Coloured bathroom suite.

When my brother moved into his own place he asked for my help to style and decorate throughout the house including the bathroom which contained a dated chocolate coloured suite. There wasn't the budget to replace it with a white one so I decided to use it as a starting point for developing a fresh new look. 

Old coloured suite made contemporary. 

Old tiles and coloured suite.

To start with I removed the small dated tiles and replaced them with big white floor ones including a line of coloured textured border ones that luckily coordinated with the suite. The remaining free walls were then painted in a paler tint of fawn to tone in with the look as well. To complement the main colour scheme, small amounts of accent colours were added using various bathroom accessories like towels, mats and containers.

I love how this bathroom has been updated using very simple products like the white tiles that have really helped to freshen up the colour of the suite. I find the large tiles make the bathroom feel bigger but also makes the bath look slimmer. The clear glass shower shield also helps to stop the room from feeling cut in half.

When ever I see this room I'm always very impressed with how it turned out. Most people would have ripped the suite out and replaced it with a lovely new white one but by doing the opposite and changing the wall coverings to white or a very pale complimentary colour it has brought the suite back to life.

One day coloured suites will come back with avengeance!  

Junk for joy!

Over the weekend I decided to treat myself to a brand new book using some tokens a family friend had given to me after I had helped her to move into a new house. After much deliberating over various art books, I decided to go with Junk for Joy! by Sian Berry. A great book showing you how to turn other people's junk into your own personal stylish items. Although I don't neccessary like some of the final decorative outcomes, I do love the basic ideas as they really make me think how I can adapt them into the style that I or somebody else would like. I'm especially looking forward to trying out turning old beer and wine bottles into vases and pots, it should be fun to see the outcomes! A truely inspiring book with brilliant ideas to reducing our waste and green conscience.

Book of inspiration.

Decoupage Map Chairs.

Its that time of year again when the majority of people are starting to think ahead and make arrangements for their summer holidays. With travel in mind I wanted to share an idea I had using old british road atlas pages to personalise a set of chairs using the technique of decoupage (the art of sticking paper to a variety of surfaces simply using pva glue).

Decoupage Map Chair.

Decoupage Map Chair.

The idea came about while I was redesigning a bedroom with a map and atlas theme in mind, I noticed the bedroom chairs needed upcycling and suggested covering the frames with maps (an idea I'd seen before) that would add to the individual style of the room.


I transformed a set of four chairs, making sure that at least one coordinated with the bathroom decor (as asked). Two chairs had green seat covers to match the bedroom decor and the other two were given blue seat covers to match the bathroom. As each chair had one british regional road atlas book designated to it, (either north, south, east or west) I made sure that the chair for the bathroom also had a mostly blue sea frame (south coast!) to match the seat cover and room decor.

Decoupage Map Chair.

Decoupage Map Chair. 

Decoupage is such an easy and simple technique that can transform and personalise any interior decor. Once you have choosen your pattern etc you can get sticking, making sure you finish with a top coat of clear varnish to protect all your hard work.

Vinyl Record Bookends

Vinyl record bookends.

I'm loving these bookends. Handmade by WhenTheMusicsOver on Etsy, they're made from 12" vinyl records. They're fun and funky and a great way to use some of those unwanted and unused records we or (in my case) our parents have!

Curtain hooks for you!

Shower Curtain Hooks.

Over the weekend I discovered a use for those spare plastic shower curtain rings you always collect every time you buy a replacement curtain - to hang normal curtains!

Shower Curtain Hooks.

The reason? My sister Pip wanted to sort out the curtain hanging behind the front door of her house. The original curtain pole and rings were metal so everytime you opened and closed the curtains a very loud noise would occur and it was really starting to annoy her (and me!).

To solve the problem we went on a hunt for some new rings and found metal ones with a plastic inside but then soon discovered that they were too small to fit around the pole.

After some brain storming my sister had the idea of using the spare plastic shower curtain rings that she had been collecting and I then suggested attaching them to the heading tape by simply feeding each one through the string loops (using a pencil to widen the loop beforehand).

While being well hidden by the top of the curtain heading, the rings also keep the fabric stiff and in shape. They also run a lot smoother and quieter along the metal pole than the orginal rings. A simple and cheap solution to an annoying stituation!

Happy New Year!

One of the many design books that I recieved at Christmas was Design*Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney.

An inspiring treasure chest guide packed with hundreds of ideas that can easily be copied by anyone. It teaches readers that great design isn't just about high price tags but how they can be made using your own self empowerment and expression and create a space that is much more personal.

I especially love the Before & After section of the book. Discovering how pieces of furniture have been rescued and transformed to give them new leases of life. From small easy projects to larger more complicated ones, theres a project for everyone.

A recommended purchase for anyone who enjoys taking on their own DIY projects!

Set of coffee tables

These tables were a cheap set my parents had bought for their sitting room when I was a child. When they decided to redecorated they bought new furniture to fit in with the new décor but my mum insisted on keeping the old tables just in case my self or my siblings would need them even after I kept telling her to throw them on the fire!

Set of rehashed coffee tables.

Famous last words! A couple of years ago I found the dismantle set in my parents storage room and decided to up-cycle them (much to my mums amusement!). I’d always hated the original reddish brown varnish so it was really satisfying to get rid of it and discover what was underneath. 

There was a lovely simple pattern on the surface of the table top that I didn’t want to cover so I decided just to paint the legs and under the table tops in my favourite Rosewood varnish so that they would match up with my other furniture.

To add to the plain table top I designed a pattern that would work around the original wood pattern and produced it by using a burning pen that created a deep brown colour to match the rosewood varnish. To then finish and protect the top surface of the table, a couple of coats of clear varnish were painted on. 

When I look at this table set, it just reminds me of how insistent my mother was and how I should have listened to her in the first place! Plus if I ever want to change the burnt on pattern, it can be easily sanded back to make way for a new design or I could cover it up with a patterned fabric or paper.