Starting the decorating

Finally after waiting for what feels an age for the decorators to turn up, today they have arrived.
All six of them! 
We waited so long that they now have all the bedrooms to do not just the two kids rooms.  I would have 'before' photos to share but they started so quickly that they had the old paper off the wall within half an hour.  I did think we were mad paying for decorators, but the speed and quality makes up for the price.
I have been 'pinning' like mad on Pinterest so if you would like to see my bedroom mood boards then check out the link on my sidebar.  Hopefully this time next week I'll have photos to share.
Sx

Behind the scenes

We have been working away behind the scenes on boring things lately, new insulation in the loft and a new hot water tank and system.  I think it is the biggest tank I have ever seen, but with three girls in the house the bigger the better.   So our money is being spent on boring things and I am dying to get decorating.

Since Kirsti answered my pinterest query, I am now addicted!  I spend any spare moment trawling for ideas and making boards!  I love it!  Now to work how to take the pictures and use them on my blog page??

I heard from the decorater yesterday that he will start the girls rooms in three weeks time.  All paper, paint and fabric has been bought already so hopefully it will be a quick job and I'll have pictures to share.

In the meantime, pinterest and the Farrow and Ball paint charts for me!

Pinterest

Can anyone help me with pinterest?  I have emailed my application to join ages ago, but no reply! How do you get onto this site??

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a great Christmas!  I have just had a blog catch up and it seems you all did!  We are finally settling into our new home.  I had a little panic after we moved in!  The house looked beautiful when we viewed it but not the same when we were looking at it empty.  You can really see what you have spent your money on then, a somewhat dirty, scuffed and more work than we thought house.  So it has taken me a little while to settle in but we are getting there.

Now that Christmas is over for another year we are beginning to plan what to do in the house.  The week before Christmas we had loft insulation put in which has already made a big difference to the temperature in the house.  Now where to start...  bathrooms? Fireplaces?  Kids rooms?  The other half says hot water tank!  Boring!

So nothing to show you all yet, but plenty of projects planned, hope you will enjoy the journey with me!

Have a happy new year when it comes,
Sx

Three More Sleeps!

We are counting down the number of sleeps now until we are in posession of the keys to our new house!  I can't sleep for thinking about it!  Dreaming of where to put the furniture and scouring over the Farrow and Ball paint chart!  Here are a couple of the estate agency photo's to tempt you, but imagine it without the rugs as I have none! (yet).

Giveaway

Over on Modern Counrty Style Sarah has a great giveaway. 
I have been following Sarah's blog for some time now and I'm loving her style.  What I wouldn't do for a good nosey around her house!  That and I would really like her to be my colour consultant when we move!  Sarah is a fellow Farrow and Ball fan so if you are too check out her giveaway.  The rules of the giveaway were that I was to blog about the giveaway however I'm sure that makes my chances of winning get smaller and smaller!!  Good Luck anyway!

Forward Planning!

I think I'm good at forward planning! I really enjoy that part of my job in teaching, at the start of term sharpening my pencils, turning over a new leaf and thinking up some fun (but educational) activities. I have been working on a temporary basis in a local pre school nursery (part time) for a couple of years. I stopped working when my youngest was little but now she has started school this year I wanted to increase my hours. Since the summer I was lucky enough to be able to up my hours in the nursery. It did mean I had to reapply for my own job, I have an interview next week. I am dreading it! I love my job and hope I get it!
I am also doing a little forward planning on the home front too. Since we had the news that we got our house, I have been redecorating each room in my head! I think we will tackle the girls bedrooms first as they are quite dark and masculine. My oldest daughter who will turn nine this year has decided that she doesn't want pink any more. I have to say I cried inside!! All those gorgeous pink blankets, lampshades, Cath Kidston bedding and accessories we have collected arrrgh! Luckily my youngest does want pink, so she gets it all. Anyway Erin is going for duck egg blue and has even chosen wallpaper for a feature wall ( she is so like her mum!) and is asking for blue accessories for her birthday!

(can't seem to resize this pic sorry)

The house is dated 1900 and sits very close to the pavement which the lounge overlooks. I think we are going to turn a study at the back of the house into a snug, where we can lounge around without feeling that we are being looked at. It also means I can keep the lounge tidy in case anyone drops by. I am going to go for a neutral theme with lots of cosy cushions and blankets and of course at last we will be able to use the cream armchairs. I saw this photo on the Centsational Girl blog and loved it, this is what I am aiming for!

Getting so exciting now, only another four and a bit weeks to go!

Finally!

FINALLY! After viewing loads of houses and missing out on some we have finally got ourselves a new house! Can't quite belive it as it had gone to a closing date today( for those of you who don't live in Scotland , you have to put in a sealed bid and hope for the best!) didn't think we'd get it, but we have! Back with more details soon!

More Jars

Hello there! Finally I have found the need to share again! Today I went to a friends house who was selling off all her Jamie Oliver Homeware collection. She had been a demonstrator for a couple of years before the market dried up in our area. However it was my gain as she had loads left over from her selling days. You know I have a fettish for storage, so I had asked her to keep aside any jars she had left and I wasn't dissapointed! Also manage to bag myself a lovely cream ennamel collindar and two oil bottles.

Really pleased with my purchases and can't wait to organise the pantry! Please also excuse the horrible wall colour and pipes on show - not my house! Sx

blogger

I'm sulking with blogger! For some reason it doesn't like me or that I have been denied access to other people's blogs! For some reason it won't let me comment, so if you are out there wondering if I am ignoring you then I'm not! Also it's not letting me read some of my favourite blogs saying 'I'm not allowed access'. How do I fix this? I have tried logging out and logging back in to no avail! Any help would be appreciated Sx

Still looking

Hello there, I am still alive! Not really been feeling the love for anything house related at the moment. We have now viewed quite a few houses and still not found the right one. Thought I had found my dream home and when we went to view it yesterday it had an electricity pylon in the front garden! We also got outbid at a steading that needed converted, so needless to say I'm fed up!!
The house we are renting could be really lovely with some TLC but the owners won't sell so we keep looking.
I haven't taken any photos of this house, I have unpacked a little but haven't really taken out many things as I would have to re pack them all! For the meantime I scour the Internet, hassle estate agents and read home magazines!!
Sx

A new home

We got the keys for the rented house on Monday. Wandering around it my heart began to sink. What on earth were we moving for? Our home is just the way I like it and we have spent a lot of time making it like that. What were we moving to this cold, run down and cobwebbed house for? It is a real shame as the house could be stunning, I have visions already, but we can't, it's not ours.



Anyway I feeling a bit better this morning as I went over last night and got stuck into the cleaning. It now smells a bit better and the downstairs is cobweb free! I also put up a new shower curtain and it feels a bit more like home already.

The removal company are coming on Monday so it is mad packing around here although I have been taking the girls to drama workshops in the mornings this week as well. I'm going to take over some of my decorative hearts today which will help make it seem more like home.




Apologies for the standard of photos, they were taken on my phone, camera packed!

burlap

I finally went to the sorting office to pick up the burlap sacks I purchased on ebay. As I said they turned out to be quite expensive considering the postage and the customs charge. However they look great and I think they will make lovely cushion covers when I finally get around to making them. I enjoy sewing but I hate cutting into fabric, so I may have to wait a while and get my nerve up!
Here they are on my new chair (just to see what they will look like!) I now have to go and hide them as I think my husband might go nuts!


If anyone out there knows how to wash these sacks could you please let me know, thanks.

Link Party

Today I'm linking to Uncommon Slice of Surburbia, go over and have a look!

Packing

After a lovely although wet week at the caravan, we are ready to start packing. Finally the family room sofa and chair were taken away today and I could open the packaging on my new chairs. The chairs have been piled in the playroom for the past three weeks and I have been dying to get the plastic wrap off!


They are so lovely and I am really pleased with them!



They look so clean and new that I have had to set some ground rules! No food or drink to go any where near, no shoes and no dark jeans! I didn't tell them I paid extra for the scotchguard but better safe than sorry. I finally got hold of some grain sacks and they arrived at the post office today. Haven't been to collect them yet as I still have to pay the customs charge. I forgot that I would have to pay that as well as postage from the states, so it has ended up quite expensive! I am hoping to make them into some cushions to sit on my nice new chairs, will have to keep out the sewing machine when we pack!
We have now some space to start piling the boxes up so I had better get going. Two weeks today!

update

Just to give you all a little update we walked away from the barn conversion. Our surveyor found the land had pockets of bedrock which could prove costly to break through if found too close to the barn. That and the build cost came in far more than we expected. It was more sensible to walk away.
Of course I have been very disappointed but something else will turn up, what's meant to be will be.

In the meantime we have to be out of our house by the 28th July. We have found a lovely 1930's house on the outskirts of the town where we live, five minutes drive from the school gates (in summer!). I'm quite excited about it! Believe it or not it has an Aga! This will be a good tester for us all, whether we can cope with not walking or cycling to school, for the girls not to have other children on their doorstep, and for me to be constantly driving everywhere. Oh yes, whether I can actually cook on an Aga!! We will see.

I am looking forward to sharing the photos of the temporary house when we get the keys, until then if I'm not around you know I'll be packing!
Sx

blog shopping

While we have been waiting very impatiently for the surveyor and builder to get back to us, I have been busy planning in my head what our house could really look like. I have been scouring around blogland and have stumbled upon some fantastic blogs. I have to say some of the best blogs and most beautiful homes are by the most inspiring American women.
Gorgeous painted kitchens, piles of sumptuous cushions, beautifully organised cupboards and all seem very clever with a paintbrush and sander! I have always loved the 'french country' look and I feel inspired to get my own paintbrush out and paint some furniture!
These women also seem to be able to up cycle the most wonderful textiles, old grain sacks being the most sought after. Can I get my hands on any? Well not yet but I am trying! In the meantime i have been looking for something similar and ave found that H&M do a range of textiles with a utilitarian feel about them. I can feel masses of purchases coming on! What I did buy (as it is very well priced) was a bath mat which I feel would go really nicely with my collection of apothecary bottles.


I also got a couple of cushion covers which will look lovely on cream club chairs which I ordered before we decided to move. Now to get painting the furniture to match!


I am working hard at displaying my complete list of blogs I follow in the side bar, I seem to have forgotten how to do it! Bear with me!

High hopes

I had a little wobbly last week about where on earth were we going to live. We have to be out our house by the 28th July. Eeek! Where do you start with the packing? It is amazing how much rubbish one family can collect in seven years! Every cupboard, drawer, and loft space is filled to the brim with stuff! Time to have a massive clear out! Anybody want a vintage Silver Cross pram that was mine when I was little? It is now around thirty two years old !

Anyway, were are we going? Well the answer is I still don't know! We will have to rent until we find somewhere, but we have a little project going on in the background very slowly, you know the pace that some lawyers take is slower than a snail! We have been looking at a steading which needs to be converted into a home for a while and negotiations have been going back and forth for what seems like months now.



I have been told not to get my hopes up as we may still have to walk away but how can you not? I have moved in in my head already! I have picked my AGA!, I have chosen the wall colours and have placed the furniture! I have high hopes! How can you not with a view like this?!!

vintage

I have been really lucky on ebay recently and managed to win a few 'vintage' pieces for the house while not paying a small fortune. This morning a parcel arrived for me which I was really excited about! Not sure you will be though!!

A vintage washboard!



I love it and it seems to be the right shade of duck egg blue to match my other accessories. By the way the laundry tin is actually full of dog food!



What do you think?

More bottles!

A few of you will know that I have a compulsion for storage!! I'm obsessed and I have even seen my youngest daughter lining up her toys in a neat row!! Hee Hee!

My father in law inherited a large collection of apothecary bottles from his father who was a pharmacist and they are absolutely beautiful! There must be at least fifty dotted around the house and I have always wondered whether they would really miss the odd one!!



I decided a while back to start my own collection and now have the grand total of five! They are sooo difficult to come by. Kirstie's Allsopp featured them in 'Homemade Home' and now they are even harder to get hold of. I seem to get outbid alot but I'll get there!




What I'd really like are the blue or green bottles but they are going for silly money, so i'll just have to be really nice and see if the inlaws would like to gift me some!

My other bit of news is that I WON a giveaway!! I couldn't believe it as try as I might I never seem to win anything. My prize is a beautiful hand crafted doll fom the very talented Tracey at Romi and Bob. Have a gander over to her blog and lust after her creations! I have requested that Tracey make me a second doll as having two girls I don't think I could stand the fights when it arrived! Thank you Tracey I am so looking forward to the day they arrive.

Sx

ps Storage again! Tesco are selling 'Fairy' dishwasher tabs in a vintage style enamel tin. May need to go back for a couple more!