Scandinavian Style - Get the look

  

 Beautiful Scandinavian home decor has always been a firm favourite of mine. Decorating with cool whites and pale colours, pared down furniture and home wares.  It never fails to make me take in deep calming breaths.  Must be something to do with the state of my mind, I need a clutter free home because my head is full to bursting with thoughts, ideas and plans most of the time.
 
Having lived in our home for 10 years now and finally some spare funds to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room, we were able to  create the large open plan space I always dreamt of.  It is almost finished, just the new flooring and comfy TV seating area to sort.  Its a lovely bright space, furnished with a combination of reclaimed hand painted furniture, modern pieces and local independent artists.  All coming together to create a bright, light Scandinavian style space.

  Above is a hand painted chest of drawers (the only piece in our home I didn't actually paint)in palest grey.  A bowl and glass ball both found at a local boot sale.  The sand encrusted SEA letters were bought on Etsy.  The painting was very generously given to me by local artist Linda Bartlett whose work I used to sell in my shop.

The dining room view of the space.  Huge white table purchased from Ebay is solid wood with great leg detail. If all white is too much for you to contemplate, the Scandinavian style is also very much about beautiful blond woods.  This look is appearing everywhere on the high street at the moment.

 Pic Danish design store

After much thought and changing my mind I decided to go for the classic Eiffel style chairs in white.  I initially bought a blue Eiffel chair with blonde wooden legs but when we decided to go for a dark floor I felt the metal leg style would suit it better.  I'm really pleased with the look.  We also have  clear Philippe Starck Armchairs for each end of the table.  Not really Scandinavian style but they compliment the look.  I think its important to not just follow a look blindly, but to inject your own personality into your home.

Getting the builders in also gave us a chance to re-think the heating.  I have always loved the old style cast iron radiators and actually, considering they add to the decor and are not designed to sit unnoticed on the wall they were really good value for money.  Ours were purchased from B & Q but you can find many around these days from just £100 each.

What my heart really desires is the traditional Scandinavian style stove (below)  but they are WAY out of my budget.

 pic - pinterest


I really hate to have lots of "stuff" cluttering my work surfaces which is an ongoing trial with four men in the house.  Still its a great game of hide and seek I have !  Storage is important but also has to look good.  When I found these great ceramic house storage jars in the sale in Debenhams they reminded me of the tall house you see in many Scandinavian countries.  I've used them to store the tea, coffee and sugar.

pic - escapisttravel.com

Due to lack of money we decided to leave the existing kitchen units in place for the time being.  We changed the tiles and gave the walls a lick of paint and it looks fine.  A beloved find from my bootsale obsession is the set of beautiful plates and soup bowls displayed on a plate rack found at TK Maxx.   Have to admit they don't get much use but they look LOVELY !  Although they are Vintage English, they look very Scandi to me and fit the space beautifully.

If you want more inspiration for the Scandinavian style please pop over and follow my Pinterest board HERE.

Shop the Sales for Summer must haves

Herringbone Stripe Seat pad from The White Company

was £25 now £12.50

These days I find I 'm not so good at tolerating the push and shove of the Christmas/ New Year Sales. It also seems I never manage to have any funds left anyway after

Deck the hall (and everywhere else)

 I LOVE Christmas ! I love the anticipation, the excitement and the decorating.  I love the decorating!  This year as I'm no longer self employed I'm not so tired and distracted and it has become a pleasure again. We were really lucky to be sent a Christmas tree to review from Pines and Needles so the decorating started earlier than our usual week before Christmas, but today I finished it all off and I LOVE IT !

Knocking down walls

 

Taking inspiration from this picture I found on #Pinterest, I always wanted a wonderful bright spacious kitchen come family room in my home.  Unfortunately we never

Ugly House - New Channel 4 programme

Recently hubby and I have had discussions about taking down walls in the house and extending out the back of the house.  I won't settle for the ordinary and predictable but

Cabbages and Roses

I've lusted over the Cabbages and Roses brand for many years, it always seems

Back to Grey (or thanks for the free paint Helen)

One of the perks of people knowing I upcycle and paint furniture is I am often offered items they are throwing out and on one occasion two massive pots of virtually unused paint !  The paint in question is not your ordinary everyday kind of paint.  Oh no!  Its the top of the range Dulux Trade Diamond Matt in the colour of the moment Dove Grey.  This paint has superior durability, covers like a dream, as hard wearing as they come, can be wiped clean and most  importantly has a matt finish. (so works well if you like a chalk paint kind of finish).

Normally out of my price range I was thrilled to receive the paint from the very lovely School mum friend and set to work immediately on dark wood items that needed a solid undercoat.  Just about to start a commission for a customer, it was also a perfect colour for the job!

Once I completed the commission and still only halfway down the pot of paint ! (goes a long way does quality paint) I looked around for more items in my own home requiring a lick of paint.  With the twins away at Grandma's and No 1 son away on his holiday in Turkey, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some decorating in the house.  Time to change the staircase (AGAIN).

AFTER

Newly painted staircase.  Intend to put the stencil back on them again and still toying with the idea of putting a white stripe up the centre but I'll wait until hubby finishes the new wallpaper before I decide.  Also think I might fill the very tall wall with bits and bobs I have collected on my thrifty travels.

Next I headed to the bedroom to start on the cupboard which houses my linens and has stared accusingly at me for the last few years.  A lovely piece of stag furniture in its day it just had to have a paint job I'm afraid.

                                                                               BEFORE

 AFTER

 Sorry about the dress dummy, I use her to display clothes I sell online and she wears this beautiful silk nightie and dressing gown to remind me to try and stick to a diet for my holidays !

 I even found these gorgeous grey candles on a recent (rare) trip to Ikea.

I am really pleased with the result.  It still needs a bit more wax and a buff, but thanks to Helen's paint it transformed this piece of furniture and really brings the rest of the bedroom furniture together.

 I picked this rocking chair up at a bootsale last year for £10.  I nearly passed out when I saw it and virtually ran over to the stall holder.  I have done nothing to it except clean it and absolutely LOVE it in all its chippy grey painted glory.

Found the grey slip ons in the Next sale for £14.  Not normally a shop I go into these days, but was pleased I did on this occasion.

Mirror found on Ebay about 6 years ago.  Paid very little for it.  Grey and white designer throw on the bed purchased for £30 from TKMaxx.  Silk (look) curtains purchased for a song in the sale at Dunelm mill.  Bedside cabinets found in the recycling centre, pair for £10 and painted in Helen's perfect Dulux paint.

There you go, amazing what one tin of paint can do.  Thank you again Helen ! 

Creative Family Home by Ashlyn Gibson

I was recently sent a copy of Creative Family Home by Ashlyn Gibson to review.  I am always on the lookout for beautiful books on home decor and style and I can tell you this book does not disappoint.

A bold, bright book crammed full of ideas on home, style and decorating when your home includes children !  The book  " explores the heart and soul of twelve specially photographed homes " celebrates the magic of childhood and whether you have just started a family or have a tribe of pre-teens this book has it covered.

The books covers Creative family style, ideas for using space imaginatively, Print and pattern, Storage and organisation, homework and creative zones and brilliant ways to showcase treasured artworks and prized collections.

Ashlyn visits twelve real life homes all of which are wonderful and inspirational and NOT like they just came out of the pages of glossy magazines.  We all know that kind of living is unsustainable.  The homes featured in this book are imaginative, quirky, bright and interesting.

Perfect for the way modern families live today.  I love the way all the families have combined new, old, recycled, crafts, homemade and included the children's work throughout.  Real imagination without costing the earth.  Homes that are beautiful and say so much about the occupants, such a refreshing change from the flat pack mentality that invades many homes these days.

I LOVE THIS BOOK !

and I'm giving you the opportunity to win a copy .

Just comment below.

 For additional chances you can like, comment and share the link on facebook and twitter

and don't worry, if you don't win :  Creative Family Home by Ashlyn Gibson is published by Ryland Peters & Small and is available from www.rylandpeters.com
I was sent a copy of this book for the purpose of review.
Giveaway entry date closes at 8pm on Tuesday  29th October.
Winner will be selected at random.

I miss my flowers

One of the things I miss most around my home is all the flowers I used to buy when we were "living the dream" .  After the bubble burst one of the first things I had to give up was the extravagance of buying flowers.  I was spending about £50 a month on them, obviously when times are tough this was first to go, along with trips to the hairdresser, new clothes etc.

Since moving to this house with its established garden I wait for this beautiful  Weigela to flower and my goodness it never disappoints me.  It only stays around for a short while so I make the very most of its beautiful blooms.