Bedrooms on the brain...

Currently looking forward to purchasing a nice new bed and having a sophisticated(!) clutter-free bedroom once and for all. If I can take the beautiful dogs too while I'm at it?!  

Images via: The Aestate, Shelter

Tidiest Skip Of The Year 2011!

...and the prize goes to....Ian Hunter!

I know this is a pretty lame post for a Friday, especially after four days of no posts, but those of you who know my dad will probably share my amusement. 

This week the rest of the house was stripped out, adding to the junk that was already lying around in the yard and we had started to think it wasn't going to fill the last skip we had on order. Ok, so this wouldn't have been the end of the world but skips aren't cheap these days you know!

  

Dad was determined to get rid of every last bit and being the methodical bloke that he is, had it all planned out days in advance! On the morning the skip arrived he was like a kid at Christmas!! The aerial view when I went upstairs in the office was the best though! Seriously, I didn't expect it to look like this!

Is this not a work of art to you?!!! x

More on the house to come tomorrow.

Festive

Things have turned a little chilly round here over the last couple of days and Christmas is definitely in the air with festive lights springing up here, there and everywhere! I snapped this little pretty yesterday on our way back from Sunday dinner at the rents'. It looks so much prettier in 'real life'! x

Image via: The Drill Hall Emporium  

And I'd just cleared up!...

This is what happens when three guys are let loose in a roof space!

When I said it had been dusty a few weeks back, I didn't know the meaning of the word! This time every little surface is covered in a layer of soot! The final task this week, and the last in terms of the 'dirty' work in the house was to open up part of the ceiling on the top floor. 

Beforehand, the ceiling height was pretty low and despite the mess, it really has made such a difference to the feel of the space already.

Seeing as it's Friday evening I've downed tools (wallpaper steamer!) and I'm now cosied up in our soot-free flat with a glass of wine, devouring the January issue of Living etc which arrived this morning. Apologies for the dodgy phone pictures but had to post these images of the two stunning homes I'm drooling over. 

The unique and creative home on the left is owned by Nikki Tibbles of Wild At Heart fame, which has previously appeared in Abigail Ahern's 'A Girl's Guide to Decorating'. If you haven't already opened your copy....do it now!  

Have a great weekend. xx

Fireside

Hello December!

On my Christmas list....a fabulous mantel just like this. x

Image via: Greige

Room update

Small but perfectly formed is how I'd describe it. Actually, forget the perfectly formed bit....let's just say the spirit level came into it's own when this room was being boarded!! 

This is how the space looked beforehand.

Before we even began stripping the room we knew we wanted to use traditional style fittings throughout. It's been great unpacking the boxes as they've arrived, like Christmas has come early! 

Who'd have thought I'd get so excited about a basin too?!

As we're working on creating our very own family home for the first time, every little decision, no matter how small has felt huge as we really want it to be the right one! Our decision with the shower room has been whether to keep it light, or make it dark and sumptuous!

With small, box-like rooms, I'm always tempted to go with their small proportions, paint them deep rich colours and embrace the cocooning effect they can have, rather than trying every tactic to make them appear bigger. 

However, the sunlight in this room first thing is lovely and we figured a morning shower in a light and breezy space would be far more invigorating. Perhaps the darker option would have me sneaking back off to bed for an extra hour or two!...(there's always the other bathroom!) 

I know most of these images are not shower rooms as such but each one has an element which I like. I love the simplicity and freshness of the image top left and the classic design to the floor, top right.  The basketweave tiled floor to the room above is a nice decorative touch.

We stopped by one of our local tile showrooms last week and I fell in love with these straight away... although didn't quite love the price as much!! Typical! I am very much of the thinking though, that in certain situations you should invest in items you truly love, rather than using something just because it's the cheaper option. In the long-run you'll get far more pleasure out of that item and will appreciate your initial expenditure.

That said, we have a huge list of items and fittings which need to be picked for the house and we'd prefer to invest a little more money in pieces that will hopefully be with us forever, such as classic furniture pieces and decorative light fittings.

So, after all that,  here's the latest...not set in stone but pretty much the route we'll be going. 

Elongated subway tiles in a soft grey marble-effect gloss, which rather than a matt tile, should help to bounce a little extra light around the space. Floor tiles - I'm veering towards the hexagonal mosaics with a darker grey grout. I think the black and white would feel more 'Deco' and as much as I'm a big fan of the Art Deco style, I'm now hoping to create a more tonal feel to the space.

I know you may think blaagh....but by keeping everything simple, I feel I can switch up the space easily using different accessories when the mood takes me. 

You might notice the snakeskin effect wallpaper in the background. This is a great hard-wearing paper from Tektura which I'm looking to use on one or two small areas. Can't wait to get it started!

Will keep you posted! xx

Opposites attract!

First things first....hands held high, I'm a terrible blogger!!

For those of you who have been asking recently how things are going, here's a little snippet for now and I'll be posting more this evening. Whilst I'm liking what's going on on the ground floor, Steve enjoys seeing the polar opposite, creating the mess you see on the left upstairs! Admittedly, I do like a spot of demolition but it's so nice to see some smooth plaster after all these weeks.

Kitchen update

We've made quite a lot of progress in the house since my last post. Woodchip has been stripped (urrgh!), the sanitaryware for the shower room has been delivered (more on that tomorrow) and we'll be ready to order our kitchen by the end of this week. Just the small matter of choosing a tap in the meantime! 

This lovely kitchen above has all the elements of our proposed design which I'll be sharing with you in more detail on Friday. x

Image via: The Aestate

On the cards...

A ridiculously fantastic kitchen by Windsor Smith!

By the end of this week we should have (hopefully!) finalised our shower room and kitchen fittings!! More to come with regards to our decisions...but why is it so hard when you're doing it for yourself?!!!!

Image via: Duchess Fare

Decision time

Next up, the shower room.

Images via: Lonny, Elle Decor

Inspired

Here's hoping the stairway of No.8 will end up looking something like this classic beauty!

Michele Bonan is the creative force behind this work and an architect & interior designer whose work I admire and find incredibly inspiring. The JK Place in Capri, JK Place Firenze, Florence along with the Heidelberg Suites in Germany (from which this image is taken) are just some of his notable projects.

...sigh!!

Images via: Heidelberg Suites,  Hotel Chic

Cocktails anyone?

A diversion from the house today to focus on this stunning interior, The Livingston Restaurant & Bar in Atlanta.

Fusing classic style with modern touches, seamlessly.

I love the continuity of soft shades from the marble-clad columns and tabletops, chrome fittings and the pearlescent upholstery, all punctuated with a burst of deep berry colour through the striking floorcovering.

Easily one of my favourite commercial interiors I've stumbled on in a long time.

Found here.

Relaxed celebrations

I put this image aside a while ago as inspiration for our wedding. Yes wedding Steve!! I have to keep reminding him of this little fact (...and I am smiling as I write this, don't worry!!)

In amongst the renovations, we're also meant to be planning our big day and believe it or not, we're hoping to say our "I do's" exactly a year today.

We've both always loved the idea of a cosy Autumnal wedding with a relaxed vibe and I think this table setting achieves this. I love the use of the simple bentwood chairs and the candles placed along the length of the table at varying heights.

Aren't the possibilities for table settings just endless?!!! x

Image via: Because It's Awesome

Olivier Gagnère

This stunning image of designer, Olivier Gagnère's Parisian apartment graces the cover of the April 2010 issue of Elle Decor and sits permanently on my desk in the office. It was also this image which encouraged me to start experimenting with colours I would not necessarily use in my own home. 

Red was one of these colours, and lilac the other. Both of which I was never very fond of with regards to decor. However, I think they both work fantastically well here alongside the orange, a really unique colour combination.

I do believe the secret to making rooms like these work, is choosing the correct shade for the walls...a solid base from which these individual colours can come into their own.

Farrow & Ball's Elephant's Breath is one of these colours in my opinion and hugely versatile.  It seems to work with a wide variety of colours and is the shade I've managed to combine with red accents in our current hallway without cringing!

It's currently at the top of the list to paint our living room in the new place as I love it that much, so all that's left is the exciting task of choosing what to pair it with. I'll keep you posted. x

All images via: Elle Decor

Creativity zapped!

Just thought I'd share with you the view from my desk today!!!

Oh and November, 

.... seriously, how did you come around so quickly!

Features

From the moment we knew we were taking on this project, we've both been keen to re-instate as many features as possible throughout the house which had been lost. We're looking to install working fireplaces in the living areas but decorative fireplaces in the bedrooms are also on my wishlist. Let's see how many I can get away with!!

I snapped the photo on the left at a local fireplace dealers a few months ago. I'm pretty certain the daisy fireplace was late Victorian and tended to be used in the bedroom so I'm really keen to use these in the house - I'm just hoping they have some on my return trip! We also snapped up the other on a visit to one of our regular shopping haunts. Whilst the detailing is definitely more Art Deco, I fell in love with this fireplace and can't wait to get it cleaned up.

Images via: Rue Nicolo, all others my own.

Little steps forward, little steps back!

'Dusty' is perhaps the best word to describe this week.

On my laptop, up my nose...we've all been sneezing, including the dog! That's pretty much most of the demolition work done though, so we're slowly but surely getting there. 

The major part of the work this week was the breaking up of the concrete slab which lay under the glass link above.  The link currently joins the house and our office outbuilding, but we decided extra outdoor space would be preferable in the long run so it's coming down early next week.

In a few ways we've had to go backward to come forward. We spent time transforming the yard from an overgrown mess (top left) to a nice area to sit during the summer months when we first acquired the office and it now looks messier than ever.

So, if you live in Newcastle and happen to be passing our office, apologies, it doesn't usually look like this!

More snaps of the rest of the house to follow tomorrow 

and nice imagery to come next week I promise. x

All images: my own

Progress

The laying of the carpet was finished today. We opted for a durable coir from Kersaint Cobb with a herringbone pattern. We had thought about simply painting the floors, but with extending our office into the basement we decided to go for the warmer option!!

With regards to the decor I'm looking to keep it simple, opting for a classic black & white combo with the addition of some natural textures. I don't think I could ever tire of this look and it's versatility. Like most people, I'm prone to phases of being drawn to particular shades and colour combinations, so for me, keeping the bones of a space fairly neutral is a must, to which I can accessorise and add colour depending on what's inspiring me at the time. 

I've had the image above in my 'workspaces' file for a long time, still not sure of the source unfortunately (so please help out if you can!) but I love how the simplicity of the room lets the decorative furniture do the talking. Simply replacing the flowers and type of vase would be an easy, yet effective update to the space.

All in all, some lovely workspaces where I'd feel right at home.

Images (clockwise from top): The New Anthology, Solid Frog, {oops!}, Sacramento Street, Mackin Ink

L.O.V.E

To say I love these insanely beautiful chandeliers is an understatement. 

However, something tells me I wouldn't quite be able to afford the price tag, but I'd be a very happy bunny if I happened to own one! 

Stumbling across these beautiful images is precisely why, at times, random web surfing is productive and not a complete waste of time! 

Found over at a lovely blog African Daydreams....somehow!!

I'm completely in agreement with Tapiwa, the author of the blog, describing them as 'gently floating creatures from the deep'. These beautiful fittings reminded me straight away of giant squid or jellyfish. Very elegant and ethereal ones at that!!! If you simply can't live without one, take a look at Willowlamp's website and I wish you all the best making a decision!!! 

Happy weekend everyone! x

All images: Willowlamp

Things are a changin

Beginning right here.

Those of you who know us, or those lovely people who have been following this blog, will know that just over two years ago, both Steve & I set up our practice, Coachhouse 8 Ltd, leaving behind 26 cumulative years at a local architectural practice.  What was both an extremely exciting and also slightly daunting time, has turned out to be one of the best decisions we have ever made and has also opened lots of doors for us in the process. 

This lovely Victorian terraced house is one of them and will be keeping us extra busy over the next few months as we will be converting what is currently an old office into a lovely family home for us both. This is another exciting stage in our lives which we're really lucky to be embracing and I'm hoping the diary of renovations will also become a refreshing new phase on this blog. 

I really hope you stay tuned to follow our progress and I'll be sure to keep you up to date with the day to day decisions, and knowing Steve & I, disagreements!!! 

Thanks for listening. xx 

165 days later...

Hey there, remember me?!

No, I really don't blame you! Things have been pretty busy these past few months and I'm not even going to pretend I'm great at multitasking, so this little blog right here unfortunately slipped by the wayside, (again!!!)  

No more I tell you, no more! From now on I pledge to be a better blogger (I know you've heard this one before), a better multitasker, and I promise to post more exciting images to make you wanna pop back for more!

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know what's happening round here as we've got a few exciting things coming up, but in the meantime, here's some happy memories of the past few months.

Not one,

not two,

but three awesome weddings of three very special friends!

I was so happy to be a part of these special days, each and every one amazing in their own unique way.

xxx

All images: my own