Can't stop looking at . . .

Each week, I'll be sharing with you something that has caught my eye. It may be a picture, blog, product or website.

I went into my local Next home shop yesterday to look for a gift for my great aunt's birthday, and was really pleasantly surprised with their new range of accessories. As usual, everything was available in several colourways, but what really impressed me was the range of 100% recycled glass vases that were on display. My favourite was this red one - I really love the shape:

Image from here.

This green vase also caught my eye:

I really like how the recycled aspect of the glass makes the vases look older they are. Also, at only £5, they're complete bargains!

Under the stairs . . .

I've finally managed to do some more decorating in our dining room! The area under the stairs is now nearly finished - still need to paint the woodwork, but I'll do all of this in one go when I've finished with the emulsion.

Initially I wasn't sure whether to use the darker shade of green on both walls, but I'm really glad I did as it makes the area feel quite cosy.

I also love my new red cushion (it's quite a light red but looks more of a coral colour in this picture) - it was a birthday present from our lovely friends Andy and Anna (thank you guys).  I really like the way the red sits against the olive green.

Here's a little close up of what's on the shelf above the sofa:

I've got a few more walls to go (the ones with lots of shelves with lots of books on them) before I'll have finished in here, but it's slowly coming together. Hopefully I'll be able to share "after" pictures with you before too much longer.

A big bed for a little boy.

I mentioned here that I have been thinking a lot about which bed to get Torin, as he's reaching the stage where he really should be in a bigger bed. Well, after a lot of browsing the internet and several visits to various shops, I've finally decided on the one. In fact, I've ordered it and it should be arriving in mid-August!

It's the Hastings single bed from Marks and Spencer:

I think this picture is actually of the double version of the bed.

Here's the bed laid bare so you can see all of the headboard (again, I think it's the double):

Images from here.

I chose this bed as it is pretty timeless, good quality (it's not just any bed . . . etc.) and it was in the sale with a 20% discount - not bad! It's also a full-sized adult single bed, so it will hopefully last him until he's an adult.

Our plan at the moment is to keep Torin in his room for the time being and get the M and S delivery people to assemble the bed in there - I was really impressed with this service - there's no deliver charge, and installation and assembly is included in the price of the bed! They even take away all their rubbish with them!

Now all we have to do is find a mattress, and then figure out a way of keeping him in it all night!

Can't stop looking at . . .

Each week, I'll be sharing with you something that has caught my eye. It may be a picture, blog, product or website.

As I sit here looking out of the window in our back door at the rain hammering down into our garden, I feel I'm really in need of something to remind me that it is in fact July and not October! This beautiful plate from Pedlars has done the trick.

Image from here.

At £65, it's not cheap, but the Italian design and pretty colour are a great way to brighten up a table on a day like today!

Can't stop looking at . . .

Each week, I'll be sharing with you something that has caught my eye. It may be a picture, blog, product or website.

While I was at my parents' house last week, my mum tole me that she wanted to re-decorate their downstairs cloakroom. Currently, the room has a pale blue suite, pale blue and white tiles and blue walls and my mum wants to change it to a white suite with dark wooden accessories and dark tiles. 

An image of a bathroom that I had cut out of Ideal Home magazine a few years ago sprung into my mind, and I tried to describe it to my mum, although I don't really think I managed to do it justice. It was this picture of Nicola Gill and John Ces' bathroom from their 1840s terraced house in Hastings, Sussex:

Images from here.

I think that the couple are very brave to use a dark colour so completely in this room, but those tiles work beautifully with the white suite and lime accents. So incredibly opulent!

As a lovely coincidence, when I got back to Cardiff, the August issue of Ideal Home was waiting for me, and inside was a complete feature of Nicola and John's house, along with this more recent picture of their bathroom:

Sorry for the quite poor quality of the picture - it was the only one I could find. I really like the fact that the couple still have the same bathroom, but that it now looks a little more relaxed (something I imagine that has happened as the result of their two children being born).