What Bank Holidays are made for...

I hope you had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend! Here are a few highlights from our rather laidback few days that, now I'm writing this, seemed to consist mainly of food and shopping...

We finally got around to trying Homeslice in Neal's Yard and it completely lived up to the hype. After briefly debating about whether to get one slice each, we ended up going for the 20" pizza (ahem...), with the rocket and parmesan on one half and mushroom on the other. Absolutely delicious. Definitely worth a visit.

I came across this beauty in Urban Outfitters for the ridiculously low price of £25 so I snapped it up to replace the rather battered old Ikea paper lampshade that was in our hallway. I'm a little disappointed that I can already see a little of the copper paint coming off but it's in such a tiny corner and to be honest, is so high up that I think we can get away with it.

I also popped into Cos in Covent Garden and picked up quite a few items there. This jacket which suits me far better than the bomber jackets I'd tried on and this beautiful pink jumper (which must have been inspired by this post as it's my first item of pink clothing in my wardrobe). It goes perfectly with boyfriend jeans. And a lovely soft grey tee that annoyingly I can't find on their site but if you pop into the Covent Garden store soon you'll find it right by the main door!

As is the norm at weekends, I baked. This time I went for Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake and let me tell you, this is amazing. I'm trying to forget the scary amount of butter and sugar that went into this as we have already got through half in *let me check...* less than 12 hours but that is just testament to how moreish this is. I ended up splitting the mixture into two cake tins and sandwiched them together with the cream cheese topping. Lovely.

I hope you enjoyed that extra day. Don't you just love May and the two Bank Holidays we get?!

Blush pink in the home

Even though I'm a makeup artist by trade and a complete beauty junkie, I've never considered myself much of a girlie girl, but I am beginning to love a bit of blush pink in the home. It goes particularly well with my old friends white and grey (and my new flirtation, copper) without looking overly sweet:

Bedroom

Home office

Chair

Bedroom

Here are a few finds that I really like:

Sheepskin cushion - TK Maxx; Easy chair - Heal's; Vinyl record player - UO; Paper tray - La Redoute; Wool throw - Not on the high street; Curved chairs - La Redoute; Pendant lights - Graham and Green; Waffle bath towel - H&M; Jumbo mug - Graham and Green

Greta's home

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I pretty much want to jump into Greta's home. I love everything about it - the colours, the fact that it is so homely & don't get me even started on that kitchen. That is the dream.

At the moment my brain's pretty much preoccupied about working with a friend on a new project. I'm excited but also a little nervous... It's always risky working with a friend, but we lived together for 2 years so at least we know each other inside out. It's a fun project though so once it gets going I'll be sure to let you know!

Hope you have a lovely week - Louise x

Perfection

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These photos pretty much sum up how I would love our flat to look after the redecoration. We're going with white walls but we really want nice big splashes of colour. I don't know about you, but I need colour around me - it instantly makes me happy!

A darling Brooklyn apartment

I recently came across the blog, Darling Dexter. Not quite sure how I didn't find it earlier - especially as I'd been swooning over the bedroom in their old NY apartment for months. I was so excited to see photos of their new apartment in Brooklyn. Just as amazing - as these photos (via Design*Sponge) show...

Beautiful bedroom

Have you seen this lovely bedroom? So many great ideas to try. Read more on I Just Might Explode...

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♥

I'm pretty much in love with Donna Wilson's little creations, especially Rosie (the beauty on the left) who apparently "likes ladybirds and rainbow beetles, dislikes being on her own" and Rudie Raccoon who "loves rumaging through people's possesions, dislikes cats - they smell funny."

Isn't it such a lovely idea to include little fun details like this with each creature?

I've included a few other beauties below - am veeeery tempted to get the mittens as a little "from me, to me" present :) - Louise x

Dream a little dream...

As regular readers of this blog will know, I took a little break from the blog earlier this year due to ill health which also rather painfully coincided with the OH losing his job. The OH has now found a new job which he loves and I'm on the mend and back in the workplace - which rather excitingly means that we can revisit our plans to do up the flat!

The first rooms to tackle have to be the kitchen and the bathroom. I've been saving any images that grab me for both rooms, but I thought I'd start by sharing the ones of my dream kitchen (kitchens have proved to be much more exciting than bathrooms!)





Images via Interiors Porn, Living Etc, Desire to Inspire, Apartment Therapy, Emma's Designblogg, The Selby & The Seventy Tree

Swedish Home

I absolutely love this charming Swedish home. It looks so cosy with the fire, throws and the stacks of books and CDs. Perfect house tour for a chilly day.

Hope you had a lovely weekend. Me and the OH went out on Saturday to this really nice pub in Camberwell to celebrate a friend's new job. Never been there before, definitely worth a few drinks if you're in the area (and the food looked pretty great too). I was absolutely gutted to miss the Midcentury Modern show in nearby Dulwich (did any of you make it?) but did manage to get down to see my sister and her hubbie for a big Sunday pub lunch here. Another great pub I might add! This weekend was all about the pubs :)

Images via Hus & Hem

Happy Monday!

What isn't to like about this apartment? The furniture lends it so much character. And I have real radiator envy (see top pic). *Oh dear, that really is a sign of impending middle age...*

I'm off to Manchester for the week to shop to work so blog posts will be few and far between I'm afraid. But I am going to try to schedule a few in (wish me luck with that!) so if all goes to plan, there won't be complete silence from me this week!

Photos via The Seventy Tree

More on Rachel Whiting

As promised, here are some of the other beauties I found on Rachel Whiting's website.

I especially love the first picture of the home office. I was reading an article in The Times magazine on Saturday about how Generation zero are embracing minimalism. I think it's a brilliant idea - and I'm definitely not one for avid consumerism, but I do need and love having beautiful, inspiring, colourful and useful things around me. For me, it makes a house a home. I guess that's why I love that home office so much. How inspiring would it be to have a little corner of your home like that to devote to your hobbies and passions?

Love

What a gorgeous home. And I love that kitchen. That is the dream!

In other news, I am absolutely shattered. We had a huge marketing project last week and ended up working through the night up to the 9am launch. I've felt jet lagged all weekend. Lots of baking and vintage shopping has helped me get through it though ;) Hope you all had a great weekend xx

Images via Dos Family

White bedrooms

After flirting with light blue, we've finally decided to go for clean white walls in our bedroom - mainly due to these pictures which have been inspiring me with just how calm, refreshing and light all the rooms look!

So pleased that we've made a decision - going to be a fun summer project! (Ah I say that now - I bet I'll be singing a very different tune two, no maybe, one hour in!)

Images via Apartment Therapy & Design is Mine