marketing Session, followed by a session on Finding Your Niche led my Mollie Makes editor Cath Dean, and finishing with a session on Self Doubt led by Sas Petherick.

You may remember that a few weeks ago I posted my entry for the competition Blogtacular and West Elm were running for conference attendees. Before the opening keynote, the winner of the most coveted £2000 prize was announced and I was beyond excited and grateful, and a little emotional to find I had won a runner up prize of £250 to spend in West Elm! The overall, and very deserving winner was Hester of Hester's Handmade Home who's miniature room entry was just inspired, and Shahira from Afro Glory also won a £250 runner up prize to make over her home studio space. This in itself totally squashed any feelings of self doubt that were still milling about in my head - to get a bit of recognition for something I love doing was the best feeling. Plus - £250!! I'm so excited to decide what to buy and to get going with our living room makeover!

I found both Kayte and Cath's workshops incredibly useful from a blogging and business perspective.
Lots of the topics that Kayte covered I had come across, and maybe even attempted to implement in the past but nobody had ever explained specific aspects of marketing so clearly before. Since the conference I've been able to really define my audience and have a much clearer idea of where I'm heading! Maybe it was all the sea related references but since thinking about the content I'm creating in terms of 'ports' and 'anchors' I'm finding it all so much more exciting. I've even started putting together an email newsletter as an extension to what I'm doing on the blog - so stay tuned for that in the next few weeks - there will be a sign-up form popping up soon.

The insights gleaned from Sas' self doubt session have stayed with me in other areas of my life too. We talked a lot about why we procrastinate, why we're not as productive as we'd like to be and why we waste time scrolling and channel hopping and making endless cups of tea. It turns out that the reason was the same for pretty much everyone in the room - we revert to these behaviours because they're safe. Nobody can judge us based on what we look at on instagram, or if we choose to spend the afternoon watching The Pioneer Woman instead of putting ourselves out there online. As soon as we feel like there might be a risk, like we might be seen or judged - it's so much safer to run back to the 'island of self doubt' which is equipped with Netflix, blankets, comfy slippers, tea and chocolates. Sounds lovely doesn't it, but spending time here doesn't actually help us progress in the direction we want to be heading. Of course, sometimes tea and rubbish TV is exactly what we need - but a lot of the time we use these things to hide from putting ourselves out there. For me, I realised that I specifically avoid doing things because I don't feel they match up to other peoples expectations of what it means to be successful - so I'm likely to place more importance on mowing the lawn, hoovering, or some other household thing because from that looks productive from the outside; keeping up with those things is what I think means I'm doing ok! There will be more to come about Sas' session in the next few days - she set us all some homework and I'm going to be writing about how that went for me.

So, what were my biggest takeaways at the end of this beautiful day?

First - I like my coffee hot!

There was a lot of talk over the two days about capturing our lives on Instagram. One conversation in particular was about how often people drink cold coffee because it often comes before the food they've ordered and they can't drink it until they've taken the perfect cafe-table-flatly. Not me! Yes, I often have a quick rearrange of plates and glasses and take a couple of photos (my most recent post on Instagram is the perfect example) and as one of my husband's main hobbies is coffee (both making it at home and hunting out the best places) it features in my feed a lot because it features in my life a lot! However, it's not so important to me to get the perfect photo that I'm willing to drink it cold - my Instagram feed is dictated by my life, not the other way around!

Secondly - I need to write for my readers!

Both Kayte and Cath's sessions were heavily focused on finding your audience and both talked about coming up with 'reader personas.' This is something I've sort of done before but I've never actually been specific enough to give my 'readers' names and properly flesh out their personalities. I spent some time working on this the week after the conference and it's helped so much, not only in deciding what posts will work but how much detail to go into within each. So, when writing I can think - do all three of my readers know what 'reduce by a third' means? Have they all mastered backstitch already or do I need to go into more specific detail? Of course, the answers to the questions are all inside my head, but it's really helpful to have three different people of varying abilities in mind when writing rather than just thinking that I know what I mean so surely everyone else must do to?

Thirdly - Glasses are deceptive!

Apparently I look very different with my glasses on! In my profile picture across all the platforms I use, I'm wearing my glasses, but at the conference I didn't have them on and so many people commented on how they didn't recognise me. In fact, Jenny and Lucy from Two Crafty Brownies and I spent most of the day looking out for one another after never meeting in real life and it wasn't until Kat managed to round us all up that we managed it - and again the culprit was my lack of eyewear!  So, I either need a new headshot, or to actually wear my glasses at these events!

Lastly - I love doing this!

I had been feeling a bit weird and deflated about the whole online-life-thing in the weeks leading up to the conference. I had been wondering if it was the right place for me to be - when I read that unicorn smoothies were on the menu for the pre-party I must admit I had a bit of a cringe. I'm really not into the unicorn thing, my aesthetic isn't super colourful, and I wondered if that's what people want to see. But you know what - I don't think that's the case at all and even if it is (to borrow a quote from the awesome Allison who I met last year) I love 'doing me' - knowing what I'm not just reinforces what I am, what I'm aiming for and what I want to share. Sometimes that might be the insta-cliche, but if it is - it's because that's whats happening in my life at the moment and I'll continue to be unapologetic about it!

To use another cliche, if people don't like what you do, they're not your people - and I can safely say that in the Blogtacular community, I've definitely found my people!!

(Thank you so much to Amber-Rose Photography for the beautiful photos in this post)

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Currently Coveting - Wednesday Wishlist

It's been three months since I've written a wishlist post. Either I haven't been doing as much window shopping as usual or things just haven't been catching my eye, but since the last list I haven't naturally reached that point where I've had enough things I'd like share. I love putting these posts together, but I like to make sure that the things I include are genuinely things I would love to own and use.

In the last few weeks though, I've been saving some things to instagram and pinterest and have gathered a few things to share with you that have definitely made their way onto my wishlist! Enjoy...

Plants are Magic Magazine by Rebecca Desnos

I've been following Rebecca's stunning instragm account for a while and if you're at all interested in natural dying, fabric and yarn, or just completely beautiful images (including recently some tiny baby toes!) then I highly recommend you head over there and check her out. The first issue of her self published magazine Plants are Magic (which has a separate instagram feed here) looks stunning. After experimenting with ice dying a few months ago I've been interested in giving some natural, plant based and foraged dyes a go and I think this magazine might be a great place to start. It's filled with interviews, projects and and stories all revolving around the magic of plants, and the theme for the first volume is Wellbeing. It sounds wondeful and I'm desperate to get my hinds on a copy. Rebecca has also published a book, Botanical Colour at Your Finger Tips which looks amazing if you're looking for a more in depth look at natural dying. 

Amani Brass Necklace - Promises Promises

Sometimes I come across an object which is a bit of me! This necklace (not to mention many of the other stunning pieces in the Promises Promises range) really speaks to me. The colours are those I always choose, I love the combination of polished geometric brass and the more raw, coastal feeling of the cast jesmonite. I'd never heard of jesmonite until I found this jewellery, it's similar to concrete but looks and feels like natural stone. I have been obsessed with beach treasure since I was little and I think necklace this looks like it could have been found on the sand and re-purposed into a beautiful piece of jewellery.  The whole range is really unique and interesting - definitely one to look at!   

Sterling Silver Chevron Necklace - The Simple Latte

Another necklace! I think the warmer weather makes me more inclined to get my jewellery out, as it can feel like a waste sometimes to wear accessories when they end up getting hidden under scarfs and coats. This chevron necklace is something I've been on the look out for for a while. I'm a big fan of 'simple' in every sense, and that generally applies to clothes too. I love nothing more than a perfect cotton t-shirt or a simple sweatshirt, and I think a really understated necklace with a v-neck t-shirt looks beautiful. This beautiful chevron from Sharon at The Simple Latte is made from sterling silver and its a dinky 3cm across making it perfect to wear everyday. Sharon's etsy shop is full of lovely minimal pieces, and I'm also a big fan of her delicate gemstone necklaces. I'm hopefully going to be talking to Sharon about her work in more depth soon, so if you're a fan stay tuned for that in the next few weeks. 

Cocoon Jumpsuit by Stalf

On the theme of simple, how perfect is this playsuit from Stalf!? I've been really enjoying wearing playsuits, dungarees and all in ones recently as they're comfy, they don't require any thought and you can easily make them more dressey if needed. I spotted this one being worn by a few people over on instagram and it's just the sort of thing I would love to wear. They're all out of stock at the moment (which can only be a good thing I reckon!) but as well as black it also comes in steel blue and 'ice cream' which might be the best colour description I've ever heard! Stalf have so many perfect simple pieces that I know would fit so comfortably into my wardrobe. Stalf is based in Lincolnshire and is driven not by what is in fashion, but by the women who wear the pieces and I love that! Slowly crafted clothes made for loving and re-wearing year after year, just like owner Paris' grandparents did! 

Midori Travellers Notebook - The Journal Shop

About a year ago, I fell completely in love with bullet journaling. It finally got me organised, I found making lists massively helped my productivity and I loved having everything in one place. The freedom to just turn the page and write a list was great, and not having a months and weeks preprinted allows you to be completely flexible in how you use your journal. However - recently I've found I'm not making the time to draw out the months and weeks as they roll round and am consequentially getting to the middle of the month and realising I've forgotten something because I haven't been transferring things out of the 'yearly planner' section into the monthly one. I also don't necessarily like carrying so much past staff around with me, so I feel like a change is in order. I've been doing a bit of research and feel like a Midori Travellers Notebook could work really well for me. They sell loads of different inserts, including pre-printed (and undated) monthly and weekly diaries which would remove the need to draw these out. There are also lined, squared and plain paper inserts so by using a squared one I could continue my daily bullet journalling as I do now, and as they're quite thin (and less than £5) once one is full I can just remove it and start a new one. I also quite like the idea of having a separate insert for the lists that I keep and use for longer than a day, things like blog post ideas, money tracking and lists of things to make. I'm really keen to try the system out and would love to hear how you find it if any of you use a travellers notebook already. 

Hopefully you've enjoyed this long overdue roundup of some things that have caught my magpie-eye.  I think I might make these posts a monthly feature. Writing them weekly as I used to do feels too frequent and I'd like to have space for some more focused, in-depth posts about individual makers and businesses so if you think you'd like to be featured please do get in touch.

Enjoy the sun while it lasts folks!
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Our Dream West Elm Living Room

Our current home is the third house D and I have lived in together. The first was our rented three story student terrace in a not-so-fancy area in the outskirts of Leeds. It was draughty and mouldy and had been pretty effectively ruined by the hoards of students who had inhabited it before us, but it was our first home together. We loved imagining how we would decorate and style it if it was ours and we didn't have to ask permission to put pictures on the walls or even change the light fittings.

After graduating, we moved back in with our parents for 18 months while we saved up to buy our first home, the tiniest little cottage which came with a huge amount of character and a whole host of problems: damp, holes in the roof, rattly windows and some very questionable half finished DIY jobs left behind by the previous owners. We therefore ended up ripping a lot of it out and decorating the entire house all in one go before we moved in. We made a lot of decisions really quickly, and when we finally did move in we realised that lots of them weren't necessarily mistakes, but that we wouldn't have made some of the choices we did if we'd had more time to consider them.

So, when we bought our current home, a three bedroom new-ish build with less character, but also none of the problems that come with an old house, we decided to take things really slowly. We planned to decorate one room at a time once we had spent time living in the space and working out how each room would work best for us and the way we live. We've been here just over a year now, the downstairs toilet is complete and the hall and dining room are almost there!

The house has been really well loved by the previous owners who had lived in it for almost 20 years. I think you can really feel the happy memories the place has seen, and although we knew we didn't want to leave a single room decorated in the way it was when we viewed, we immediately loved the feel the house has and feel more at home here than either of our previous houses. It's not to our taste at all so it feels lovely to finally inject a bit of us into the rooms and make it feel like our home.

Next on the list once we've added the finishing touches to the hall and dining room is the living room.  I can't tell you how excited I was when Blogtacular announced they were partnering with West Elm to give one conference attendee the chance to win their dream room makeover worth £2000!

We both love West Elm. They're a Brooklyn based company who design 90% of their products in house and are committed to using organic, sustainable and fair-trade materials. Although West Elm have shops in more than 85 US states and have begun branching out internationally too (including the beautiful Tottenham Court Road store in London) the local community and independent makers are still really important; each store sells a range of products made by local makers and the manager of each is given curatorial role in deciding what each shop sells.

We always enjoy browsing the London store and have amassed quite a collection of their smaller home accessories like throws, dinnerware, cushions and planters already. Our budget means that bigger pieces are often out of reach for us however, so I literally jumped at the chance to design our dream West Elm living room and enter such an exciting competition.

It's the largest room in the house and we spend a lot of time there, but the job of making it ours is a little daunting because it's the biggest room we will ever have decorated. It was actually this room that made us fall in love with the house when we viewed it. It has a wood burner, windows that look out over both the front and back gardens, double doors, which I immediately imagined throwing open on Christmas morning, and it's big enough to divide up into different zones. However, as you can see it's not exactly insta-worthy...

The living room is currently a mixture of our furniture, some things left behind by the previous owners and a few of my sisters things (she's currently living with us while she goes through the process of buying her own house). It's become a bit of a dumping ground too as we've decorated other rooms and the excess furniture and general 'stuff' has migrated in here. The previous owners REALLY loved red, and the huge flowery wallpaper and dark red walls and carpet combined with too many things make it feel too busy, overcrowded and chaotic - definitely not the feeling we're going for!

So - how do we want our living room to feel?

• Light and bright, but cosy - Despite having two windows, the room isn't especially bright so it will need a little help in that department. However, in the winter I love to close the curtains early, turn off the lights and use candles and fire light to create a cosy atmosphere, so storage for extra blankets and cushions will be useful.
• Calm and minimal, but welcoming - I think there's a fine line between considered minimalism and stark nothingness. I firmly agree with William Morris who said 'Have nothing in your home that you do not know be useful or believe to be beautiful.' We definitely need to streamline the amount of 'stuff' we have in the room, but not to the point that we remove any character. On that note, the final point... 
• Inspiring and personal. We have a lots of prints that are hidden away waiting for homes, and we still don't have any of our wedding photos on display. The living room has lots of wall space and it's where we spend a lot of time so it's important for us to have these special things on display. 

I think it's really important for a whole house to work together so that one room flows naturally into the next. We naturally lean towards a lot of white and grey, with a few carefully chosen colours and metallic accents, mostly copper and brass. The colour scheme we have in mind for our living rooms looks like this...

Lots of white and grey, with some teal and inky blue (another regular feature for us) with some mustard yellow, blush pink and brass accents. 

As for the style we're going for, we've always been big fans of simple, functional, industrial style interiors. Recently, I'm finding myself drawn to more mid-century style pieces too, with softer rounded edged and tapered legs. A combination of these two styles, with plenty of texture thrown in to keep things cosy and realistic to actually live in as well as look amazing is what we're hoping to achieve. I've been pinning lots of idea to a Dream West Elm Living Room board, and this is how my mood board is currently looking...

I think the layout of the main furniture will stay roughly the same. We have two new sofas on order already, and one of them is seriously huge so will be quite a focal point in the room. The other is more of a statement/accent piece and will act as a divider, separating the cosy tv watching area around the fire from the music playing and reading corners we're planning to create. 

So, a little tour of our dream living room. As you can see, the area to the right of the double doors will house the piano. We currently have a double piano stool but as only one of us can actually play it makes sense to have a single stool, and also to have something thats a bit more of a playful statement. I've been seeing a lot of fur covered stools lately and West Elm's Mongolian Lamb Stool (1) ticks all the boxes with its tapered brass legs and beautiful blush pink wool seat. We definitely want to house some of our growing house plant collection in this room and I think floor standing planters (2) will make them feel like a considered part of the layout. 

In the opposite corner we're hoping to create a reading nook, with a chair to curl up in (4), a side table for tea and some simple shelving (3). I really love the geometric lines of the Gem Cut Side Table (6), and it would gently reflect the downstairs toilet and hallway which both feature hexagonal accents. To further 'zone' the different areas I love the idea of a round rug (5) in the corner to twist my toes into. 

If we were only thinking about the aesthetics of the room, we wouldn't have a TV at all - however we do like to relax in front of it in the evening so the next best solution is to make sure it's displayed on something amazing and that all the paraphernalia that goes along with it, DVD's and cables and remotes can be hidden away until we want to use them. It's not strictly a TV unit but I really love the Audrey Sideboard (7). It's got brass tapered legs, lots of space to store all the unsightly stuff and the subtle geometric pattern would tie in perfectly with the rest of the room and beyond. 

The sofa we've ordered really is large so it won't leave a lot of room for side tables. West Elm have some really clever little side tables that slot under the furniture making them perfect for small spaces. My favourite is the Charley (8) - it's soft pebble shaped top would be a lovely soft contrast to some of the hard lines in the rest of the space. 

We also feel that lighting will be paramount in creating the right atmosphere in this room. Allowing space for lamps so we can turn off the main lights will be really important, but I still want them to look amazing when they're not in use too! I think this yellow Bottle Shaped Lamp (9) definitely fits the bill, and how perfect would it be for our colour scheme! 

Lastly, a rug for the main area! D and I have differing opinions on rugs - I think they're the perfect way to bring a texture, warmth and colour to a room, whereas he feels they make a space feel cluttered. We both love the look of wooden floor, but if we're honest we both prefer the feel of carpet underfoot so we'll probably go with something mid-grey and fairly neutral then layer on some colour and texture with rugs. West Elm have two that I adore, the Christopher Wynter Wool Rug (10), which is geometric, abstract and could be used on it's own to convey the colour scheme we want in the room it fits so perfectly! However - I will always be drawn to those things that remind me of the sea, and the Mural Collection Cliffside (11) rug does that beautifully. 

Here's a little illustration of how the pieces I've chosen would fit into the space. As for the rest of the decorating, we're planning to have bright white walls to lighten the space and provide a backdrop for some statement furniture, art and special photos. The fire surround will also be painted white, and the hearth removed and replaced with a new brick one. We're planning on bringing some colour to the chimney breast area by painting the space behind the woodburner itself a deep blue, and maybe painting the chimney breast grey - this might be the very last decision we make though as although I think the space might need a little more colour, I'm not a usually a fan of a 'feature wall' so the prints and photos we decide to put on the wall might be enough. 

It would be so amazing to win such an awesome prize, but even if I'm not lucky enough to win, I've really enjoyed making a proper plan for this space. It's such a big part of our home both in terms of the physical space it occupies and because we spend a lot of time in here. I think once we've properly made it our own the whole house will feel even more like home. Allison Sadler and I had a long conversation during my mentoring session last year about the importance of making the space you live a place that makes your heart happy, and while I wouldn't say the room makes me unhappy - it certainly doesn't fill me with the same joy that our completely refurbished downstairs loo does! Given that it's a bit impractical (not to mention weird!) to spend any time in there at all, it will be amazing to feel that way in the rest of our house too! 

Thank you thank you thank you to Blogtacular and West Elm for running such an exciting competition - the winner will be announced next week at the conference - wish me luck!