Growing out of the shared nest

My mind has been wondering to the thought of building my very own nest for years, but this year it's become an incessant yearning. To fuel this fire even more I have 24 hour access to pinterest were I can pin all the kilam rugs and white wash walls and gallery photo walls I want, falling into a world of clean interiors, until my eyelids drop and sleep prevails. I have never wanted something so much .....apart from a guinea pig when I was 6.

My parents although found hard,  could piece together what they could find, and get on the property ladder, it seems increasingly impossible nowadays to climb the greasy ladder of the housing market. Many thoughts hinder my over active mind at the moment; but no more so the urge to be living as an adult. I feel stuck in perpetual '20 something' mode, trying to make ends meet. Without sounding self important/ pompous,  I feel those days should be behind me. In my early thirties with a good job and time spent investing in my career I feel it is time that I should be able to live comfortably ( I don't mean lording it up being fed grapes) But working taps, and a warm house. But the realities are; still living in a shared house, a collection of mismatched furniture to match the sometimes thrown together housemates. Although some of these years have been great fun and I have made life long friends, it gets to a point were the little things (grown up things) do start to bother you. 

So this year it is my aim to scrimp and save and perhaps borrow, so that I can lay down roots in the place that I now call home. 

corners of my rented space

"Future nest Ideas"

Fav dreamy interior blogs are: 

myscandinavianhome

sfgirlbybay

www.remodelista.com

The plumed Nest

thingsfoundalongtheway.blogspot

apartmenttherapy

All image links can be found here! 

Would love to here about your flat/house buying tips! 

Love Gem x

...making posters for the little fella's room

We have been moving a few things round here lately to get ready for sproglett number 2's arrival (hence my radio silence over the last few months). The little fella has moved into a bigger room which he will eventually share with his brother/sister. We wanted to make the room quite gender neutral because we don't know what flavour this one is, and we're not really into blue for boys pink for girls, etc, anyway.

One of the things I was keen to do was to get some fun, original 'art' to go on the walls. As ever we are on a budget, so Gem helped me to trawl websites such as Pinterest and Etsy for some inspiration.

We decided that this picture of Gem and her sister's ice creams could work as an A1 poster (see other poster fun we have had here).

I wanted it to be black and white so that when photocopied and enlarged it would have the same sort of grainy quality like the nest poster.

When I took the above image to my photocopy shop they said that the background was far too dark, and that the ice creams needed to 'pop' out a bit more. So I got back to work, and thanks to Gem and her photoshopping skills we came up with this image below.

She highlighted the ice creams (and did some other clever techy stuff too), and faded out the background. I was so excited to see the end result!

And here it is! It sits beautifully above the mantelpiece underneath the yards of bunting that I made for him before he was born.
The room is really starting to come together now. I might even share some pictures soon.
Have a lovely weekend! I'm off to find some ice cream...

Maria x

...making progress on the spare room.

Hooray! Thanks to the amazing help of my in-laws the walls of the spare room are now painted, and the room is starting to look pretty and inviting. In fact, the husband and I are seriously thinking of moving in.
Now all we have to do is start to fill it with the bric-a-brac I've collected to make it feel homely and lived in. I made a start on this by getting a frame for my nest picture (you can read about how I did this here), and the husband's parents helped us hang it up.

What do you think?
Maria x

.....recycling old frames for new art work!

I bought this lovely print by illustrator Ben Steers last Summer and it has been waiting for me to find a  frame ever since. By accident yesterday I found one, eyeing the mount up for size I realised it would be perfect for this happy ice cream seller! I love it when this happens, so I went running around the house looking for tape and scissors that always seem to run away as soon as you need them.

You can always find old frames in charity shops for pennies! Choose one with a mount 

as these can sometimes be more expensive than the frames themselves! 

Be careful when you unclip the holdings, I have broken so many glass panels in the past! 

make sure it is central in the frame

The original print was an historical / educational specimen

about the delivery of herbal medicine and it's benefits. 

If there is space I always like to put the original print at the back of the frame. 

I don't know why I do this! I guess I don't feel so bad for using its home, for the new print. 

I love the little slogan at the bottom; 'Hot Town Summer in the City! I instantly hear Joe Cocker howling out his bluesy number! It's really beginning to feel like spring.....it's nearly here folks, just watch the snow drops blossom and the daffodils bloom!

I love Ben's illustrations, so much character! They remind me of books I read when I was little. 

Check his work out here 

I am also in love with the work of local Illustrator Nicholas John Frith

This Easter I'm going to swap an egg for a print! (ok I'll probably have both, greedy me) 

And just before going to bed tonight I discovered Christine Pym's Illustrations on pinterest and I laughed out loud at this little penguin! If I had kids, I am sure I would love their books more than they would! Sorry Maria, I'm beginning to think adult books are overrated! Your'll find me in the under 5 section of the bookshop, if these sweet images are anything to go by! 

I would love to hear about the illustrators / designers you like! All these illustrations have inspired me to 

get drawing! 

Have a great weekend!

Gem x

...getting decorating ideas for our guest room

It's nearly been a year since we moved into our house. Since then we (I mean my in-laws-they are amazing at painting and DIY) have decorated a couple of rooms, and it is really starting to feel like home. Our back bedroom has been a bit grotty for some time now, and so we want to get started on decorating it. Some friends are coming to stay soon so we are giving ourselves a deadline to get it all ready and finished by then.
Here are some before pictures;

 Urgh! Horrid, peeling wallpaper. The husband is steaming it off as we speak. Hurrah!

 We are going for white walls with one wall of colour; this room definitely needs cheering up. (You can see the back garden through the window-another project on the go)

 Books, DVDs, junk. It all needs a bit of organising.

What to do with the cupboards? Should they stay or go? We haven't decided yet.

So, my lovely friend bought me this book for Christmas; 'Homespun Style' by Selina Lake. Whilst the husband is labouring and the boy snoozing, I have been tucked under the covers (it's chilly today!), and getting a bit of inspiration.

 I love the idea of having white walls and bringing pops of colour in through bedding and pictures. Such a pretty room.

 Same for this one above. I really like the way they have painted the frames of the pictures shocking pink.

 A lovely wall of pictures and nic-nacs. 

Oh so pretty. I think this one is my favourite.

So, wish us luck! I'll post again on this when we have some 'after' pictures. 

Maria x