Posts about: shabby chic
14/11/2013
nothing excites me more than the arrival of a new batch of STATIONERY!!
I won't lie a slight squeal accompanied the sight of the new kirstie allsopp stationery range from ryman.. it's an absolute beauty.
vintage inspired floral motifs reminiscent of old patchwork quilts and pastel hues had me itching to put pen to paper.
there is quite a selection from vintage ball point pens to little notebooks the perfect size to slip in your handbag.
the box file is seriously pretty with it's pink ribbon and clashing ditsy print patterns, I've thrown in all my loose paperwork to keep my desk tidy!
I think my favourite piece is this notebook, the cover is just so gorgeous.. I'll be writing many a list in this puppy (if I ever get around to flexing some culinary muscle I'd be tempted to use this to write down some recipes)
a magazine file for all my fashion mags (also rather handy for hiding *ahem* storing those pesky household bills)
this 7 day planner is a blogging godsend! I know the other members of the 'to do list' fan club will enjoy this little rascal..
the whole collection is so darn pretty. as a lover of ditsy florals, shabby chic and all things vintage I think my little brain just imploded with excitement
I'm not sure I'll ever shake my nerdy obsession with notebooks and this collection hasn't helped; if you want a closer look I'd recommend popping over to ryman to snap up something here as availability in store is limited... consider yourself warned!
do you like the look of this collection too?
caroline x
09/09/2013
I thought I'd share some snaps of my blogging space before I packed up and moved house! I'm already becoming quite sentimental about the move but I'm also excited to take those scary steps to becoming an actual grown up.. gulp.
as you can see I'm quite the hoarder.. I'm really looking forward to having more space so my new place won't be quite so busy! I tend to sit and blog at the little console table in the middle, I picked it up in a sale years ago and painted it myself!
as much as I love my console table I'm going to buy an actual desk in the next few weeks so I can have an 'official' office space in my new abode... exciting! I also have a lot of bookcases as I accumulated a horrifying amount of art theory books at university (and a fair amount of trashy novels that I simply can't bear to part with aha!)
storage is one of the things I need the most and this blue locker from argos is a life saver, I was kindly given one to review and I can honestly say its my favourite pieces of furniture! they have a massive range of office furniture but the office storage really appealed to me as I have so many things and not so many places to keep them all!!
because we're moving into a victorian house I'm really keen to blend the old with the new so I was really drawn the industrial feel of the metal locker, it also came in green but I was totally won over by the bright royal blue. I'm thinking about using it to store all my craft accessories and fabrics as they seem to be scattered in various locations at the minute and the locker would be the ideal solution to organise them!
it was also really easy to put together (no tools required!) which has given me a bit more confidence as tackling flat pack furniture is going to become a regular event in the next month.. winner!!
my blogging desk is pretty simple, my laptop (not the mac book pro of my dreams but it does the job) filofax, notebooks and usually a little pile of nail polishes I intend to swatch!
I love decorating my blog space walls with frames, postcards or pages from magazines! I guess this must be the natural progression from plastering my room with take that posters back in the day..
in case you wondering the the chair was an old DIY project of mine that I reupholstered with some cath kidston fabric, the bunting along the walls is handmade too so if you want to know how to make something similar have a look at my DIY page and you'll find a tutorial!
so that's the mini tour! I hope you like my little space; I'm looking forward to putting together a brand new one when I've moved.
I was thinking of writing some posts to show you my house after I'd moved in? if you've enjoy this type of blog post please let me know!!
back soon
caroline x
17/06/2013
I love hunting for old pieces of furniture! I never buy shabby chic distressed furniture -I've always found old pieces and done it myself (it's more fun and a lot more affordable)
I found an old pine bathroom cabinet for £3.. a perfect DIY candidate! the technique works on all pieces of wood furniture, I've upcycled wardrobes, dressing tables and chairs in the past.
lots of people have asked me how I've distressed my furniture so I thought I'd do a little tutorial for anyone who's curious to try it themselves!
start out with your pieces of wooden furniture, whether it's a chair, table etc
the most important part is sanding! I use a small electric sander to rub down larger furniture but something small can be done by hand with regular sandpaper! this part is really important as it removes any varnish and provides a 'key' or grip for the paint to adhere to.
once you've sanded you need to apply a coat of primer (I've taped off the mirror on my cabinet so it doesn't get covered in paint spatter) let the primer dry before you paint the wood!
you can use any colour paint on your furniture, I've opted for a pale grey/blue. I use eggshell paint as it leaves a lovely chalky matt finish perfect for shabby chic furniture! (farrow and ball are my favourite eggshell paint manufactures and you can find them in most homeware shops or just google eggshell paint to find stockists)
apply as many coats as necessary and leave the paint to dry.
the next step is to distress the furniture (this works best within the first 12 hours of the paint drying!) take some sandpaper and lightly rub along the edges to remove some of the paint and expose the original grain.
think about where the furniture would naturally age from wear and tear (mostly around the edges) and concentrate on these areas!
you can give your furniture a lick of clear varnish or furniture polish to protect it when you're happy with the effect.
I lined the inside of my cabinet with some ditsy print paper from paperchase and painted the inside of the door with some blackboard paint! now I can leave soppy chalk messages to my other half when he goes to brush his teeth in the morning (I'll pause here so you can contain your nausea)
that's it! not too tricky it just takes a little time but once you get the hang of distressing and repainting furniture it becomes addictive!
it works really well on bedroom dressing tables and old chairs, if you spend time rummaging about car boot sales you'll probably see lots of old pieces perfect for a make over!
I hope this has been helpful to a few of you! it's a rather geeky post but something I love to do when I get a free day..
back soon!
caroline x
24/04/2013
wowza.. it feels like ages since I've painted my nails!
I managed to break two of them in half moving furniture so I had to give all my nails the chop as they were crazily uneven *sobs*
I don't really mind having shorter nails though; I think to keep them healthy you should cut them down every few months (this works for me as mine get weaker the longer they grow) my nails grow fairly quickly helped along by regular use of OPI nail envy (miracle product) and lots of TLC!
I painted these quickly as I was heading out to an event but I thought I'd share them with y'all in case you wanted to try them too!
as I did these at night I didn't photograph the steps but I'll break down the basic idea for you..
I used models own peach sherbet as the base, a really pretty spring shade; the flowers are just drawn free hand so no nail art pens needed -but you can use them if you'd like!
- take a dark pink polish and draw two large circles on each nail for the flower base.
- now take 2-3 lighter pink polishes and just using the brushes lightly swirl on a few strokes to create the petals (it's works best if you wipe off the excess polish so the brushes are slightly drier)
- repeat the above steps using blue polishes instead of the pink this time!
- dab a white dot in the middle of each flower
- use a green polish to dot small leaves around the flowers
- seal with topcoat!
you don't need to be precise with this nail art as the flowers are quite abstract and vintage inspired! just play with the colours and have fun; it also works on shorter nail just paint less flowers try 2-3 instead of 4.
I'll try and get some more tutorials up soon, I've been so busy this month my nails have been seriously neglected!
back soon!
caroline x
keep up with my nail art & I on... twitter instagram facebook bloglovin'
05/08/2012
so excited about this DIY! I hoard jewellery and am always looking for ways to store it..
I came across a great DIY on pinterest where someone had covered the inside of a frame with chicken wire and hung all their earrings on it. I don't wear earring's but have a million and one necklaces so I changed a few things and came up with this version!
Its so simple all you need is a frame, some fabric, glue and some small screw hooks.
take apart your picture frame and remove the glass (you won't need this again!) take the back of the frame and use it as a template to draw around a piece of fabric. cut the fabric rectangle out and leaving a few centimetres excess. I used some cath kidston fabric that I'm a little bit in love with!
lightly cover the back of the frame with glue and place on the fabric, rub out any air bubbles and tuck the excess fabric over the back and glue down.
place the fabric coated backing into the frame again. now all you need to do is screw in some picture hooks and hang up your favourite necklaces!
cute huh? one pretty jewellery display in under an hour! If you don't have any fabric you could always use some wallpaper or patterned paper instead!
hope you like it!
caroline x
13/03/2012
don't we all have an old picnic basket lurking somewhere deep in the garden shed? I did and I decided give mine a bit of a make over! I had loads of bags and boxes of my craft materials and thought I'd create something to house them all together. as you can tell I love anything slightly shabby chic so I painted my old brown wicker basket with some white matt emulsion, recovered the inside with some gingham fabric and tied some string around the handles.
as a neat freak I really loved this project, now I have the perfect home for all my buttons, ribbons and fabrics!
caroline x
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