The Statement Wall That Changed Everything.

My bedroom has long been a room of contention. For ages I have been saying to Rob that we needed to do something but I just was never sure what that something was. The main problem we faced was that our room is an attic conversion, and with that come ones problem; we actually only have one flat, vertical wall. This meant that the bed has to always be in the position it is and if we want a chest of drawers {I really need it} then that also has to always be on the same wall. Having only one real option for layout it always meant that the room stayed as it was. And even though you can introduce pretty decor and room accessories there are only so many variations and to be honest, as much as I really liked everything I used to do with decorating and styling the bedroom nothing has ever made it feel complete until our most recent project. It seems so silly to say but I know it has affected us both and helped us both get a bit creative as Rob is excited about it as much as me. I have often felt that paint can change everything. It is a great thing to be able to paint furniture and recreate space using colour. It's weird though as we actually only ever use one colour of paint and that is white. It has always been white and white is the feature of the house. We use it as a colour to lighten to create visual space with a trick colour. That hasn't stopped us using colour though. I am a big fan of a statement piece of furniture {you should see my pink sideboard} and, in fact, in a bedroom I had a very light grey painted chest of draws which sat nicely against our white shabby chic pine bed and the white walls. It kept it simple and was a great piece for housing the ever changing room accessories. 

It wasn't until our trip to Copenhagen this summer that I really began to get annoyed with our bedroom. It was my personal space and it actually brought me no joy to be in. I was ''artistically frustrated'' you might say and as time went on I decided it was being changed and quite dramatically. 

That's when having a look through The Laura Ashley blog came in hand and seeing some fellow bloggers' rooms I decided that I was going to introduce a bold and dark colour to our room to create something different to the rest of the house. 

I have never been a fan of the whole statement wall thing, I never really got it, until now that is. When I pitched the idea to Rob I felt he was probably just going along with it as he knew how dissatisfied I was with the space. It also meant he got on with a few home improvement jobs alongside me that had been on his to do list. 

The first look at the Pale Charcoal Paint I had chosen from Laura Ashley left me a bit aghast. It was dark. No french grey here. It was going to be bold and different but I was happy with that. As soon as it was on the walls I knew it was right, and while I was painting that Rob actually painted the brown wooden rafters white which made the wall stand out even more. It didn't take long to complete and what was more impressive was how good the paint was. For us, it was going on a great base, just white, but the finish is so even and the matt texture is still so rich looking. 

What makes more of a statement too is that instead of painting the chest of draws a complementing colour, I painted it the same. I used the LA furniture paint in the same colour as I wanted to walk in and just be hit by the rich grey. With the help of some new drawer pulls the finished piece looks fantastic! With the colour looking amazing, my mind was in hyper drive about how I wanted to style it.

 With what I had seen in Copenhagen in the forefront of my mind, trying to inject a bit of that simplistic natural style into the room was important. Plants in wicker baskets was a must and the darker the green, the better. With the extra copper features I wanted to keep the rich colours flowing so the green came in and now sits so nicely with the grey backdrop. 

Another Scandi. inspired pieces was the new refurbishing of our bed. Bless our bed. It has been so good to us having had a life of being chopped to fit under the eves of the roof. But it was the bed that was then Rob's little project. I will actually put a lot more of this on our blog, but having reshaped the headboard and footboard, and creating a bespoke, wood panel headboard, I then painted the remaining frame in the same pale charcoal paint. I did worry it was going to be too much but as the rest of the walls are still white and the bedding actually covers most of it I have been pleasantly surprised by how little you actually notice it being the same colour to the wall. There are just so many other nice textures to look at!

Using some nice nude and grey colours in the bedding and adding some teal cushions, I have found they complement the richness of the grey, copper and green that were already going on in the room.

It was just the little things that then needed doing. I made some really simple brush mark art work for the brass LA picture frames and having picked up some jewellery dishes from in-store, placed them on the chest of draws which made for a nice simple display.
My art work was so easy. I just wanted to share as you to can create something similar. It started with the PHOTO FRAME which is actually meant for 4 pictures but I removed the mount to just have the base frame. Then, on some proper art paper used a dry brush and acrylic paint, literally pasted the paint on to paper. it is important that you leave the brush stroke edges, as that is the effect, it's not clean and straight lines. I then let it go slightly tacky and then got small bits of gold leaf and just used a dry paintbrush to place on top. I used the end of the paintbrush to make it look a bit distressed and created texture with it. The overall result in the frames looks really good and gives that minimalist look I was seeking.

I have also gathered a book stack instead of using our original bedside table because I was sick of all the furniture we had. This looks amazing and is a great way to use all the homey books. I specifically picked ones in grey, purple and blue colours to match in with the theme. I then spray painted my bedside lamp in a copper spray to match the drawer pulls.

I am so pleased with the overall look. A real change and a fantastic use of colour. I know it's grey, which might not seem like anything new, but the grey is so bold and such a statement, Rob has had to hide the tin away so I don't go using it all around the house!

What We Used:
Pale Charcoal Paint / Copper Drawer Pulls / Copper Frame 

*This post was Sponsored by Laura Ashley and appears on Their blog.

Just Treats No Tricks {Ft Biscuiteers}

In less than a week the kids will be dressing up and heading up the street to knock on our neighbours' doors asking "Trick or Treat", but only wanting one answer. Halloween to them is very much based on treats and all things good. I don't believe in celebrating Halloween as some gore-ridden scare fest. That is not what it is about. In fact, that is the furthest thing I want to be celebrating on Halloween. Instead I love celebrating the more traditional aspects and this year I am throwing a family tea with a Day of The Dead theme. It was last year in particular that we decided to start celebrating this Mexican festival a bit more. I absolutely love the idea of it, and the tradition behind it and of course the face painting opportunities. For me, Halloween has become a time where I want to teach my children about remembering the dead, as the Mexicans would and it is absolutely not about child eating clowns or zombies. In fact, that is the kind of Halloween I never want to buy into and is so far away for the true point of it all. I was talking to my Mother-in-Law about it all recently and she was explaining how her mother, who was Irish, used to celebrate Halloween as it was a huge thing the whole family did. It was a great feast and a time for coming together and reflecting on the year, harvest and most importantly, remembering those who had died. It was such a popular thing in their house as it was the only celebration or chance to have a party they got until Christmas time, so it was seen as a chance to just get everyone together. 

I really like that. It is a great opportunity to get everyone together, again, not celebrating scary clowns but actually celebrating life. Rob and I love a party and are always happy to host such an evening to allow my family to come together and find a common ground with us to channel the right reason for the season.

Anyway, going back to Day Of The Dead, this year we are having a really simple evening of food, dancing around the living room and watching The Book Of Life {very DOTD themed} on the big screen. It's simple fun. Within that we will have some face painting as I am sure the kids and their cousins will love that and some crafty fun, but most of all getting together like this will allow us to celebrate with the family and remember some very important people who have died in the last year. And as DOTD tradition goes, if you don't remember them they become forgotten souls and you know what, honouring those friends of ours like this is a really wonderful way to remember them. 

I have been picking up DOTD themed items from varying places and as far as decoration goes, pumpkins and fairy lights pretty much have that covered, however, I am going to buy lots of bright flowers and pick some of the hydrangeas from the garden to fill all my little vases with. Food wise, I am thinking sausages, a hot dog is always good warming comfort food but we will probably be buying some good local sausages to really fill us up and what pudding would be better than homemade apple crumble with apples from my parents' garden and some of these Halloween biscuits from the amazing Biscuiteers! I have long been following these guys on Instagram and their biscuits are little gems of tasty art. They were kind enough to send me a Halloween box which the kids absolutely love! They will be so excited to share these with their cousins {if they last that long} as a little party treat. What a nice addition to our party table. And what's more perfect is that you can have some to. I always felt a bit disappointed that their shop was so far away but you can buy boxes of their biscuits ONLINE which means we can all enjoy them. 

*The biscuits were gifted but the post thoughts are my own.

Keeping My head Warm {Mindfullness}

I was thinking about this post and it is funny how I had these pictures and as I began to write a post in my head for them it very quickly turned from something fashion orientated to something a lot more mindful. 

It's no strange thing that we naturally begin to layer up on clothes as the season changes. Autumn is well and truly here and even though we are having it a bit warmer than usual the reality is we are all looking after ourselves and layering up that but more. It's easy to do when outwardly we see a change. Darker mornings, grey skies, recent winds that have sent us all grabbing coats and scarfs as we head out. Often now, and in the near future, we will also be grabbing gloves to keep our hands warm and hats to do the same. We are so conscious of an action which has amazing consequences. These things keep us warm, and not just practically. We use hats to comfort us, and protect our heads from the sharp wind and the visits from Jack Frost. "Don't forget your hat" is a phrase we have all heard and probably all said. A hat is deemed the key item in keeping the rest of you warm to. Heat escapes from the head after all and all that trying to keep yourself cosy is wasted as it just drifts of if you fail to protect it and keep it by wearing a hat.

But we actually choose to protect our heads when cold weather comes along, but in life it is the one extremity that we totally avoided protecting. Our head is the most vulnerable part of us, and that's not just in its organ form; the interior, our mind is so unprotected and we don't do anything at all to prevent it getting hurt. OK maybe we are conscious of it but I bet days, weeks, months, even years go by when you don't recognise your mental health and how you can try to protect it. I know I do. Not like I used to, I never recognised it as mental health before, I just thought it was normal. Normal to be this disillusioned with myself, to be this sad but I now recognise that this is not how it should be. My head needs so much more protection and maybe understanding that by just simply putting a 'hat' on. Yes, that sure helps, but my interiors need to be comforted in a different way. My soul needs that blanket that only my good and positive thoughts can produce. Then those thoughts themselves can wrap me up and keep me cosy. That's what I need. I need my mind to be kept warm by goodness and positive thinking and pulling on a hat now represents that. 

As I have been writing this I have been also thinking about how funny it is that when I am feeling really 'bleurgh' I tend to wear a hat, like all day, and that in itself is a wonderful comfort. But for now, each time I have want to warm up internally I need to remember that I must keep clothing myself with the right things, the right bits of clothing and the ones that will bring me the most comfort. 

{If you are interested in the fashion side: Scarf / Shoes / Jeans / Coat {Old} / Hat {Old}/ Bag Primark }

Dress To Impress {VELVET}

October is a great season to start buying party wear inspired clothes. It starts to filter into stores, you know, a few more sparkly pieces or indeed rich colours or longer length dresses all beginning to point towards party season. This A/W though there is one rich fabric which is everywhere, and that is velvet. Velvet has always been a funny one for me. I often compare it to velour and think of velour tracksuits which are not usually a style I would go for so when I saw it appearing lots I was a bit panicked by it and thought that it was probably going to cling to me in all the wrong places. 

It was this red skirt from M&S though that changed all my preconceptions. It was just there in our little Lincoln store looking all seasonal and lovely and as it was pleated. I thought that it was simply going to have to suit me because pleated skirts look great on everyone. I could have easily bought the gold or navy one as well but as red is definitely my colour of the season it was this one that spoke to me the most. Pulling it on in the changing rooms I knew that it was going to be a great skirt to wear over autumn and into winter especially for the Christmas season. Such a gorgeous shade and one that just looked so luxurious in the velvet fabric. Sold. Easily. and I have found that it is a skirt I can wear with baggy knits or with sleeker fitted jumpers and jackets for a rocker chic look instead. I love it. Just bold enough for me and it looks great with Vans or heeled ankle boots, which are all I wear at the moment anyway, so wins all round!

I wanted to share these images to give you a bit of inspiration. Have you caught the velvet bug?

SKIRT / Similar JACKET / JUMPER / BOOTS & BAGS Primark

Finding The Pumpkin Patch

It was actually only a few posts ago that I mentioned Doddington Hall and my trip I took there to go to find autumn. Even though I only posted about it a few days ago it was actually a week since I had been there, but today we ended up back there as last night I noticed that the Pumpkin Patch opened today and I knew we would be that side of the city, so we made sure to call in.

This was our first ever visit to a pumpkin patch so we were all quite pleased about the experience. 

Doddington hall is a lovely place to go for some time out of the city. So easy and very much a pillar of the local community. The car park was full when we got there and there were lots of families around all heading out to visit the patch and make some memories. 

Our kids were so excited, I knew they would love it but as we walked round the walled gardens, compost piles and through the land workers' area and we came to a field full of bright orange balls, all there ready were people inspecting them finding the right ones to have at home for the next week or so. 

For me, it was all very Disney-esque; it was picture perfect and all the pumpkins just had me thinking about Cinders and her Fairy Godmother, it was a very Bippity Boppity Boo moment indeed. Plenty of pumpkins that would have made fine carriages were being wheeled out in barrows and taken to people's cars. Our kids' choices were much more minimal, Raph going for one he could easily carry and Etta opting for the sweetest one she could find {in size that is}. 

All in all the children were happy with their choices and we left for a walk round the garden, pumpkins in tow. 

It was a beautiful morning, a low Autumn sun and the winds from all these storms blew about not causing too much mischief. It was great, just easy and I think we were the only ones taking a stroll at that time, no one else apart from a few ladies making what looked to be wedding flowers for the venue on site from Catkin flowers, very picturesque and pretty perfect for a Saturday. 

The patch is open now until the 30th from 10am - 3.30pm or untill stocks last! Visit the WEBSITE for more details.