Bathrooms: A modern style or something more traditional...

November 16, 2015

In all the work we've done in the past few years there's been two rooms that have always been out of scope, and that's our bathrooms. We have decorated them before, they were one of our priorities when we moved here. MOH wanted a decent shower and I wanted a whirlpool bath and both of us wanted to be rid of the 1970s avocado suite and the painted (yes painted) bath in our main bathroom.

  
    So when the Bathroom Cladding Shop got in touch about decorating styles for bathrooms I thought it would be fun to look to see where my bathrooms were on the modern versus traditional scale.  And of course it was a good opportunity to have a browse around the internet for what's out there bathroom-wise...

It didn't take me long to realise that I'm on the modern end of the scale. With its spotlights, curved shower enclosure and chrome fittings it really couldn't be anything else, and nor would we want it to be.

And in our second bathroom the rectangular sink, the glass insets in the bath panel and the polished slate floor also point to a modern style. For me the bathroom suites in any house need to be white, I think that makes them a good investment in any house. It could also be because it seems that every house I move to has had either an avocado (or worse) coloured suite. And yes, there is worse than avocado...

And no bath - whirlpool or not - is complete without a rubber duck!

As I looked around the internet for ideas of modern and traditional styles I quickly realised that marble works equally well in both.

A MORE TRADITIONAL USE OF MARBLE, Image source: Pixabay

AND IN A MORE MODERN SETTING, Image source: Pixabay

All so often when we think of the walls in our bathrooms we think tiles, but cladding is also an option. My parents have it in their bathroom and it looks great. It was quick to put up and meant their shower was ready to use as soon as it was plumbed in. Who could ask for more than that?

So where are you on the modern versus traditional style, and what about cladding - is that something you'd go for?

This is a collaborative post with the Bathroom Cladding Shop, but all words and opinions are my own.

Some LUSH new bedside lights

November 10, 2015

On Friday I said I'd noticed how plain our top spare bedroom was looking, and it's something I've been thinking about lately. On one of my recent clear outs, which could also be called a move-things-around out I rediscovered two bedside light bases which we haven't used for a while, but weren't ready to throw out. With an eye on sprucing up our top bedroom and another on using the things we have, I wondered if I could redeploy them.

We had bedside lights in this bedroom, but the lamp bases I found were nicer even though they weren't a matching pair. We decided they didn't need to match and that "mix and matching" was the way to go. The lampshades we had on the existing bedside lights were ok - I'd bought them in Laura Ashley a good few years back, but we felt like it was time for a change.

So with a plan we headed into Greenwich to check out the lampshades and many designs in Lush Designs, aiming to leave with something much funkier. I'd looked at their website and knew that I liked several of the designs, but couldn't narrow it down to what I wanted. I'd decided that choosing just one LUSH lampshade was going to be too hard, so I was looking for two complimentary designs to continue my mix and match approach.

We soon left with one lampshade and another on order. Now we've got them both and they're both in situ, what do you think?

This lampshade is called Landscape and it's easy to see why! This is the smallest size in grey. The lamp base is one that MOH brought from his flat and although it's brass and quite traditional I think it works well with this modern shade.

The design of the second lampshade is called London and is in cream and black, again in the smallest size. It's actually a different size shade to the other one by a tiny bit, but as the bases are different designs and heights too I really don't think this matters. And I think I'm really making a case for that Little Greene's Hampstead paper aren't I? It would go so well with this shade, well both of them really...

MOH isn't so sure about the mix and matchy bit but as we've got them now they're staying. And in case you're wondering about the handmade lace pieces that they're standing on, my mum made them both and now I've got the perfect home for them as well.

Autumn leaves on the allotment

October 29, 2015

Last Saturday I spent an hour or two on the plot clearing some space for my onions which I'd started in a seed tray in the greenhouse. With the green shoots almost three inches it was time to get them planted out. And of course, just as I was starting to get going it started to rain. Hard. I'd come prepared with my waterproof so I carried on.

As I waded in the mud - thankfully in wellies - I realised that the allotment could be just the place to get my fix of Autumn leaves. So before I left for home I had a wander around the site to see what I could see.

The vine leaves on the surrounding plots were a multitude of colours and with incredible detail.

I loved the fluffiness of these artichokes and the droplets of water on the nasturtium leaves. I have artichokes on my plot and I have nasturtium seeds to grow next year, so hopefully next year I'll be showing you ones I've grown.

There were still more leaves to see. The fig leaves were almost yellow. Further along on a compost heap where these purple veined brassicas, and despite its obvious circumstances I think it's still quite pretty.

On my own plot, the leaves of the beans that I haven't cleared away are also changing colour

Can you guess what this leaf belongs to?

It's from my sunflower which is just about still hanging on.

I've a bit of purple going on on my plot too. The rogue artichoke which is growing where it fancies, looked great alongside the green of my storage bench. And my purple sprouting broccoli is coming along nicely, I'm looking forward to eating it next year!

Yes, the walk around the allotment certainly gave me my autumn leave fix. Where do you get yours?