• bathing - homestyle

    Bath crayons and wet floors {bath time with kids]

    October 18, 2016 - By 

    I’ve mentioned a few times about our lovely new kitchen. It’s dragged on a little but we’ve had a final push this weekend, painted the ceiling and walls and tiled the floor. We’ve managed to squeeze in about 90% of everything and it’s lovely. It’s easy to get used to loose cupboard doors and cluttered surfaces but I’m really enjoying my new kitchen. The only thing I had to compromise on was the kitchen sink. I really wanted a Belfast sink but my husband wanted a wooden worktop and for some reason it couldn’t be cut around the sink. At…

  • homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – Week 108

    October 17, 2016 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a lovely weekend. We’ve had such a busy week with lots of things to do, especially after school. Both kids got smart new haircuts, we had a good after school karate lesson and were invited to our local Pizza Express to make spooky pizzas for Halloween. It certainly meant the week flew by. Unfortunately I have two poorly children at home with me today. My son has earache and my daughter has flu. She’s slowly getting better. Ironically she’s booked in for the flu nasal spray on Tuesday. If only she’d had it earlier…

  • painting with Annie Sloan
    crafts - homestyle - Orla Kiely - upcycling

    Orla Kiely inspired stool

    October 14, 2016 - By 

    I’ve been needing to inject a bit more colour into our living room. I had some Orla Kiely wrapping paper left over and thought it would be perfect for updating our little stool. A while ago I painted it with a Miffy face but it’s been looking a little sad, definitely in need of some TLC. I gathered my supplies: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor’s Silk and a paint brush. I love using Chalk Paints as you don’t need to do any prep! I simply covered the legs and underneath of the stool in two coats of paint and…

  • 6 ways to use Duck Tape Chalkboard tape
    Duck Tape crafts - homestyle

    6 ways to use Duck Tape Chalkboard tape

    October 11, 2016 - By 

    My husband and I have been fighting over the latest Duck Tape. We both love Duck Tape and he often ‘borrows’ mine when he needs it for a DIY project around the house. When he saw the latest Duck Tape Chalkboard tape, from leading stationery brand Duck Tape, he immediately wanted it for himself! I’ve been trying to use it for my own purposes before it disappears into his man-cave, never to be seen again. Luckily it has so many uses that I don’t think there will be much left. The Chalkboard tape can help turn almost any hard surface…

  • PlayStation Kids and Parenting Showcase
    homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – Week 107

    October 10, 2016 - By 

    Happy Monday everyone. The weekend whizzed by for us and we’re all beginning to feel the need for half term to hurry up and arrive. Time for my weekly Monday Happy List. I got my hair cut! I hate getting my hair cut so this was a big thing for me. As a parent it can be hard to make time for yourself, but with both children now at school there’s no excuse. I even treated myself to lunch out! With the days colder and so much shorter we seem to be packing in a lot more playing, baking and…

  • the gingerbread house
    homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – Week 106

    October 3, 2016 - By 

    Did you have a good weekend? I can’t believe it’s Monday again, time for me to write my weekly Monday Happy List post. We had a pretty quiet weekend as both the children seem to be laid low with germs. They are adjusting to being back at school and seem to have had permanent coughs and colds ever since term started. They were both so tired that we didn’t even make it to their weekly swimming lesson which was a shame as they are progressing so well. Fortunately we had been invited to try the new Autumn/Winter menu at our…

  • flush-windows
    homestyle

    The benefits of using a local window company

    September 28, 2016 - By 

    Last week our new kitchen was fitted. I’m not sure why it took me so long to realise that it would require time and effort (and money) to make our 1990s house bearable. We both loved our Edwardian terraced house. I loved our neighbours, our street and our proximity to central London. The area was showing signs of gentrification when we lived there but this month they got their first Pret which caused a bit of an outcry and meant Wood Green hit the headlines. It’s fair to say Wood Green has finally arrived – just not in time for…

  • DIY constellation pin badge holder
    crafts - homestyle - upcycling

    DIY constellation pin badge holder

    September 27, 2016 - By 

    It can’t have escaped your notice that pins are really popular at the moment. My collection has been growing steadily for weeks, thanks to my Lucky Box subscription and Instagram. I can’t help but see a pretty pin and have to follow the trail until I have it for my collection! My enamel pin badge collection is getting out of control. Two of my favourites are the Custard Cream enamel pin by Nicki McWilliams which I picked up at one of her workshops, and my seam ripper No Regrets enamel pin badge from Colette. I do have a few more…

  • days out - homestyle - Monday Happy List

    Monday Happy List – Week 105

    September 26, 2016 - By 

    This past week has been a strange one. I’m still adjusting to both my children being at school. There was no time to relax at home though as our new kitchen was installed. We ordered it through Wickes and they had a cancellation which meant we were offered a really early slot or had the option of waiting another 6 weeks. We went for the cancellation slot so spent last weekend packing away our kitchen in the spare room. It was interesting watching our new kitchen being installed and it’s looking quite good with just a few snags. We still…