Barn update

I have a sore throat. One of those itchy, scratchy, irritating sore throats. It's very aggravating. On the brightside, it does mean that at 3 o'clock in the morning I am up and sitting at my computer and there couldn't be a better time for me to give you a little update on my barn project.

When we first moved in to Pear Tree Cottage one of the things I was most taken with, was the lovely barn/out building that came with it...


(Excuse the photo quality, they were taken with my phone and are now the only photos of the barn as it was.)

                         This fabulous stove is in full working order and staying in the reno'd barn

                                      It really was just a dumping ground after we moved in.

                                                 very 'rustic', but not very stable....

                                             The barn in relation to the house

           I'm hoping to keep one of the old windows and turn it into a mirror...I'll let you know how that goes!

                                The vegetation was really making itself at home!

                  Who needs velux windows when you already have natural  light streaming through your rafters!

Well, clearly you can see there's much to be done. My aim was to restore rather than get rid of all of the barn's charm. However, as any of you who have taken on a project like this will know, it's a bit like dominoes and once you touch one thing, it tends to have a knock-on effect elsewhere. I hope I have done the barn justice. You can let me know, I will be posting new pictures very soon.

Now, one more mug of hot lemon and honey and I'm off to try and get some sleep.

Night, night.

B x

Telling it like it is...THE big 4-0

I worry.

I worry about what people think about me.

Quite a lot.

It's my weakness.

I've been saying for ages that I would show you guys my revamped kitchen floor...

But I have procrastinated- I'm very good at that.

In my warped mind, I would rather show you my floor when it's looking bad. Then I figure you won't judge (as we all agree it looks bad) Lately I've been taking a long hard look at myself. Another thing I have noticed is I really avoid putting pictures of myself on here. I look at other blogs I follow and people have pics of themselves and their outfit for the day etc and I am in awe of their confidence. I convince myself people would be picking me apart. I need to stop that.

Tomorrow, I turn 40. I think this is a really grown up age. An age when I should be comfortable in my own skin. Caring less about the things that don't matter. So in honour of the occasion...

Welcome to my kitchen...

I'm honestly not angry or upset in this picture, I just find it really difficult to smile without looking like a total goofball! Also, I was cooking an omlette and burnt the pan - doh!

I think the floors look so much better that the old laminate. The house was built in 1840 and these are original boards - very cool.

My new photo wall is getting there, I do need more pics though. I would like to cover alot of that wall. The heart on the right I made with assorted red buttons.

As you can see, the hearth were the cooker goes has been uncovered and needs to be stripped and then painted bright red which is what it would have looked like originally.

I love this gorgeous big window, I can look out at the barn and the garden while I'm doing the dishes. Excuse the mess on the side...I was cooking my omlette remember!?

My favourite hand towel on the left by PIP Studio.

I got this R from a charity shop, they had sold out of B's!

                                                                    See...total goofball!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Hugs,

B x

The Daughter Meeting, Shabby Chic-ing, Antique Seeking Weekend Part1

Hello friends, I hope you are well. Are you all waiting expectantly for spring? I know I am. It feels like it's just around the corner and I, for one, cannot wait! We catch glimpses here and there of the joys to come; buds on the trees and pretty snowdrops in the flower beds. As always spring is a terrible tease! I come with pictures of my recent trip to Bath. I went to Bath originally for 2 reasons.

1. I found a great opportunity to do a one day course on how to 'Shabby Chic' your furniture.
2. Bath is a short drive from where my daughter is at uni.

Perfect. I was all set to go. Then I realised that the weekend of  my course was also the weekend for the Shepton Mallet Antiques fair. That was settled. I was bound for a 'Daughter Meeting, Shabby Chic-ing, Antique Seeking weekend'!

The course was on the Saturday morning at a place called THE MAKERY in Bath. It was a great course and the tutor, Jane was incredibly informative and helpful.
(They didn't pay me to say any of that by the way!)

 That's my chair on the table, it was a charity shop find and cost just 20 pounds - I don't have a before I'm afraid. They also do an upholstery course which I'd like to do next so that I can cover my chair with linen.

 This is Jane our tutor working her magic!

 The pupils were all really friendly ladies. We all got on straight away and helped each other out. We had a chance to chat over many cups of tea and some gorgeous sandwiches.

My finished chair - I just need to varnish it now!


As I've never been to Bath, once the course was finished I decided to take a walk around the town...

 It's so beautiful, and such a relaxed place...

 Love the use of space here.

They have built gorgeous structures over the River Avon.

After my full day, I headed back to the hotel to freshen up and Jess and I headed to a noodle bar for dinner - perfect!

Well, I'm off to get the kids from school after that photo overload. But I'll be back soon with part 2; Shepton Mallet Fair.

Have a great week won't you?

Hugs, B xxxxx 

Busy, ruining my kitchen...

Firstly I must apologise for the photo quality of this post - still no camera...

Chris went to the States recently and he'd been gone less than 24 hours when I got itchy fingers and wanted to do something 'big' something that would make a difference and have him in awe at what a fabulous wife and homemaker I am...

Even though we've now been in Pear Tree Cottage for a year and a half, we haven't even got upstairs to work on the bedrooms, but the downstairs is getting there - gradually. Our house was built in 1840, but I feel that the previous owners stripped it of it's history and I'm trying to get that 'cottagey' feel back. The one thing that has been bugging me since we moved in is the flooring in the kitchen. Although perfectly laid and probably brand new, the orange laminate drove me NUTS!

Although looking at it now in this picture it doesn't look too bad! I was convinced I could make a difference and decided to rip it up. I actually started at the opposite  end of the room from this picture as I wasn't sure if it was an extension and so had a peek under the and was very happy to find gorgeous floorboards! So, before you know it I'm up to my neck in dust and pieces of wood...

Ruining my new slippers in the process! And cutting my leg...So, all was going swimmingly until I got 2 thirds of the way through and found a piece of hardboard where they had previously joined two rooms to make the kitchen bigger. Hmmm, I looked behind me and realised it was too late to go back. I kept pulling up the flooring only to realise these boards were running horizontal to the the rest of the room. I am now left with a room like this...

See the lovely floorboards at the bottom of the picture? And the patchy floorboards at the top?

Not a good look.

I don't want perfect floorboards, I'm happy for the kitchen to be 'rustic' but this is a bit too rustic, even for me! So, now I am aching all over and trying to come up with a way to fix this mess before my darling husband sees it.

Wish me luck!

B x

Rustic/Swedish/French/English Country...ish.

At last! Things seem to have got back to 'normal' around here, my back is no longer playing up and neither is my internet so we seem to be back on track...

THANK YOU guys for all of your caring messages and emails, you are such a lovely, thoughtful bunch :O)

And a big 'cheers' to my girl Jo at Brown Paper and String for her spicy apple chutney recipe...

will let you know how it goes.

You may remember this post, when I first introduced you to my new house and also our stable/barn which we planned to reno. Well, I have been looking for the right builder to take on the job of sympathetically turning this old wooden shack into a studio and spare bedroom. I think I've found him and all being well he should be starting the transformation very soon!

So, I have been scouring the internet (now that it's working!) looking for pictures that capture the 'feel' I'm going for... that classic combination of...erm...Rustic/Swedish/French/English Countryish!

...Oh, you know what I'm getting at, right?

Have a great week!

B x
pic 1 is from here
pic 2 and 3 are from here

Living Room Reveal...

Hello Ladies!

Firstly I want to thank you all for wonderful support after my last post revealing my new venture. It is such a confidence boost to have such great friends who are happy to bestow on me wonderful words of encouragement.

Now, I was thinking, it's been a while since I showed you around the place in this post. When my Living room looked like this....

The wallpaper was pink with (not visible in pictures) flowers all over it. Not really my taste. The curtains drove me nuts, they remind me of someone wearing trousers that are too short, swinging around the ankles!
So, I wanted this house to be dressed in a style more befitting its era. Here it is...


The curtains are from Ikea and quite a steal at 35 pounds. And the mirror; which I LOVE was 50 pounds from a 'junk shop'. I have coveted the same or similar mirror for years which I originally found here for 571 pounds!!!



I'm not sure if you can tell, but the walls are grey. The colour is "Chiltern Grey" and I love it, it manages to be grey and warm at the same time - perfect. The 2 seater in the window is a new purchase from Laura Ashley in the UK but all the other furniture is from Canada. So, there we have it my new living room. next I'll show you what I've done with the sun room so far.

Today I have a meeting with the planning department to discuss plans to renovate our barn...



...how exciting!

Have a wonderful week,

B x

Reno hell!

The floor boards are up and now the Internet and tv are down. My husband is away , and i'm hanging on to my sanity by the skin of my teeth. This is Reno hell. I am sending this from my phone as I sit on a window ledge; the only seating in the house at the moment. My tv/Internet provider can't get a tech to me for a week and the kids are on half-term school holidays from Friday. Oh boy. This is gonna be a long week! Back soon; I hope!

Wishing you all a better week than me,

B x