lovely jubbly london

keeping cool

The husband made a happy wife last night when he put this in place and to proper use:

air conditioner!

When your bedroom is cool enough to sleep, who cares that half the window is covered with a piece of wood and air conditioning duct tape acting as a vent? Not I, I tell you. 

And a bit of randomness...

Is this outfit office appropriate? The shorts end just below the knee. I am dreading taking public transport in this heat and know it will be stifling.

summer improvisation

Well, lets get one thing straight- it is HOT out and it's only going to get worse. This means making ones legs visible is almost required out of necessity. While I love skirts and dresses, my pale legs are a bit scary and need some attention from the sun after many months of wearing tights. My sun chair is a bit of problem as while it reclines, it lacks a footrest. 

Enter the trusty garden trug. From here on out it shall be known as upside-down-purple-trug-makes-great-footrest:

warning: shield your eyes from the whiteness

bonus points if your toenails match your flowers

Side note: If you think some cropped cotton trousers or khakis will help you keep those pasty legs covered throughout the summer think again. The Gap does not stock either. Yes, I will not tell a lie, it is true. I thought it was a fluke when I was at the Knightsbridge branch and maybe they were just out since it's a smaller store, but my suspicions were confirmed on Oxford Street: GAP ≠ KHAKIS. 

And when you live in a country where 99.9% of refrigerators do not make ice, a little improvisation is required in that area as well. Enter frozen fruit- pretty and chilling!

busted

I'll admit it has been a while since I used the wii fit, I mean after all it was in America and we were in England. Imagine my surprise when I turned it on the morning to do some yoga and this greeted me:

I didn't quite realise it had been that long! Do you still think I can convince the husband I really need the new wii active or will I be pushing my luck?

from the files...

I opened up my inspiration file yesterday to drool look over the pictures I had saved and noticed a trend. 

I save a lot of houses from movies.

The Holiday

(Bit of trivia- they actually built this "faux" house in a village in Surrey. It looked so real, people thought it was and the estate agents in the area were inundated with requests from people hoping to buy it.)

Isn't this so cozy? I just want to curl up in front of the fire with a book.

This truly is the quintessential English cottage.

Whenever I think of a "classic" American house, I think Father of the Bride. Anyone else?

At this point it's also safe to say, trend number two emerges in that all the movie houses I save are films by Nancy Meyers. Coincidence or not?!

Of course, I also saved a lot of images from Something's Gotta Give and when I saw this again yesterday it was meant to be-

More chair covers! This actually gives me a better idea of how mine need to be made as mine are also armchairs. This picture also demonstrates beautifully how to make a dark table and chairs work in a light bright room.

So tell me, are you a fan of Nancy Meyers films?

sew crazy

The dilemma with my chair covers continues as I have not found anyone able to make them! So, while we were in the US I bought one of these:

Yes, a sewing machine. And no, I've never sewed before, but it was on sale so what the heck! (side note- while in Sears buying the sewing machine I saw Kenmore now makes refrigerators that make shaved ice! Yes, shaved ice for snow cones and slushees. If we lived in America I would so buy one.) 

Next stop was a crafting superstore nearby and wouldn't you know it- they were having a huge sale on patterns and fabrics. It was meant to be I tell you. 

I managed to walk away with a stack of sale fabric. As I haven't really, okay ever, sewed I got a selection of different weights and fun patterns for practice.

I thought an easy project for a beginner might be a half apron since I have been wanting one for a while and haven't found one I liked or loved at the right price. I found a vintage pattern which I think could be fun.

And since I'm such a pro, or think I am, I thought I might as well buy some patterns for summer clothes:

cute, right?

Then on one of our early morning 6 am jaunts to the store that stays open 24 hours a day, I found exactly what I needed- chair patterns!!

None are exactly what I had in mind, but I think they will be a good guide and maybe I can take an element from one or two to create the perfect slipcover.

I am going to warn you all now, this clueless sewer will be posing lots of questions once the sewing machine arrives. He may kill me for saying this, but the husband knows way more than me and his knowledge was quite evident while shopping. Maybe I'll make him give a video tutorial, wouldn't that be a laugh?! 

blooming beauties

We arrived home and found this gorgeous rose bush in full bloom in the front garden.

 The scent is truly amazing!

A nice surprise after the sadness of saying goodbye to our first home.

goodbye first home

The day has come we say goodbye to our first house (as homeowners). We're glad it has sold, but it's still sad to say goodbye to the first place we ever owned.

A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into turning this place into somewhere we loved. From builder beige to a real home.

before

before the other side

after

before

after

close-up of glass backsplash and quartz countertops

during the biggest part of the job

adding a master bathroom door and moving the closet door

(this illustrates the extent of the husband's handiness!)

after

there isn't a before, but I personally hand painted the stripes

(taken in the mirror)

And yesterday the whole house looked like this:

All of the changes (except the countertops) the husband and I did ourselves. We seriously worked for about 3 weeks to make things just the way we wanted. From installing hardwoods, to painting, to installing backsplashes, to building and moving walls- we absolutely worked our hardest. The husband worked his day job and after work had his hands full making my wishes a reality. For that I will always be grateful- 

Thank you husband for making our house a home!

um, yeah...

I have no words.

l-o-v-e

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than you adore*

Happy 4th Anniversary!

I love you. xx

*lyrics to L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, our 1st dance song.

design dilemma- the living room

Since everyone is so helpful, I'm going to keep asking advice!

Another room I am currently struggling to figure out is the living room. I've posted about the fireplace before, but now that our American sized furniture is making its way over I need to make it fit. Right now, we're using temporary Ikea furniture in there so I'm not showing a picture!

Remember how I mentioned every wall is angled? Well see for yourself- I present the living room:

In that small space I need (or rather want!) to fit an armoire, sofa and two armchairs. 

This is the only picture I could find which shows them.

This was taken the day the realtor came to take photos for the listing so the place is stripped bare of most decor!

Since the new room is small, it's going to be a struggle. I've been playing with some layouts, but may need to lose an armchair. I have no idea on actual sizes of the furniture, but I played around with some average estimates I found online.

option 1

This is how the room is arranged now, except nothing is where the armchairs are and there is a small side table between the wall and sofa. The armoire would have to be slightly at an angle otherwise with the way the wall is angled (which you can't really see here) it would face the bottom left corner.

option 2

This is probably my favourite, but will be the most work. The tv cables are all where the armoire is in the first option and would need to be moved for this one. The husband says he can do it (and I'm sure he can as he moved the cables in the last house), but do I really want the mess and work in someone else's home? However, I'm sick of sitting so close to the TV! Nothing can go on the wall that juts out as that is the fireplace. We also never close the door so it's always flat against the wall where the chair is placed.

What do you think? Am I going to have to lose an armchair? Option 1 or 2?

Coming soon in the design dilemma series- the master bedroom.