Emily's Home Tour: Dining Room

I love this room, I think it is possibly my favourite in the house. I love how light it is and I LOVE my Orla Kiely wallpaper. I'm blogging it now because we've actually decided to change things about a bit. Having a small person in the house changes your priorities big time and although I love having a room designated to dining, practically it would be better served as a play room with a dining function. So in the next few weeks this room will change (NOT the wallpaper, that's staying and I'll try not to have palpitations if we do messy play).

So here it is at the moment... check back soon to see how it gets changed into a playroom.

 

 

 

Some of my favourite things are in this room. A print Paul and I bought for our first Christmas in this house (it reminds me of our honeymoon in Sweden), our Rob Ryan vase which was a wedding present and my ever growing collection of vintage jugs.

 

All the furniture in this room is second hand... the side board was from a charity shop, the table used to be my sisters and the chairs (painted in Annie Sloan Duck Egg Blue and Arles) were from an auction.

 

 

Up the stairs is my gallery wall of friends of family. Its a mix match of frames that I painted white. Millie loves to point out the family she doesn't see often and its lovely to have them where she sees them all the time. 

 



Emily x

Stocking Fillers for Him: Ideas

It has suddenly occurred to me that although it still looks and feels like September, actually it is nearing the end of November and Christmas is coming ever closer (how did that happen, it was JUST JANUARY?) I love Christmas. I love buying presents, decorating, planning how the table will look... the whole shebang! However, every year the thing I struggle with is buying gifts for the men in my life (mainly a husband and a Dad). Why are they so hard to buy for?

I've decided to get a head start with this mammoth feat and get thinking about Paul's stocking. As children we always had a stocking with little, cheap(ish) gifts that we'd open in our parent's bed. We've continued this tradition as adults (but we're mainly in our own beds now!) So, every year I have done Paul a stocking which is much harder than doing them for my mum and sisters. We now have a fairly standard list for our stockings, but this needed male-ing up for the husbands and boyfriends... here are my ideas for this year.

 

1. A Christmas Tree decoration (make sure you like it too as it'll be on your tree... i.e. no Darth Vader heads!)

2. Something to do/play like 'Beer in a Matchbox' - available from www.notonthehighstreet.com

3. A big bar of his favourite chocolate

4. Miniatures of his favourite tipple - check out www.justminiatures.co.uk for a huge selection

5. Novelty underpants (be careful if you Google this, it's quite a sight!) - these are from www.bhs.co.uk 

6. Novelty socks - available pretty much everywhere (Primark is probably a good bet)

 

Well, that's the basics covered. Then if your boy is anything like mine, he's not a fan of 'tat', he has to have things he'll use... try some of these:

 

 

1. Football soap on a rope (you can pretty much get any ball to suit his favoured sport)

2. Mini screwdriver kit - this is from www.screwfix.com

3. Lightsaber pen (most 30 something men are Star Wars fans!)

4. Phone cover - from www.notonthehighstreet.com

5. Nanoblocks - this is really tiny lego, a proper challenge!

6. Not exactly something he needs but it would definitely get a play on Christmas Day - remote controlled car in a can - find similar on www.amazon.co.uk

 

If you have any other ideas for stocking fillers for 'him' please let me know!

 

Happy Shopping

Em x



Wheelie Book/Toy Box

We don't have tons of room in our house so I'm always on the look out for storage solutions for toys and books. I've had these wine boxes for a while and I'm so pleased I've finally found a good use for them.

 

Putting the box together is pretty easy. I'd use a drill/power screwdriver for ease and speed. Turn the box upside down and position the blocks in the corners. Put a caster over the block and screw in place (make sure your screws are not too long and won't poke through the box).

 

Now all you need to do is decorate. I sanded the edges of the box as it was a bit rough. Then I painted the whole things with Annie Sloan 'Old White' chalk paint which needs very little preparation and no primer. I did a couple of coats and painted one side with blackboard paint. I finished it off with some washi tape around the top.

 



I'm making another one for toys now!
Em x