Master Bedroom Transformation

What?!  Bedroom...?  Aren't you doing up the kitchen??  Well, yes - but I never did show off the bedroom decoration we did last Summer.

Firstly, I loved all the comments on my post with my kitchen colour inspiration ideas, they were great reading!  Thanks guys.  You can see from my last post that we didn't go quite as bold - we decided to tone it down just a touch.  It's a bit of a lighter version of the inspiration colour - although it looks different in different lights.  Sometimes it looks more blue, and sometimes more turquoise.  Nevertheless, no matter what colour it is looking, it works really well with the kitchen and we love it!

(And Sam - I loved what you said about the number of days I could cross of my calendar when we got rid of the old kitchen - I hadn't even thought of that!!  Although, when I mentioned it to the Lumberjack he didn't think I could count it, as we were replacing it with a new kitchen, so it's not decluttering... hmmm maybe he's right!)

A few finishing touches to be done, then I will hopefully be able to do a full reveal!

In the meantime, this is how the master bedroom looked when we came to view the house (estate agent picture):

An old lady's bedroom!  Although, that retro furniture style is very popular at the moment - maybe we should have tried to get our hands on it!

Well, we had the old electric heaters removed and central heating installed.  We stripped the wallpaper...

I was a bit rubbish at the wallpaper-stripping, so the Lumberjack did most of it.  I stepped in for the painting (and to pose for photos!).

We painted, had new carpet put down, white wooden venetian blinds fitted... and this is how it looks now:

I had a massive tidy-up the other day, so thought I'd take some pictures while it was tidy!  It was in the morning, before I went to work - so the light probably isn't ideal.  The walls are painted in 'duck egg' by Wickes - which isn't actually what I would call duck egg, it's more of a light aqua which is what we wanted.  (Although it looks blueish in these pics - why are some colours so hard to photograph?!)

The main reason I hadn't shown pictures yet was that things like the cushions and lampshades are from my bedroom in my old flat, where I had bright colours.  We just used them temporarily, but haven't decided what to replace them with.  But I just figured I might as well show the room as it is, as it'll probably never be completely finished!

Ikea Hemnes chest of drawers.  (The bedding is very creased - I can't be bothered to iron bedding!)

Crochet heart garland on the mirror - see here

That little shelf is an Ikea picture ledge.  I had what I (modestly) think of as the genius idea of using it as a little perfume shelf!

Genius, I tell you!

The dressing table is Ikea Malm, with an Ikea Ingolf Stool.

Ikea Hemnes bedside tables and a longer version of the Ikea picture ledge above the bed.  (Yes, we've spent a lot of time in Ikea since buying this house!!)

I still need to sort out what's going on the picture ledge - they are just a random selection of items - more work to be done on that...

To the right of the picture above, is the door do the wardrobe (was airing cupboard) which has the hair station on it.  And next to that, not pictured (because it had some of the Lumberjack's junk on it!) is the chest of drawers he painted.

Anyway, that's the bedroom!  It still needs a bit of work - I think it needs manning up a bit really.  Although the Lumberjack doesn't seem to mind the pink!

An Award from Anna!

You may have heard me mention my lovely Swedish friend Anna a few times on this blog.  She is a 'real life' friend I used to work with, who taught me how to crochet!  She is very talented and has a lovely blog here where she posts in Swedish and English.

I don't usually do awards these days, but Anna has awarded me with this one:

And as it is from Anna (thanks!) I will answer the questions!

 

What is your favourite flower?

Tulips - so beautiful and colourful!

 

What do you do on a rainy day?

Crochet/sew/read/watch TV/read blogs and crafty inspiration - and spend as much of it snuggled under my waterlily blanket as possible!

 

Favourite food?

Chocolate and cake (coffee and walnut, carrot, victoria...mmm)!

 

Favourite book?

Hard to pick... there are so many good books, it depends on my mood - I loved the Twilight books; Sophie Kinsella books always make me laugh and are so enjoyable to read; Harry Potter of course; and I'm planning to re-read Pride and Prejudice at some point soon (to be honest, I can't remember the book - I just remember the amazing BBC drama!).  I'm sure I've forgotten some of my favourite books...

 

City or country?

Country (although not that keen on mud!)

 

What new craft would you like to learn?

Good question... I've seen some gorgeous needle felted funky things and would love to be able to make them!

 

What is your favourite holiday?

Christmas!

 

What music do you listen to?

Cheery cheesy music - Country Road, I Would Walk 500 Miles, I'm in the Mood for Dancing - cheese!!!  Oh, and been getting into Kenny Rogers lately, love it!

 

Why did you start your blog?

I started because I discovered craft blogs, and especially became obsessed with the paper-and-string blog which I thought was amazing.  I didn't realise that there was this crafty inspirational world out there, and it was a revelation!  I decided to start my own blog.  I did have ideas of turning it into a craft business and selling the things I made, but I didn't really stick with that and just enjoyed sharing the things I'd made with other interested people.

What do you find most rewarding with blogging?

I love that people are interested in what I've been making and it's always so exciting to get a positive comment!  Everyone is so supportive and encouraging.  I also love the wealth of inspiration and ideas out there.  It's so lovely to see what others are making - it's like a virtual craft group really, everyone sharing ideas and makes. 

What makes you follow a blog?

Usually if I stumble across a blog and like the things they've been making, I'll follow so that I don't miss any more pretty creations and inspiration!

Thanks again Anna.

And here is a sneak peak of a bit of the kitchen for you all...

More on that soon.....!

Declutter: Less 365

As part of my mission to declutter this year, I thought I'd try the Less 365 Project, which I first read about here.

The point is to get rid of one thing every day for a year.  Well... I'm not doing it exactly like that - I'm getting rid of things in fits and starts really.  However, I believe I have stumbled on the key to making this a successful project... the simple print out of a 2014 calendar!  I found mine here, but any will do.

As I get rid of something, I cross a day off on the calendar.  It makes no difference to me what the actual date is I do it - I just cross a day off per item.  If you are anything like me, having this calendar will make all the difference - the other week I found myself wandering around the house, calendar in hand, looking for things to get rid of so I could cross another day off!  (I shouldn't have to look really, the house is awash with clutter!)  It might not work for everyone, but it's a motivator for me - I do like lists, ticking things off, and such related fun!  (The Lumberjack didn't quite get the point of the calendar in all of this.  His view is that if you've got too much junk, just get rid of it - why do you need a calendar?!  Although he recognised that I was clearly delighted every time I could cross a day off!  We all work in different ways...!)

Sometimes you'll find you're behind the actual date and sometimes ahead of it - depending on when you have your manic clear-outs!  I've been held up for the last week or so, as life has become rather hectic around here...

That's the Lumberjack ripping out the kitchen - eeeeek!

We've been having electrics and plastering and what-not done this week, and the installation starts on Monday.  The kitchen arrived yesterday:

The living room has now become a storage area.  As well as other random places that boxes have been squeezed into!

So it's a bit chaotic at the moment.  I am currently hiding in bed typing this - away from the mess!  Everywhere in the house appears to be covered in a fine layer of dust - it's delightful.

This weekend's plan is to get the room painted with a few coats if possible, so that when the kitchen is in, just a final coat is needed to neaten up the knocks and bumps from the installation.  The Lumberjack has to work today, so I plan to get on with that (I'm the painter anyway, he does the messy work and I do the bits that need to look neat!).  I'm just waiting for the final wet patches of plaster to dry out before I get out of bed and get on with it.  (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

I'm just going to get some white on the ceiling and walls to start with.  But we're struggling to decide on the actual wall colour to go for.  I originally thought a neutral like a very pale grey, then changed my mind to duck egg - but we've started to veer down the funky bright colour route!  Perhaps this sort of colour:

Source

Source - this was a Pinterest pin which doesn't seem to go anywhere unfortunately

We're having ivory cupboards, walnut worktops and a low band of lightish grey tiles over the worktop.  (Do walnut and grey go?!  Eeek, hope so!)  It's a small kitchen and not that much of the wall colour will be on show really.  We thought it would be fun to have an injection of brightness, rather than be neutral, but it's a bit scary!  What do you reckon people?  (Be prepared for me to ignore your opinions - I tend to do that.  I'll listen and take them on board, but sometimes my heart just has another idea, and you've gotta follow your heart!)

And of course, It can always be painted over if it looks hideous.

Aahh prettiness (taken just as the chaos was about to start):

Spot the polish can on the floor, ruining the picture - that amuses me.  (Don't be fooled into thinking I was cleaning - things were just being moved around!)

Goodness, this is a long waffley post - anyone would think I was avoiding getting out of bed and doing some painting....

Organisation: Hair Station

Thanks very much for the lovely comments - I will share more on the crochet soon (I've not made much progress lately)

In the meantime, as part of my quest to become 'mega organised', I have set up a 'hair station' (that is incredibly difficult to photograph well!) on the inside of a cupboard door in the bedroom...

This cupboard used to hold the hot water tank, but we had central heating and a combi-boiler installed when we moved in last May (as there were just electric heaters in the house).  The Lumberjack turned it into a wardrobe a while ago, with Ikea hanging rails.  Now we've added the bits to the door.

(Let me again say - it is oddly difficult to get any decent photos of this... and the dim light doesn't help!)

The mirror was one of a pack of four mirror squares from Ikea - £6 for the four - which come with sticky pads to fix them.  I'm sure we'll find somewhere else for the rest of the mirrors, as we only needed the one for this.  I added washi tape to create a little border/frame on the mirror:

We attached two Ikea wire baskets to tidy away random hair bits, only £2 each...

(Maybe if I used some of those hair products more, I wouldn't look such a scruffy mess all the time!)

Luckily we were able to turn the switch inside the cupboard (for the old hot water tank) into a plug socket, so it's handy to be able to use the hairdryer there and keep it tucked away.

So, there you go, a bit of organisation!

I wanted the baskets low as I have some possible further ideas for the inside of that door... we'll see...

Inspiration

I have dipped into yet another project (should finish some of the ongoing items first really!)...

This has been inspired by something my friend Anna has made - but more on that another time!

Check out this amazing Amaryllis...

It lives on the TV unit, next to (you've guessed it...) the TV!  (Hence the shadow to the left.)

It was from Ikea a couple of weeks ago.  It shot up so quickly and now each stem has four flower heads - incredible!  (According to the card thingy in the pot they're supposed to be red flowers, but we're not complaining!)

Beautiful!

I received more sources of inspiration and instruction at Christmas.  From my friend Anna this lovely book:

Sew Scandinavian - she's Swedish so obviously it had to be done!  She also made me that lovely heart beside it, with lavender in the centre - thanks again Anna!  Here is a glimpse at some of the gorgeous projects in the book...

Lots of prettiness!

My Mum and Dad gave me this book from my Christmas list...

There are some good ideas in this.  Some of it isn't really my style/taste, but some of it is and there is a lot of inspiration...

I love this idea of the balloon being in a different hoop!

This is very cute!  (I seem to be drawn to the toadstools in both books... I see toadstools in my future!)

Apologies for the dingy photos - decent light is a rarity this time of year.

Thanks for the great comments on my last post, much appreciated as always!  Puts a smile on my face!

Crochet and Cross Stitch Phone Case

Well, I didn't get round to tackling that craft room (bad girl!).... but I've been working on a little craft project - a case for my new mobile phone.  My last phone had this homemade case, made of fabric and felt.  It's too small for my new phone, and I wanted to try a crochet one this time.

It's made from King Cole Bamboo Cotton, including the embroidery cherry design.  I really like the firm smoothness you get from that yarn.  I adapted the cherry design from this one.

I made it with single crochet stitches, crocheted in the round, with a button fastening on the back.

The loop is a row of chain stitches, created while crocheting the pink band at the top, so it is integral to the case, not attached afterwards.

During the course of making it, I may have munched may way through some of this delicious birthday rock...

My brother and sister-in-law bought it from Bruges for me, for my birthday.  You can see the happy birthday running through the rock - it's scrumptious!

As if I hadn't eaten enough lately, and even though Christmas is over... I felt the need to make some peppermint bark yesterday.  I'd hoped to make some over the Christmas period, but didn't get chance.  We still had some left over candy canes, so I turned them into this:

Why is it on the sofa?  I just wanted to get the pretty cushions in the background!

I used this recipe - so easy to make.  Although I needed some help from the lumberjack with smashing up the candy canes - he wasted no time in locating a rubber mallet and bashing the cr*p out of them!  Other than his enthusiasm over the smashing part, he was somewhat sceptical about the whole idea.  Comments such as: "so what tree is supposed to have bark that looks like this?" and "what a waste of four perfectly good bars of chocolate and some beautifully formed candy canes" (which he didn't seem so concerned about when he was armed with the mallet!)

It made a lot more than is shown, so that should keep me going for... oh... an hour or so?!

2014 Goals

Thanks for all the lovely comments lately, and hi to new followers!

I've decided to set some 2014 goals...

(Yes, I got new washi tape for Christmas - thanks Mumsie!)

Let me just review last year's goals...

2013

Buy a House

Declutter

Become Mega Organised

I kept it down to three, and still only achieved one!  It was the best one, though... a house was bought!  That was ticked off on 17th May, and naturally involved some decluttering whilst preparing for the move.  Not that you'd know it to look at the junk in the house.  Therefore 'declutter' is being carried over to this year.  The same goes for 'become mega organised' as things have become less organised since moving!

Without further ado... this year's goals:

Declutter - using William Morris as a guide:  Have nothing in your house that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful

Become Mega Organised

Decorate Kitchen, Craft Room, Spare Room

Make an Item of Clothing - something I actually wear in public

Cook Better Dinners - more variety, planned better, healthy (some of the time)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - worry less and be more chilled and laid-back

Escape the Rat Race - in a good way (not losing my job or dying!)

Ok, that last one is probably stretching it a bit.  I'm not sure what miracle could occur this year to enable that one.  (And it's probably not recommended to put a goal down that you have no idea how to achieve, in the hope that it will just happen on it's own while you pootle along in your day-to-day life!)  But hey, I've got nearly a year for inspiration to strike!

I'll let you know how I get on...

P.S.  I showed the Lumberjack the picture (above) of my diary on the craft room desk, saying "that looks nice doesn't it?"  He said "yes, but they can't see the rest of the room!"  (He has slight issues with the fact that you can't even really walk into the room - I tell him to just leave the door shut and keep out!)  Well... for your viewing pleasure, here's the reality:

Ooops... it's on my list to tidy up today!

Cute Crochet Monkey

Long-term followers might remember (or maybe not, as it was two years ago!) that I made this pink monkey for myself.  It was around the time my nephew was born and I'd always had in my head that I must make a blue one for him.  I struggle to bring myself to make the same thing twice, though, so it's taken me all this time to do it.

I decided the time was right, as whenever he comes round he clocks the pink one and goes straight for it!  I felt he must have one of his own for his birthday this year.

I gave the monkey a top with a 'T' on it - my nephew's initial.  Whereas my pink one is happier in her birthday suit!  (I always thought of the pink one as a boy actually, but she seems like a girl in these pics)

A friend at last!

But wait... what's this?  He's climbed onto the dresser!

What a pair of monkeys!

I think they might have got into the Christmas sherry!

(Ok, I got a bit carried away taking pictures of the pair of them!!)

The pattern is a great free one from here.

I hope my nephew loves his as much as he seems to love mine!

Crochet Tealight Holders

Happy New Year!

Thanks to you all for reading my blog during the past year, and the lovely comments you've taken the time to leave - why is it so exciting to get comments on your blog?!  I love it.

Here are handmade Christmas presents for my sister-in-law (the pomegranate one) and the Lumberjack's sister (the grey one).  I thought it would be nice to include a handmade gift for them both!

I'd saved the glass holders from previous candles I'd had, and the pattern for the crochet is an excellent one, from here.  I'm so pleased with how they turned out!

I have used the pattern before a couple of years ago when I made my white one, seen below.  For some reason I didn't bother with the scalloped edging on mine - can't remember why... (probably too lazy).

And trying out the grey one...

There is also a birthday present that I made my nephew that I can't wait to show you - so watch this space!