Home | Reno Update

There's a lot going on with the house renovation at the moment. 

I seem to spend most of my waking hours thinking about all the different complexities and challenges, and importantly what needs to happen next. Project management is not an easy job and yet at the same time, I love buildings and design, and most of all - I love this house. 

The groundwork for the new plumbing went in this week, as well as the stud work for the new family bathroom and some to square off the en-suite.

All the bathroom fixtures also arrived, as well as the new radiators......so many boxes!! Fingers crossed everything we need is there. 

The plumber and the electrician come in to do their first fix this week, I could not be more excited! Because once that's done we can start putting the house back together again. I'll check in with a little update on how that goes but for now here's a little sneaky peek at a few things that changed this week.

We uncovered this old fireplace in our en-suite. We're not going to cover it but have it plastered (with an air-vent concealed in the top) and use it to store our laundry basket. Got to love a feature turned happy function.

This is what our bedroom looks like now we took the stud wall down. Remember it used to be the only bathroom in the house?

Although it's a lovely big room, it's actually pretty difficult to figure out where to put our bed and wardrobes/storage. Every wall has it's drawbacks so it's proving to be a bit of a head-scratcher right now (more on that later). I'm sure we'll figure it out but our interim solution is to ask the electrician to make provision for bedside-table sockets on two walls in the room and then at least we have options.

And that tub weighs a ton - it's bona fide cast iron. Hello gumtree....anyone that can actually lift it down a flight of stairs is welcome.

Last but by no means least, the new stud walls for our Family Bath on the top floor are in. The space can only be described as small but perfectly formed!

There's a Velux going into the roof you can see on the right to provide some natural daylight. I like that all our bathrooms will have windows, although we still need to provide proper ventilation to comply with Building Regs.

And that's it for now. Wish me luck with the first-fix fun!

Home | Pimp My Dresser

Yes, that is a play on words from that popular MTV show of yore, does it still exist?!

Anyway, there's about a thousand things happening in the house right now; it's a never-ending To-Do list. The progress ain't exactly at the prettying-up stage and won't be for quite some time, so I decided to do a little makeover with super-quick results.

Enter stage left: The Dresser (or Chest of Drawers).

This was the first piece of furniture I bought that wasn't a hand-me-down/second-hand/Ikea find. I got it with 20% off (Marks & Spencer have deals on their furniture all the time) and I was smitten by her clean lines, and the fact that she fit so perfectly into the space I needed her to.

Fast forward two years and there's one thing about her that has bugged me the entire time. Her knobs.

They're just too functional and kitchen-feeling for this kind of piece. To be honest I think good old M&S cheaped-out at the end of production, and we all know how I'm a sucker for the small details so I've been keen to switch 'em out ever since she arrived.

I had grand ideas in my head of biding my time and just stumbling across ten beautiful new knobs on-sale at around £1 each. Having forked out a pretty-penny for her in the start I didn't want to spend too much on a make-over.

Two years of searching later, and I hadn't come across my beautiful but bargainous knobs. There are some stores out there that have a great selection but the ones I liked were all in the £4-£6 (plus shipping) range and I just wasn't keen on making that kind of investment for a quick update. I also considered painting cheap wooden ones bright colours, which would be fun but just not really the look I'm going for right now.

And then whilst I was browsing the aisles in B&Q (as I often do these days, it's my second home), I came across these little beauties.

See how they sparkle? Well no you probably don't because the lighting is terrible in these pictures, it get's dark so early these days #bloggerproblems.

Anyway here's the before shot:

And here's the after, so pretty!

These photo's absolutely don't do her justice, you'll just have to trust me on this one. She's a stunner.

And while I was on a knob switching-mission, Dan's old wardrobe in the guest room got a little make-over too.

See those blah white wooden knobs before?

Now you don't....

Mr Wardrobe is sporting a lovely pair of brushed-chrome-effect knobs (a little gift from Miss Dresser).

Doesn't he look smart?

And all for a grand total of £27.84. The knobs were £3.48 each but then I got two free due to an offer that's on at the moment. And it took all of 5 minutes, got to love a speedy make-over.

Not quite the £10 I had in mind, but also not the £40-£60 I was dreading.

How about you guys? Any cool mini-makeovers happening in your house?


Note: Marks & Spencer (M&S) and B&Q have absolutely no idea who I am. I'm talking about these products because I bought them myself and happen to like them.

Five Friday Favourites

It's Friday people! Yippee.... I saw this on Pinterest and thought of you...

Source: Pinterest

Ok, enough fooling around. Here's what rocked my world this week.

1. As I'm sure you've probably noticed I love a good bake! And I love everything about The Great British Bake Off. I can't believe we're at the final already, Ruby for the win!

Source: Pinterest

2. Have you heard the new Kings of Leon album Mechanical Bull? It's insanely good, I can't get enough at the moment. Beautiful War is my favourite track....but then I'm a bit fickle about these things, my favourite track can change depending on my mood, the day, the weather......

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Bull_(album)

3. Speaking of weather, it's been really rainy and cold in Bristol this week (which is obviously not a favourite thing of mine). However Autumn/Fall weather brings these pretty leaves soooo, I'll take the wind and the rain for now.

4. Last night J.P. and I hit up Grillstock on the Triangle, for our All American meaty dinner. And it was mighty fine. I got the 1/4 grilled chicken, which was really succulent and tasty. J.P. plumped for the burger with pulled pork, I may or may not have been a little jealous.

Everyone sits at one big table. We got there just after 7 and managed to get seats without too much hassle but if you're planning on going as a group I would definitely recommend getting there early. We watched quite a few people queue after we sat down.

5. And finally, because I made it through another working week, I treated myself to a new Essie Polish. It's called Twin Sweater Set, and I'm in love. This lighting doesn't do it justice, it's a much darker, richer red in real life.

What's made you smile this week? Happy Friday everyone x

Beauty | High (Hair) Maintenance

I try to keep my "girl-stuff" contained to one space, and this tray pretty much holds everything I need to get ready.

It hurts my brain because although my make-up is in a cute bowl and cups, the whole thing is pretty cluttered.

The other day I thought I would have a clear out = FAIL. I actually really do need everything! Including my five hair products.

Here are the culprits..... And when I say five, I mean not even including my shampoo, conditioner and hair mask. This is stuff I put on AFTER all that jazz.

I like to think I'm fairly low maintenance (Dan laughs like a maniac....), when it comes to being a girl. Give me 45 minutes and I can get showered, dressed, hair-styled and make-up done but I can't bear to give up any of these products. What the....? Here's the down-low:

Product One - When my hair is towel dried I take a pea-sized amount of Aveda's Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair and run it through the ends of my hair.

Product Two - I then flip my hair upside down and spritz the Phyto Volumizing Spray into my roots, then I blow-dry.

Product Three - I switch the curlers/straighteners on and spritz a heat defence product through the mid-lengths to ends. At the moment I'm using the Lee Stafford Argan Oil Miracle Heat Defence Spray.

Product Four - Once I've styled it I usually finish with a quick blast of light-weight hairspray just to smooth any fly-aways and hold my do.

Product Five - I usually wash and style my hair every-other day. The days I don't wash I like to pep my hair up with a dry shampoo. The John Frieda Volume Refresh one is my absolute favourite. I used to use Batiste but always felt a bit weird and scratchy afterwards, not anymore!

So there we have it. Does this seem excessive to you? How many products  do you use on a regular basis and how many have you got stashed away as a just-in-case?

Help a girl out here, am I really that high (hair) maintenance?!

Life | Drink Art

On our last night in Athens, we stopped by an über cool bar in Kolanaki on our way home. 

Now do you want the good news or the bad news first?

The good news is that Soral and Tia were feeling very creative and made some very cool (free) art. The bad news? I can't remember at all what the bar was called, and it was so freakin' cool. My design head was on high-alert taking in the bare brick walls, tables, lighting, bar..... I can totally picture it, aaah!

Anyhoo, look at the cool art they made with our yummy drinks. My favourites are the 2nd and 4th.

Which ones do you guys like best? Do you ever get all arty when you're out and about? 

Life | House Talk

Who wants a first little peek at the house?! 

The photo's are pretty terrible but they give you a rough idea of what we're working with, it's already changed so much since these were taken.....and actually looks far worse right now. Eeeeek!! I'll keep you updated with more detailed projects as we get to them, but for now....here she is, in all her glory!

I'll try and explain the main changes as we go. 

The front reception room is going to be our dining room.  It's got a big, marble fireplace (hidden by my piles of crap that we moved from storage that morning), and a massive cupboard/closet that we're going to turn into a wine cellar. It's big enough to get a 8-seater table in, and I've already bought the chairs on ebay (I get massively over-excited)!.

There's not too much going on in the hallway. The whole house is being re-skimmed as the plaster and paintwork is really bad. We're keeping the original feature archway and will be changing the flooring.

Through to the kitchen, which is actually pretty big. We're going to change the worktops, tiles and flooring, and add an island to eat at when it's smaller groups.

The back wall of the kitchen leads out to the garden (I have no photo's yet, doh) and the internal door through to the utility/laundry room.

This space has probably changed the most! All the units have been ripped out and that boiler will soon be gone too.

It's a little room that has to work really hard for us. We're going to run units under the window to house the washer and dryer with a sink on top, and directly as you walk into the room, there will be a toilet. This house is crying out for a loo downstairs and without extending this is the only place one can go. We also want it to be a place for muddy boots, coats and pet paraphenalia.....phew!

Head upstairs and you come to what is going to be our living room.

We're sacrificing a bedroom because we don't need 4-beds at this point in our lives and love the idea of extra living space.

The front of the house is naturally very light and airy, and each room has high ceilings, sash windows and gorgeous fireplaces.

Across the hall is our current bathroom. Which is so weird. It's this massive room you could literally cart-wheel across. This partition wall is coming down (actually is already down!) and will become one big room to create our master suite.

Bed 4, will then become our en-suite. It's going to be ah-mazing!!!

 Up the stairs to the top of the house...

I'm in love with the rooms up here. They feel so bright, calm and peaceful. Ultimately, they will be our spare rooms though...lucky guests!

Bed 3 (at the back of the house) is getting the biggest makeover. We're creating a family bathroom up here. The bathroom will only be 150 cm by 215 cm, but will mean that we still have two good size doubles and a bathroom for these two bedrooms.

Oh, and if you come over for a cuppa I will force you to climb out onto the roof. The view is just beautiful.

 So that's it. I'll be back soon with a progress report!

Food | Rainy Day

Take one very rainy autumn Sunday,

Add three questionable bananas,

And you get.....the easiest, yummiest banana bread.

This could not be simpler, open this recipe. Put your flour, sugar, eggs and marg in a bowl, yup, all at the same time.

Give 'em a good old mix with a wooden spoon.

Next mash your very sorry-for-themselves banana's. Ideally you would have four of them, but the recipe works fine with three.

 And stir the banana's into your mix.

Pop into a loaf tin. I got mine from Tesco and these handy liners from Lakeland. If you don't have liners just rub a bit of marg on the inside of your tin to prevent any sticking issues.

And then into your pre-heated 180 degree oven for approx. 1 hour. I know mine looks a little burnt....it's actually fine in real life, even so, don't worry if it "catches" quite a bit of colour on top.

Finally slice, butter and sit down with a cup of tea. Admire your baking skills, be thankful you're not outside in the rain and start your countdown to Homeland.....