I Painted a Wall

Freshening things up in this winter slump. I painted a wall. Dark grey. Counter-intuitively it makes the room come together better and seems (to me) larger and airier.







I've come down off the changing-the-wallpaper ledge. This is fine. Fresh and fine.

These walls of ours...

A year or so ago I nailed these crates to our sitting room wall for somewhere to display nick-nacks. I really love them, they have a rustic charm and they have turned a large, boring flat space into something more engaging.

But still, there was something missing... Of course, a plethora of prints! And so with the help of arty friends, some of my own images and etsy finds I created our 'seasonal wall' - Images that keep us in tune with the outside when we are in the very heart of our home.







I think it works somehow. A hotch-potch of nick-nacks and granny things with a little modern tweek.


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Thrifty Finds

I think you know by now how much thrifting is a part of our way of life as much as anything else around here. Apart from the ecological reasons to reuse things still with life, there is the strong aesthetic reason to thrift too. My choice in decor has always been mid-century, and I love anything that reminds me of my childhood and my nana. It makes good sense to buy 'the real thing' rather than a replica. I have written about that before here.

I like to think of thrifting as modern-day 'treasure hunting' - never knowing what's out there, hoping to find something that makes your heart pitter patter, and sometimes, if you're very lucky, to find something that you've been looking for!

I can count on one hand (literally) the amount of things in our house that have been bought new. Most things in our home have been pre-loved, and it's the sense of carrying that story over into a new chapter that really makes me love thrifting most of all.


























And the pyrex! Oh I'm ashamed to admit to how much pyrex lays hidden in my cupboards.

But whether it's ornamental, functional or decorative I'm genuinely happy at how ecclectic our home has become; a little haven for all 'forsaken souls' and, of course, a lot of financial gain for us!



So how about you? What treasures have you found recently?





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Colour Blind

So. We had discussed it over the winter months - the time to redecorate the boys' room was fast approaching with Springtime around the corner. Their room had been slowly sliding into a midden for a while and an overhaul was long overdue, and this weekend winter plans were dusted down and made real.





In my mind I had envisaged duck egg, or antique silver with cream trim. Maybe a manly mint and grey combo?







Yeah... and that's the thing with raising freerange kids - they have, like, minds of their own, and can be mighty firm in their identities and decisions... short-hand for :: the boys didn't want duck egg blue or antique silver with cream trim. Oh no. They wanted cardinal red, bermuda blue and tropical lime green.

I managed to talk them off the cardinal-red ledge but they were not budging on the blue-green combo...







On one hand I'm impressed with their ability to compromise, make decisions, know what they want and be grateful for the redecorating. On the other hand? Well, on the other hand, I have tropical lime green in my house, people.







Come on in!











The boys were VERY happy - pleased as punch - giggling and hopping on one foot kinda happy. I am accepting it gracefully - I mean, not everybody has a room that matches a LeapPad do they? I have plans for one or two accessories to add to the room - art on the walls - a couple of cushions, maybe another floor quilt - perhaps I'll get to finish off those mama-made hand-sewn quilts that are STILL on the WIP pile (and as an aside - a bright orange quilt really will match this room nicely yes?).

It has a carnival feel to it, and the fact that it makes my babes happy is more than enough reason for me to love it too.



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Blue & Yellow

Ignoring for a while the debris and destruction that awaited my return yesterday (can I just say, again, that three males in one house - albeit, or perhaps because, two of them are mini-men - come second only in line to forces of nature and acts of God in their destructive ability and devastation-causing ways. Dust, crunchy carpets, smelly bedsheets, a film of smeared grease over the kitchen, the smell of a byre and two children who hadn't been bathed in TEN days... OH. MY.), I want to ignore the immense amount of work I have done on my return and the mountain-load left to tackle (I am so tired) and instead do that squinting-eye thing I do to focus my mojo on the positive, pretty things in life. Play along and pretend dirty windows are de rigeur OK? OK. This vintage, kick ass plate was gifted to me by a sister I have never met in the flesh but who, on occasions too numerous to count, sends me the most amazing things to make me happy. Her thoughfulness never fails to hit it's mark, and I was once again reeling and agog at the most beautiful, delicate gift I had ever received.

It's aqua, it's vintage, it's ceramic and it's a stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of pretty that had an immediate impact on not only my mood but the course of decor choices in my kitchen!





Sure, we have blue in my kitchen - aqua, duck-egg, creams and whites - but never coupled with yellow. And that one little detail made my heart pitter-patter and I was smitten with the combination. Aqua and yellow.... oh yes.



So I've been shoe-horning little bits of yellow in here and there in the intention of carrying this combo through.





It's even affecting my thrifting!







Not that I'm complaing one little bit.

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Little Happy Garland

A little splash of colour to ward off this miserable month of fog and gloom (honestly, I'm in favour of decimalising the year and getting rid of November and February altogether... meh), to cheer up the house until fresh flowers can do the job for them.

A completely pointless craft that actually has a really amazing effect on a gloomy room!

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