interior styling

Stealing a little French home style

We’re just back from a pretty amazing holiday in the South of France and as promised in my last post, I wanted to share some of my French decor loves with you and show you how you can steal some gorgeous style ideas for your own home. For those of you who have been following my Instagram feed lately, I have posted a few little snippets of things I just loved for their laid-back simplicity and rustic beauty, both key aspects of the French ‘look’.

Homewares

I just love the glassware in France. Possibly most well known of all French glassware brands is the original Duralex ‘Picardie’ – tough glass tumblers that are widely available on the high street (try here). Popular because of their sturdy, yet elegant design, they are also very inexpensive and are perfect for relaxed everyday dining.

Image source: One Quality, The Finest…

Bookshelf Styling

Even when the weather is taking a turn for the better in the early summer months, in this corner of the world there’s still the certainty of the odd rainy afternoon or chilly evening when you are best staying out of the garden and tackling an indoor job instead. So here’s the perfect task for you: restyle a bookshelf. It’s creative, it gives your room’s overall look a wee refresh and you can declutter old books and magazines along the way. Practical and fun too – what’s not to love?! And it’s not only the simple restyle of a bookshelf that you can put your mind to; there are many spaces in the home that can be easily converted into a little book nook or library corner, too. That awkward area under the stairs, at the end of a landing, on the side of a chimney breast or under a bay window seat all make for perfect book storage spots.

I’ve collated some interesting and ingenuous bookshelf ideas to inspire you further. So without further ado……

Picture This: Create a Gallery Wall Display

I love a good picture display. Whether it’s a jumble of beloved family snaps or an impressive art collection, a display of interesting photographs, sketches, paintings or even postcards adds a large dose of personality to your home, and if done right, injects a certain element of cool.

For many of us, the prospect of designing and displaying a picture or photo gallery is daunting to say the least. Where to buy the frames? What to put inside them? How to arrange all said frames so they look, erm… right? Well, I’m pleased to inform you that this can be a really straight forward and fun project that can deliver a BIG impact at a small cost.

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Making Use of Small Spaces

I’m back after a bit of a break and hope you’ve all had a lovely, peaceful and relaxing start to the month of May! We had lots of time together as a family over May Day weekend, just the five of us, not trying to fit too much in and not trying to see everyone humanly possible in the space of three days… and do you know what, it was really soul-soothing!

Anyway, after lots of time to think about the blog (of course), I am back and ready to throw some new ideas and thoughts around for you.

Recently with the kids getting bigger I have often struggled trying to make the most out of the space available to us (and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying this)! Friends and family have marvelled at how we’ve “done so well” in our wee house with three little ones and how the place doesn’t feel cluttered. I suppose it’s partly been because I’m a naturally pretty tidy person and like to have everything organised. I get sadly excited at the prospect of filling a new bookcase (after the initial excitement of building it – yes I know, I need to get a life) and Ikea is a pure heaven for me with its wonderful array of boxes, shelving, memo boards, storage systems etc etc. (You get the picture). However, I do believe that to be well organised in your home you need to be creative in your approach too, so I’d like to share some of the ways I have utilised small corners and spaces in my own home to better practicalise the space as a whole.

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Coffee Table Books

Upon visiting my local library recently, I discovered an enticing range of gorgeous new hardback books which had been placed on display as new titles available to borrow. Their beautifully styled cover graphics, smooth matte feel and on-trend subject matters set them apart as definitive ‘coffee table books’ and of course I was soon marching out of the library with an armful piled high for my solitary perusal later that evening accompanied by a chilled glass of something nice.

Wikipedia defines a coffee table book as: “an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose place is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one would entertain guests and from which it can act to inspire conversation”

Couldn’t disagree with that. Coffee table books should also reflect the home owner’s personality and interests – after all they are there to inspire and stimulate conversation and there needs to be a good solid interest in the subject to begin with, no? In this age of online pin boards and instant snaps, it’s a refreshing treat to curl up with a good heavy book and pore over the beautifully photographed images, read the stories behind them and be inspired by what you see in your own time and with no other distractions….

Easy Home Updates

Ten years ago (and before the arrival of children), we bought a decent sized three bed semi into which the two of us and our joint belongings fitted just nicely. Jump forward to today and three children later and it has become a much ‘cosier’ fit, in fact you could say we’re overspilling!

Not entirely surprising then that we recently took the big decision to put our beloved home on the market with a view to moving our little family somewhere more spacious and better suited to our growing needs. So, as well as being engulfed in the process of constantly tidying and prepping the house for prospective buyers, I’ve been busy viewing potential properties to buy. Well… it’s certainly been an eye opener for me as to how many perfectly good houses out there are in dire need of a little time and love to bring them bang up to date. A lick of paint here and a declutter there would not go amiss yet many people simply do not realise that giving your home a simple refresh will not only in all probability increase their home’s overall market value, but more importantly, will make it a much better place to live.

Anyway… looking at houses and preparing my own home for sale has made me think a lot about how we can easily and effectively update our own homes within a budget. Making those little changes that renew our love for a space we spend so much of our lives in….

interior styling

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