It’s time for a homely little refresh…
WOW. This post was a terrible idea. Midway through putting it together (FUN FACT: I often work backwards when it comes to posts, writing all the bumf first and then writing the intro at the end), I filled up my West Elm basket with a ridiculous amount of homewares with my finger hovering over the purchase button. I talked myself of it, only because at the time of writing this it’s pre-Black Friday and I reckon they could have some cracking deals up their sleeve, so I’ll check back later. When it does go live however, we’ll still be in the throes of Cyber Weekend, so it’s worth clicking around and checking back to my original round-up here, to see if any of your homeware favourites have some deals that you daren’t miss.
In the meantime though I thought I’d share where we’re currently at with each room in the flat and what’s on my current wishlist (aside from hoping that our builders finish our bathroom and hallway on time so we should have a home that’s pretty much finished by the end of February – HOORAY!)…
THE LOUNGE
Of all the rooms I’d say that our lounge is pretty much there when it comes to decoration and furniture. We got some pretty crappy white wooden blinds off the internet recently (this isn’t our forever home so we tend to skimp on things that we won’t be able to take with us to the next place), which has finished it off nicely, although we no longer have a neighbourhood watch peep-hole like we did with our old broken blinds that were missing a few slats.
However, there are a couple of things that we’ve added to our shopping list. We both like a bit of downlighting/mood lighting and rarely turn the big light on in our living room, but because we only have one floor lamp in there, it’s a bit too dim, so we must invest in another. I like this M&S Task Floor Lamp, although Mark prefers ones with a shade so I might have a bit of a struggle on my hands here. We could also do with a stool because I like to lounge and to touch my toes to our coffee table takes considerable effort, which just isn’t on. I’ve got my eye on the West Elm Mongolian Lamb Stool, which again is going to be a tough one to get Mark’s approval on because he says that it looks like a sheep. One thing he is on board with is this West Elm Hex Side Table which we really need because we keep precariously balancing drinks on our armchair which gives me heart palpitations every time.
MY WISHLIST
THE OFFICE
My office was one of the first rooms that we ticked off the to-do list, purely for the fact that it’s my primary workspace and I needed somewhere to sit, take photos and just generally be away from plasterboard hanging off the ceiling. It’s the smallest room in the flat, but I love it because it feels cosy and actually I don’t need much space to work, just a roomy desk to spread out on. The new blinds look pretty good in here too because the one we had in here before was a roller blind that regularly slid completely off and onto the floor if you wound it too low. GREAT FUN.
I’m really scraping the barrel here for items to add onto my shopping list because I’m pretty content with this room, so instead I’m thinking more to our next home where hopefully they’ll be a spot for me to have an office again. I do love a good rug and that’s something that we’re lacking in our current digs; this West Elm Souk Rug looks like it would feel stepping onto a cloud. I also love this Urban Outfitters Pink Letter Peg Board which looks like the most obviously Instagram-able item ever, but imagine setting up a to-do list on that! Procrastination heaven! In terms of storage next time round I’m not I need as much as I have now, because I’ve downsized my makeup so much, something like this Urban Outfitters Samuel Storage Dresser looks a little smaller, but still roomy enough.
MY WISHLIST
THE BEDROOM
Again the blinds have made a real difference here, mostly because they actually block out the light. I no longer turn the light off and could still read my book thanks to the street light beaming through the wonky slats. Why it took us two and half years to purchase these I will never know. In terms of furniture though, it’s probably one of the least finished. Mainly because if we were going to live here for considerably longer we would build in wardrobes which would be divine, and instead we have a teeny tiny IKEA number which Mark and I both have a love/hate relationship with. Love because it does the job, but hate because it isn’t what we’d like to have there.
So instead I’m planning a little revamp that will hopefully distract the eye, starting with some new nightstands – these West Elm Metalworks Bedside Tables. These actually have storage, and that shelf will come in so handy for Mark who could fill a complete room with what he likes to keep on his nightstand. With the Lens Table Lamp on top I think that will look much smarter than what we have there now. We could also do with upgrading our bedding, so I’m thinking of the West Elm Belgian Flax Linen Duvet Cover and the Mongolian Lamb Cushion Cover in Grey. I reckon that will finish off the room nicely and take the heat off the wardrobe situation a little.
MY WISHLIST
THE KITCHEN
When we moved, we spent two months renting our London flat still and visiting our new Brighton home at the weekends to do decorating, cry and eat Burger King 24/7. During that time we had builders in to re-fit the kitchen and I’m so bloomin’ glad we did it then because it meant that when we moved in we didn’t have to continue our Burger King habit. We actually got everything in the kitchen sorted pretty quickly, so again there’s not much we need to buy, ALTHOUGH I do love me some glassware and ceramics.
About 85% of our plates and bowls have chips in them because we got the cheapest ones we could when we moved in, so it would be nice to upgrade them seeing as we use them every darn day and I’m worried that there’s a chip mixed in with my chilli. I’m currently coveting practically all of the sets on West Elm, Oliver Bonas and Anthropologie (and a cheeseburger).
MY WISHLIST
Photos by Lauren Shipley
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