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Kitchen Wall Stencil

Since we moved in, this wall has annoyed me. It runs out of the kitchen and joins the hallway, so anything we did to it needed to be subtle and fit in with decor choices we make for the kitchen, bathroom and hallway. We decided on blue, but that was as far as our decision making went. And yesterday I was staring at this wall again and decided I'd had enough.

See what I mean? Unfortunately we are not currently able to replace the heaters, so decorating the wall would have to do. I had the perfect stencil in mind, I saved it a long time ago hoping I would one day get to use it and now was that time. It was subtle, cheerful and I could do it now. So I popped upstairs to the office, printed it out and covered it in sellotape (a poor mans lamination) before cutting it out. It was a slow, painful process but I got there in the end and could finally get to work.

And I discovered the hard way that using a brush wouldn't work, even though I had been careful it had bled through.

Luckily tissue and water cleared it quickly and I headed back to the drawing board. Then it hit me, my original idea had been to use a sponge. So I googled and sure enough, it could work. So I grabbed the big bag of make up sponges I bought last year (£1 in poundland!) that I insisted I needed, finally they are earning their keep. And yes, it did make my husband laugh.

Isn't that so much better? I liked the sponged look, but if you want a solid look you could do a couple of coats. How much prettier is the wall now?

And here's a little before and after!

Second Viewings and Pinterest

So we sent the estate agent a little email about the bungalow, detailing what we wanted to do to it and why. We got a reply to say the landlord is okay with what we want to do (in theory) and has invited us for a second viewing next week to discuss in better detail what we want to do.

Most of what we want to do is pretty self explanatory (e.g. replace some carpet with some laminate) but the garden path is a bit more complex. It is a simple gravel path with bricks either side. It's quite dull and could do with something cheap and cheerful done to it. So with that in mind I scoured pinterest to come up with some ideas.

Does a particular one jump out at you? Which one do you prefer?

Ding Ding, We Have A Winner?

Recap: Yesterday we were due to view a bungalow, we were still trying to get a time to view the other bungalow.

Well we managed to view both yesterday.

Bungalow One -
While this bungalow was quaint and adorable, in a lovely secluded area it was let down in many ways by the lack of correct information and work it needed. The garage and garden that were attached to the property were to be shared with the main house, giving you no privacy in your own home.
The windows were a confusing factor, although the back windows were in good condition and so didn't need replacing the fact half the windows were white plastic and the other half were black wood was quite an eye sore.
The kitchen only had one double cupboard, no shelf inside and there were a few mould spots. The tiled kitchen floor was something of an acquired taste, while it was to my taste the fact they had tiled over a green carpet that was also mouldy was an issue for us.

Nobody had maintained the property. It needed cleaning, painting, roof repairs and the trees and leaves needed clearing up. It's a shame as it was a lovely little place and with some TLC someone could call it home.

Later that day we viewed
Bungalow Two -
Despite being just off a road the bungalow cannot hear nor see the road thanks to carefully grown hedges and trees at the end of the garden. The carpets are cheap, damaged and ultimately need tearing up but that's a relatively easy task and not too bad given we would prefer laminate floors in certain areas.
The garden needs a little bit of love, the grass is a little patchy in some areas and the gravel walkway is a bit sparse. It could also do with a little fence added in two spots where the wind has knocked down the old fence.

The bathroom is very bright and blue, we would definitely want to tone that down. The bedrooms are spacious and the house and garden have so much natural light, you just know waking up to that would be a joy.
It has an open plan dining area/kitchen which has a lovely amount of storage although the dining area needs a touch of work. The carpet needs replacing ideally, they have put ceiling lining paper on the glass roof which should be removed and due to the recent storms we've had there is a minor split in the gutter which has let a dribble of water in. Nothing that can't be repaired but obviously we would like the landlord to put some money towards this.

We have decided that Ding Ding, We Have A Winner based on approval from the landlord regarding the flooring, garden and dining room. Ultimately it's not a huge fix, it's a little time and energy but is mostly cosmetic.

On the way home hubby said it's a lot of work, so it's just a good thing we have a blog to share it on haha (:

Coffee Table Makeover

I've been in love with addicted2decorating for as long as I can remember.
She always thinks of practical as well as looking good and being a mother (and in a small-ish home) that's something I really can appreciate.

Well I happened to spot this on her blog one day

Before

After

How gorgeous is that!?
I've never quite been able to get it out of my head.

You know the Galaxy Minstrels advert (if you don't, click here), well that's me over this coffee table.

Well a while bag we acquired a lovely coffee table. But it really wasn't "us". We're more farmhouse/vintage/cottage. So it never really fit in with us.

We noticed it was looking a tad sorry for itself in some places (we got it for free, so it's been very well loved) and suddenly it hit me. I knew exactly what to do with it!

Please excuse the mess, the weather down here has been a bit dodgy so I had to do this in the house (with windows open of course).

I stuck on a movie, grabbed my sandpaper and set to work. It took almost four hours to sand it back ready (no manicures or wedding rings were harmed in the sanding of this coffee table).

Eventually I got the chance to start painting and was very pleased with the results.

Two coats of paint later and it was done. I left it to dry over night and we should be moving it to somewhere around the house tomorrow. We're just trying to decide exactly where haha.