Our Before & After Fireplace

As mentioned in my previous post, we recently gave our fire place a face lift, with a mirror to open up the  whole room and candles that look really pretty lit in the evening. Sorry about the terrible photos but hope it gives an idea of what anyone can do to make an empty fireplace  look a little bit better.

Funky Fireplaces

What do you do when you have a fire place that can't be used and you don't want it to look like a big whole in the wall? Fill it with logs, finish it with white paint, stack it full of books, tile it or put interesting things in it (like antlers), and of course add some candles to light.

Last week we had a fire place that had no surround, was bare sandstone and brick and was black and dirty with soot. Ideally we would get the inside plastered and a beautiful fireplace reinstalled but as we have no money for such luxuries, instead I painted the bare bricks inside white as well as the sandstone around, put a big mirror at the back and a plant and candles in front. It didn't take long and has made such a difference to the room. I'll get photos up in the next few days.

Photos: Curbly, Design Sponge, Red Online, The Decorista, Red Online

Yellow in the Window

I thought these yellow roses in our bathroom window looked so pretty I had to take a photo to show. 

Just in case you were wondering: Those little ceramic pots are really old and unique medicine and food containers for things like tooth paste, potted meats  and anchovy paste that my dad actually rescued from the river in town and now they sit proudly on the sill.

4 Spaces I'm Lusting After Today

I think these inspirational rooms speak for themselves so I won't explain why I love these so much, just enjoy!

1. Flickr 2. Design To Inspire 3. One Claire Day 4. Pinterest

Put it in a Frame

Back from holiday and itching to get back to the house to start working on those not-quite-there bits that have been annoying me (most notably our lack of a kitchen floor, which after a visit from the builder yesterday will hopefully be in very soon). Another area that I want to focus on this month is our huge bare wall in the dining room, which currently only has a blue-tacked-on New York City map. So to inspire and help me I have searched out some interesting ways to arrange frames.....

1. Grid and order a collection of frames, changing the colours and sizes of the frames. Design Sponge

2. To jazz up shelves or for if you're renting and can't knock in nails where ever you want, stack frames instead, adding in trinkets and odd items to personalise. SF Girl by Bay

3. Don't be afraid to hang photos frames all the way down to the floor. Note: lusting after the zig-zag wallpaper! Apartment Therapy

4. Scrap the photographs. Replace with colourful, weird and whacky illustrations, drawings, posters and paintings. Red

5. Mix in mirrors with photo frames like these circular ones to add shape and break the angles. Kate Spade NY

6. Or keep in simple with standard black frames (best place for these is Ikea where they are cheap as chips) using minimal colour in the photos to make a modern statement. The Design Files

7. Different sizes, all with a thin black frame brings everything together and focuses the eye on whats in the frame rather than the frame itself. Plush Palate

8. Tightly pack together a variety of different coloured, textured and sized frames in a diamond-turing-oval shape for an amazing, statement wall. Pinterest

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Here is the offending wall, only perked up with my new circus lights from 'Lights4Fun' that I have hung very roughly for now but will eventually arrange around all the frames I'm going to put up.

Alpine Loving

This is will be my last post for the next few weeks as I'm off to Austria for Christmas and New Year and I thought I would use my soon-to-be-surroundings as inspiration for this post.

So I'll leave you with some Alpine inspiration and a 'Merry Christmas'!

** warm and cosy ** edelweiss flowers ** ski gear indoors ** contrasting textures ** open fires ** bare wood ** knitted pillows ** hunting ** stag heads & antlers ** sheep skin throws ** cowhide rugs ** thick quilts ** chalet chic ** raw materials with modern twist ** rustic ** hand carved furniture **

1. Woodchip and Magnolia 2. Eco-Stylista 3. Je Dore Decour 4. Woodchip and Magnolia 5. Flickr 6. Eco-Stylista 7. Eco-Stylista 

Finally found!

Quite a few weeks ago I posted about my ongoing search for a set of circus lights to hang indoors or possibly outdoors. A few people helped me out with possible places to search for these (thank you to all of you) but I was still unable to find any that were quite right.

Until just now!! After a loooooong day Christmas shopping I walked past a street stall that had some beautiful and absolutely perfect string circus lights, and the lady told me I could find them at Lights4Fun. A little bit of a questionable name but they were perfect- cloudy bulb giving a softer glow, white string and they can be joined together to make a much longer chain.

So I have just placed an order with Lights4Fun for one set of '10 Globe Warm White LED Party Lights' that will be hung in our dining room and will, fingers crossed, look amazing! Will post photos when they arrive and are up and running!

Here's a little preview from the website-

Va-Va-Voom Chairs

How to make a simple chair way more exciting....

Take a/ a set of wooden chairs...

Sand it down and prime with white wood paint...

Pick a bright colour...

Paint it all over or just the legs or just the back, its up to you...

Maybe stencil on something fun...

Or...

Learn how to upholster with a Youtube video...

And cover the seat with contrasting, patterned material...

And...

To make it look a little worn and used sand down the corners and edges...

Or finish off with a thick layer of clear varnish.

Et voila!! Interesting chairs to be proud of and so simple to do on a stay-in-Sunday. Mix and match with different colours and upholstered material around the dining table, use as a bedside table or place in the bathroom or hallway.

Clockwise from top left: Brunch At Saks, Upstyled, Bright Bazaar, Etsy, Brunch At Saks, Bright Bazaar.

Study Spaces

It's down to the final days of term and all this last minute essay writing has got me daydreaming about the perfect work space to encourage some inspirational pen-to-paper action.

Clockwise from top left:

Colourful wall hanging to inspire. Design Sponge

(Definition of 'Study'- Very, very true!) Pinterest

Vibrant, colour-coded mood board to boost creativity (p.s. I have one of those little cardboard deer heads, they are so cute!) Prepfection

Quirky over head light to focus you. Design Files

Desk positioned away from the wall so you don't come up again a mental brick wall. Hanna Skoog

Greenhouse in House

I think that bringing a bit of the outdoors indoors is really important in every house, not just bunches of flowers but real, living plants. They bring vibrancy, freshness and life. Plus house plants are very easy to keep alive, which for someone like me that hasn't quite found her green fingers is a bonus. 

Larger tree plants can stretch up into taller rooms with high ceilings making them cosier and plants placed in windows can create dappled, soft light in a bright room. We have 2 quite big plants in our bathroom that sit behind the glass pane of our shower and it makes you feel like you're showering in a tropical forest, which I love! 

Why not try putting a plant in your fireplace, on a fridge or windowsill, hang one from the shelves, stand one in the corner of a room, at the end of the bath or on a stool.

(1.) SeeSaw Designs (2.) Reference Library (3.) I Love Nesting (4.) We Heart It (5.) A Pretty Life