I'm not dolally after all!

http://wholelottalovely.wordpress.com/

You may recall a few weeks ago that I did a post on chalk boards which I am really loving right now, and there was a little bit of confussion as to just where I had spotted the picture above, (I had been blogging while watching TV and flicking through my pile of magazines) I thought I had spotted it in the Livingetc magazine, then found that it was in the Ideal Home Magazine, well actually I was right all along, I had spotted it in the Livingect magazine, it was this months to be exact (February 2010) I thought I was going a bit dolally, but I'm happy to report that I'm not! Well anyway, the stylist who had styled the shot for the Ideal Home Magazine turned out to be marie Nichols, (Marie left a comment on the post) who is an interior stylist from the UK, currently working as a freelance stylist in Sydney, she writes the blog Whole Lotta Lovely, which is now on my list of must read blogs, if you have ever wondered like I do, how the process goes from idea to final photo in the magazine, then you get a little glipme into this on Maries blog, click here to see an example. Being a stylist is something I dream of maybe doing one day.......

Take one old picture frame.....

The other day while browsing Apartment Therapy I came across a post on how to make a bulletin board out of something called homasote and burlap. Well as luck would have it, I had a piece of this board and some burlap just hanging around at home, I also had an old picture frame hanging up with no picture in it, which my husband said looked daft with nothing in it, although I thought it was making a statement, just because it is a picture frame doesn't mean it has to have a picture in it, right? Anyways, I thought my bulletin board needed a frame, so I used this one, I didn't tell my husband that the burlap came from his fancy dress costume from a few year ago when he went to a party as a rat catcher! Its been in the back of the cupboard for so long hopefully he want miss it!

I'm going to use the bulletin board to collect pictures of things that will hopefully help me find a style that I am happy with, (still working on the Finding your own Style series) I have been taking a look at colour pattern and texture over the last few weeks and am drawn to lots of natural textures and fibres, such as woolen throws and wooden furniture, I'm not a fan of high gloss plastic looking items, although I do favour reflective surfaces.

Fabulous tip for you.

At the beginning of the month when we had snow, my daughter borrowed my leather gloves to go make snow men in, (she tells me that she has discovered that leather gloves are soooo good for building snow men in) and when Mr snow man was finished being rolled about all over our garden, said daughter put my leather gloves (which I might add where actually a present to me) on the back of the solid fuel range(its a Stanley) to dry.... Next day when I came to put them on, they where... what shall I say....slightly crispy! Slightly miffed that that my gloves where possibly ruined, I had a brain wave moment and reached for the auto glym which I use to polish the leather seats of my husbands car, with the thoughts that if it works for car seats it will work for gloves, so having put the gloves on, I squirted some cream on to the palms of the gloves and rubbed in, and I have to say it worked like a dream! Fast forwards to yesterday, and I took a trip to the charity shop to look for a dresser for my kitchen, didn't find one, but did find a fab pair of Nine West knee high leather boots, like new just needed a bit of love, and on bringing these little stunners home remembered the auto glym cream and yes folks it works like a dream on leather boots too!

So in a way I have to thank my daugter for this tip as I may never of discovered just how good this stuff really is.

Actually turning over the bottle and reading the label, it does read, and I quote, ALTERNATIVE USES: Suitable for a wide range of household leather goods. Always test an inconspicuous area first as certain types of unsealed leather may stain or suffer colour loss when brought into contact with moisture.

I also note that this stuff is, By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen and HRH the Prince of Wales. (do a little curtsy) So it must be good stuff!

The room swap...

Photo apartment therapy

So.... you may remember that I talked about giving our two daughters some much needed space by swapping bedrooms with them in this post here, and last weekend we took the bull by the horns so to speak and set about the big swap. I would love to say that at the end of it all we had a lovely snug bedroom for myself and my husband, like the room above, and our girls had more room to... well just be girls, but as they say the best laid planes of mice and men, and its safe to say that it did not go to plan at all, and at this point my husbands voice is still ringing in my ears, "I told you so". Well I had to see for myself, not being one to just take any ones word for it, so I set about the big swap, when I say I, what I mean is all the family and a friends little girl who we where baby sitting at the time ( make the most of some free child labour), and we all began merrily humping bedroom furniture across the landing...... and back again...... and when I say back again, I really do mean BACK again. Yes folks we spent all Saturday afternoon swapping the rooms around....then all Saturday evening swapping it right back again!!

I wish I had taken some before and after photos so you could see what I mean, (I got this snap half way though) basically our double bed and bedside tables fitted in nicely, but we came unstuck with the wardrobe space, we just would not be able to open the doors to get into them. And then there came the realisation that in our bedroom I have some 18 years of very important clutter! Where would I keep it all. So for now we are back in our old room, our youngest daughter is back in the small room, and our oldest daughter is back on the living room floor! Looking on the positive side if there is one, the rooms got a good hover over, and I began to realise that I need to have a very serious de-clutter, and although I tell myself that I'm not a hoarder of useless stuff, faced with the reality, have to confess that I think I have a slight problem. (enter stage right new book to book pile, apartment therapy the eight-step cure, which I have to say is making a very good read.)

This weekend is a bedroom swap free weekend.... or the rest of my family plan to be out.... all weekend! Have yourselves a good one ;)

Design Challenge

Have you ever thought about designing/making a piece of furniture, but don't have all the resources? The CustomMade.com Design Challenge invites you to use Google SketchUp to create your design and upload it here: If you design the winning creation, CustomMade.com, an online marketplace for consumers/designers seeking customized furniture and wood pieces, will create the piece you designed -- and pick up the tab!

You will have to be pretty quick though,

Entries Accepted: January 18, 2010 – February 12, 2010
Voting for Top Three Entries: February 15, 2010 – February 23, 2010
Winner Announced: Friday, February 26, 2010


For a full description and a link to the rules, check out http://blog.custommade.com/2010/01/design- challenge-2010/