Its a blogs life.

This Home Sweet Home is about a year old, I say about, because I'm not really sure when the blog became This Home Sweet Home, as it started out with another name, and was just a place where I posted random things, usually homes related stuff, and after a few false starts and name changes, the beginnings of This Home Sweet Home started, (I did want to name the blog just Home Sweet Home but that had already been taken. ) This Home Sweet home is the first blog that I started properly, and whats funny is that it has kind of gone off on its own pathway really, I had at first intended for it to be more local, but the interest comes from here there and just about every where, so I'm letting it go in the direction that it wants to go in, and because of this I have decided to start another blog, called The Homes Spot, which I will keep a firm grip of and keep it local, hopefully all going according to plan, I want to use The Homes Spot to show case all things for the home, from the local craft and farmers markets to the great interiors and furnishings shops around the islands. Sometimes living on an Island can make you feel a bit cut off, and you often don't really appreciate whats on your own front door, you know that feeling , the grass is always greener on the other side until you get there, although I'm not totally against blogging about off island shopping, after all Ikea is just a boat trip away in France, and its calling me! But on the whole, The Homes Spot will be a local blog. I'm hoping to get it off the ground and moving full steam ahead for the new year, so if you don't see me here for a while that's where I will be.

Colour Board.

What is the first thing that springs to mind when you think of the colour grey? If you live in the UK then you can be forgiven for thinking grey is a dreary colour that conjures up thoughts of long cold wet winters, filled with grey skies, but surprisingly grey is growing in popularity both in fashion and in interiors trends for Autumn/Winter2009/10.

Grey is becoming the new neutral colour instead of beige, I always feel that grey is quite a grown up colour, very serious, and sober, but also very chic, and luxurious, its a colour like black and white that is perhaps timeless. What strike me from looking at the above pictures is actually how calming grey can be. Warm greys and grey silver tones can be complimented with pops of bright accent colours of reds and deep pink, aubergines and mustard yellows. The use of textures such as cashmere and wool add a luxurious feel, making you feel cosy and safe. Perhaps in these economic times of unrest, grey is just the colour that we need, providing us with some escape form the stressful world outside.

Credits to:

Living etc magazine, Styling Emma Thomas, Photography Emma Lee

Homes and Gardens Magazine, Styling Kate French/Mary weaver, Photography Tom Leighton/jack Curtis

Toast Styling Leslie dilcock Photography Jonathan west

For more information on colour trends go to mix colour updates

Friday Folksy Finds

Click on photo to visit shop

These lovely coil fabric baskets caught my eye this week over on Folksy, found in the new shop of Scrap, wrap, Coil, i just love these Autumnal colours, don't you?

Just in case you thought you had missed last Fridays Folksy Find, well, yes I forgot all about it, I think I may move it to a Monthly post rather than a weekly post, say the first week of each month. Do let me know if you spot something and you think it is worth a mention, its nice to here what floats you boat on folksy.

Just in case you are wondering, Folksy is a bit like Esty, but is the UK version, promoting craft and design talent through showcasing their work online. Its also a great place to find something unique for the home.

Flickr Group.

I thought it would be nice to have a This Home Sweet Home Flickr group, I don't know about you, but I love a good before and after photo of a diy/ decorating project, and I also thought it would be nice to share them on this blog as well, so if you have any home related projects that you have on the go or have just finished and would love to share them, well knock yourselves out and get adding you photos. Each month I will pick out a few that have caught my eye and pop them up on this blog for all to gain inspiration from. Just go to the link http://www.flickr.com/groups/thishomesweethome or you can click the link on the right side column picture (like above) to take you there. See you over there!

The Upholstery Course So Far...

You may remember that in September I started a couple of short courses, one of them being upholstery, (find previous post about it here) well I thought I would treat you to a little update on how things are going, I did repaint the chair black as you can see from the photos above, and so far the the chair has undergone a new webbing base, added new springs, (the holes in the bottom where not gun shot holes as I had first suspected, but rather the old springs that had some how parted company leaving 3 great big holes, though I think the gun shot story had a better ring to it..see here) and the first cover of hessian. Now I know that that does not sound like a lot has gone on, but let me tell you, its actually quite a physical job to reupholster a chair, you would not believe how many tacks embedded into the wood you have to first remove, then there is the filling in of all the holes again, sanding painting etc etc. Things would of moved on a little quicker if I had been able to get my hand on the correct equipment and tools, living on an Island sometimes throws up the problem of nobody stocking what you need, so for now things have come to a halt, as I now need some pretty big needles, and stuffing, then some wadding and more hessian to finish it off.....I'm running out of steam with this and am seriously considering handing it to a proper upholster to finish it off....

Before

After

I did however finish off one piece of furniture, (well almost, I'm thinking of painting the legs so I need another trip to B&Q again) a footstool which had an orange cover to it, very 70s, which I thought would make a good practice piece before taking on the chair (I thought I was being ambitious with the chair until I saw what some of the other ladies where working on... a HUGE chaise lounge!) I gave it a new lease of life by adding a patch work cover, then i spotted the colourful edging at the Charity shop and added it to the edge and ... voila much better.

Have you done anything like this given a new lease of life to something? Are you learning new skills in these times to chiconomy?

Love for vintage and retro continues...

Images from amazon.co.uk and H is for home

There is nothng quite like the feel of a bakelite phone handle in your hands, and that sound you get from dialing each individual number in the dial, of course numbers use to be some what shorter back then, but we are still loving these vintage phones, and more recently phones from the 50s 60s and 70s are seeing a raise in interest. If retro is your thing then how about something like the lovely turquoise one above, really adding a pop of colour to your work desk, or what about the bulls eye phone top centre, are we going to see a return of the mods? remember them?
For places to buy check out H is for Home or amazon for retro or vintage phones, or check out the second hand/charity shops where you may be able to get the origianls.

Magazine of the Month

Moving Home? read on........

Click photo to visit site

This months Magazine is slightly different from the usually as its not one that you will find on the shelves in your local supper market, Exchanged is a biannual magazine published in March and September produced in association with The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is distributed through members of the RICS for their clients, that being home buyers. The magazine is described as "The definitive guide to moving home” and aims to help house buyers plan and select their moving and refurbishment needs, exploring home design, style and practical challenges.

I have been given the Autumn/winter 2009 addition to have a look through, and if you are planning on buying a home, it s full of very useful information from understanding exactly what you are signing up for when you get a mortgage, to making your mark on your new home, plus there is a whole section by kelly Hoppen giving you advice on the interior of your home, and show casing her own famous elegant style, and about how she combines her Notting Hill shop with her design studio and interiors school.

The best bit is that you can get all this info on the website at http://www.exchangedonline.com/

Kelly Hoppens Home

So if you are planning on moving home in the near future this magazine is defiantly worth a read!"

Lovely comments.

I'd just like to start the week off my saying thank you for all the recent lovely comments you have been leaving on my blog, and for your emails too, its nice to share a common interest with people, and to know that you enjoy the blog, do keep them coming you would not believe how just a few comments can put a smile on my face and give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

But unfortunately I have had to turn on the moderate button as those naughty spammers are about, leaving comment not even vaguely related to homes and decor etc. So if you do leave a comment it will not be posted stright away, I will be checking it out first.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the week!

Friday Folksy Find (A little late)

Folksy Shop This home made

OK, I hold my hands up and admit it right off, this is a shameless self promotion! A while back I blogged about this little garlic bag here, and I went on to make a few more of the little guys, some went on to become gifts for friends, one I use in my own kitchen, which left 3 hanging around in my craft room/bedroom/workroom, which i came across the other day while having a bit of a clear out (inspired by Apartment Therapy fall cure) So... I thought I would put them on my folksy shop and there you have it...shameless self promotion over....shop here by the way.

This is My Habitat competition.

Hello every body, I'm back from my weekend away, did you think I had got lost? I have been a bit lazy this week, and not blogged at all, but this morning I opened up my emails and great news, those lovely PR people from shiny red dropped me a line so I could pass on to you some exciting news about Habitat!

By now you are probably aware that Habitats new campaign is called 'This is my Habitat' (for some reason I get a song in my head and start singing this is my..... habitat.... to the tune of I did it my way) fronted by non other then Helena Christensen, well today habitat launches a 'this is my Habitat' competition, and invites you, yes you, (UK home dwellers) to dig out your camera and share what makes your house a home, what gives you the ahhh good to be home feeling when you unlock your front door after a hard day at work.

So for all you fans of design and interiors, unleash your inner interior stylist, get snapping and share your creative style, and your favourite habitat piece of furniture with the rest of Great Britain, and get this! you could be the next face of Habitats 'this is my habitat' campaign. The prize also includes a photo shoot in London, an overnight stay at a 5* star London hotel, plus £1,000 worth of Habitat vouchers! Sounds good?

Want to know more? click through to the Habitat site here. AND not only that, if like me you are unable to actually step into a real larger than life Habitat store (not because I have some strange tick that stops me from crossing the doors of huge department stores, but because I live in Jersey), Habitat’s online store goes live this week. Customers around the UK are now able to order from across the entire range of home furnishing and accessories and get it delivered to your door,... all from the comfort of that so very stylish sofa you are sitting on! Go on you know you want to give it a go.....Gosh all this excitement is making me giddy.