May #Stylewise Charity shop Bargains

The half term didn't get off to a good start when I came down with a lurgy and actually took to my bed (unheard of ).

The Rochelle French Armchair from WITHIN

 

I've always loved French Style furniture, particularly carved chairs with over stuffed seat cushions.  We have a few in our home and they are as comfortable as they are beautiful to look at. 

The Utility Room Renovation ( Part Two)

I say it often, but I really can't believe how talented my husband is.  The utility room is almost finished and it really is a transformation.

Cornwall, The Eden Project and a Snoozebox sleepover

I've lived in the South West for 23 years but have only visited Cornwall once.  We decided this  weekend that it was about time we visited as a family.

Doing the right thing

 People say there is no love like that of a mother and her sons. 

I hope this is true.  I am the Mother of 3 sons but sometimes I feel like I am an alien in this world of males as I try to do the right thing.

  I sit here having just been told by my eldest that he is thinking about visiting the "grandparents" he hasn't seen for many year.  I suppose I always knew this day would happen.

Like the day he made contact with his half sister again (she is a wonderful, kind girl whose mum has done an amazing job bringing her up alone) but my heart hurts.  He doesn't have any idea of what I went through when he was a baby, nor should he, that's my job as a good mother right ?

How I had no one to turn to when life and family let me down. 

How these "grandparents" refused to help me with just half a day's childcare as I battled as a single parent to find a home, a job and security for my baby boy, even though his half sister and her cousin were regularly looked after by them , taken on day trips and holidays.  But no room for the grandson,

"no, sorry"
.
 "No can't help with childcare, no sorry ".

 I was made even stronger by this, I knew I would never stay with their son, his violent outbursts, anger and the fear.  Not for my child thank you very much.  I moved on, worked hard, left my son crying at the gate in nurseries all day, every day while I built a better life for us.

And I did.

I worked and worked, went home at night with my son, for many years never going out, never leaving him with baby sitters.  He was too precious to me, I never wanted him to worry, to feel alone like I did.  I talked to him and answered all his questions, showing him the world, taking him on holidays, teaching him to be kind and good and strong. To work hard, to not expect anything from anyone else.  Go and get it for yourself. Don't hurt others, but stand up for yourself. Be a good man.  With no help from the "grandparents" with no contact from his father, no financial support.  We were a team.  It was me he came to when he was hurt, it was me who hugged away his fears, taught him everything, who nursed him when he lay seriously ill in hospital, when he cried.  IT WAS ME.

So now I sit here in my bedroom

Alone

Whilst he is downstairs with the other woman who has taken my place, who he listens to, who he hugs and kisses all the time

Not many for me these days, nope sorry,

I've moved on mum I have a new love in my life now

and now another fear

that he will go and see these "grandparents" he hasn't seen since he was small and they will steal his heart, that he will think that I was wrong, that I took him away from them, his father, their family.

Because I always seem to be wrong in his eyes these days

I don't feel I am the mum he wants me to be, that I have let him down, failed him. 

He sees me through adult eyes with all my failings, faults and insecurities.  That he doesn't like what he sees.

I am no longer his hero.

and I am loosing him......

Affordable Photographic Wall Art

I've always loved black and white photography. It seems to capture something about the subject that colour photographs don't.  My favourite picture of all time was a black and white one of me and my son on my wedding day.  These days I click away with my phone on a daily basis, storing hundreds and hundreds of pictures of my family.  On a recent visit to my mum's home and seeing all the photographs she has on display, I realised how few photographs we actually have around our own home.  Thanks to the nifty filters on my phone I am able to get all sorts of  effects so decided to print three black and white images of the boys and make them into wall art for the new utility room wall.

I bought these great value Ribba frames on a recent trip to IKEA.  perfect for the job. Really easy to take apart.

We had some photo quality paper at home.  I downloaded the photographs from my phone onto the computer and printed them off.  Cut them to size and stuck them onto the white mount.

Put the picture back together again.  Took me about 10 minutes to do all three.

 Can't wait to get them up on the new utility room wall.

Thrifty Treats

Since giving up self employment its been a bit difficult to find the time to have a mooch around the many local charity shops in the area. 

Stunning Christy bedding review

I was very fortunate to recently be contacted by Christy the Luxury home linens company.  They asked me to choose a set of bedding from their beautiful range. 

March #StyleWise DIY Artwork

For this months #Stylewise post I decided to have a go at some DIY Art.

The Cup of Tea #BoysBasics

Last month I thought it was about time the boys started to learn the basics of how to take care of themselves. 

Pinterest for Independent Business

This may seem like an obvious thing to say but if you are an independent/small business then you should most definitely be making full use of Pinterest and all the free social media resources available these days.

Habitat Jerry Chair and Birchbox Review

I was lucky enough to recently be sent the Habitat Jerry chair and Habitat Birchbox to review.  Having been around for a few years

Joseph Joseph Review

Joseph Joseph products, what can I say ! Absolutely divine.  Inspired design and colour combinations. You will not want to hide these beautiful items away in a cupboard.

MADE.COM FOR KIDS

 
I've long been a lover of the cool online store MADE.COM so when they recently contacted me

A new take on the night light

After recently discovering one of the twins downstairs at 3am in the morning, disorientated and convinced it was morning, I thought

The Utility Room Renovation (part one)

We are powering on with the updates in the house and I am desperate to get the kitchen/dining room finished.  Sadly the floor is costing much more than anticipated, so we will have to wait until we can afford to buy all the flooring before

February Style Wise

I've always loved clothes but more so when I find a real bargain.  For this months #stylewise  I have some great buys from this

British Gypsum - Rooms Made for You Event

Its always a buzz when that special invitation pings into my in box.  I recently had that pleasure when an invitation arrived to The Shard in London courtesy of British Gypsum who

DIY with the Boys - Black & White Bedroom

Is it really only a few weeks until half term !  This holiday my husband's shifts have worked out so that he is also off at the same time as me and the twins.  Think it might be time to get the boys involved in some DIY.  We gave their bedroom a bit of a makeover before Christmas but its just not working for them.  Both boys love the idea of a black and white bedroom so I got my thinking cap on to come up with affordable ways we could make them a cool room suitable for 10 yr old twins.  They are at that stage that they are not quiet ready to give up all their toys but also no longer want Thomas the Tank and the like.

A really straightforward and effective idea for their room is a blackboard wall.  These are really easy to do.  All major DIY Stores now stock blackboard paint and it really is just a matter of painting onto the existing wall.  Obviously you will need to make sure the wall is clean and is a smooth surface.  Also buy the best quality paint you can afford.  You may need several coats.  This is a great idea to get the kids involved, Who doesn't enjoy painting things BLACK !

PIC - housepic.com

I Absolutely love what they have done here and intend to also get the boys to help make a huge Ruler like the one shown.  Again something the children can get involved in and  looks wonderful on the wall.    As hubby is a hoarder of all things wood (he gives me a hard time for my love of stashing bits and bobs but you should see his garage/workshop ) !   There will definitely be a suitable piece of wood for this project lying around.  A leftover floorboard from when we replaced the flooring in the kitchen will be ideal, but to be honest if you want to get involved with some fun over the half term with the kids I am sure cardboard would work just as well.  I think the measuring for the wall will probably be the hardest part but will leave the technical side of things to the husband.  I'll let the boys (big and small) measure out the height lines.  I'm the ideas person in this house.

pic - potterybarn

I love this idea of also sticking Polaroid style pictures of what the boys look like at the different stages.

As my boys are total computer geeks, sometime will inevitably be spent online this half term.  I think I might get them designing some down loadable artwork.  Again very simple to do and all you need is a computer, a simple programme like microsoft word or wordart and a printer (no colour cartridges required) and some very affordable frames available from anywhere these days, even the pound shop.  Alternatively, I think posters and photos look great stuck on the wall with a piece of tape at each corner.

We might even get round to replacing the boys Wooden name letters hubby made for them when they were born and replace with something like this . Huge letter M on one wall above Milo's bed and letter J above Jarvis' bed.

I'll let you know how we get on.  What are you planning for half term ?  If you like my black and white theme for the boys bedroom you might also like my Pinterest board HERE

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.

January Style Wise

This weekend I found some great bargains and always get a great response when I post pics on my social media, so I thought I would try a linky to see if others wanted to join in.  Just link your recent bargain home wares or interiors posts/pics.  They can be a sale bargain, an item which you think was great value for money, a vintage or charity shop purchase, something you upcycled yourself, anything at all you consider stylish and great value for money.

You don't have to have a blog , it can be a pic from facebook, pinterest, instagram, twitter etc.  All I ask is that you use the hashtag #stylewise  & mention my blog or username The White Approach when you link up or promote your post.  This will also help me to find you on social media and RT you.

To kick us off, below is what I found this weekend

 I've always been a bit of a bargain hunter, but more so since the birth of the twins which also coincided with the complete collapse of our joint incomes.  Forced in a frugal lifestyle, I was determined to still find a way to live a stylish life.  Thankfully we are pretty much back on an even keel now ten years later, but old habits die hard and I find it very difficult to buy anything without first shopping around for the best value versus quality.  I found this great wooden sign at the range for just £5 its lovely quality.  I was looking for something to put on a newly wallpapered wall but when I put it up it just didn't work against the pattern of the paper.  I think it looks so much better white on white.  The shadow really makes the words pop.

 Bargain number two has to be this totally beautiful, on trend perspex light shade.  It looks perfect ether lit or not and suits my new kitchen/dining space perfectly.  Just £22 again from The Range.  They have a great selection of lighting in store.

As we have finally realised our dream of knocking through the kitchen/ dining room I though perhaps it was about time to put away (or sell off) my huge selection of mismatched vintage dinner plates in favour of a simple, more Scandinavian looking dining set.  I found these lovely, large grey dinner plates at Dunelm Mill for just £2.75 each.  Great quality and big enough to suit the appetites of all four men in my home.  The pretty white side plates I found on one of my bargain hunts last week in the local charity shop for 10p each !

and my final bargain for this week .  I stumbled upon a new store called B&M Big Brands at a retail park in Exeter.  Its a bit like brand value pound shop but HUGE.  I popped in for a mooch around and discovered these gorgeous retro looking table mats (to protect my new table) for just £1 for a set of four.  They are great quality, cork backed and wipeable.  Love them !

So that's my offering.  Would really love you to link up and show me what you have found .

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

The best friend gene

My whole life, Christmas has been about children (the easy part) I excel at "doing" Christmas.
 New year on the other hand is about adults and friendship. These days (screeches to a halt) not so much.