Temptation (and an exercise in virtual shopping)

I found a lovely new website over the weekend whilst starting my christmas shopping.  In my new found state of minamilism I shall not be buying any of the following items, but in case you're reluctant to join me on my 'not buying it' journey.........have a look at these lovelies below.

All from Mit Hus (UK site but looks like they ship internationally).

Simple wire tree decorations - love anything like this...in fact dare I suggest you could probably recreate these yourself.

Heart Garland - this may be more of a stretching DIY challenge, but only £5 so perhaps easier to just buy!

 

 

 

Not Christmasy, but Autumnal and a bit different.  I really liked this.  Hold on, is there a theme here? - again with patience (and without 3 kids and a full time job) this could be a DIY.

These just make me happy.  Because although they are china, they look like they're in love.  Perhaps her more than him, but never the less in love.  In fact I could really easily buy these......but I shan't.

Finally, I have looked for one of these for ages.  Just ages.  But now I've found it I'm not sure what I needed it for.  I think the joy is in the thrill of the chase rather than actually owning.  So I'll leave it there.

Blimey - I'm enjoying this virtual shopping malarkey.  Apologies if I've encouraged anyone to click....I'm deliberately not creating URLs to the items as a token minamilist gesture.  So if you really want the items you're going to have to search!

Varde love

I'm impatient - I couldn't wait to take this picture even though there wasn't quite enough light.  So here it is, my Ikea Varde shelf.

And hand on heart I didn't buy one new thing to put on it.  I am lusting after a vintage red enamel coffee pot on ebay though.

Needs a bit of a rejig......put the old 'less is more' mantra into practice.

But for the moment, it's good enough.

Do you like?  More pics of kitchen will follow once finished.

The Sofa Saga

So as you may know the sofa collapsed on Christmas Eve.   Whilst at the time it was mildly amusing and we tried very hard not to mind, smugly thinking what jolly festive spirits we were not to worry about such a catastrophe...... now it's seriously annoying me.

We attempted a repair which has shifted the break further along the frame if that's possible.  Essentially the middle of the sofa is now sitting on the floor if anyone parks themselves on it.

So we have two choices (sorry actually three if I count the unmentionable one in):-

1. Purchase the above Halo sofa that I have wanted for ages on credit (currently 30% off in Jan sale)
   
2. Attempt another repair until I have saved up for sofa above (but price will have gone up)
   
3. Borrow my Mum & Dad's spare sofa they have kindly offered (this is actually the unmentionable option - M&D I love you dearly but I am not a Multiyork floral kind of gal, sorry)

 What the heck should we do? 1, 2 or 3?

Bay Tree House

These two bay trees arrived today.  They are a Christmas present that I didn't get round to ordering before Christmas Eve, hence their late arrival.  I need to organise pots, but they look quite sweet with the hessian and gingham ribbon for the moment, don't they?

Our house is actually officially Bay Tree House, but when we moved here 18 months ago we didn't have any bay trees (couldn't afford them!) and so we took the sign down as we thought it looked a bit odd.  But now we have the trees I am regretting taking the sign down. 

It wasn't a great sign to be honest, one of those cast iron ones that everyone had in the 80's.  But perhaps one in slate...........?  Yikes, just checked the price of those.  We will stay as plain old No.9!  Who wants a house with a name anyhow?

As you can see the front door needs painting, I am thinking of a heritage pale green colour.  I also want to change the knocker and letterbox to silver.

And in case anyone is interested the trees were purchased from here.

These shoes inspired my first ever blog post here.

I can still remember their arrival and my excitement....and taking this picture.

But the truth is I can't wear them.  They are just too uncomfortable.  There have been 2 occassions were they have made it out of the wardrobe.  Their first outing was at work, and my colleagues promptly placed bets on how long I would last in them.  I think I even made other people go to the printer for me as I was in so much agony.  I made it until 1pm and then switched into my faithful ballet pumps.

The second time was a friend's birthday meal.  When the waiter announced we would have to wait another 20 mins for our table I almost cried.  The Queen of Clean rescued me with a barstool.

So it's time to accept the inevitable and move on.  They will shortly be appearing on ebay.

I'm posting this as a reminder to myself that things I often want desperately, and think will complete my wardrobe/life etc etc (I'm sure we've all been there) usually don't live up to their promises.  So next time I will resist the calling of the coloured shoes...........

Getting my fix

I've always had a magazine habit (and a diet coke one, but this isn't the place to explore that).

Even with all the images and blogs and inspiration available online, for me there is just nothing nicer than relaxing in the bath with a nice interiors magazine (with a diet coke).  Or for having a flick through whilst your 3 year old is insisting you watch a film with him you have already seen numerous times....you can very easily multi-task watching 'Monsters Inc' with absorbing all the loveliness in Living etc.

So with the move to bigger house last year, and the resulting impact on our household budget, I had narrowed down my magazine consumption to just one a month.  I chose Ideal Home as it felt like it always had something relevant and achieveable in there to me.  But I have missed the aspirational images of Living etc.

So this week I treated myself with my Tesco Clubcard Vouchers to 2 more magazine subscriptions.  I reasoned that they had cost me nothing, although I must have spent a fortune on food to earn £36 worth of vouchers.

I subscribed to Elle Decor and Living Etc.  I was feeling generous so even treated the Queen of Clean to a Mountain Bike Rider magazine subscription with the remaining vouchers.  3 annual subscriptions for £36 in clubcard vouchers - a thrifty find for me.

Is it too early to mention Christmas ideas?

My Yoyo is fanatical about colouring in.  Just can't get enough.  She also loves creating her own master pieces, but colouring in when available is her thing.  I think it's because at 6 you're confident its going to look decent once you're done.  And there is the whole challenge of not going over the lines.....

Anyway I digress.  I found these delightful colouring books and will be getting a couple for her stocking.  Little pricey but I think she will just love them.

 

 

 

Cheapest place I've found so far is here on Amazon.

City in a bag

Loving these 'cities in a bag' from Muji - Just £5.95 each.  London, New York, Paris & Tokyo above.  Barcelona and Germany are also available.

I'm thinking they would make good Secret Santa pressies.  Or if you were romantically inclined and had planned a romantic trip away you could give this to your beloved as a 'teaser'.

Okay - now I'm getting carried away. 

I want one of these...

I really want this one of these chairs above for the playroom/study.  We are currently using a dining room chair in there for the computer and its annoying carrying it backwards and forward to the dining table.

They are both £95 and from the Well considered range at The Conran Shop.

I think I am leaning towards the green one but it's all very hypothetical at this stage...........

The conker 'issue' and tree inspiration

To note the change in season I wanted to post some tree images that have been inspiring me.....

These two wall decals made from vintage wallpaper and are by Inke, available at Supernice.  The price hurts somewhat though - so I'm thinking with a little planning I could try and recreate this myself.

This fantastic bookcase via Ohdeedoh.  Unfortunately it is a one off I think, but again with a little perseverence....(and some green paint?)

This lovely print from a favourite Etsy seller who I've mentioned here before Caramtaback - she is a Norwegian artist who draws on vintage pages - I just love how you can see the print through the image.

And finally, onto the conkers.  My Dad collected these for my youngest son last week on a walk back from the station.  My son calls them his 'coconuts' (he is 3 after all).  So now my boy has lost interest a little (sorry Dad!), I have taken to displaying them in a basket.  I don't know why I like them, I just *do*.  They won't be around for ever, so for the moment I want them in this basket in the living room.

I, (aka the Queen of Clean) feels differently.  He thinks I don't notice but every evening for the past week he has moved them into the playroom.  And so every morning I move them back (even those mornings when I can't find my hair straighteners and need to get 3 children ready for school, yes even those).  A silent battle if you will - a genuine conker 'issue'.  Let's hope we resolve it soon.

School chairs and stairs envy

I bought this chair (along with three others) from our local primary school last christmas. They were selling them for £5 each - I use the other 3 as bedside tables for the kids.

I love them because they are exactly what I had at school too.

The basket of plastic animals is a regular feature round here.



I am also having a major case of stairs envy here. Just loving these from Domino magazine. But not sure if we could carry off the unfinished look like this in our home - it would be a brave move......

Not sure why but I'm loving these

Goldfish coasters from Anthropologie.

Perhaps it is the recent addition to the household? I won't be purchasing though because I have just never really got the point of coasters. I've always felt they send a slightly inhospitable message of 'be careful where you put the drink I've just given you because I don't want you ruining my stuff'.

And that's why most of my furniture is covered in ring marks when you look close.

The tale of the green shoes.....

I can't afford them. That's the honest truth. Also they are too high for me and pinch kind of on the toes.

But I love them. I'm thinking if I send them back I will never find another pair of shoes like this. Ever.