I've been browsing through the Murals Wallpapers site and I've found myself attracted to a range of Scandi inspired, tree filled wallpapers in their Forest Wallpaper section. It's not my usual style, but I can't help but feel captivated by the wallpapers and I think any of the wallpapers I'm showcasing in this post would enhance whichever wall you chose them for.
I'm storing the first two away for a future home office, just imagine how inspiring it would be to faced with these views.
LONELY TREES
Picture Credit: Murals Wallpaper
I did wonder if it was the chairs that attracted me to the photo above - and while they might have drawn my attention as they are the same design as the chairs I've recently had delivered - I think it's the misty woodland view too. And because your eyes naturally search the landscape to establish just how much you can see, just as you would if it were for real.
THROUGH THE CLOUDS
Picture Credit: Murals Wallpaper
So what makes these fit the trademark Scandinavian design?
Each of these wallpapers fit the calm and muted neutral colours which we often see in the Scandi style. The rooms they're shown in have light or white wooden floors and the furniture is a mix of sleek and simple styled furniture mixed with wooden pieces, or in the case of the picture below an upcycled pallet desk.
Add all of that together and you've got classic Scandi style. It really is a winner.
WHITE FOREST
Picture Credit: Murals Wallpaper
I also need that S for my desk. Well, if I used my desk regularly enough that is - but let's gloss over that. And with that little yellow table in the shot below, I couldn't not include it could I?
BEYOND THE FOREST
Picture Credit: Murals Wallpaper
Is this a style you'd include in your home?
I've been pinning wallpapers lately too, so follow me on Pinterest to see more of the wallpapers that catch my eye.
* This is a collaborative post but all views are my own.
My craft room takes a step closer
You'll probably remember that when we put the finishing touches to our porch I was left with a "spare" set of pigeon shelves. I quickly thought they'd look great in our study and my plan to transform that room into my craft room started to take shape. Of course I didn't mention this plan to MOH as I was certain he wouldn't agree, but what I did sell to him was that these shelves would be a great way to store some of my craft items and would free up some other space. He heard this as I wanted to hang these in the study and fill it with more of my junk!
Which I guess is a loose interpretation of my idea. This is how they ended up.
LOADED, PRETTY AND FUNCTIONAL STORAGE
Not much junk there, hey? Well I don't think so either, MOH has another view.
Despite making a template when we hung the first set of shelves, this was nowhere to be found. I'd probably cleared it out in a spring cleaning frenzy - that, or I've put it somewhere so safe I just haven't remembered where yet. Please tell me I'm not the only one that does that?
A CARDBOARD TEMPLATE PATCHED TOGETHER WITH WASHI TAPE
With a new template made and hastily mended with some washi tape it wasn't long before the screws were in and we were trying to hook the shelves onto them. This time we'd hung it higher and it wasn't so easy to notch it into place, with a few scratches of the paintwork - thankfully we've not repainted yet, phew! - it was on the wall.
HUNG SUCCESSFULLY!
So it was time to fill it up. In the middle row I added boxes, twine, handmade cards, my pincushion, some notebooks, a pen pot and a fabric tray:
HANDMADE CARDS, TWINE, BOXES AND A PINCUSHION
A BOX OF WASHI, A FABRIC TRAY AND A MAGAZINE BOW
SOME NOTEBOOKS, POSTCARDS AND A POT FOR PENS
On the bottom there were storage boxes of ribbons, trimmings and bias binding, a pot of crochet hooks, some wool that I've promised to knit MOH some socks with and a photo frame waiting to be filled:
RIBBONS, BIAS BINDING AND TRIMMINGS
SPACE FOR A PHOTO, CROCHET HOOKS AND WOOL FOR SOCKS
Which left room on the top shelf for more functional storage of buttons and threads, card blanks, my letter stamps and another pretty box and a ball of wool that my plan was to crochet some coasters from. I still need to learn to crochet, one day soon maybe!
THREAD AND PLENTY OF BUTTONS
MORE WOOL AND A PRETTY BOX
CARD BLANKS, ENVELOPES AND MY LETTER STAMPS
Stepping back I was quite pleased with how it looked, but surprised how quickly I'd filled it! The one in the porch still has some empty spaces because I'm looking for the right things to fill them - I think I could have filled this one twice over, but don't tell MOH!
And you can see it's alongside my new rainbow board too, with these two additions it's given this wall a brand new lease of life.
And my craft room is really starting to come together - and MOH is resigned to the fact too!
The remaining three show gardens from the Ideal Home Show
Last week I shared the first three show gardens from this year's Ideal Home Show and today I'm sharing the remaining three. These are just as inspirational, and you'll see today why I needed to split these into two posts - I've too many photos and couldn't choose between them!
4. Three Flow, Chichester College
This garden, the literature says, is designed to flow with varying levels and features laid out in a spiral pattern and the design is made up of geometric shapes. The most notable of these is the eye-catching rebar dome which acts as a central focal point for the garden.
I loved the dome and think it'd be great to replicate in a future garden - not my current garden sadly but it's an idea I'm storing away for the future. It looks simple but I suspect it's not that simple to replicate, but wouldn't it be fab.
I liked the planting in this garden too - lots of greens again - but this time we spherical clipped bushes and the always beautiful alliums.
There was one element I wasn't so keen on and that was the raised beds, although beautifully done and made from lovely material I thought they looked a little old-fashioned and at odds with the more modern dome shape. MOH liked them and thought I was being too critical, but they won't be making it into one of our gardens. For me they look a little bit too much like that fake cladding you used to (and probably still can) get. What do you think?
That said, I did like the lights in the raised beds.
5. Wellbeing Yoga Retreat, Capel Manor College
This garden aims to recreate the feeling people get when they go on a yoga retreat and the garden is meant for a young couple in London, who both have a challenging work-life balance. And it was definitely a calm garden, and while I liked the ferns this was my least favourite garden.
The planting is dense - which I like - and the grasses and bamboos provide movement. This garden also had rusty corten steel elements, which we saw quite a bit of at the show, but even that didn't do it for me. I think the concept is just too simple for me. Sorry.
6. Salaam (Peace), Shuttleworth College
Now this garden is completely different to the others, and strikingly so. It's inspired by the courtyard gardens and colours of Marrakech, which I have fond memories of as that's where we honeymooned immediately after our wedding back in 2007. The garden is set out as a mini Chahar Bagh, a Persian garden style which divides the space into four parts.
There's bold colours, tiled furnishings and light from solar and LED lamps.
The planting is simple - and on reflection quite minimal - and uses lots of architectural plants like Trachycarpus and olive trees.
There's planters on castors which can be used around the garden, or even indoors.
So there you are, six very different gardens from this year's Ideal Home Show. Each had elements I either have or would have in my garden, or simply parts that I admire even if they're not for me. The one thing I took from looking at these gardens, is that I wouldn't want to be without a garden, whatever size that might be.