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If you follow my social media channels you may have noticed that I have been slowly renovating the house from top to bottom. There’s something happening in every room and I constantly change my mind when it comes to colours and so there’s always something new going on. I’m going to start writing about my home because I get asked a lot of questions about the various projects going on. I try and keep my inspirations organised with a multitude of Pinterest boards so you can check that out to see how my eclectic tastes evolve.
Right now my main challenge is getting the things I imagine working in my home organised on a very tight budget. I’m a huge fan of a bargain – from charity shop purchases and Facebook market place – not to mention skip diving….. yes I have jumped in a skip to rescue things more than once – including my fireplace mirror. Not only do I feel great about the money I’m saving but the phrase “one mans trash is another mans treasure” is most certainly true. Rescuing unloved items from ending up in landfill and making them in to something beautiful is my new favourite pastime. This mirror just needed a little bit of glue to stick it back together.
This has become even more of a challenge and passion to me now that lockdown has meant that we can’t go out for “non essentials” – I’ve never spent so much time at home. At first I felt frustrated and trapped inside four walls, but making improvements not only keeps me busy but also makes the space a lot more enjoyable to inhabit, and this is so important for my mental health. I already have a few huge renovation projects in mind for the spring – as soon as the warm weather comes along I can begin to paint outdoors, and when the flowers start to bloom that’s when I get my colour inspiration. My mirror originally had a lick of bright pink paint which delighted me, and you can still see this through the gold leaf in place now which was leftover from a Christmas craft and just had to be used up.
The latest space to get my teeth in to is the front room – it’s a lovely sized room and has always been a blank space, used as a craft/play room full of primary colours but now Arlo is getting older we have outgrown some of the more garish and space stealing toys – I want to make this room a cosy little snug. This is the room I’m going to retreat to when he has his friends come and visit now he’s about to start school – I can already imagine teenage boys taking over the main lounge with smelly feet and computer games so this space is going to be my grown up room.
We have also had quite a few bigger and more projects take place recently around the house Some of the windows and doors have been replaced for practical reasons. I’d love to have had traditional sash windows just like these but we had to stay in-keeping with the style of our home. Having double glazed windows throughout is important to me, as they help keep the heat in, which first of all reduces the energy bills which is a great long term investment and in turn also reduces your carbon footprint. We’ve had them all replaced over the last few years and I’m very pleased with our current energy bills. Check out the govt advice here
In the morning the light streams through the windows in my front room and it’s a sun trap. The cats have already claimed their spots on the sofa and slowly though out the day they relocate to make sure they remain in the patches of sun. During the evening I can close the curtains and listen to the radio whilst curling up with a book in this cosy corner.
We also recently had our doors upgraded. A glass panel at the front had been damaged and required replacing, and our back door was beyond repair too. A new entrance door to your home can really transform the look of your house, the new panel of glass beside my front door brings in natural light to the hallway which is another space on my list to begin decorating…. beginning with a bright purple wall under the stairs. These doors are also durable, energy efficient and virtually maintenance free – this makes me feel safe and secure in the evenings so that I can relax in peace and come up with more project ideas.
Right now I feel as though I’m going to move the grandfather clock in to my front room and change this under the stairs space entirely. Follow my home page on Instagram to see how things evolve. As always if you have any questions please get in touch,
Lavania
Last Updated on 2 years by Lavania Oluban
I absolutely love the vinyl tile you did around your mantle.
Question! Would this vinyl be safe to put surrounding a pellet stove?
Hi, I’m not entirely sure about that, it might be best to contact the manufacturers, my little fireplace is an electric one which doesn’t get too hot but it hasn’t affected the vinyl in any way