Saturday 31 July 2010

Weekend Greetings + Tea Room Dreams

Well we've woken up to a gloomy kind of day and I'm hoping for a break in the clouds as we have a family bbq to go to this afternoon.
We have exactly one week until we go on holiday and we move house the day after we get back! Much excitement, with a bit of stress mixed in!

Right now though, I am dreaming of running a gorgeous and dreamy tea room...

... With some definite Olde English decadence...


And a calming atmosphere...

With an amazing selection of teas...


imaginative decor...


gorgeous food...

cosy spaces

cute crockery and waist-widening cakes
Join me there! I'll order the scones, clotted cream and jam to start! x

Images courtesy of 1st Option, The Mandeville Hotel (in London, highly recommended for a girly afternoon tea and very near Selfridges!) Bombay Duck



Wednesday 28 July 2010

I'm in love...

...With the Autumn/Winter Collection from Reiss. They are my favourite high street store anyway so I'll just take it all please!














Images courtesy of Reiss

Monday 26 July 2010

Happy Monday! And Holiday Memories...

Happy Monday one and all, and I'm still busy wrapping and packing (or trying to get the motivation to!)

The weather is overcast here today so I thought I would post a few memories from our holiday at The One & Only Le Saint Geran in Mauritius early this year. It was probably the best holiday we've ever been on, especially as Luke booked it less than 24 hours before we left so I had no idea until 4pm the day before! It was truly gorgeous there and they make you feel like a VIP, and the children had the time of their lives. Ahh to be back there now...!

The luxury of reading a book with a view like this


Yummy pancakes!
Swimming lessons for joe every day at the Spa
A candlelit bbq on the beach just for us
Jackson enjoying the beach life
A hammock big enough for two!


Saturday 24 July 2010

A Good Day's Shopping

Well we had a fun family day shopping today! First stop was a local bi-annual antiques fair (there is also a lot of bric a brac there but that's what makes it so exciting), we bought a lovely painted sideboard for our new master bedroom and bumped into my sister-in-law laiden down with an odd assortment of applecrates and an old chandelier. She'd been there for 5 hours and this was her third trip back to the car to drop her finds off!
We then went onto the shopping centre where we bought Joseph some much needed sandals now school is out for summer and I found some great sale bargains in Reiss for our upcoming holiday!
Kansas was £89 now £40
Shadow was £79 now £27
Garda was £45 now £24
All this shopping has made me very tired now though so I'm going to pack the children off to bed and have a nice cup of tea! Hope you are all having a great weekend x

Thursday 22 July 2010

Permanent State of Cleaning!


Not many posts this week I'm afraid as I seem to be permanently cleaning! We have someone coming round for a second view on our house today and with two messy boys it's a constant struggle to keep it clean! It's also Joseph's last day at school today and we've got a moving date, (three weeks time) and have a holiday to go on before then argh!
Better get scrubbing whilst Jackson is still asleep (thankfully he is a good napper) - and yes, I do look this glamourous when cleaning! x
Image via weheartit

Monday 19 July 2010

Happy Monday!


Happy Monday one and all! Hope you had a wonderful weekend? We certainly did. We spent Saturday at my brother's house with their brood of children plus mine plus my nephew visiting from France and ended up having a yummy barbeque. Then Sunday we went to the 4th birthday party which was so much fun, the boys all had a ball as did we catching up with all our friends and their little ones.

Today's been hectic, we had a viewing on our house so I've been rushing around with a dusting cloth in hand and then dashing off to Joseph's sports day.  He has mild Dsypraxia so is never probably going to win the running race but he has come on leaps and bounds (pardon the pun) since he began school back in September so it is a huge achievement for him and we celebrated with ice-creams all round afterwards.

So Happy Monday and here's hoping for some creative time tomorrow!

Saturday 17 July 2010

I'm in love...

...With An Angel at My Table. I remember seeing glimpses of their little shop from my bus en route to work in North London when I used to live there and yearned after their lovely painted furniture.

6 long years on and I've revisited them via their website and am loving what I've found...










Image courtesy of An Angel At My Table

Children's Fabrics

We've been out today looking at fabric for both of the boys new rooms.

We have a small button back chair which we would like to get reupholstered for Joseph's room and a leather tub chair which we would like a new fabric seat cushion and back cushion for Jackson's room. For both I really wanted to strike a balance between fun child's room and getting too sickly sweet if you know what I mean. I wanted to give them a decor each that they would love but something that would still grow with them through their changing stages.

Joseph is 5 and is starting to love learning about the world, different cultures, countries and beyond so I decided to go down the 'world traveller' route. Most of his bits I've chosen so far could be used for a teenager and certainly aren't child specific so we decided get a really fun and lively fabric for his button back chair.


It's called Distant Shores, from the Far Far Away range from Harlequin. As with all fabrics, it's much more beautiful in 'real life' and I love the way it includes everything from the Eiffel Tower to a London Bus through to a beautiful Indian elephant.

Jackson is 20 months so I'm keeping his room just airy and simple. I have found a lovely white, red and blue quilt from Zara Home and have ordered some bright prints for his walls. So for the leather tub chair we decided on:



It's called 'Man's Best Friend' (found at good old John Lewis). I love it, it's so fun and yet not babyish, he's going to love it for many years to come. Now I just can't wait to see the finished articles in situ and will make sure before and after photos are taken!

Friday 16 July 2010

Happy Friday!

My best friend's little boy turns 4 this week and we can't wait to celebrate on Sunday as he's having a lovely outdoor party. What a lucky boy to have his birthday in July.

Joseph (left, my eldest), Johnny (centre, the birthday boy) and his little brother Harrison (the one with two pairs of glasses on his head)

After being introduced to the wonderful blog Stella Cake by the equally talented Tracey at Procrastination Mama, I am tempted to make this cake for it, I know the boys would LOVE it!


What are you up to this weekend? Hope it's wonderful! x

Thursday 15 July 2010

Lavender after the Rain



Our English Summer has taken a turn for the worst this week but one thing I love at this time of year is the smell of the flowers after a rain shower; the grass, the roses and especially the lavender. I have just dropped Jackson off to nursery and the pathway leading to the nursery door is lined with the most gorgeous smelling lavender which has lifted my spirit after a very early morning and Jackson nearly setting the house alight (but that's another story). Happy Thursday x

Image courtesy of We Heart It

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Pretty Plumo

For a while now I've been looking for a bamboo seat or footstool to re-do and paint but am finding it very hard to track any down here in rainy old blighty.
After reading the gorgeous blog A High Heeled Foot Through the Door I was once again driven to scouring on the internet for these rare breeds. Eventually I found some very fun bamboo stools at Plumo as well as some other bright and beautiful bits:














Images courtesy of Plumo

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Armchair love

We have an old leather armchair in a sorry old state in storage at the moment. His cushion is well and truly battered and the leather has seen better days. So with our up coming move we've decided to send him to the upholsterer for a truly deserved makeover.

My husband has had enough of the leather and so has declared that fabric is the way to go but is leaving the actual fabric choice up to me. My problem is we don't even know where it's going to go so I have no clue what fabric to use... of course my husband (being the most impatient client in the business!) wants it all done before we move in (4 weeks!) so I'm going back to my hoard of favorites to see if I can glean some inspiration... any ideas?












Images courtesy of House of Turquoise, Desire to Inspire, Veranda, House to Home.


Saturday 10 July 2010

I'm in love...

...with dressing rooms.


 

With these hot hot days my ironing pile breeds and breeds until it takes over a whole floor of my house (it is a very small floor, honest - the converted little attic room!). How I (and the husband) dream of an orderly and beautified dressing room complete with an actual dressing table (I haven't had one since pre-childbirth days, when I actually had time to do something as luxurious as spending time at one).



Our new home has a dressing room so I am very excited. There is lots of lovely cupboard space in there but the one thing I would like to change is the fact that they have doors on the cupboards, I would rip them off to see all our stuff in all it's colourful glory but we are renting for a year so aren't allowed. On the plus side though there is room for a dressing table, and for my poor lonely little chaise longue which has been in storage for nearly a year. I can't wait to reunite with you little one!!

 


Friday 9 July 2010

Today's Dawn Chorus

I came across this UK based company, Cushions Online, specialising in cushions and textiles (surprisingly enough) and I am loving their designs and their price point! Needless to say purchases have been made....! x