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

Tea, with the Queen, in my kitchen...

Ah...I may have exaggerated...ever so slightly...

Just wanted to show you a few little things that I picked up recently on my visit to my local flea market. And I felt sure the title would reel you in! And it's not a lie...well not exactly....

Isn't she lovely? What a gorgeous patina. I think I paid about 1 pound for her! You may find this a little gross...she still has the loose tea inside. I can't bear to part with it. It kind of feels like it came as a package and so I have to keep it that way...am I weird? I also picked up these little beauties...

So pretty! And although I blogged last year about taking the colour out of my kitchen, it seems that slowly but surely it has been creeping back in. It's funny, I swoon over pictures of white kitchens. I go weak at the knees for that pale Scandinavian chicness. But when I try to achieve the look at home, I always feel like I'm not 'done'. And so the colour creeps back in...a touch of blue here...a splash of red there, until before you know it, I'm back to a more 'English Country' style.

I'm thinking I should just go with it. After all, style shouldn't be forced. I must be a true English country girl at heart. I'm sure Her Majesty would approve!

Hugs,

B x

Currently...

• Missing the sunshine of Dubai...
• Getting used to the school run again...
• Admiring my new Kitchen floors...pics to come
• Drooling over my copy of Easy Elegance by Atlanta Bartlett...

 

 

....and preparing to go on my "Shabby Chic weekend". I will be learning how to distress furniture like the pros and visiting a fabulous antique fair, all in the beautiful city of Bath.

Hope you're enjoying what you're 'currently' doing.

Hugs,

B x

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

Desk before and after

I love a 'before and after' don't you? However, usually I am so disorganised (and eager to get started) that I don't stop to take the before shot! But not this time...

This is our ugly old desk...



It has been in our family for about 10 years (but it looks a LOT older than that!) It was Jessica's for a long time and during that time she spilled hair serum on it. Then the 2 younger kids had it, (when I clearly wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on in my house!) and they wrecked it with pens and anything else they could get their hands on! It lost a few knobs too...









So finally I decided, it needed to be shaped up or shipped out; I went for the former....








I absolutely love it! I distressed it; I figured it'll stop me getting stressy when it gets chipped up by the kids! We still have 2 knobs missing and if I can't find similar I may go for changing them all for something else, porcelain maybe? It brightens up my hallway/nook at the bottom of the stairs and gives the kids somewhere to do their homework. Oh, and you may recognise the chair from here don't they look cute together!?

Hope you're all having a great week,

B x

"It's the little things that make a house a home..."

This is something I say to my husband, and my kids almost everyday!

I am constantly on a quest to find that 'little something'.

This week is no exception...these are my new 'treasures'...

Jess and I went to the new(ish) Anthropologie which has opened up in Oxford Street, London and although I was disappointed by the prices (300 pounds for a dress is way out of my financial comfort zone) they did have a great sale section, where I found this beauty...

Originally 15 pounds each(!) I bought the last 4 for 1.59 each!!!

I love a bargain :O)

Recently I have been lamenting the fact that I don't have a birdcage to sit in my bay window (go figure) anyway, yesterday I had to pick Chris up from the station. On my way to get him he called to say he'd missed his train and would be on the next one.


No worries, the station is right round the corner from my favourite place; TK MAXX (Winners to my Canadian friends and TJ Maxx to my American buddies) so in I pop with my eye on the time I make a beeline for the home department. Low and behold there sitting on it's lonesome and priced at a magnificent 12.99 was my hearts desire...








It was love at first sight.

The last thing I have to show you is actually something I'm working on myself - although knowing my work ethic it may be a while before I get to enjoy the finished product...

Made from calico and ribbon they are very cheap- and easy to make. 2 down 3 to go...

All in all, I'd say it's been quite a successful week for 'treasure hunting'!

See you tomorrow,

B x