Happy New Year!!!

It’s been far too long since my last post but on top of all of the usual Christmas and New Year celebrations the last month has also included both my boyfriend’s and my birthdays, and (watching my boyfriend) building an eight person dining table from scratch.

So I just thought I’d do a quick post to show you some lovely presents I received and also to share some very exciting news…!

I love these vintage Chinese scissors and plan to hang them as part of that ‘gallery wall’ we still haven’t gotten round to creating…

My boyfriend responded very well to my constant unsubtle hints and got me this beautiful glass cloche!

And also this lovely Brass and Glass picture frame. I still haven’t found the perfect thing to put inside but just popped an old table reservation in for the time being – didn’t he do well?!

Now that all the festivities are over January is normally my least favourite time of the year – I’m really not a fan of the cold and without all the pretty lighting that Christmas provides it’s just so daarrrk. This year, however, I’ve actually been willing the time to go faster as tomorrow….

I start a 4 week work experience placement at Elle Decoration!!!!!!

I genuinely can’t explain how excited (and nervous) I am to have been offered this as it’s just such a good opportunity.

Wish me luck and I’m sure it’ll give me lots of good blog material for the future!

Thanks for reading and I hope you’re having a great start to 2015!

Tali x

 

 

Filament Bulb Bedside Lights

The part of our bedroom where the bed lives is very narrow so we only have space for  rather miniature bedside tables. We wanted to have matching lights for both sides of the bed but all the interesting lamps we came across would completely fill our little tables so we decided to find a way to hang the lights from the wall above the bed instead.

*Throughout this post I ask you to ignore our horrible silver bed frame and bedding – we’re working on it….*

Here’s the ‘before’ picture:

We were inspired by a recent trip to Sweden where we saw lots of lighting cords that had a plug on the end rather than needing wiring in. They were super expensive over there and obviously had the wrong kind of plug so we decided to find some when we got back. This proved much harder than we hoped until a trip to the Ideal Home Show at Christmas where we came across a stall selling the cords – complete with a plug and switch – and a selection of bulbs too. There were a few choices for the colour of the bit which you screw the bulb into (there is probably a name for that) so we went for ‘rose gold.’ We ‘haggled’ them down to £45 for two cords and two bulbs which was pretty good considering the bulbs alone are often around £12 each. We needed some brackets to hang the lights from so we took a trip to Ikea to pick up the Ekby Valter for £2 each.

It turns out our drill is intended more for use on things like wood and cotton wool than brick so this process took slightly longer than expected.

But we got there eventually!

Unfortunately now that we have nice lighting the awful bed is even more apparent – any ideas on how to hide this would be much appreciated?? As the property is rented we can’t just get rid of it but thinking of ways to possibly box it in…

Thanks for reading!

Tali x

 

Super Quick Salt Dough Christmas Decorations

After decorating our Christmas tree on Monday (bit keen I know…) it was still looking fairly dull so I started trying to find crafty ideas to add to it. I kept coming across blogs with Salt Dough decorations so thought I’d give it a go – however most of the instructions suggested cooking them for 4 – 6 hours or leaving them out to dry for a couple of days! I definitely lack the patience for either of those so set about finding a quicker method of setting the dough – a bit of trial and error later and a few slightly exploded decorations and I found a much easier way where you can set the dough in about 5 minutes!

To make the dough mix 2 cups plain flour (I used a mug instead of the official ‘cup’ measurement as it’s just important to keep the proportions the same) with 1 cup regular table salt and gradually mix in 1 cup warm water – you might not need all the water, I had a teeny bit left over. Stir all the ingredients in a bowl and then knead until…. doughy? I’d say between 5-10 minutes depending on how buff you are (ha…)

It should look like this:

Next, roll the dough out onto a very well floured surface. I found it best to roll it really quite thin – maybe 5mm – as this stopped the dough puffing up when cooked. Then cut out your decorations using cookie cutters. I started off making round ones but they looked a bit boring so I ended up doing stars instead.

To make the decorations more interesting I then jazzed them up using an ink pad and some individual letter stamps which I bought from Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget to pierce a small hole in the decorations if you’re planning to hang them – I used a cocktail stick – and now they are ready to ‘bake’.

This is where my incredible cooking skills really came in handy as I stuck the decorations in the microwave!

Initially the dough kept puffing up as it was heating too fast and the moisture was trying to escape too quickly so I turned the microwave to a lower setting and tried again. After a few attempts at this and lots more turning the microwave down I found the perfect setting was the lowest one – you know the one that’s even lower than defrost and you’ve never used before? We shall call it the Salt Dough setting.

I’d suggest cooking for about 1.5 mins then flipping over – continue this until they are completely hard and dry – should take about 5 minutes ish… And there you go!

This amount of dough makes about 35 decorations so filled all the tree gaps nicely and I had enough left over to make a garland for over the mirror.

Hope you like them!

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

 

DIY Advent Calendar!

This year I decided to do something a little different for my boyfriend’s Advent Calendar as sadly I couldn’t quite afford this £140 Rum filled Drinks By The Dram one from Selfridges….

So I took the next best option and went on eBay – I bought 25 paper sweet bags, 20m red and white bakers twine and some numbered vintage looking stickers. I sourced a large twig and some ivy from the park and bought a selection of his favourite chocolate – plus a little extra something for his birthday day which is in December.

After filling the bags, I sealed them and tied them to on to the twig.

When all the bags were attached (3 hours later…) I finished it off with the sprig of ivy.

And voila!

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Trend: Monochrome

Feeling a bit colour-phobic? Here’s some inspiration for your monochrome interior – mixing textures like velvet, glass and marble keeps things interesting whilst stopping it seeming too cold and uninviting.

1.Concrete Bowl, Marks and Spencer £45 || 2.Black Marble Coffee Table, Holly’s House £450 || 3.Pols Potten Glass Bottle, Heal’s £30 || 4.Teapot by Emma Lacey, The Conran Shop £85 || 5.Stamped Metal Vase, Cox and Cox £85 || 6.Hollywood Floor Lamp, John Lewis £450 || 7.Regency Black Velvet Cushion, Habitat £25 || 8.Alphabet Tea Towel, Heal’s £15

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Trend: New Nautical

Growing up I spent a lot of time on the Norfolk coast, a place notorious for its beautiful beaches and countryside. The houses around the coast are often heavily influenced by this and the nautical theme sometimes a little too present. With that in mind I’ve put together this inspiration board in an attempt to bring the nautical trend a bit more up to date – and there’s not a model beach hut in sight…

 

1.Olive Wood Bowl, John Lewis £55 || 2.Eggshell Laundry Rack, Anthropologie £800 || 3.Gradient Vase, Holly’s House £180 || 4.Small Jug by Sue Binns, The Conran Shop £40 || 5.Grey Herringbone Throw, Heal’s £128 || 6.Recycled Glass Vase, Habitat £30 || 7.Andrew Martin Coffee Table, Occa-Home £2695

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Trend: Vibrant Wildlife

This post is really just a bit of fun to highlight some of the amazingly quirky animal inspired pieces around at the minute. The print is by one of my favourite Illustrator’s – Kristjana S Williams – who’s designs can also be bought as beautiful cushion covers and wallpaper.

1.Laura Oakes Painted Horses Cushion, Heals now £37 || 2.Echo Treks Dessert Plate, Anthropologie £14 || 3.Langi Tagl Audubon Print By Kristjana S Williams £150 || 4.La Volière Table Lamp, The Conran Shop £425 || 5.Albion Chair, House of Hackney £2295 || 6.Parrot Lampstand, House of Hackney £395 || 7.Timorous Beasties Velvet Bee Cushion, Liberty £135

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Trend: Scandinavian Design

Last month my boyfriend and I went to Sweden for the weekend to visit a friend who is working out in Gothenburg. We spent our first day exploring the beautiful lakes and beaches surrounding the city and I spent the next day in shopping heaven as we wandered around the huuuge selection of swoon-worthy interiors shops.

Here’s a few photos from the weekend, with a little help from my good friend Instagram of course…

I thought I’d use the trip as an excuse to create a little shopping list with a nod to Scandinavian design. The Les Montgolfières Bowl is inspired by a hot air balloon – isn’t it sweet?

1.Les Montgolfières Bowl, madeindesign.co.uk £55.40 || 2.Hay Copenhague Desk, nest.co.uk £893 || 3.Linie Design Pink Rug, Heal’s £235 || 4.Sports Luxe Geo Yellow Cushion, made.com £15 || 5.Porcelain Vase, Design Vintage £16.50 || 6.Junction Floor Lamp, Heal’s £185 || 7.Sofa by Hee Welling, Haus £1478 || 8.Tom and Jerry Stool, Conran Shop £444

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Autumn Inspired Interiors

I’ve been a very bad blogger lately and haven’t posted for ages. I’ve had a hectic month work-wise and spent last week in the depths of Cambridgeshire assisting on a shoot for the Christmas issue of House Beautiful Magazine where I sadly earned the nickname of ‘the great bauble smasher of London town.’

Oops.

The shoot was in a beautiful Georgian house, originally built as a retreat for Monks, and I spent my days decorating Christmas trees and sweeping up the remnants of ornaments that didn’t survive my flailing. It was a lovely shoot to be a part of and has given me lots of exciting plans for decorating our flat over the festive period. However, as Christmas is still more than three months away I have decided to dedicate this post to Autumn instead. As the weather is getting colder I wanted to find some pieces with textures and colours to create a feeling of warmth whilst still seeming light and fresh.

1.Sunset Cushion, John Lewis £30 || 2.Wooden Bowl, H&M £6.99 || 3.Decorative Bulb, John Lewis £10 || 4.Maude Bowl, Habitat £35 || 5.Pomegranate Candle, Plum & Ashby £24 || 6.Large Glass Vase, H&M £9.99 || 7.Frankie Oak Task Lamp, John Lewis £60 || 8.Gandia Blasco Hexa Rug, Heals £1760

Thanks for reading,

Tali x

Trend: Modern Pastels

I’m currently stockpiling empty jam jars because I saw a great tutorial on how to transform them into gorgeous pastel coloured vases like these:

To make your own use up any old paint you have lying around – or buy the smallest tester pot you can find – and pour a small amount into a clean, dry jar. Tilt the jar to swirl the paint around until the inside is completely coated and leave it somewhere warm to dry for a couple of days.

Et voila! They’re great for displaying flowers or even just as a pot for pens on your desk.

If that’s not completely satisfied your penchant for pastels then here’s a few sliiightly less thrifty purchases (£4299 on a sofa is reasonable right…?) to complete the trend in your home!

1.Mayor Oak Sofa by &Tradition, Nest.com £4299 || 2.Striped Wool Blanket, Zara Home £69.99 || 3.XL Boom Palm Tray, Heal’s £20 || 4.Hive Pendant Light, Made.com £99 || 5.Glass Vase, H&M £3.99 || 6.Twiitter Table Lamp, Heal’s £120 || 7.Blossom Side Table, Habitat £50 || 8.Maya Poster by Ferm Living, Coolshop £23.99

Thanks for reading,

Tali x