Creativity Before Consumption, Interiors

The Endless Pursuit of Originality

The illness I suffer from when it comes to interior decoration is called ‘Idon’twantthesameasanyoneelse-itis’. It’s a bit of a problem. The only cure I’ve found is customising everything I buy so that it becomes a one-off. I can’t buy anything off the shelf without painting it a different colour or changing the fabric or altering it in some way. I don’t buy duvet covers or pillows or curtains – I make them out of cool vintage sheets or shirts or blankets. I HATE to have the same things as other people. I really don’t know why and I realise it’s silly and it makes more work for me, but it’s how I’m wired.

Case in point below. Our old kitchen in LA:

In this particular case, there was nothing bought off the shelf anyway, but it was still tweaked in some way. (Another of my illnesses: ‘Ionlyshopatcharityshops-itis’.)

Wooden table – sanded down to look rough (and also left outside in the sun and rain for a bit too long)

White Ikea chairs – bought at a charity shop for $15 each and given new vintage fabric cushion covers

Stool – found on the street and given a sparkly silver seat

Light fixture – bought at a charity shop, originally brass, sprayed red and hung with bits of fabric sewn together

Wall – painted with chalkboard paint

Does anyone else suffer from this disease?

16 July 2012 by
Interiors

Dining Room Creative Space

Now that we’ve got a nice big eat-in kitchen, we’ve decided to forgo a formal dining room and instead make it our office/craft/board game/make a mess room – all piled onto a round table that came with our new house. I’ve always wanted to have a place where I can pull out my sewing machine or start a jigsaw (yes, in my fantasy world I do things like 5000 piece jigsaw puzzles) or the kids can paint and draw and make – and not have to put any of it away until it’s done. Pretty, creative, crafty mess is alright with me. Great example of that below. Love the chairs and the table.

via Jaclyn Paige

I’ll let you know how it goes. My children (and I) have been known to have 8000 projects on the go at one time, so we’ll see how my creative, crafty mess room works in reality. It’s all very well when you have piles of colourful knitting wool and jars of tulle as above. Let’s be honest, in my world it could quickly turn into this.

12 July 2012 by
Interiors

Kitchen Table Dreams

Sometimes wishes DO come true. Even ones I didn’t know I was wishing very hard for. For example a couple of months ago I made a Pinterest board to collect ideas for our new house. One of the images I pinned featured a nice chunky kitchen table, below.

When we moved in to the new place on Saturday, lo and behold, what had the old tenants left behind for us to keep or get rid of? See below… (the table, not the child)

Do you think if I make a Pinterest board all about £££$$$, bags of the stuff might arrive on my doorstep? 

10 July 2012 by
Behind The Scenes

Moved: New London Home

A jam-packed weekend of moving van-loads of stuff to our new house, followed by a full day of cleaning the old house has left me achey and exhausted, but loving my new place.

I’m so happy, I don’t even mind looking like a nutter to the new neighbours.

Not sure about this turquoise wall, faux chandelier, and G-Plan table, but they come with the house so we’ll make it work.

Got lamps?

These cheap cotton and much too short curtains will have to be tucked away in a cupboard and replaced asap.

By evening we’d managed to carve out a little corner of calm while the rest of the house is still a mess. 100% guaranteed to not look like this in a couple of weeks.

Leaping for joy that they no longer have to share a room.

9 July 2012 by
Behind The Scenes

Moving Day Giddiness

TGI bloody F! This weekend I get to move into a lovely, sweet little house and spend some time with these lunatics. Happy days. (All I wanted was to take a nice, normal family photo while my daughter was dressed up for her birthday. And this is what I get).

6 July 2012 by
Interiors

Teeny Tiny Patio

We get the keys to our new house tomorrow. Finally! After a year of living in a beige carpeted, no garden, not very cool flat, we are moving to a sweet little house with a garden (albeit a small, tiled one).

Get ready for the onslaught of before and afters. After not doing anything to our current flat all year, I am READY for some decorating action. 

In the meantime, here’s some inspiration I found for small patio styling. 

Yes, it would be nice to have a big patch of grass for the kids and dog to run around on, but there’s always the park. And look how sweet a patio can look.

via colorful homes

via IDA Interior Lifestyle

5 July 2012 by