interior decor

Room makeover: a multifunctional work and play space

It’s been a while since I shared a room makeover with you from within my own home, so I wanted to show you how I got on with recently redecorating our playroom.

Now that my three are a little older, the playroom has become more of a hang out ‘den’ for them, however it’s still a great space for the two younger ones to play with their larger toy sets, such as the lego. (And I can close the door on it come evening time which is an added bonus!) I also have my office corner in this room, where I mainly work during the week, its bright sunny aspect allowing me the ideal light to work in, especially if I’m comparing paint or fabric samples for clients.

All in all it’s been a great room, however it has never felt completely finished to me and has inevitably fallen to the bottom of the priority list, after the kitchen, hall, bedrooms, etc. So, I thought it was about time I gave the room a little makeover, not only to smarten it up, but make it work more effectively as a multifunctional space in our home….

The best dark blue paint colours

As a follow up to my last post on ways to use indigo blue in your home, I want to show you what I believe are the best dark blue paint colours on the market. Dark blue is a popular colour choice at the moment, especially now that winter us upon us and we feel the need to turn the lights down low and hibernate. It is such a cosy, cocooning, yet also elegant colour, whether it’s an entire room cloaked in its velvety hues or simply one wall.

With all the different ranges of paint on the market today, it can be difficult to find the right colour for your particular home, so here’s my pick of the best dark blue paints out there and how they can work throughout different lights and times of day.

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Cool Interiors with Vinyl Flooring

When it comes to updating a room in our homes, flooring is by far the biggest expense we have to consider. It can also make or break a successful room scheme, so it’s important to choose it wisely.

In recent years, vinyl (and in particular LVT – Luxury Vinyl Tiling) has made a huge comeback and it’s not hard to see why. With an incredible range of colours and designs, teamed with a very reasonable price tag, vinyl flooring is proving to be a popular choice amongst home renovators and interior decorators, particularly those looking to update a tired space on a budget. It’s also straightforward to install, easy to maintain and more hardwearing than ever before, so if you’re planning a room revamp and want to keep your costs down, it may just be the ideal solution for you.

I had a look at some vinyl offerings recently and have found some gorgeous examples of how it can work in all kinds of home interiors – I defy you not to be secretly impressed!

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Say hey to HAY at IKEA with the YPPERLIG collection

Eagerly awaited by Scandi interiors enthusiasts across the country (yours truly included), this month IKEA has launched an exciting collaboration with Danish design duo, HAY.

The YPPERLIG collection boasts a variety of products hallmarked with the HAY signature design combining functionality with aesthetics. In store, you’ll find everything from sofas to coffee tables, even the iconic IKEA blue bag has been given a HAY makeover!

The YPPERLIG collection also includes cushion covers, coffee tables, chairs, hand painted vases, lamps and simple, multifunctional sofas, but which to put in your trolley next time you visit? Here are my favourite pieces which are definitely on my shopping list…

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Recreate the Scandi Boho look in your home

It seems like a juxtaposition in terms, the words scandi and boho appearing in the same sentence, however it appears that the clean, defined lines of scandi design and the eclectic artfulness of boho marry beautifully. Just type ‘scandi boho’ into Pinterest or Google Images and your eyes will immediately be met with a feast of stunning images of home interiors typifying this trend. It’s no surprise this easy to live with look has become the defining interior mood for 2017 and I absolutely love it!

The Scandinavian and bohemian decor moods have a lot in common when you think about it … lots of trailing greenery, natural wood surfaces and an emphasis on texture (think sheepskin rugs) and pattern (boho ethnic or scandi geometric). By combining these two styles, a minimalistic scandi-inspired interior can be warmed up with colour and texture, just as a busy, eclectic interior can be pared down and streamlined a little with white painted walls or monochrome touches.

If you believe you can never have too many houseplants or vintage rugs in your home, this could well be because you’re already channeling this look. However, for the rest of you who simply aspire to it thanks to an Insta-feed of swoon worthy scandi-boho room shots, but don’t have the confidence to try it out yet, read on to find out how to work it successfully in your own home!

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An Autumn Colour Challenge

I’m one of those people who impatiently await the arrival of autumn. The first fire of the season, leaves turning brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow, woolly socks and jumpers down to your knees – I love it all! On the home front, I also love taking the time to embrace autumn in all its cosy glory by bringing out the sheepskin throws, woven blankets and scented jar candles, filling up the log basket and adding seasonal foraged pieces such as pinecones and dried seed heads into large bowls or vases.

I was therefore delighted to be recently chosen to take part in an autumn home project as part of my involvement in the Home Experts Community at Wayfair.co.uk. They asked myself and nine other bloggers to take on an Autumn Colour Challenge, whereby we update an area of our home with some seasonal autumn colour to make it wonderfully inviting for the cooler months ahead.

Here’s how I got on…

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Take 5… ways to style Le Sac en Papier

You’ve not been on the planet lately if you haven’t noticed ‘The Paper Bag’ or ‘Le Sac en Papier‘ popping up in all the coolest interiors shots. This simple storage bag made from recycled craft paper has become a somewhat iconic product in its own right, with its ecologically friendly properties and stylish practicability. It can be used as a wastepaper bin, storage bag or plant holder, its only real limitation being your imagination!

Having decided this was definitely something I needed in my life (I mean, who doesn’t need a designer brown paper bag?!), I picked one up whilst on holiday in France this year, though they are widely available in the UK, too. I’ve been experimenting with its different uses, however a quick nose on the Internet has opened up this little fellow’s true style capabilities and I thought why not share these ideas with you lovely people.

So, to give you a mini project for the weekend ahead (because you will go off and buy one now, won’t you?!), here are five ways to style your ‘Le sac en papier’ once you get your hands on it…

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A Little Bathroom Makeover Project

When we moved into our house just over 18 months ago, the bathroom was one room we decided would be left on the long finger as it was in an acceptable state, having only been installed and decorated by the previous owners about seven years ago. There’s nothing really wrong with it, it’s just that it’s not to our personal taste, however it’s not hideous either. The overall layout works well and everything is in very good working order, but I just felt that a few little updates here and there would go a long way in modernising it and make it more our own.

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How to Solve Interior Decor Dilemmas with Plants

It was when I recently caught myself standing at a garden centre checkout with a Maidenhair Fern proudly packed into my basket, that I realised just how much of a plant ‘obsession’ I have developed in the past year. Even as little as two years ago, I would not have been caught dead purchasing such an old-fashioned plant – the Maidenhair Fern, with its delicate showers of lacework leaves suspended from long, spindly stems, was the plant of choice for my grandmother’s generation, often found sitting on a bathroom window ledge or hall console table. It was not the choice of interior accessory that someone remotely youthful (even as remotely as I) would contemplate as a must-have in their home… and yet, here I am, pleased as punch with this most recent addition to my growing plant family.

Greenery of all shapes and sizes is really in the interior spotlight just now. In fact, no room scheme is complete without a plant tucked in there somewhere, so as someone who is firmly in Team Green, I wanted to show you some ways you can use plants in your own home to solve a common interior decor dilemma or simply to complete a room scheme.

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A Hallway Wish List

With our recent hallway makeover painting and decorating completed, I’ve been turning my attention to all the extras that need to be decided on – lighting, rug, hall accessories, that type of thing, so I thought well, why not pull together a little wish list of products I have my eye on? Like most of us, budget is key, so in many ways this is a longterm wish list, however I’ve no doubt it’ll be nothing short of great fun scouring online stores, the humble high street and, of course, secondhand treasure troves for the ideal accessories to complete the look of what is an often overlooked, but centrally very important, room of the home.

I’ve been shopping from inside my home a little bit too; a habit I believe we should all get into, because after all, why shouldn’t an ornament, lamp or favourite chair not be moved around once in a while? It instantly refreshes a room or corner, allows you to be creative in finding new uses for a piece of furniture and (most importantly) it costs zilch.

Actually, I want to write a blog post solely dedicated to the art of shopping from within your own home, as it’s become trendy to stick to a capsule wardrobe and wear your old clothing in new ways, so why not transfer this line of thought to our home interiors, too? Keep an eye out for that one…

Anyway, back to the job in hand!

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