brrrrrr!

There is a distinct chill in the air ... and our heating has broken. Our brief summer has ended and autumn is here! I love autumn, the beautiful colours make up for the fact that the days are getting much shorter. With the lack of heat in mind I have added this welsh blanket by Jane Beck to my wishlist (which seems to grow longer and longer by the week). This would look fantastic in our bedroom don't you think?

And finally, we have made a decision about the sofa and should be able to give an update with lovely pics very soon! For now I'll get back to waiting patiently for the engineer who promises to fix our boiler ...

wanted

I absolutely love the perfect match pendant by YellowGoat. I'm obsessing about it so much that I thought I would share it with you!

Have a great weekend.

found

Still awaiting repair is our sad sad kitchen. Mainly because of the insurance company but also because of my indecisiveness. But here it is, my favourite kitchen inspiration picture and the look that I think we will be going for.

I've seen the pictures of Emily Walker's bungalow from Canadian house and home quite a few times not but the kitchen is the room that stands out the most for me, a lovely mix of traditional and modern, a beautiful shade of grey on the walls and most of all the fantastic yellow that brings it to life. I really like the mix of fitted base units and the open shelving (with very carefully chosen items on them).

So that is it decided, white base units, cup handles and of course some lack shelves from ikea are on our shopping list for the kitchen. And maybe some yellow accessories? Or maybe red?

I love this 90th anniversary edition kitchenaid artisan mixer. I already have a kitchenaid so this would be just pure greed.

Far less greedy would be this salong vase from ikea. Now for the perfect grey. Any suggestions?

house envy

I love this house that is featured in the current issue of LivingEtc. The mix of white walls and bright coloured soft furnishings and artwork add lots of fun and personality to the family home. Maybe I'm not ready to live in an all white home but this I could certainly do!

The shocking pink stair runner is amazing, adding humour to a very traditional entrance. The couple say that their next home is going to have a tomato red runner but I'm lusting after turquoise!

Even the most functional room of the house is bursting with colour ... and practicality with the concrete worktop.

I love the crux throw in the master bedroom.

And of course a beautiful tulip table. What a brilliant family home.

birthday presents

My lovely Mark bought me my birthday presents (a little early) this weekend. I have called them Bill and Ted ... they are Roborovski dwarf hamsters. I have always loved hamsters (and all other rodents), they are so inquisitive and entertaining! They have a beautiful apartment with 360 degree views, open plan living/dining and a mezzanine level bedroom.

This isn't actually them. They are the smallest and fastest hamsters that you can get and I can't get them to stay still for a second, let alone take a picture. I'm sure there is more to come about these two when they settle in!

tulips from sweden

Despite my post about the planned update for the dining area, the update never took place. What I mean is, we never got round to replacing the chairs etc. I think it was somewhere between the plumbing intervention and sanding the bedroom floors! Maybe that was a good thing though because the more inspiration images I collect, the more I notice that they have a certain thing in common ... the Saarinen tulip table. It is completely out of our budget but I love it all the same. This image is my favourite set up, the tulip table with Eames DCM chairs.

Enter ikea with their glorious erm ... knock off, the docksta. This table is smaller in size than the tulip, and much smaller in price (at £109). Our current table seats 8 and the docksta would be tight for 6 but realistically we only really have up to 5, and the majority of the time we have 4 at the table ... you can tell that I am deep into convincing myself mode and here is why:

I love these images, and the simplicity of the table is beautiful. Personally, I think that it works best with white chairs as in the third image from skona hem. I also love the aqua and orange combination of the last image from _tris_'s photostream.

bedroom update ... the details

Finally! Our bedroom update is complete and I thought that I would take the chance to show you some of the details of the room. I have to say that we absolutely love it. It is our little cool, calm retreat after a very busy day at work!

Mark worked so hard sanding the floor and the numerous coats of primer and paint are absolutely worth it. Our house is old so the floor has taken some wear and tear over the years, as has the rest of the house, so we didn't want to paint completely over the history and we left some of the rather rustic details in the floor. I think that the result is brilliant and has a nice homely effect rather than being too pristine and clinical. We also unearthed the solid hearth for the bedroom fireplace which we painted black, this looks great against the white flooring and of course I am on the lookout for a lovely cast iron fire surround to finish it off.

We replaced the light fitting with the medium leran pendant light from ikea. It looks lovely in the day and gives a really soft light at night time. It was really easy to install, Mark did it in no time.

We are really pleased with the wallpaper, it is beautiful. We couldn't take it across the chimney breast as originally planned because the wall there is not great and the paper was so heavy that we couldn't manipulate it to go round the curve. However, I'm really pleased about this because it means that when I find the perfect fire surround it will have centre stage on the wall. Speaking of centre stage, this is our bargain find for the room. A theatre style light for just £20! It adds a bit of fun to the room ... and to the daily routine of getting ready for work.