Embracing Pinks And Florals: My Plans For A Hallway Update In My Home

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So it might seem like it’s all talk and no action round these parts - my last post was on a home office and en-suite makeover yet to be revealed - but sometimes projects and opportunities just overlap! Today, I want to talk about my plans for a makeover to my hallway, which has never had much attention and has therefore never really worked. As I have decorated around the house, the hallway has become more of an issue as this is the space that flows between each of these new rooms. Each room feels unrelated and disconnected from the hall, when really it should be an introduction to each separate space.

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My Plans For A Home Office Mini Makeover

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Two years ago I did a ‘before and after’ blog post on creating a home office that both my husband and myself were going to share. As a musician, he was often away travelling and I had only just started this blog, so just blogged as and when for fun. Fast forward two years, he is working from home most of the year and I am running a design consultation business alongside this blog. The shared space was just not working for us anymore. He filled the room with musical paraphernalia and it became a shotgun game to who got to use the desk. I started to think we might be outgrowing the house, when it occurred to me that we had the space, we just were not using it efficiently.

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My Dining Room Makeover With Sanderson Paint

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Room reveal posts are my favourite type of blog posts. I always love reading the before & after posts of other interior bloggers, while simultaneously they are my favourite posts to feature on my own blog. I’ve not had a room makeover post on the blog since the summer, so I’m delighted today to reveal my dining room transformation with iconic paint, fabric and wallpaper brand Sanderson.

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My Makeover Plans For The Dining Room

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It has been a few months since I’ve had a total room revamp in the house, so I’m delighted today to talk you through my plans for redecorating the dining room! The dining room, which is joined onto the kitchen, has needed some love for a while. The walls are stained, the skirting chipped and the ceiling has all these wipe marks on it after an incident with my young son and a glass of apple juice. When B&Q came to do some filming in my house a couple of months back, they wanted to paint a room in a vivid colour so I told them to use the dining room. The dining room then became a lovely blue shade, but as the room is in the basement of the house the colour was just too dark for the space (and yes I know I say to embrace dark rooms with dark colours but we use this room as a ‘doing’ room, I did not want to create a relaxing feel in here.) They also did not paint the ceiling or skirting for the filming, so this room was marked down as next in line for a complete decorating overhaul.

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Creating A Gold & Teal Geometric Paint Effect In A Hallway

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A big mistake that people make with hallways is they think they have to keep them plain and neutral in colour. The fear is that an often narrow space will feel even narrower and enclosed if it is painted anything other than white. The truth is having a hallway in a deep colour will actually make the rooms coming off the hall feel much larger and brighter as you walk into them.

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Decorating my bedroom with Farrow & Ball Wallpaper

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According to the interior mags and those 'in-the-know', minimalism is out for 2018 and maximalism - vibrant colours, patterns and a 'more is more' approach - is in. Being much more on the maximalism side than minimalist, I was pleased to hear this as I have just finished decorating my bedroom in Farrow & Ball's new Hegemone wallpaper, and giving my bed a fresh new update in beautiful, luxurious Yves Delorme bed linen.

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Before & After: Guest Room Revamp Ready For Christmas

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Long time readers of this blog will know that I've been working on my guest room for a loooooonng time. The room is in the basement of the house below ground level, is small and is therefore really dark. When we moved in I painted the room, but the room still just felt cold and had no homely, cosy feel to it at all. Being the guest room it also became victim to having furniture put in it from our old house that had no place elsewhere in our new home. Here is what it looked like before:

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Before & After: Designing A Low-Budget Bedroom For Two Young Boys

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A really fun styling job I have completed recently was to transform a blank room into a bedroom for two very much adored grandchildren for when they come to stay. The boys, aged 6 and 5, are both pretty cool kids, so I wanted to design them a room that was a bit trendy and they wouldn't grow out of too fast. The bedroom as it stood was completely empty, so I needed to buy everything for the boys ready for when they were due to stay in a few weeks time. This included beds, mattresses, bedding, lights and window treatments. As this room was not going to be a room in use everyday, the aim was to create something within a reasonably low budget. To achieve this, I sourced everything for the room from homeware departments in supermarkets, Ikea, and the cheaper end of the high street.

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Should I paint my walls dark? The pros and cons of dark decor

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I've never painted a room in my home completely dark until a couple of weeks ago, when I decided to get rid of the white walls in my office and go a full on, really dark black/blue colour. When I did a complete overhaul of the room towards the start of the year, I dipped my toe into 'the dark side' by painting the chimney breast and the adjacent wall, which was going to be a gallery wall, in a deep, dark navy colour. On the remaining two walls, I painted them a muted white with grey undertones. The reason that I did this, to be honest, was because I was actually scared of painting the whole room dark.

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From Country Style To Contemporary - How To Transform A Kitchen

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We all know that kitchens are the area of the home that can suck away all our hard-earned cash. The units, worktops, fixtures and fittings - all these things often cost a lot of money. I know people who have been put off purchasing a home as the kitchen has not been to their taste or style, and they can't afford to also purchase a sleek, shiny new kitchen on top of the property price.

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Before & After: How I Designed The Shared Home Office

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I'm so happy to be able to finally reveal to you the home office revamp that I have been working on since the start of the year! As I've mentioned in previous posts, me and my husband share this work space in our home and it just wasn't working for either of us. It was the only room in the house that remained decorated by the previous owners, and although the statement red chimney breast and biscuit coloured walls were inoffensive, they weren't exactly great either. Our artwork had been randomly hung all over the place just on the hooks left by the old owners; and with me and my husband working daily in this room, storage was a problem. As you can see in the pictures below, there was no-where to put anything and stuff had just started to build up until it was a TOTAL mess.

BEFORE:

Before: biscuit walls and beige curtains, art hung randomly, stuff EVERYWHERE!

Before: biscuit walls and beige curtains, art hung randomly, stuff EVERYWHERE!

Together with my husband we agreed on the below mood-board. The brief was a contemporary, masculine room which was also appealing to me. We already owned the walnut desk, plain rug and Ellie Vandoorne artwork (available from Rise Art - an ace online art marketplace selecting emerging and established artists), so we decided to choose colours that complemented these existing pieces.

The agreed final mood board for the room.

The agreed final mood board for the room.

My husband really likes blue, so I decided to paint the chimney breast and the opposite wall in 'Railings' by Farrow & Ball. I'd been wanting to use darker colours in the home for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity to use this dark navy blue hue. The colour on the chimney breast really made the Ellie Vandoorne artwork pop with its yellow background. While on the opposite wall, it was used as a background for a gallery wall to display all the artwork we wanted up in the room in a coherent manner (unlike how they were randomly hung before).

AFTER:

The colour on these walls is 'Railings' by Farrow & Ball. This is the Modular set with ash base from LSA International.

The colour on these walls is 'Railings' by Farrow & Ball. This is the Modular set with ash base from LSA International.

I did not want the room to be completely dark, preferring the chimney breast and gallery wall to be a 'feature', rather than blending in with all one colour. Instead, I painted the far end wall where the desk was placed in 'Clunch' by Farrow & Ball, which is a white that I prefer to others as in our house it always comes across more as a soft grey, rather than a yellow-white.

In the small space that existed on this end wall, I placed a really cheap shelf ladder that I also painted in Railings to blend in. On the shelves I put wire storage baskets for all my paint samples and documents to be tidily contained in one area! To DIY this gold mesh wire notice board click here.

These bowls with beech handles are part of the Disc Collection by LSA International.

These bowls with beech handles are part of the Disc Collection by LSA International.

In the shelving alcove I pasted in this Cole & Son Hicks Hexagon Wallpaper. This created an extra dimension in the room, as well as being a cheaper way to introduce designer wallpaper as this alcove used less than one roll. The black/gold/white colours of the paper tied in with the Railings, Clunch and gold notice board in the room.

With the left over Hicks Hexagon I covered old filing boxes and magazine holders that were going to be used in the room, to keep the room consistent.

Another budget DIY that I carried out to keep costs down was to dye the beige curtains with fabric dye. The existing curtains were in absolutely fine condition, they were just beige and didn't match the new decor. Ideally, I'd have opted for thick, opulent, dark velvet curtains, but I couldn't spend that sort of money when I had perfectly good quality lined curtains in the room. Instead, I brought some navy fabric dye from Hobbycraft and dyed the beige curtains dark blue. The curtains had a polyester stripe in the pattern which did not dye, but the cotton part and the lining dyed perfectly! I was really happy with the outcome.

This is the Axis Vase Trio with Ash Base by LSA International that I am using to store my multitude of gold paperclips!

This is the Axis Vase Trio with Ash Base by LSA International that I am using to store my multitude of gold paperclips!

To keep the room masculine, I used a lot of stationary containers by LSA International made of material such as glass, leather and wood. These LSA pieces not only look beautiful to be on display, but are totally practical! I found that by using 'display-worthy' storage on shelving units, you could fit a lot more in one place and it looked tidy and stylish, not chaotic and cramped!

Amazingly, me and my husband now have a work room which suits both our tastes! Craft items co-exist with music equipment, and thanks to choosing the right pieces it all works.

What do you think of our new he-she office? Leave your comments below!

* Huge thank you to Farrow & Ball, Cole & Son, LSA International, Rise Art and Sainsbury's who gifted items featured in this post. Please note that this post also contains some affiliate links, which basically means if you shop this look via this post I'll get a small commission.

How To Reupholster A HeadBoard & Create A Tufted Effect With Buttons

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My mother-in-law recently asked me to cover an old headboard in her guest bedroom and add in tufted buttons (that trick which creates the plush diamond pattern effect). I'd never upholstered a headboard before, but spurned on by how well my pink velvet bedroom bench came out, I watched a few YouTube videos made by an American upholstery company, made notes, then went about sourcing the items required to do the job.

This wallpaper is called Azul by Harlequin.

This wallpaper is called Azul by Harlequin.

To upholster a headboard you need the following:

  • Upholstery fabric big enough to cover the front of the headboard and be wrapped around the back (around 10 cm from the headboard edge.)

  • A staple gun and staples

  • Self-cover buttons. I brought mine from Hobbycraft.

  • Scissors

  • Tape measure and ruler

  • pencil

  • Really strong thread (not cotton thread).

  • Large needle

  • A drill

The headboard it in it's original form. The colour was nice but the fabric was old and stained.

The headboard it in it's original form. The colour was nice but the fabric was old and stained.

How the headboard looks now.

How the headboard looks now.

First off I laid my fabric face down on the floor, placed the headboard upside down on top, then made sure that I had enough fabric to pull round the edges to the back of the headboard.

Pulling fabric over onto the headboard so that it's taught, I used the staple gun to staple it in place:

Once the fabric was stapled in position, I checked for any loose areas of fabric and pulled and stapled them down so the headboard looked tidy. Double check there are no loose or lumpy areas, then cut away any excess fabric:

Turning the headboard face-forward, I used a tape measure and a ruler to mark where I would like the buttons to be positioned to create the diamond tufted effect. I measured the headboard length-ways from the top of the headboard where I wanted the buttons to start, then divided the area in half. I then marked where the 2 buttons would need to sit and worked down the headboard. The key here is to get your measurements right. Each button should be the exact distance apart, both side to side and up and down from each other. The best way to imagine this is as if to place a grid over the headboard:

Work in a grid pattern when measuring where to place your buttons. Each button should be the exact same distance apart. Please note that this image is an example of how to think about spacing your buttons rather than pattern choice (you can choose l…

Work in a grid pattern when measuring where to place your buttons. Each button should be the exact same distance apart. Please note that this image is an example of how to think about spacing your buttons rather than pattern choice (you can choose lines or a diamond pattern).

I then carefully used a drill to drill a hole through the headboard where each button should be. You have to take great care here to apply pressure right away so your fabric does not get caught in the drill and tear.

Take a snap button, remove the top and then cut a circle of your headboard fabric a few millimetres bigger than your button head. Fold and tuck the fabric around the button head, then snap on the base. Push any loose pieces of fabric into the snap button using the tip of scissors. You can find detailed instructions on doing this here.

Thread your needle, then push your needle through the drill hole you have created on the headboard. Put your finger on the button and slightly push it down, pull your thread tight with your other hand, then staple the thread in place at least 3 or 4 times with the staple gun. I zig-zagged the thread as I stapled it to secure it better. Repeat this for all your buttons!

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Ta-da! One reupholstered headboard with tufted buttons.

Upholstering this headboard was actually quite easy. Next I'm thinking of trying a chair. Have you re-upholstered with success? If so let me know in the comments section below....

Before & After: Decorating My Living Room Blue

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I think that one of the major pro's of being an interiors blogger is the fact that you get invited to press shows to see next seasons furniture and home ware. Just spending my day in interiors shops is a fun day out for me, let alone being able to see and touch not-yet-on-sale furnishings!  One of the big trends for SS17 that I took away from the end of last years press shows was the fact that blue would be big for 2017. Blue velvet sofas and chairs featured a lot. Large backdrops painted in lovely matt blues highlighted the new gold accessories for spring and summer.

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Mini Bathroom Makeover: Using Wallpaper In The Bathroom

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I have a confession to make. It's a pretty bad one. Yes, I am an award-winning DIY'er, but until just before Christmas I had never put up wallpaper myself. Ever. Putting up wallpaper just seemed like one of those things that was a major headache - air bubbles, matching the pattern, having enough paper. Urgh. Too much stress. I have vague recollections of my parents putting up wallpaper and the difficulty of it causing a lot of bitching and bickering between them as they did it (I now know the reason for this being my mother is an absolute perfectionist when it comes to wallpapering, as I found out papering this bathroom with her.) Anyhow, I couldn't live with this lack of wallpapering experience shame much longer, so decided to give my bathroom a mini-makeover with wallpaper at the end of last year.

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DIY Back Door Re-Vamp With Home-Made Awning

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The back door to our house was needing a little bit of love. Its paint was peeling and it was just generally uninspiring. It also still had a bloody Christmas decoration on it which I had been meaning to take down in like forever. Instead of just giving it a new lick of paint, I decided to add a few more features to really jazz it up properly and give it a bit of 'wow-factor'.

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Giving A Floor Lamp An Art Deco / American Glamour Make Over

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Old homeware items can be given a totally new lease of life with a little bit of creativity. If you own an item that either you do not like anymore, or does not fit into your current decor scheme, look at it and think about how you could make it work with a little bit of DIY, rather than get rid of it or stick it in the loft.

I had a rather lovely chrome floor lamp that was in perfect working order; yet I am just so not into chrome these days, having fallen hard for gold and brass! Rather than replace it for something more my current style, I gave it an 'American Glamour' make over by spray painting the base and adding basic black ribbon to a plain white shade to give it a more sophisticated edge.

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Create This Gold & Marble Side Table With This Easy Ikea Hack!

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As daft as it sounds, I'd recently brought a new vase that would look perfect in one corner of my living room, but I needed to buy a table to stand the new vase on! I've got some gold and glass side tables in the room which I love, but they are all being used for other purposes (climbing frames and rubbish disposal points mainly, but lets leave that gripe there..)  I needed a table that matched the existing side tables, but looking at brass side tables online I wasn't prepared to part with £60+ to display a £12.50 fake cactus vase.

Sometimes when you need an inexpensive bit of basic furniture there is only one thing for it - Ikea. I searched Ikea's website for a glass topped table and came across the VITTSJO laptop table. This table was perfect as aswell as having a glass top, it has a metal frame which is best for spray painting (and it was only 20 quid!)

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Before & After: A Budget-Busting Porch Transformation

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I can't emphasise enough how paint and a little bit of DIY effort can go a long way in transforming your home. Even if you do not change anything else in the room, a coat of paint a different colour, or a 'freshen up' if the paint work is looking tired, can totally revolutionise a space.

I was recently hired by my first ever client (YAY! Go me!!) to re-vamp her front porch. Mrs A was sick of coming home to her porch the way it looked, and felt it gave a really bad impression to people visiting her home. What she wanted was a pretty (but not fussy), fresh, welcoming, cheery entrance. So - cue photo time - she was currently coming home to this....

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