home | living room tour


gosh I actually can't believe james and I have been here for nearly a year and I still haven't gotten around to showing you our home!

I wanted to do a home tour as I adore seeing inside peoples houses (nosey parker that I am) and I wanted to share something a little more personal.. well more personal than what I've been wearing and what colour nail polish I'm loving!

luckily the biggest work was done before my tenant moved in (the house was previously owned by an old lady who hadn't renovated for decades! we had to overhaul everything from removing 6 layers of wallpaper in every room to rewiring electrics and installing central heating, plus we built an extension on the bathroom which was teeny tiny) however we did have an unholy amount of painting and floor sanding to do before we could move our things in..!


vintage typewriter, photo frame and movie poster | thrifted.
 cacti, tealight holders, cabinet | ikea.


assorted frames |  ikea, wilkos, john lewis.

the house is painted white.. yup every single room top to bottom. before we started sanding and staining floors we ripped out the old skirting boards which were a mixture of brightly coloured gloss paint (not exactly my style!) I love colour but I also have a thing for white cube spaces (I blame art school) so the only colour comes only from paintings and accessories. the old skirting boards were quite damaged and i wanted to finish the room off so some new white skirting boards were called for. you may not know but old houses are an absolute nightmare when it comes to walls not being quite straight so skirting hides a multitude of gaps and nightmares when laying down floors! as I've grown older my taste has switched to more scandinavian inspired interiors (luckily for james) so white walls and skirting boards and dark floors are my go to backdrop.


painting | mine
cacti | ikea
fireplace | reclaimed

the house itself is victorian, I don't think I could ever live in anything new as they just don't have the character I'm so attached to. I loved that this house had the original sash windows and floors (as well as walls that fall apart whenever I drill into them) but the quirks of old houses are what gives them personality. something I never really mention on my blog is that I'm an artist by trade, it's something that doesn't tend to cross over onto burkatron but this is one of my older paintings above, there's lots of them we still need to hang around the house but we never seem to have enough time to finish everything!


old mirror | thrifted
palm tree panel | urban outfitters
frames | ikea, john lewis
terrarium | diy here
wing chair | ikea
watermelon cushion | tiger stores

whenever I go shopping I seem to come home with an armload of picture frames so we have lots of little collections of them hanging. they're mostly filled with holidays snaps, postcards and some of my sketches, we also have a lot of books so storage for these was a must (behind that chair is the door to our under stairs storage.. I'm a bit of a hoarder so this big cupboard is a life saver!!)  there's no real theme in our home, we don't really try to match colours or styles we just move things around until we find a happy balance.


teacup/saucer | vintage
leaf side table and glass lamp | ikea
mirror | thrifted 

a lot of the furniture you can see is from ikea (aka the mothership) the rest is reclaimed or found in charity shops as I wanted to mix up old and new pieces in our home. james also brought in some lovely pieces from this nan which are scattered around. our living room is in the middle of the house which means it gets the least light but on the upside it makes for the cosiest room in the evening when we're snuggled up on the sofa!


when we first moved in we bought a huge sofa, it soon became apparent that other people needed seating so we eventually bought some armchairs! we didn't have many 'big' pieces of furniture at first but after a month or two we quickly reached a stage where we needed to think twice before we bought anything new (it's scary how quickly you can fill up a house) I guess this is good for my bank balance as interior shopping is way more addictive than clothes shopping in my book! 

james and I have really similar tastes so decorating the house together was super easy. bickering over me buying (yet) more cushions and james leaving (yet) more wet towels around the house is another matter... ! there's so much I'd still like to do with our home though; the garden is a work in progress as is out third bedroom which holds most of our 'don't know where to put this' pieces of furniture. I think as autumn is getting closer we'll put the garden on hold and finish off the spare room so we finally have a guest bedroom, fingers crossed..

I hope you like this little glimpse into my home, it's hard to capture everything on camera without a wide angle lens but I hope you got a feel for it at least? I'm thinking of showing you some other rooms; my office/dressing room and our bedroom as well so please let me know if you'd like to see more!

back soon

caroline x
Image Map

47 comments

  1. wow this is beautiful and very much like me ideal home, I love the wooden floors and cream/white furniture! xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very very nicely and aesthetically done! Big inspiration for me!

    TheConscienceFund

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. gosh that's wonderful to hear thank you babe! :) xx

      Delete
  3. I'm obsessed with your tea cup succulent!

    Sophia | sophiebysophia.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they are so easy!! hope you try it too :) xx

      Delete
  4. Your home looks lovely Caroline, I love that it's full of colour which I think comes across as your personality. You're always so vibrant and friendly! :) It's beautiful!
    Amy x | A Little Boat Sailing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. amy-thank you for such a lovely comment!!! means a lot :) xx

      Delete
  5. You've such a gorgeous and inspiring living room - hope to have such a unique own living room soon too!;)

    Wish you a comfy and nice Sunday night;)!

    Yours,
    NIKA B.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you so much nika!!!! such lovely words :) xx

      Delete
  6. I'm constantly trying to persuade the bf why we NEED this new cushion and how it's definitely not like the rest! hehe x
    www.article21.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha.. it's a constant battle!! they are all different though right ;) xx

      Delete
  7. You have such a lovely living room, couldn't agree more with you regarding the love of Victorian homes!
    Love this post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks so much jessica! definitely going to do some more posts (and old houses rule!!) xx

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. thank you rascal.. welcome to visit anytime ;) xx

      Delete
  9. I love your decorating style! And really, really love the painting above your fireplace! It's gorgeous!

    www.ceejayell.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thanks so much- that's made my day haha! :) xx

      Delete
  10. Your living room is just beautiful! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is lovely! I love the whole scandinavian vibe, I really like that style and white walls are just my favourite! Your home looks so lovely and I'd love to see more posts like this :)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh I'm so pleased- promise to do some more :) xx

      Delete
  12. Well I love the typewriter... <33. It seems to be a really nice home. Beautiful paintings too ;)
    Trend-Mae

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ahhh thank you!! ps. love that old typewriter too haha :) xx

      Delete
  13. Beautiful home :) I love your blog and I have followed you with Bloglovin and GFC, if you ever get a chance to check out my blog I would be delighted, thanks!

    Camille xo

    www.cococami.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is such a beautiful space. You have amazing taste.

    nueyork.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is such a beautiful room! I love the wall with the frames :) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks conny- I nearly lost a finger putting them up haha! :) xx

      Delete
  16. This is so cute! Love all of the frames and the cactus plants!

    DarlingSophie

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your floors are amazing and nice to see another cacti advocate!
    http://blommabloglondon.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks so much! I'll tell james his hard work paid off ;) xx

      Delete
  18. Your living room is truly stunning, loving the watermelon cushion and all the cactus plants! You have styled it beautifully xxx

    Blog This With Hannah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks so much hannah!! that's made my day :) xx

      Delete
  19. Wow you are super talented lady, your painting is awesome. love this space x x xx

    Zoe Newlove | Beauty Blogger & MUA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thanks so much rascal.. hope to see you again soon!!!! :) xx

      Delete
  20. Your house is BEAUTIFUL! I really need to do a house tour although it won't be anywhere near as good :)

    Maria xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh you should!!! I would love a nosey around your place haha!! :) xx

      Delete
  21. Such a beautiful home! It's so modern and quirky, love it!

    www.vveallstartasstrangers.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  22. Very beautiful home, these succulents are so cute, love that tea cup.
    Steam carpet cleaners Wimbledon

    ReplyDelete
  23. thanks katy!! so pleased you like it :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. the cushions and frames wall are soo cute! definitely ideas to... borrow! :)

    Rose and Weston x

    ReplyDelete

Instagram

Caroline Burke | Burkatron. Theme by STS.