HOUSE: Crockery obsession ....

So I may have a slight obsession with crockery ... If you look back at my previous post about adding a homey touch you will know that I like picking up unique pieces of crockery to add to my collection that I can mix and match when I feel like it. Here are my latest pieces ....

HOUSE: Jewellery table make over ...

I absolutely love jewellery and make up  and as a result I have a lot of clutter on my jewellery table so now we have settled into the new house and sorted the big things out its time to have a jewellery table make over.

This was my jewellery table when I first bought it, since then I have replaced the little plastic handles with nice silver metal ones and when we moved I painted the three draw fronts in a warm white. Now its time to step up my make over.

After having a bit of a blog trawl and Pinterest search I have decided to swap the shelves on the left with another drawer unit. I found this really cute 6 drawer Alex unit from Ikea in white that would be perfect to store all my lotions and potions in. Once I get some space on the top I am going to add this add on Alex drawer unit from the same Ikea range and then its time to make with the jewellery and trinket boxes. At the minute most of mine are ones I have acquired over the years and they are looking a bit sad so I'm going to swap them for some nice new acrylic and glass ones. Here is my current inspiration slash wish list.

The two white drawer units are from the IKEA Alex range, the acrylic drawers are MUJI and the white pots on the left are actually IKEA plant pots but I am planning on repurposing them. The two little pots at the top are examples of trinket pots I found on the Dunelm Mill website but I have seen similar in other shops so I am just going to pick them up when I see them. I also really want to get some nice glass jewellery boxes with some sort of detailling on them. BHS had some in before xmas but they appear to be sold out now so I will keep having a look about. Cant wait to show you guys the finished article. It might take me a while as I save up and buy bits but I am really looking forward to getting started. 

What do you think? What does your jewellery table look like? Do you have any good storage ideas to pass on? 

My top 7 goals for 2015....

My goals for 2015 ... 2014 was a pretty big year for us, we got married and bought our first house so 2015 has a lot to live up to. Instead of setting unrealistic or immeasurable resolutions I have decided to set my self a few small goals that I can actually achieve and measure the results. Once I have completed them I can set some more and keep growing through the year instead of wading towards a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Visit family more.

As I noted in my round up of 2014 my first goal is to see my family more. This year I am really going to make it a priority to go across and visit my family when we go down to Surrey in the summer. 

Improve my cardio.

I spent a lot of time at the gym last year but due to shift changes we have had to cancel our membership so I am going to invest in a workout DVD for now then get the weights out in the garden when the weather improves. My cardio is very bad and I am not a fan of running so I am going to try some different bits to up my cardio. 

The year in review ... 2014!

2014

New year is a time for reflection so I have been having a think about my 2014 experience. It has been an amazing year and will be a pretty hard one to top to be fair. 

January

We kickstarted the new year as we meant go on by attending our good friends wedding at Durham Castle, it was a wonderful day and the bride was simply stunning. January was also quite special for me as I reconnected with a good friend … life is too short to loose good friends.

February & March

February was quite quiet, we were continuing with the wedding planning and hitting the gym hard! March was pretty much the same as February, there was a lot of time at the gym as we hit 6 weeks to the wedding. I went for my wedding hair trial with my cousin … only took 102 hair grips hehe mum was also well underway with the alterations to my dress.

Beast mode at the gym

102!!

HOUSE: New House = DIY = Just call me Kirsty ...

As you may have read in a few of my older posts me and the Hubby recently bought a new house and with that we have been able to start decorating and really making this little nest our own. This has lead to quite a bit of DIY and refurbishment, hence my title of just call me Kirsty.

This has been a frequent sight for us recently. 

Allsop that is. If you are not familiar with her she is sort of interior designer who does a few different shows on telly. Some of the bits are a bit too adventurous but she has some really handy tips for making your house into a real home by adding your own stamp. We have really embraced this idea by customising some of our existing furniture and and adding some new bit and pieces as we find them.

I have documented most of our progress on Instagram but I thought I would do a post (or two) about some of the bits so I can go into a bit more detail.

Here is our pretty girl taken from the garden. 

Adding that homey touch ...

On Tuesday I told you about the decorating we are planning on doing in the house and promised I would show you some of the little bits and pieces we have been picking up little pieces for the house. 

We have picked stuff up as and when we saw it, with a lot of the pieces being on sale at the time. We didn't want everything all matchy matchy, more naturally accumulated. This lot is all from Sainsburys, mainly because its the closest shop to us and with the hubby working there we go in a lot. They have had some really nice home-ware in recently. 

Hand painted serving bowl, 2 finger bowls & 4 side plates on sale. Love the colour and unique look.  

Hand blown water jug. We wanted a nice water jug for when we have guests and this one is very unique. 

Shaped vase,  I like the narrow neck for flowers, wide necks make flowers flop apart. 

Statement vase, I loved the shape of this one and its quite tall so will look nice with flowers or stones in. 

These were on sale at £10 for a 12 piece set, we liked the simple pattern and our everyday plates have had it. They are 4 years old and obviously get used everyday so needed replaced. Though some of the nicer ones are being repurposed as student supplies for my nephew when he goes to uni next year.

These are our dinner party service, we saw them on sale and loved the silver geometric pattern. This set will be kept for when we have guests and special occasions. 

I will post more pics of bits we pick up. I am sure there will be lots of little pieces of the next few months as we try to put our stamp on the new house. 

xXx

Making a house a home ...

So me and the hubby have just bought our first house :D We are a little bit excited as this will be our chance to settle down and plant roots. Thus far we have been renting flats which are nice, but you dont get much opportunity to personalise them.

Here is our baby:

Kitchen & dining room, lounge, downstairs loo, utility room, bathroom, 2 spare bedrooms, master bedroom with en-suite and a garage and garden. Its a new build so we got to pick the kitchen, carpets & flooring. Now with only 3 weeks to go we are starting to get down to the nitty gritty, packing, organising transport and decorating!!!

So the bit we are most looking forward to is decorating and adding our own stamp to the house, with that in mind we have decided to have a feature wall in each of the main rooms.

In our bedroom behind the bed opposite the window we are going for this silver tree print paper from Homebase, we have white wardrobes and a silver bed frame so we are trying to keep it nice and light to open up the space. 

This green willow print paper is going to go behind the bed in the spare bedroom. Not sure what else is going in this room at the minute as we need to get in and see what our furniture looks like in the space. 

This fun grey teal and green starburst print from B&Q we are thinking about for in the dining area of the kitchen to brighten it up. 

We are not too sure what to have in the living room, we have seen this lovely leaf print from Homebase that comes in a few different colours. 

This is the silver which is nice and bright. 

I think this one looks nice but would need to see a sample next to our existing furniture. 

This is the taupe version, it looks lighter in person but seeing it on the website made me wonder if a whole wall would be a bit dark. We want to keep the living room light an neutral. At the minute we have mainly beech furniture and cream accents with a little bit of orange. 

I absolutely love this version with the green and teal but it would clash with my recently covered chair and Im not sure if we might get fed up of it quite quickly. 

Im not sure what to do with the kitchen and living room walls, I think will we get a better idea once we get into the house and we can put the samples up on the walls to see what we think. 

Up next time a few of the little pieces we have bought so far

xXx