A little introduction to my new blog

As the credit crunch is upon us, I think it’s important to remember that it needn’t cost a fortune to make your house a home. You can make your house or flat look original and very homely with just a little imagination and an eagle eye for a bargain.

This isn’t a design blog, so much as an ‘accessorising your home’ one! I’m not well equipped with practical skills, or a large budget, but I do love personalising our flat. It gives me pleasure to find (or even make) nice pictures, arrange a few ornaments or hunt for perfect cushions. I don’t like everything to look too new - I much prefer furniture that has lived a little - and most of all I like our flat to be a reflection of us. Or rather, of me. Luckily my boyfriend isn’t too bothered what’s in our home, so long as there’s room for his guitars!

We’ve been in this flat for about 2 ½ years. Sadly we don’t have any ‘before’ pics, but suffice to say that most rooms were yellow. Bright yellow. With yellow doors and skirting boards and window frames… And a brown carpet. It was like 1973 threw up in our front room. The smallest bedroom was a nursery, and painted sky blue with white clouds. It was cute, and perfect for the 2 year old boy, but not so great for us. The downstairs hallway (which is lower ground level) was painted chocolate brown - quite a cool colour, but not in a basement as it sapped what little light there was. The large bedroom was exactly the shade of terracotta I loved in the mid-nineties, but have since gone off… The bathrooms were a kind of quite dark cream colour, which made them feel a bit like Travelodge bathrooms. I feel I’m being mean to the previous owners, who were absolutely lovely, and had managed to instil the flat with a feeling of happiness and homeliness, in spite of our difference of opinion when it came to the dulux colour chart!

When we moved in we painted everything white (aside from the kitchen which we did in pale blue and the downstairs bathroom which is light green), but I was anxious that the place didn’t feel too clinical, and we’ve been gradually adding character since then. Apart from the painting we haven’t done many major jobs - just tiling the kitchen and bathroom floors and getting wooden floors laid in the lounge and upstairs hallway - but I like to think that our home now looks stylish and a bit original. Maybe it doesn’t….other people can be the judge! The other thing I should point out is that we didn’t have much money - so after buying essentials like a washing machine and a fridge-freezer we tried to do everything as cheaply as we could. This sometimes meant getting inspiration from somewhere like Living Etc, but sourcing (or even making*) a much cheaper alternative.

In this blog I plan to talk about most aspects of our flat, and then also draw on inspiration from blogs, designers, photos, friends homes etc etc. I’ve always been one for pulling out cuttings of houses I like, or décor that appeals - who knows, one day when we win the lottery (which we must start doing!) we might buy a big house where there will be plenty of space for all the extra things I’d like to do but haven’t got space for here!

*I should also add that I have no practical skills. I haven’t sewn more than a button in my life, or tried to draw or paint since school. We also don’t own a drill or any other very practical tools, so the things I suggest really can be done by anybody!