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As a home interior stylist and content creator, I never really thought much about the fashion side of things... but I do get asked questions about what I'm wearing occasionally and I do know some things about fashion (even if it doesn't seem that way sometimes when I'm donning the painting clothes!) as I spent nearly a decade working for some of the most famous fashion brands in the world... So here is my little fashion corner with my most asked questions and over time I'll update this page with some other inspiration. Tap the images to go to the products Red Carpet Event I've had a lot of love for the outfits that I tried on for the LTK Gala at the Natural History Museum. I never get this dressed up in fancy outfits so it was a mission to find colours and shapes and styles to suit me... so many people seemed to really like them so here's the video I shared and you can tap here for the list of products or the image above.

If you're looking for simple styling ideas and tips to easy craft ideas to get the little ones involved in the Easter decorating, I've got you covered. Click here for the full list of where to shop the products. Or click on the images in this article to go straight to a list of products featured in the picture. Easter Decorations With Easter signaling the arrival of the new season, use pastels to bring the feeling of Spring along with flowers or faux flowers to brighten up your table. Then sprinkle in a few nods to the bank holiday weekend with Easter eggs and bunny ornaments. Tap the images to go straight to the products. Read on for some fun craft ideas suitable to keep the kids busy! Easter Bunny Napkins A great way to get the kids involved in setting the table whilst adding a special touch for your guests. Fold your napkin into thirds Take each end and fold to form a point in the middle Flip it over Place a ribbon or string behind Place an egg (painted is optional) on the point and bring the ends together to tie with the ribbon / string DIY Easter Bunny Hanging Decorations This is a great craft to get the kids involved in decorating the house for Easter. They're cute too! What you'll need: Coloured card or paper Pritt stick or PVA glue String or ribbon Scissors Make a stencil by drawing around a round tumbler for the body of the bunny and an egg for the head Cut out a minimum of 8 bunny shapes - the more the better Fold the bunny shapes in half and apply Pritt stick to one half and stick to another folded bunny Keep doing this until you've used all your bunnies Before you secure the final pieces together, stick a loop of ribbon or string and then finish glueing the bunny so that the first bunny is now stuck to the last one. Draw around your thumb or something similar for the bunny ears and stick in place. I hope that these ideas help to make your Easter weekend a bit more fun and colourful. Happy Easter xx

It is quite humbling that so many people love the colours in my home. I will have at least 10 comments or DMs a day across my various platforms, asking me what the different colours are in each of the room in my house. Then, when the video goes viral, I will have hundreds of comments, so… You can tap each of the images below to go straight to the products. Or click here for the full catalogue Kitchen My kitchen generates the most questions overall, particularly for the paint colour. If there are any questions you have about my kitchen in general, such as where I got the tiles or the shelving, then click here to find all of the details. All of the details for the paint colour on that link as well, but if you don't want to click on it, then let me explain that I am unable to share the exact paint colour of the kitchen cabinets because they are just the standard sage green from the kitchen company. Therefore, I have found similar paint colour on the link provided. Living Room My living room was the first room that we decorated, and we are so lucky that we just so happened to select the absolute perfect paint colours for this room. We decorated it before. I understood anything about paint colours before I realised that natural sunlight can dramatically change the appearance of paint colour and There are certain brands that produce their paints with this in mind. Therefore, there are certain brands that are quite simply better than other brands. I was very lucky with my colour choices in this room as I have not had to correct any mistakes and we have kept it as it is ! Dining Room I have a lot of information about my ikea hack and the dining room in other blog posts here. Otherwise, if all of you are interested in is the paint colour, then tap the image below to go straight to the paint colour Hallway & Staircase Tap any of the images below for the exact paint colours and emulsions I used. Bathroom As with the kitchen, the bathroom green vanity unit and bath panel are the standard olive green from the company we purchased the bathroom from. You can find all of the details on everything in the bathroom here but if you're just interested in the paint colours then click here or tap the image. Main Bedroom This is quite a simple room as we wanted to keep it a calming space for sleeping and relaxing. Nursery I have a lot of information about my DIY projects and the nursery/ spare bedroom in other blog posts here. Otherwise, if all of you are interested in is the paint colour, then tap the image below to go straight to the paint colour As usual, I'm always very happy to answer any questions for anything I have missed. Hopefully these pages mean that you don't have to wait a long time for me to reply!

This is not a project to be taken lightly, and certainly not alone, though I am so pleased we did! This project brought together all of our combined interior design and DIY knowledge to create something that is both functional and beautiful! I've always believed that a home doesn't have to be ugly if you need it to be functional, and this built-in proves it! We now have huge amounts of storage, replacing the disjointed and separate sideboards we used to have whilst gaining shelf storage from what was dead space. Read on to find out how we transformed not on the room but how we live our day to day lives. First, we will discuss the planning process as these types of projects will triumph or crumble depending on your preparation - and there is a lot to cover! Before Firstly, I want to share what the room looked like over the years. I had tried to make this room work with what we had due to budget limitations but it still remained my most disliked room, which is hard to deal with when it is also one of the most used rooms - we have always liked to eat dinner at the table and I work in a little desk space in the corner. The room is west facing, meaning that it doesn't get much light during the day and the hill also blocks out a lot of light. So it was a dark and dingy room filled with odd bits of furniture that we had accumulated through kind gifts or picked up for free / very cheaply on 2nd hand selling sites. It is a good sized space but the space wasn't utilised properly. The Plans I decided that I needed to create bespoke storage to fill the wall without looking too cumbersome and overwhelming. I generally prefer drawers over cupboards simply because it is easier to have quick access to your items rather than routing around in a cupboard. The only problem with this is that drawers are typically more expensive than cupboards simply because they have more parts to them. This instantly meant that if we hired a carpenter then this would quickly become a very expensive project. So I looked into Ikea products to do my own hack and found that the 6 drawer malm units would fit the space perfectly and then we could fill the gaps with some trim. I came up with a series of designs that would use the malm units and I decided that the Lack shelves would work if I then boxed everything in to make it look like a built-in unit. It's always important to draw plans to scale - graph paper may help I added some potential decorative details to some of the plans to see if hardware, light fixtures or moulding may help to create the look I wanted - these are details that don't have to be decided right away an as it happened we ended up without; once we had built the unit I realised that it might be a bit too much to add all the decorative details and I decided to let the unit speak for itself. The details in all of the step by step instructions on how we built it are to come in my next post. Paint Colours As the room is naturally very dark I wanted to brighten it by using paints with a yellow undertone to help bounce any light around the room. I also wanted it to look cohesive with the adjoining living room, which has a feature wall and the remaining 3 walls painted in a neutral. I therefore knew that a neutral paint colour would work well for the walls and ceilings but I also wanted to have a bit of colour in here to brighten the room. So I decided to keep to a similar theme of green that I have flowing throughout my home and picked a yellow based green: Green 12 from Lick (in eggshell as this is best for painting furniture). You can see in the before picture that this grey that looks very different in both rooms due to the lack of light in the dining room. Once I selected my paint samples choices I painted the samples on card to hold up around the room (much better than directly on the wall) and held them against the furniture that was planned to stay in the room. Every time I decorate a room I produce a mock up showing the potential colour choices against all of my existing furniture to confirm that it will all look right together. This is very basic but it helps you to visualise the whole room to see if it looks cohesive. Following my usual process for selecting paint colours, I ended up with White 03 from Lick in Matt and Green 12 from Lick in Eggshell. Once I had my plans in place and confirmed, it was time to order all of the products. A full list of products and the process will be in my next blog post.

My dining room has been my most disliked room since we moved in despite it being one of the most used. Creating our Ikea Hack Built-In really transformed the whole room and how we use the space and now it's one of my favourites! Ikea Hack Built-In Ikea Malm 6 drawer units x2 Ikea Lack 110cm x 26 cm shelves x6 Tongue & Groove Sheets Zinsser Bin Primer Click here for more information on how to create the Ikea Hack Built-In yourself Paint Green 12 in Eggshell from Lick Walls & Ceilings are White 03 in Matt from Lick Mirror William Wood Mirrors - may be discontinued as it's years old Dining Table Ardingly Trade Fair Made from an old door by a trader who attached legs and lime washed the whole unit Rug One Dot World Discontinued Click here for the full catalogue

My living room feels like it was finished years ago as we painted it and never looked back - we know it will stay the same colours for a long time yet! The furniture and home furnishings have changed so much but they're now complete! Paint The feature wall is Hague Blue in Modern Emulsion and the other 3 walls are Blackened in the matt, both Farrow & Ball Curtains Harkness curtains in colour Vapour from the Abigail Ahern collection Double pinch pleat Blackout lining in colour Tanner Serenity Voiles in colour linen Pink Chair Snug the big chill 1.5 Seater Snuggler - Blush Coral Brown Legs Coffee Table One.World was out of stock for years and now it's back, W160cm H45cm D80cm, £495 Sofa Snug the rebel 3 Seater Sofa - Taupe Throws & Cushions Wild Mabel Home, unfortunately they are no longer in business Flooring Home Choice Engineered European Select Oak Flooring Brownie Brushed Matt Lacquered From UK Flooring Direct Click here fore the full catalogue

My main goal with our bedroom was to create a calm and relaxing space that helps to switch off your mind and help prepare you for sleep. So no loud pops of colour, just simple neutrals and soft tones. Tap on the picture above to be taken to a list of products in the picture. Some items may be sold out and so I have added similar items that I have found but luckily the main items are in stock! You can also click here to see the list. Cushions Tap on the image (or tap here) to see a selection of boho style cushions, including the ones I have on my bed. Take note of the product descriptions before purchasing just to make sure that you’re aware of what you’re getting. Sometimes cushions are actually just the cushion cover and other times it will include the filling as well as the cover. Curtains & Blinds Parker curtains from the Abigail Ahern collection in colour Fawn. Double pinch pleat. Blackout lining Cassetted Roller Cordova Ecru Mirror William Wood Mirrors Citadel Mirror in Black It may have been discontinued as this is years old now. Paint Chalky White Crowns Paint Carpet The carpet in this picture is the old carpet but the pictures at the top are the new carpet: Cormar Carpet Co. Wool Loop Southwold Texture Pakenham Parchment Click here to shop the full catalogue

My staircase has certainly generated a lot of chatter since I painted them. You can find all of the information about the DIY project in my other blog posts here. Paint Over the years we have painted our hallway and landing twice so depending on which picture you're looking at, the colour may be different - ever so slightly depending on how much light is in the room as well! The picture to the left, and most of my pictures now show Joa's White, which has a yellow undertone and this is what we plan to stick with for the foreseeable future as I love it and it helps to make the room look brighter. Initially we had painted it in Elephant's Breath, which has a red undertone making it look a bit of a dusky pink in the evening glow. See the bottom right picture of the grid. Bannisters & Stairs The bannisters and the treads are painted in the same paint and is very durable for the high traffic. In 3 years I’ve had to touch up the treads once and I have never had to repaint the bannisters. Having said that, certain parts have a become a bit worn so they will need a touch up in time. Bannisters and treads in Blackjack from the Al Fresco Range from Frenchic. The risers in Dazzle Me from the Al Freaco Range from Frenchic Flooring Home Choice Engineered European Select Oak Flooring Brownie Brushed Matt Lacquered From UK Flooring Direct Click here for the full catalogue.

The nursery is ever evolving; once our spare bedroom it is now the nursery but will continue to change as our little one grows. Furniture Set The furniture set is from Mamas & Papas. You can click here for the 3 piece set for the cot, changing table and wardrobe but unfortunately they have discontinued the house shaped storage. Paint The Tongue & Groove Cladding is painted in Green 02 from Lick. I used a mist coat first to prepare the surface. You can find all of the information on the DIY project here The Pink walls are painted in Pink 01, also from Lick. Carpet Cormar Carpet Co. Wool Loop Southwold Texture Pakenham Parchment Click here for the full catalogue

We renovated our bathroom a few years ago and it has completely changed the way we live. I've listed all of the products and fixtures & fittings featured in my bathroom. Fixtures & Fittings The majority of my questions about my bathroom are about the specific products so I've included the links to everything below. None of these are affiliate links, simply the links to the products. Our 75cm wide steel bathtub has been discontinued but I would recommend asking your bathroom supplier if they have one as the steel keeps it's shape (I think we've all stepped into a bath and heard it make a sound but steel doesn't do that) and 75cm is wider than a traditional bathtub, meaning that you can have more room for elbows if you need to combine your shower and bathtub area. Vanity in Dark Olive from Burlington, £1594 Bath Panel in Dark Olive from Burlington, £275 Basin Tap in Chrome from Vado, £260 Colour Bright Nickel also available Shower Screen Single Panel 6mm from Kudos, £312.97 An 8mm option is also available along with package bundles Shower in Chrome from Vado, £295 Colour Bright Nickel also available Handheld Shower in Chrome from Vado, £240 Colour Bright Nickel also available Taps in Chrome from Vado, £895 Colour Bright Nickel also available Bath overflow in Chrome from Vado, £165 Colour Bright Nickel also available along with 3 others Tiles in Gloss White, London Tile Co, 20cm x 10cm, £24.60 per box (also per m2) Bath Board The Interiors Yard £48 Heating Rail supplier code SIENA60/160-F, 1540mm height x 600mm width, £768 Multiple sizes and finishes available Toilet with white lever, Burlington £360 Black Lever also available Artwork was purchased at an outlet store and have been discontinued. The main store, One.World sell similar items at full price. Click here to shop the full catalogue of bathroom accessories

I am so lucky to have been able to create my ideal kitchen. Here is a round up of all of the questions I get asked about my kitchen renovation including some links to the products. Cabinetry & Worktop The Kitchen was designed in collaboration with the team at Smile Kitchens and it is all done online saving you money as they don't have to pay for showrooms, overheads etc. You can read more about the process in my blog or watch my story highlight on Instagram to see the whole process from start to finish. To book your free luxury design package and get £100 off your kitchen, quote: lucys_hillside_house Image: direct links to kitchen accessories Appliances The induction hob and oven are AEG from AO.com and if you order your kitchen from Smile Kitchens not only do you get the design package for free and £100 off your kitchen but they also give you discount codes for your appliances, paint, tiles and lighting at their partner retailers. Our fitter had to add a plinth between the top of the base units and the worktop to allow for a bit more space between the hob and the oven. Here's the full price quotation, including VAT so there were no surprises! Paint Colour I get a lot of questions about the cabinetry colour, which is the standard sage green that Smile Kitchens work with but I don't think that this is available to purchase separately in a paint tin so I have found a similar colour, Lichen from Farrow & Ball Shelves The shelves are also from Smile Kitchens, we got the whole kitchen from them! They may be able to help you order them separately if you live in the UK and you send them a message and mention my handle, @lucys_hillside_house so that they understand where you got your information from and hopefully they will be able to arrange this for you. Tiles & Grout The Wall Tiles are in a herringbone layout. They're called Marrakesh from Baked Tile Co, who provide free consultations and they worked out how many tiles that I needed to buy for both the walls and the flooring. The flooring is 2 different sizes of the same tile, Limestone Natural Sand Beige 40cm x 80cm and 60cm x 60cm. They have provided me with a discount code to share: 15OFF_LUCY Another great thing about Baked Tile Co is that they provided me with a layout plan for the floor tiles for me to give to my tiler, this was very helpful as I found it difficult to explain how I wanted the tiles to be laid given that we had different sizes! Kitchen Accessories Some of the kitchen accessories have been linked above in the photos and the rest can be found below. The only difference between the photographs is time - since the original photos have been take I've had the blind fitted and organised the space slightly differently. Roman Blind We selected an electric blind to avoid having to lean over the kitchen worktop and sink to pull on a cord - so instead we have have the remote attached to the wall by the door so that we can adjust the blind at the touch of a button. Hillarys Blinds Layla fabric in colour Stone Roman Blind - this style is different to traditional roller blinds. The blind could sit within the window or above as we have. Dish Rack The dish rack has been a surprisingly popular item in my kitchen - everyone seems to love it so click here for the direct link. Wooden Brushes On my journey to become more eco-friendly, I searched for wooden brushes and discovered that one of my favourite eco-friendly cleaning brands also sells them - I use their wonder scrub to clean my bathroom and it's so nice to know that there are no harsh chemicals in them. Click here for the long handled wooden brush and be sure to explore their other products too including their brush head replacements. Herb Pots Every time I share an image including my herb pots, I'm asked where I got them from but unfortunately I cannot remember! I got them from a small independent business or trade fair nearly a decade ago so instead I have listed some similar items and some may need the tray from one website to be the base from the pots from another, but be sure to double check quantities and sizes. Galvanised Pots Set of 6 can be placed in a tray from the same retailer, click here and they also have an option for a round tray or a rectangular tray on the same page. Or you can opt for terracotta pots in a tray set from the same company but keep in mind that the pots are much smaller as these are grow trays. If you're after a Wire Panier in particular then there are a few options with terracotta pots rather than the galvanised pots. Wire Panier with terracotta pots for £15 Wire Panier with terracotta pots for £30 The style of this Wire Panier is slightly different to the others and looks more like chicken wire £60 Click here to shop the full catalogue of kitchen accessories

I've decided to make life simple and list out all of the paint and furniture and items in my living room, hopefully this will make it easier for people to find the answers to their questions Curtains Hillarys Blinds Harkness curtains in colour Vapour from the Abigail Ahern collection Double pinch pleat Blackout lining in colour Tanner Blinds Serenity Voiles in colour linen Coffee Table One Dot World Out of stock now but they may have something similar Sofa Snug The Rebel 2 Seater Taupe Velvet Posters & Frames The Poster Store Cushions Wild Mabel Rug Mango Jute Pink Chair Snug The Big Chill Blush Coral 1.5 Seater - Snuggler Grey Paint Blackened Farrow and Ball Feature Wall Hague Blue Modern Emulsion Farrow and Ball

A lot of people don't realise how natural sunlight can impact paint colours, which is why the same paint colour may look different in different rooms. Read on for some tips on what to consider when selecting your paint colours and what you can do about managing the amount of sunlight throughout the day in an East Facing Room. Characteristics of East Facing Rooms East facing rooms become flooded with light throughout the morning, remain bright in the afternoon and then muted in the evening. So it's best to decorate with this in mind to allow you to be able to use the room throughout the day as otherwise you may find that the room is too bright and hot to use. How to Select Your Paint Painting the walls in blues, greys or greens will help to cool down the appearance of the room when it is flooded in bright direct sunlight in the mornings. These tones will work in harmony with the eastern light, which can make colours appear blue. In my East Facing Living Room, I've opted for a dark teal colour for our feature wall around our fireplace and tied this in with a white paint with a blue undertone for the other walls, making it blue/grey. This helps the room to remain bright during the day but also to become cosy in the evening. Home Furnishings My voile curtains are a great way to use my living room throughout the day without being blinded by the morning sun and they also help to filter out some of the heat. Without them, this room can become so hot even in the winter when the sun beams directly into the room. We used to constantly have our old curtains drawn closed so that we could actually use the room - but unfortunately this left us living in darkness. So these voiles have allowed us to really enjoy using this room in a way that we couldn't before. I am very much a home bird, so I like to nest and feel cosy in my home. I've found a balance of light and dark colours in my living room and also found this balance with the curtains through layering over the voiles with a heavier, more luxurious velvet fabric to create more warmth in the evenings. Please note that these tips for decorating are for the northern hemisphere, the reverse is true in the southern hemisphere. #curtains #windows #homeinteriors #interiordesigner #interiordesigntips

I'll get to the point and list the ingredients, it's super simple and we had this served at our wedding and it's a great alcohol free alternative. Ingredients Ice Sliced strawberries Torn mint leaves Elderflower concentrate Tonic water Video

A small kitchen can be both functional and beautiful, it just takes a bit of planning and working out what you can and can’t live without. My main goal with this kitchen was to make it feel bigger than it actually is. The kitchen is roughly 2.25m x 3.35m, which is not an easy space to design a new kitchen. In fact, I would say that the larger the kitchen the easier it is to design. The smaller the kitchen, the smaller the space you have to work with and therefore you have to puzzle out ways to fit in everything you need. These are some simple but impactful design features that you can add to your kitchen design to make it feel bigger than it really is. Hardware Long drawer handles will help to lengthen the room by drawing the eye further away. Shelves Open shelving was very important to me as I didn’t want the room to feel too close and full of cabinetry (it’s cheaper too!) so this helped to make the room feel more spacious especially at the end of the room with the window and kitchen sink, it’s nice to feel like you’re not going to hit your elbow on something as you wash up the dishes and glasses! Asymmetrical Flooring This is something I learned from the tile company we used, an asymmetrical floor tile layout will give the illusion of more tiles in the space. Essentially, make sure that your grout lines don’t line up. Small Wall Tiles I initially wanted long tiles and realised that they would look ridiculous in such a small space as we would end up with a row of 3 tiles between the cabinets and the worktop surface. Small wall tiles in an intricate layout, we chose herringbone, will help to draw the eye. I went for a basic white tile and white grout as I wanted to let the feature be the tile layout. Glass Cabinets I was worried about having a solid wall of cabinets, hence the shelving but I also wanted to break it up with some glass cabinets mixed in with solid cabinet door fronts Yellow Based Paint If you’ve followed me for a while you will know how much I love to talk about the impact of the right type of paint. Painting the walls in a yellow based paint will help bounce the light around the room making the room feel more spacious #smallkitchen #smallkitchendesign #kitchendesignideas

It might sound simple but surprisingly, pressing flowers can be a little bit tricky if you don't know what to avoid. So here's my step by step guide to help. Items Flower press with card and blotting paper OR Large book and newspaper Flower and foliage cuttings Glue dots and/or PVA glue Scissors Card Frame card Frame Take your cuttings on a dry day The reason being that you do not want any moisture. So avoid cutting first thing in the morning or after any rainfall or watering your garden. If you have any moisture on the flowers then all that happens is they go a bit mushy and do not drive properly in the press. Press your flowers as soon as possible after cutting This is so that your flowers and cuttings do not have a chance to Wills before going into the press. If they do start to wilt, then they are not going to look good once tried and pressed, and unfortunately it will be a bit of a waste. Arrange flowers face down in the press This helps to keep the petals nice and smooth, and helps to prevent them from becoming creased when pressed. If pressing multiple cuttings on the same piece of paper, make sure there is about an inch gap in between each cutting How to use the flower press Your flower press should come with everything you need, including wing nuts, washers, bolts, two pieces of board, and card and blotting paper. To assemble your board, place the bolts in each of the holes in one of the boards. Then layer one piece of card and one piece of blotting paper on top. This is where you add your cuttings. Make sure your cuttings are evenly spaced and do not overfill the layer with cuttings. Sandwich your cuttings in place with another piece of blotting paper topped with another piece of card. You can repeat this process as many times as you like until the press is completely full i.e. the press is piled up to the same height as the bolts. Newspaper & Books An alternative is to use books and newspaper. This is also very useful if you happen to have very large cuttings that you want to press in one whole piece and therefore you can find the largest book you have for pressing. The process is the same, only the pages of the book act, like the card in the press, and the newspaper acts like the blotting paper. Wait a minimum of two weeks It will take a minimum of two weeks for your cuttings to dry and press properly. Some types of flowers may take longer, but you can monitor the process by checking after two weeks. You will know when they are ready when they are rigid and dried.

Are you or someone you know planning a wedding? Are you looking for unique twists to your wedding? I'm sharing some ideas to make your wedding more personal with some subtle twists for something more unique. Starter for 10 We wanted to enjoy more time chatting to make sure that we managed to speak to everyone - instead of a formal wedding line up that used to be traditional. So we decided to swap out the starter with more canapés. We arranged to have 10 canapés per guest as opposed to the usual 3-5 that wedding caterers usually plan. This meant that we had more time to spend with our guests in the garden after the ceremony and before going inside to sit down for dinner. Theatrical Canapés As with most things, presentation is key. We found a caterer who took pride in their food and presented their food to match. Speeches Before Dining It's all in the title really! We wanted our speech givers to actually enjoy their day and their food so we decided to do the speeches before the main meal. As everyone had had plenty of canapés first, they were happy and not going hungry! Keep it Simple People expect fancy little dainty meals at weddings that don't really fill them up but we wanted our guests to enjoy and have a full tummy to line those stomachs! Good old fashioned pie and mash did the trick! Mix It Up We wanted to offer people a few options for their pudding and so opted for alternate puddings Let Them Eat Cake Add Some Fun This was a big hit at the end of the evening. It was vibrant and a great way to encourage people to enjoy more food as otherwise they might have been too busy dancing to notice! Cute Page Boy Idea We had our nephew walk down the aisle with my sister, one of the bridesmaids. Not only was it super cute, but it also created some amazing picture opportunities - which I won't share publicly to protect our nephew's privacy. Roses are Red Now I know that these rose petals aren't red but real rose petals are beautiful, sustainable and don't hard the birds... and they don't get little bits everywhere like confetti. Decorative Instructions Let's face it, people like to know what to expect from the day and where they need to be and when. So it's great to make something functional look visually appealing. A Favour? I personally don't think that wedding favours are necessary but I felt like it was expected at the time. They can be very expensive so we opted for simple lollipops with our initials, which was the cheapest option I could find and was a sweet little touch. No Guest book? I knew that a traditional guest book wasn't for us as I knew that I wouldn't spend time looking at it if we ended up putting it in a drawer somewhere. So instead I opted for a picture frame with little love hearts for our guests to write their names and any tiny messages. We've had it hanging in our bedroom ever since. Add something personal Adding a wax seal to your wedding invitation envelope is a great way to add a personal touch. You can even have your own stamp made with your initials or wedding date. Simply melt a wax stick to drip onto the envelope or use a wax gun (I find melting a wax stick easier than a wax gun as these usually need you to continue feeding wax into the gun so you end up wasting a lot of wax). You can also mix waxes more easily using wax sticks whereas a wax gun would be more tricky. Another simple idea is to line your envelopes with printed tissue paper. You could even get a special picture or something meaningful and unique to you printed on the tissue paper before sticking in the envelope. Just be sure to cut your template smaller than the envelope and taking into account the 1cm where you stick the envelope closed. My final tip here is to avoid using too much glue as this can show through the delicate tissue paper very easily so be sure to use as little glue as possible and not to glue anything until the tissue paper is in place. I hope these simple yet effective ideas have given you some inspiration to create your ideal wedding day.

I will get straight to the point... read on for the cost breakdown and the overall process for our kitchen renovation, including any pitfalls and red flags and things to avoid. Cost Breakdown This is the part that everyone wants to know! Kitchen We saved ourselves some money by choosing an online only company called Smile Kitchens, to do the whole process remotely via multiple zoom calls and emails and phone calls. They send you the samples so that you can check the quality and I can attest that the quality is amazing. The design team are experts and helped us every step of the way answering all of our questions and making what felt like hundreds of changes to the design so that we ended up with 10 separate designs. They were so patient with us and really made the whole process fun. Before I go any further, now would be a great time to share my discount code for them, which will get you the luxury design package for free and £100 off your order: lucys_hillside_house All of the information for our final kitchen is broken down here, including measurements and includes VAT so that you do not get any nasty surprises right at the end when paying the bill! Keep in mind, that some kitchen companies also do not arrange or order your worktop for you. I know people who have ordered from Howdens, for instance, and they did not realise that they were supposed to order the worktop separately from a partner company of theirs and therefore the whole kitchen installation was delayed because they suddenly had to order this worktop at the last minute. It is worth knowing when you place your order, no matter what company you go with. With Smile Kitchens, however, they organise all of this for you. Some people have expressed how surprised they are at the price of our kitchen, given the beautiful quality and how kitchens are usually very expensive. They are so surprised that we got so much for so small a price. So here I've listed a few reasons as to why Smile Kitchens are able to pass their company savings on to their customer and what you as a customer can get from working with them and choosing them. Cost effective - arrives ready assembled for less labour saving time and money. Plus money saved on overheads (no showrooms etc) is passed back to the customer through competitive pricing. Extra savings as they work with other well known brands giving you savings on appliances, lighting, tiles and paint. Beautiful quality - samples sent to you Great choice of different ranges for different styles Expert advice - they have really made the whole process enjoyable Fitter Contrary to what most people believe, most kitchen companies do not fit kitchens. They only supply the kitchens. Some kitchen brands may suggest fitters but they are completely independent and separate from the kitchen brands. In some cases, their suggestions are purely based on fitters who have signed up for their commission schemes. This means that any fitters that kitchen companies recommend are not based on their merit. They do not know them and they do not have any need to help you if something goes wrong with the fitter. Just something to be aware of! In other cases, some companies, mostly small, local, and independent companies, will do the whole process for you. They will design, order and fit your kitchen for you. To reiterate, this will most likely be the case for local companies. Not the main big companies like B&Q, Wickes, Howdens, etc. We found a fitter who was willing to do the project management for this renovation as well. This meant that he would arrange separate trades people to come around and do the electrics, plumbing, plastering, tiling, and actually fit the kitchen. As he was organising all of this, he was aware of all of the timings and dealt with all of the communication for us. Now, unfortunately, our fitter was, in short, rubbish. But if you can find a fitter to do all of this, and who is reliable, then this will save you a lot of time and stress. Obviously, every quote will be different and every project will entail different tasks and timeframes and difficulty etc, but for reference, our small kitchen of roughly 2 m x 3 m, was quoted by three different fitters for roughly £3000. We were pleased that all of the quotes came in at roughly the same amount. Here is roughly what the £3000 quote included: Fitting 2.2m x 3.2m kitchen Worktop installation (specialist) Plumbing Electrics Plastering VAT Tiling We found an amazing Tiler who gave us lots of advice and did a beautiful job. He gave us a lot of tips about tiling as well. As we had chosen a herringbone layout, using small white tiles, 5 cm x 15 cm, which is much smaller than tiles that you usually use for herringbone, he said that the tiling would take him a very long time. We had considered tiling in and around the window and having the tiles as the windowsill as well. He advised us not to do this purely because it would take him one whole day just to do a tiny window by the oven, which is about 30cm x 20cm, and he would therefore have to charge us a for a whole day for such a small area and it wasn't really worth it. That should give you a good idea of how fiddly a herringbone layout, particularly small tiles, can be when tiling. When it comes to tiling, this is definitely something to consider along with the total area to be tiled. For our kitchen, the tiling came to just under £2000, including tiling the floor and tiling the walls. The tiles themselves came to around £1000. We opted for not only beautiful tiles, but good quality tiles from the Baked Tile Company, who, again, have given me a discount code which will get you 15% off any orders above £250: FRIEND-6SVWFJ7 I would highly recommend them as a company because they also offer a free design consultation whereby they will help you choose tiles based on the design of your kitchen and you can email them any designs or pictures that you may already have so that they can get an idea of the space and what you are trying to achieve with your final design. They also calculate how many tiles that you will need to order if you just send them through your design elevations with the measurements for the whole room. In addition to all of this, they will also provide you with a layout plan for your tiler if necessary, for instance, we had one for our flooring, as we had an asymmetric layout. Appliances When I first looked into appliances, I went for the cheapest options and the total came to around £800. Then my husband pointed out that if we're going to do this for the purpose of enjoying cooking in our lovely new kitchen, then we should have appliances to match. So in the end our appliances came to around £2800. This is where you really can be thrifty. We went for brand new appliances but sometimes you can get lucky on Facebook marketplace and get nearly new appliances for next to nothing from people who just need someone to take appliances that they no longer want away for them. So shop around if you're not after specific brands or items. Breakdown Kitchen £7700 Fitting including trades people £3000 Tiling £2000 Appliances £2800 Rough Total £15,500 Now this may still sound like a lot of money but there are ways to reduce the costs such as doing the demolition, installation and painting yourself and selecting cheaper products, hardware and appliances. We could have saved ourselves around £2000 if we went for cheaper appliances for instance, so it's all a balance. All in all, make sure that you weigh up the pros and cons and run through your wishlist with your designer

Wallpaper used to be a bit of a fiddly task that created a lot of mess but with new methods and products, it can now be a fast, effective and easy way to update a room or even zone an area. Read on to learn more and follow the simple instructions to create a high impact space with minimum effort. Consider the space and if you want to draw attention to a focal point Select “paste the wall” wallpaper for ease Start left to right, unless it’s a mural that needs to be central Leave a gap a few cm less than the width of the wallpaper Use a plum line, chalk line or laser to get a straight line This helps in case the wall to the side isn’t straight Smooth the paper and trim the edges Complete the blank section Select a paint colour for the rest of the walls that matches a colour in the wallpaper This was the first time that I had ever used wallpaper. I chose wallpaper designed for pasting the wall rather than pasting the wallpaper first, which made everything so much easier than I expected. So I will definitely select this method and use “paste the wall” products in future. This is probably the easiest diy project I have done so I would recommend it if you’re unsure of where to start. It’s super quick too! Just make sure that you do your prep work too, so fill in any cracks and clean the walls first. I used as a feature wall in this bedroom, which had a lovely impact and created a focal point. The best thing to do is to compliment the paint colour for the rest of the walls by selecting a tone/colour that exists in the wallpaper so that it ties back nicely together.

Ad Disclaimer: This SNOO was gifted to me in the hope that I would post a review after using it for a few months. I have not been paid to leave a review. I do not feel it is right to accept such expensive items and not leave feedback, especially if I have found it a positive experience. Please note that if I did not feel that this was the right product to share in my posts, then I would have returned the item. As it happens, we have had a positive experience though we would not have spent the money on it ourselves. If we had a baby who wouldn't settle, we may have felt differently. All Babies Are Different As we know, all babies and parents are different. Some babies settle naturally into a sleeping routine whilst others don’t know the difference between night and day. Some babies only cry when they need to communicate whilst others cry for a multitude of reasons, perhaps even pain from colic or trapped wind. (Please note that I recognise that colic isn't a medical condition, rather a term used to describe a baby who cries for long periods without apparent cause) If you have a baby who sleeps relatively well, by which I mean can sleep for a 5 hour stretch during the night followed by a brief interlude to change their nappy and feed before going straight back to sleep again, then you might not feel the need to invest in this bassinet. If, however, like many parents, you are sleep deprived with a baby who can't settle to sleep easily or only sleeps in short bursts then you might want to consider the SNOO. Can you really put a price on a good night’s sleep when you’re sleep deprived and needing to care for a baby? Common Misconceptions About The SNOO The SNOO is a relatively new product and as such there is not a huge amount of data regarding its safety. That being said, running through each of the features, it does appear (through my research) to follow all of the safe sleep guidelines (links to trusted resources are listed at the bottom of this blog). What's more, it appears that the SNOO is used in neonatal departments in America, and has not been linked to any reported cases of injuries. When I shared this to my Instagram, however, I was told repeatedly that the SNOO is unsafe. Yet no one could explain to me why or share any information to suggest that the SNOO might be dangerous. From my research, it appears as though the SNOO is generally accepted as an amazing piece of equipment in the US. Here in the UK, where it is less widely used, there is a lot of scepticism. Rightly so when it is a new product that promises great things. The main issue that people highlighted was the straps. The SNOO has elasticated straps to keep your baby on their back. As per guidelines for sleeping, babies must be put down on their backs. I can understand why this would make people feel nervous. From my perspective, it meant that I did not have to worry about my baby rolling over onto her face and suffocating as she has not yet learned to roll onto her back. This is the purpose of the straps as keeps them on their backs as per guidelines. I also had a few 'sleep training experts' tell me off for using and recommending the SNOO though they could not explain why without simply saying that 'babies are meant to wake frequently'. Yes of course, especially newborns. Everyone has a routine for sending a baby to sleep in the first place, whether you cradle a baby in your arms for 30 mins or use the SNOO, you can still help settle them to sleep and use it to help settle them back to sleep after a night feed. That is the purpose, not to keep a baby sleeping for 10 hours straight. A baby surely wouldn't sleep for that long anyway unless they needed to. I've been very lucky to have a baby who gradually slept longer and longer during the night, sleeping for 9 hour stretches during the night from 5 months, and then 10-12 hours from 7 months, whilst other parents may take it in turns to cradle their baby throughout the night as the baby won't let them put them down. Perhaps a device like the SNOO would help in this situation so that sleep deprived parents could manage to get some sleep. My Experience As for us, we didn’t feel the need to use it at night time. I did wonder if we should use it at night when our baby was about 3 months and she started to have a go at rolling. By 4 months, she could roll over and lift her head up. Great news! The not so great news, however, was that she would get stuck face down and so I would always have to roll her over again, although, in hindsight, I didn't need to as this is perfectly normal. At the time, this left me worrying about what would happen during the night if I wasn’t watching her. With the SNOO, I wouldn't have had to worry about that. But seeing as we didn't need to use the SNOO to send her off to sleep at night, we just kept an eye on her during the night. I did make the most of all the features, ie the white noise and rocking motion, for daytime naps (I never leave her alone) as my little one used to really struggle with daytime naps. The rocking and white noise settled her to sleep and if she became a bit cranky the rocking switches to the next level and would quickly settle her again; unless of course she really was ready to get up, in which case, no amount of rocking would get a baby back to sleep. It was also reassuring knowing that we had the bassinet ready for the sleep regression that can happen at around 4 months. We were lucky that didn't happen but we were ready in case it did. At 5 months, I realised that we were going to need to transition her to her own room and so I started placing her in her crib in her room for her daytime naps, and I stayed in the room to keep an eye on her. She was very fussy to begin with but gradually she became more used to her large crib in her room. She would also roll on to her front, which made me nervous but as she got better at crawling, I realised that she was fine to roll around and she could confidently push herself up when needed. By 6 months, she was too large for the SNOO and we completely transferred her to her own crib in her own room for the whole night, not just the day time naps. She transitioned amazingly well and she was sleeping for around 9 hour stretches overnight from around 5 months. In short, the bassinet was not made for us simply because our baby slept well overall but we used it when we had trouble with day time naps. Other than that, it wasn't needed but I can fully understand the benefits to babies who struggle to settle. Keep in mind, this bassinet will not send a baby to sleep if the baby doesn't want to sleep. Nothing can do that. But for those babies who can't settle, then the SNOO may be really helpful. What's more, parents who are able to get their baby to sleep for a few hours at a time will be more alert and able to care for their child compared to a baby who only sleeps for an hour at a time. Overview Whether you want to invest in this bassinet is entirely dependent on your baby for many different reasons. One thing that may be useful to know is that there is an option to rent rather than buy. If you’re planning on having more than one child, then you might feel like it’s worth purchasing. Overall, do what you feel is right for you and your baby and ensure that you follow all guidelines and instructions when using any baby product. Additional research can be found on: Lullaby Trust NHS Tommy's

This is the question I'm asked the most, this and "how do you decorate a house when you live with your partner and they have no taste?"... this one actually surprises me but I do have an answer, which I will put together in another post. For now, let's answer the question at hand, "where do you start decorating?" Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start I will always say that the bedroom is the best place to start decorating. You want this to be your sanctuary whilst you navigate your way through your journey of decorating and renovating the rest of your house. It by no means needs to be finished or perfect but it does need to be a place where you can retreat to  away from  the chaos that can be created during renovating and decorating. In fact, I'd recommend living in a house for a while to understand exactly how you want it to look, feel and function. It's just initially, you will want your bedroom to be your hideaway. So keep it simple and easy to update again if you change your mind... that means stick to flat pack furniture for functionality that can easily be switched out and avoid anything structural like built ins or panelling. It's amazing how paint can transform a room so you won't need much more than that. Keep to basic Neutrals or whites to keep your bedroom a relaxing place to encourage sleep. Then layer on more accent pieces for added interest like mirrors, wall art and rugs.

I'll get straight to it... DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES 1 Year and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES 3 Years and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES 5 Years and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES 8 Years and under

No blurb, just recommendations! Double tap on the images for more information and similar products. Stocking Fillers & Secret Santa £15 and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES Thoughtful £30 and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES Generous £80 and under DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES Splurge £80+ DOUBLE TAP ON IMAGES

I'll keep the blurb short and sweet as I know that you just want to see the recommendations for Christmas gifts 😉 I've grouped together by price and also by product type so there's something for everyone. Double tap on the images to go straight to the product for more information and similar products. Thoughtful £30 and under DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Generous £80 and under DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Splurge £80 + DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Jewellery DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Beauty DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Makeup DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Lifestyle DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Home DOUBLE TAP IMAGES Technology DOUBLE TAP IMAGES

I'll get straight to the point, Black Friday is full of amazing deals but it can be difficult to find them when there's so much marketing blinding you. So here are my best buys, whether you're buying for gifts for him, for her, or for yourself! Take note of the banners at the top of each of these websites as some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double Tap on images to be taken to the products. Olaplex 30% off Olaplex is virtually unheard of. Having worked in retail head offices, I believe that Olaplex have a restriction on discounts (given what I know about brands and how they work). The most that I've come across in the past was 20% off and it is very rare indeed. So the fact that this particular website has managed to agree 30% off is amazing and most likely will be a one-off. Offer ends midnight 21/11/22 Double tap image Jewellery Here's a selection of some best buys from my favourite jewellery brands, 25% off, 30% off and some pieces at 50% off. Some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double tap on image Technology & Gadgets If you're stuck for ideas for Christmas presents then these might help for those tricky people! Some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double tap on image Beauty Having worked in retail head offices dealing with margins, I know that brands actually make really small margins on beauty products, which is why a discount of around 30% off is actually really good. What's more, some of these are actually 50% off! Some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double tap on image Skincare Whether you're stocking up on some old favourites or treating someone for Christmas, make the most of these deals at 25% off and some up to 40% off and even 50% off! And some of these deals are better on particular websites rather than the brands own! Elemis is in a few Black Friday sales but this website had the deepest discount at 35% off Some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double tap on image Home Some of their Black Friday deals require a code to be entered (included at the top of their web page) Double tap on image HAPPY SHOPPING!!

When it comes to styling shelves, it can be difficult to find the balance between functionality and aesthetic. Here are my top tips to help you find that balance. *GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED Tap HERE for a chance to win a year's worth of flowers and £250 to spend on furniture Add Some Height Use larger pieces as anchors, for instance baskets or boxes that are also useful for storage along with more decorative pieces such as flowers in vases or plants. Place these items on different positions on different shelves in order to avoid one section from looking too blocked out. Remember, layering up items like a stack of coffee table books is a great way to add height and interest whilst being functional. You can also add smaller items on top to finish it off, such as small bud vases for posies. Asymmetry is Key An easy way to position your larger anchor pieces is by forming a triangle across multiple shelves. These triangles don’t have to be symmetrical. In fact, you’ll find that your items will look less ‘staged’ and more effortlessly natural if they’re placed at different positions on different shelves. Then fill the gaps with smaller items like bud vases, picture frames or candles, forming more triangles and adding different heights. Keep To A Theme Use items of similar themes such as plants and flowers. This is a great way to introduce a range of heights and sizes of similar objects without it looking too haphazard. Think small bud vases along with one larger vase or a variety of plants rather than the same type of plant repeated on each shelf. You could even include other items related to the themes, such as a watering can or mister for keeping your plants healthy. Incorporate these themes with the use of the space, for instance stationery for an office or serve-ware for a dining room. Mix it up Select items of different textures, sizes and  colours for added interest. Mixing up more decorative pieces with the more functional objects that are useful for the space will help make your shelves feel more natural and less deliberately put together. Don’t be afraid to mix leather trinket boxes with straw baskets or glass candle holders with ceramic pots. Anything goes! As you assemble your items on your shelves, keep in mind the ‘Rule of Three’ as your guide. The Rule of Three As with forming the triangles, keep colours to 3 main colours and similar shades in order to avoid too much visual noise. You can also try grouping together items in small clusters of 3. A print propped up next to a stack of coffee table books with a plant or small vase on top will feel well balanced and not too cluttered. Mostly importantly, have fun!

It’s never too late to make the most of your garden, especially when this summer is shaping up to be perfect BBQ weather. Here are some of my favourite pieces to create your perfect outdoor space Disclaimer: this is not a paid for post but does contain ad-affiliate links at no extra cost to yourself. All images from ufurnish.com Al fresco dining with a bistro set I always feel like I'm on holiday when I sit in my garden at my little sage green bistro set with a drink and a book... or a glass of wine in the evenings after my husband and I have finished work. Bistro sets do not take up a lot of space and so are perfect for even the smallest of outdoor spaces. A modern take on the classic bistro set. Picking a colourful bistro set can add a bit more interest in a small space, such as this sage green metal set, which also comes in an array of brighter colours too if you're feeling brave! The classic foldable bistro set offers a practical yet stylish option. Relax in a hammock Hammocks are making a comeback! I personally haven't had a hammock in my garden since I was a teenager and unfortunately I don't think that I will be able to fit one into my current garden given how awkward my garden is with it's steep slopes... but if you have a flat garden (I'm jealous) then you might be able to work one into the space, with or without a separate frame support. Make a statement with an Egg Chair I love a statement piece in the garden. It instantly elevates a garden from normal and basic to elevated. Just make sure not to overwhelm your garden with anything too big or out of place. Try and select one that complements the other furniture that you’ve got in your garden. It should be an addition to a lovely garden with a seating area for barbecues and alfresco dining. A square plot with nothing but an egg chair might look a bit incomplete and sparse. Eco-friendly ways to light your path Not only is it difficult to set up electricity in a garden but it is definitely much more practical to make the most of solar power. Whether that’s by introducing decorative hanging festoon lights or by lighting a footpath with stake lights, there are lots of ways to introduce eco-friendly, easy, and stylish lights to create a perfect ambience for the summer evenings. Stylish loungers This is the part that I still need to sort out in my own garden. As my garden is so awkward with lots of different levels for my very steep sloped garden, I have had to create lots of different areas and I am still not finished. One area is to add some loungers that I don’t have to always fold up and put away and get out again every time I want to use them. Just like with a nice dining set or seating area, sun lounge areas can create a great destination in your garden that looks inviting.

Trying to find the perfect item to invest in for your home is not only time consuming but can also create a lot of hassle and frustration. Enter ufurnish.com the easy-to-navigate website helping you to compare your favourite pieces from over 110 retailers. Disclaimer: this is not a paid for post but does contain ad - affiliate links (at no extra cost to you) Fancy that, a website that not only allows you to shop and compare products from your favourite retailers but also gives you time back to spend actually enjoying the home that you are creating. Decorating and styling a home takes a lot of effort and also money! I for one have always wanted to make sure that I am spending my money on the right item and therefore have spent weeks, sometimes months, (not constantly of course!) pouring over multiple websites trying to work out which rug or which sofa is the best one for my home. Ultimately, this culminates in me having hundreds of web browser tabs open on my computer as well as my tablet and mobile phone. Needless to say, this has ended up with a lot of confusing comparisons as well as frustrations when I have accidentally closed out of the tabs and lost the products that I was considering. Sound familiar? "This is now a thing of the past with ufurnish.com" With over 110 of your favourite retailers including John Lewis and Cox & Cox as well as some of the lesser known brands (which I happen to love), such as Graham & Green and Norfolk Bay Company, it is easy to find and compare your favourite pieces all on one website. How does it work? It's simple! Either use the menu to select the item you are after or use the search bar and the results will come back with a collection across all of the retailers signed up to the website. I then like to use the filters to reduce the options down and then simply go through and favourite the items that I want to compare! Once you've worked out which item you want to go for, you're then directed straight to the retailer website to purchase. That's it! With everything all in one place for you to review! Perfect!

Here is my guide to some of the best brands, the ones to avoid and the things to look out for... Blog Contains ad, aff links Overview I used to think that being thrifty with your maternity outfits was a very clever thing to do in order to save money and not waste it on maternity clothes that you will only wear for a few months. After going through pregnancy, I now understand that it was wrong to limit my spending on maternity clothes. It’s just best to embrace your new body shape, that is constantly changing, with clothes that can adapt with you as you go through pregnancy and beyond - let's face it, you're likely to want comfy/larger clothes after the birth even if you are lucky enough to slim back down to your previous shape. Plus, investing in clothes that actually fit will make you feel so much more comfortable and more like yourself at a time when you might not even recognise yourself! I'm not saying that you should spend loads of money on clothes, just don't be scared to spend what you would usually spend on clothes anyway! I realised that each summer I usually buy a new summer dress or two (or three!), so I did! I just made sure that they were maternity dresses that could also be useful as nursing dresses, hence why they all have buttons down the front! Now, let's get on to the brands... ASOS "Let’s get started with the one to avoid." To be fair, I usually struggle with ASOS anyway because I find that the website has too much visual noise (a retailer term meaning there are so many products that you don't know where to look). There’s just too much stuff on there for my liking. With maternity clothes, however, I thought that I could re-enter the world ASOS and make the most of maternity clothes that were not going to break the bank. I bought 11 items and returned them all. Nothing looked like it did on the website. I think that they must pin things in place on the models to make it look flattering for your bump. When in reality, all they do is give you tent sized pieces of clothing that swamp you in fabric. Nothing I bought complimented the bump. Nothing was designed with a pregnancy bump in mind. There were no ruched sides or belly bands. It was purely just extra large clothing. Not remotely flattering and nothing to make you feel special during your pregnancy. "Nothing was designed with a pregnancy bump in mind." In addition to that, the fabric was poor quality. I must admit that I did expect to have some issue with the quality given the low cost of the items, you do after all get what you pay for. I had envisaged, however, that at the very least the styling would be decent. For the price, I thought that it would be good styling but poor quality fabric. Not bad styling and poor quality fabric. There just simply wasn’t any reason to buy/keep these items. I shared my thoughts on my social media and the response was staggering. Huge numbers of people responded to say that they found the same thing when they had tried to find maternity clothes. One person even informed me that ASOS maternity clothes aren’t technically maternity clothes, as they only cover you up to about 12 weeks. I don’t know if it’s true. It certainly would be very misleading if all of the models on the website have their bumps on show when you don't actually have a bump until you’ve reached beyond 12 weeks. Perhaps though, this would be why none of the items had any ruched sides for the bellies or fitted you like it needs to go round a baby bump. Perhaps they are getting around it by advertising something as maternity when it is really just extra large. All in all I was very disappointed especially given that I really wanted to find some beautiful clothes to make me feel good during my pregnancy without breaking the bank. H&M MAMA Let’s move onto some happier brands that do what they say, look good, feel good, and don’t break the bank. H&M Maternity is by far my favourite. I’m already a member of H&M, which means that I get free delivery and the odd member rewards such as money off vouchers and the occasional members discount weekend. It is certainly an affordable choice with decent quality fabric; obviously when you have such low prices you do expect the quality to be pretty low as well but I never found the quality to be poor, perhaps just in line with the prices. I have always been very happy with that. "I bought all of my basics from H&M and trust me, you will wear these items A LOT!" Shop the Basics Leggings have served me well throughout the entire pregnancy, I bought a lot of these! Click Here for Leggings For a bit of difference, I also bought some taupe leggings, which when they arrived, looked like they would never fit me even if I was at my super skinniest but actually the fabric stretches really well and I reckon I will still wear all of my leggings beyond my pregnancy as they are all so comfortable and the belly bands stretch so nicely. Pretty good for exercise leggings I reckon! Click here for Taupe Leggings I also bought a few basic T-shirts to go over my bump. These will see me all the way through pregnancy - I am writing this at 35 / 36 weeks and they are still my go to with plenty of space to grow. I think that they might also be in my hospital bag to wear home afterwards. Click Here for T-Shirts In terms of the trousers, I would recommend a bit of caution. It became clear quite early on in my pregnancy that the trousers do not necessarily cater for the entire pregnancy. There were various points when I had to stop wearing certain trousers. For instance, my skinny jeans that I bought from the H&M Maternity range, I had to stop wearing about halfway through my pregnancy as the bellyband began to get too tight. These were still a great purchase though, I wore them loads in my first half of pregnancy and they made me feel normal as my body was going through the early pregnancy changes. Just be aware that these might not be a longevity piece. Having said that, these might be pretty hand after the birth when I want to feel more normal again but still can't fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans! Click Here for Skinny Jeans Then my second pair of jeans, my baggy mom jeans, were comfortable up until about the 28 week mark. They became too uncomfortable sitting because of the thick denim seam with no give and were really pinching me. Before that however, they were the perfect jeans and I love them. They took me right up into the hot summer weather when my summer dresses could take over so I didn't mind. Click Here for Mom Jeans Finally, my joggers have been so comfortable throughout the entire pregnancy and I can imagine I will wear them beyond as well. Who needs to know that I’ve got a big belly band and my clothes?! Even when I’m not actually pregnant?! Another great option for leaving the hospital, perhaps to paid with my basic maternity t-shirts that I mentioned earlier. Click Here for Joggers H&M MAMA Summer dresses I also treated myself to a few summery dresses. Being due in July meant that I needed a few items to get me through the warmer months. With the British summer being what it is, I only bought a few items. I ended up pretty much living in my summer dresses any time it was sunny and warm. I loved them. They fitted really well and made me feel a little bit more special, even the casual ones. I find that it’s really important when you’re pregnant not to feel too frumpy/ mum like. The dresses I picked also happened to be pretty good for nursing dresses as they had buttons. This meant that I was perfectly happy buying quite a few dresses like this because I knew that I was going to get the most out of them. Click on images to shop products Tip: Keep in mind that you might not be able to fit in your maternity items all the way through your pregnancy depending on how big your bump is measuring... I am currently at my 35 week mark of my pregnancy, and I have started to notice that these dresses are starting to get a little bit tight in places. I only notice when I’m sitting down, so they’re fine when I am walking about but when I sit down some of the buttons start to get a little bit taught around my belly. Keep in mind that my belly bump is bang on average every time I am measured by the midwife. I will probably have to stop wearing some of these dresses in a couple of weeks, so very nearly to the end of my pregnancy. They have served me well throughout most of my pregnancy at least! If you have a slightly smaller than average bump then you should easily reach the end of your pregnancy in these dresses. A larger than average bump, and you would probably only reach the beginning of your third trimester. Seraphine This is probably one of my favourite maternity brands; very practical, good quality, looks good, and designed with your pregnancy bump and your larger boobs in mind. With so many positives, it only makes sense to be slightly more expensive. For what you’re buying though, I think that the prices are pretty bang on and worth it. This is probably more of a mid range maternity retailer. My only wish is that they had the odd voucher code for free delivery because I would often forget that I’d have to pay about £6 for every delivery. I started to bulk buy my items rather than spread out the cost, but that can be quite tricky when you’re trying to manage your spending. "Everything I’ve bought from them has been worth it. I’ve kept it quite selective on purpose." Parka Coat The very first thing I bought from them was a parka coat with an additional panel for zipping around your baby bump but also around the baby. I don’t believe it looks like a maternity coat; it just has the option of adding an additional panel. I will definitely still wear it as a parka coat even when I’m not pregnant. It also just so happens to be the price of a normal parka from any of the retailer that’s on a similar level of quality. So all in all, a really good purchase. Click Here for Parka Coat Special Occasions I had a couple of special events to go to during my pregnancy: birthdays and my afternoon tea /mini baby shower – I decided not to have a big baby shower for many reasons so instead I just met up with some friends for an afternoon tea. It was so nice to be able to dress up in a couple of dresses. Again I tried to choose dresses that would be suitable for nursing going forward or just simply dresses that I could probably get away with wearing after the birth as well . It’s made me feel better about spending money. Click Here for Blue Wrap Dress Click Here for Blue & White Stripe Dress Lightweight Tops I also realised that I needed a couple of basic lightweight tops for the evenings or cooler summer days – we all know that there are plenty of those days! These are two that I got a purely because they fit around your bump but also they have poppers down the side to make it easy for nursing. The only thing that I would say is that the longer one did make me feel a little bit frumpy whilst pregnant. Click Here for Stripe Top Click Here for Long Top Hospital Bag In addition, to the above, Seraphine really have thought of everything. There is a hospital bag kit that I would highly recommend. It has a lightweight dressing gown, nursing/maternity top, joggers, and a birthing gown/night dress. The material is super soft and very comfortable. I made the most of it during my pregnancy wearing the joggers and top as pyjamas, until it became time to pack my hospital bag that is! Click Here for Hospital Kit The Final Word As much as I haven’t sampled loads of different brands, I feel like once you find a brand that works for you, just stick to it. These brands worked for me. H&M works as a low-budget option that’s also happened to be pretty good quality and suit me for various stages of my pregnancy. Seraphine worked out very well for me because it was slightly more expensive in what I would describe as a mid range maternity wear retailer, I was not prepared to spend more money than that and address for instance. I was very happy spending the money on these dresses when I was aware that I needed something a little bit more special for some special occasions and have the reliability of something that would give me well and make me feel good when I was at my largest!

It's been over a year since we did the flooring throughout our downstairs and I can't believe that I haven't written a blog post about it yet! So here we go... There are many different types of flooring such as laminate, real wood, vinyl or engineered wood. We chose engineered wood so that we could have something that is strong and durable whilst looking as realistic as possible. FAQ: "where is the flooring from?" The flooring we used was from UK Flooring Direct and it was called home choice engineered European select oak flooring Brownie brushed Matt lacquered. The tongue and groove mechanism allows for easy installation as you position and click the boards in place using a mallet. What you will need Crowbar Mitre saw Jigsaw Floor laying kit including mallet and rubber tapping block Contour gauge tool Underlay Engineered wood flooring Beading for edges (optional) Step 1 - Clear out If you’re lucky enough to have a smooth surface to work on then you can go ahead with these steps. We managed to lay ours on top of the vinyl tiles that were under our carpet. We had it on good authority from a professional builder that this is fine and so far so good! In the end all we had to do was rip up the carpet and the carpet grips. TIP: Make sure that everything is out of the entire room. In this picture, we moved everything into one room believing that we could do a room at a time before realising that we in fact needed to do all the rooms at once due to the flow of the boards. Step 2 – lay the underlay Underlay is used to prevent moisture build up that could damage your flooring. For this reason, lay your underlay silverside down to form your protective barrier. There should be some overlapping edges for your underlay. This is where you place your next sheet of underlay so that they overlap but don’t become bumpy. Step 3A – the fun bit Assembling the floor is actually really quick and easy once you get into it. The middle of the floor is far easier than the edges. Start in a corner of the room. You will want to make sure that your floorboards go down lengthways making your room appear wider. Slide the boards into the grooves and push down to click together and gently tap the edges with your mallet - make sure that you’re using the longest side of your rubber tapping block. Another tip is to make sure that your floorboards go down in an uneven matrix to make the floor stronger. You shouldn’t put your floorboards down side-by-side using their full length as the floorboards are more likely to ping apart. Step 3B - the tricky bit Use the mitre saw to cut the boards when you reach the edges of the room. You can hire a mitre saw if you don’t want to buy one. We decided to buy ours as we found a good deal and will most likely use it again for more flooring and other projects. TIP: Use board cut-offs to start your next row giving you offset rows. Step 4 - Beading Sometimes when installing floorboards, this means that there is a bit of a gap between the floorboards and your wall or skirting boards. This is a good thing. It means that when your house changes temperature throughout the year there is space for your floor to expand and contract. Unfortunately it might not look so good. To get around this you can add some decorative beading around the edges of your room to cover the gap. If you'd like to see more information and see us in action then I have an IGTV saved down in my DIY series on Instagram along with highlights, links to everything used and various follow up videos.

My husband and I are very aware that we will not be able to have our dream kitchen in our current home. If we did, it would use up a huge budget and not really add much value onto our house. That doesn’t stop me from planning what our kitchen could look like in our next house when we manage to get there one day. My Checklist The Snug I think it is important to only have an open plan kitchen diner if you have a separate snug to shut off from the rest of the space. This can be your cosy room for settling in in the evenings to watch a film or where you tidy away the children to watch their shows without disturbing you whilst you cook or work. The Sink For me, you can only have your sink overlooking your back garden. For me it doesn’t really work to have it facing any other direction. This might not be possible if you have decided to have bifolding doors along the whole length of your back wall but it is certainly something that I would want in my dream home. The Island The island is what makes the kitchen. Different people have different ideas about what the island should be used for. Some people think it’s the perfect spot for your sink whilst others think it’s the perfect place to cook your meals on the hob. For me, however, I would want a kitchen island that is completely clear of anything. Hence why I like the idea of my sink being on the back wall facing the garden with a beautiful window above it. Leaving your kitchen island completely free gives you a huge workspace for anything you would need. Whether that is entertaining your friends and giving them somewhere to sit with some nibbles and a drink whilst you cook your meal and chat to them or if you need a wide surface for baking with children or simply a nice wide space for chopping up your veg. This is where the island becomes extra useful. You can have pull-out bins underneath your island so that you can put your choppings away as you prepare your veg straight into the compost bin. You can have your chopping knives and boards stowed away under the island. You could even have a handy little wine fridge to make entertaining a guests just a little bit easier. The Oven Situation We’ve all been there. Getting close to Christmas day and you realise that you’re cooking Christmas dinner for eight people and you can’t fit a turkey in the oven alongside all of the vegetables. This is why people like to have two ovens. Or a large aga or range cooker. I grew up with an aga in our kitchen and I think it is the most perfect thing. I have really missed it. It was a little bit of a learning curve when I went to university and I had to teach myself how to use the ovens. The majority of people do not have Agas. An aga is just a much easier way to cook. I think it’s actually why I am quite a good cook and I never time my food when it’s in the oven or on the hob. I always know when something is ready because I know roughly in my head how long it’s been cooking for and I know what it will look like when it is ready. The reason being that is an aga is constantly on. You have a hot oven and a warm oven. And a hot hob and a warm hob. It obviously heats your kitchen because it’s always on so there’s no need for a separate radiator or underfloor heating, though of course you may prefer to have underfloor heating as well. More importantly for me, it gives a cosy English countryside feel to any home. That is the most important thing for me. I must admit, however, that my perfect kitchen would not only have an aga but also a separate oven and hob. There may be times when you would prefer to turn off the aga or other times when you have a huge number of people around the house expecting to be well fed and you just need that little bit of extra oven space. Dishwashers I would want 2 dishwashers. It might sound odd and a bit unnecessary but if you were designing your perfect kitchen, why not? If you are big on entertaining and you happen to have this amazing large kitchen that is suitable for having all of your family over for not only Christmas but Easter and anyone’s birthdays and just getting together as often as possible, would you not want to have the most efficient kitchen possible? Therefore two dishwashers would be perfect. Fridge Freezer A lot of people are content with having your fridge below the countertop. I think this is great as an addition to a large fridge freezer. Let’s face it, we always need more space especially if you have a family or are planning on entertaining a lot. I’m also a big fan of incorporating different heights and textures and materials into a space. Open Shelves I’ve included this in my list because I do absolutely love open shelves. There is, however, a very big BUT to this. Open shelves in the kitchen are a lot of high maintenance in terms of dusting and keeping the items clean. Especially if they happen to be quite close to your hob or oven as I have noticed that I get a bit of an oily dusty residue on the surfaces of some of my items that I keep nearby my oven. Therefore, I would suggest making sure that if you have open shelves, you keep them as clutter free as possible for easy cleaning. This would only be possible if you also happen to have a huge amount of storage elsewhere in your kitchen. Another option would be to have your open shelves in an area of the kitchen where you can encase it in some glass cabinets. The Pantry Speaking of open shelves and glass cabinets, I would love a walk in pantry. It’s a great way to keep everything clutter free in the main kitchen whilst having easy access to everything and being able to see everything in one go. Of course, it wouldn’t have to be a walk-in, it could just be a floor-to-ceiling cupboard with various sections to help you keep all of your different items organised. Doors to the Garden I know that bifold doors are very popular at the moment, but I must admit, they are not for me. I think that they look amazing and let in a huge amount of light but I’m simply more of a French door sort of person. I also think that delicate French doors would look beautiful alongside my idea of having my kitchen sink looking out over the garden with a beautiful window above it. If you like the idea of bifold doors, I’ve recently discovered that you can get bifold doors with blinds within the glass so that you don’t have to have separate blinds across each of your sections of the doors. Utility Room My perfect kitchen is clearly a large open plan kitchen diner space. Therefore, you cannot have your washing machine constantly on in this space. This space is the heart of the home and therefore you do not want the noise of the washing machine to constantly interrupt it. Therefore, you should have a separate utility room. Let’s face it, if you are able to have your perfect kitchen with an aga, 2 dishwashers and loads of space, then you’re probably planning on putting in a separate utility room. This is just my reminder. Mud Room I would probably just combine the mudroom, boot room, which ever you’d like to call it, with the utility room. But if you want to have the space separate, I would also put in a little doggy shower for cleaning off those muddy paws (and potentially coat) on those muddy pups. It’s also pretty handy for getting muddy wellies off! The View Not only do you want a beautiful view across your garden from your kitchen, but you will want a gorgeous view into your kitchen. When you enter your home I love the idea of being able to see directly down through the hallway, through the house, through the kitchen and into the garden. I feel like this allows as much light as possible to flood through the centre of the house and it helps you feel like the house is this beautiful, big, grand house. This of course would be my dream kitchen. It may not be realistic in terms of costs and space. These are the things that I want to think about when, hopefully one day, I come to design my own kitchen.

Despite the fact that you will struggle with all-day-long sickness (i.e. morning sickness but I use this phrase for more accuracy) in your first-trimester, without a doubt, food was and remains the toughest part of my pregnancy. Changing cravings Again, I was quite naïve about pregnancy cravings and sudden dislikes that you might have for food that you used to love. I thought it ended there, and once you worked it out then you knew what you could and couldn’t eat. For me, however, this seems to change on an almost weekly basis making planning meals virtually impossible. It could be that when I have a craving, I go a bit into overdrive and end up being fed up of whatever it is so that I don’t want it anymore. I think the reality is, however, that as you progress through your pregnancy your body needs different things to fuel your energy and to help the baby grow and therefore your body tells you what you want to eat and what you don’t want to eat. Just my theory based on 0 facts or data, just my own experience. It’s all about the carbs in the first trimester For instance during the first trimester, I craved a huge amount of carbs. This makes a lot of sense because when you feel sick, and I felt like I had a constant hangover all day every day, you just want to eat things that will make you feel better. Things like toast, pasta, chips, or anything potato-based. I actually found that I put on quite a lot of weight during my first trimester, to the point where I was beginning to get a bit worried because I knew that I was meant to be putting on the most weight at the end of the pregnancy, not at the start. It was just because I was eating so many carbs to help me get through the morning sickness, or all-day-long sickness as I like to refer to it. Once you are over this part of the pregnancy then you go back to eating a more balanced diet in the second trimester; at least I did. The main dilemma - food doesn’t fit! Then comes the next part of the food dilemma. As your womb grows, even during the first trimester and even though your baby will be absolutely teeny tiny, your other organs get shunted to the side. This means that you pee an awful lot during your first trimester and then for some reason it calms down and you get back into more of a normal routine in your second trimester. This didn’t really bother me apart from when I was getting up during the night multiple times just to go to the bathroom. Although, I figured it was good practice for when the baby arrives and I have to get up during the night for feeds etc. The main issue that I had with my organs being squished was the fact that I became unable to eat normal sized meals. I suddenly realised what the NHS website meant when it said eat six small meals a day. There physically isn’t the space to eat a normal sized meal and fit it into your stomach. This is also why many pregnant women suffer from indigestion and acid reflux. TIP: try something like Gaviscon or Rennie to help with your indigestion. I prefer Rennie because it comes in little packets that are easy to chew so they are readily available without causing any mess. I have a packet in each room in the house so I can grab them when I want. Just make sure to follow the correct dosage. Six small meals a day Sounds easy, but this is where I really struggle. I have worked out my snack routine, not that it’s really a routine but I have long-lasting snacks at the ready that won’t go off too quickly that I can just eat when I suddenly feel a pang of hunger. This is the other issue that comes, I can’t seem to plan when I’m going to get hungry. I just suddenly get unbearably hungry and have to eat something at random times. Snack time When that happens I opt for some of the below: Malt loaf Non-acidic fruit such as watermelon Dried fruit such as raisins or dates Olives Nuts Mini Cheddars (might sound like a kiddies snack but it's better than crisps anyway!) Snack food that I have learnt to avoid: Acidic fruit like apples and apple juice, grapes, pineapple etc Cake (this one really upset me) Of course the things that trigger my indigestion and acid reflux might not be a problem for others so it’s about trial and error. TIP: keep notes and keep your partner updated too! It's just best so that they don't waste their money on a treat that you can't actually eat. About the meals This is where I really need some more work. If you think about it, it’s really difficult to come up with a plan for dinner time every day let alone for six small meals a day. This is why I’m so pleased that at least I’ve got my snacks sorted. So then it’s just a small lunch and a small dinner that I need to sort out. I try and forget about the guilt of not having a particularly nutritious breakfast every day. I tend to stick to toast or cereal in the mornings because it’s quick and easy, which is pretty important when waking up hungry every day. I focus on the fact that it’s fuel rather than particularly nutritious. Having said that, toast and cereal is still good for fibre! If I want to add something for a bit of extra goodness, slices of banana or berries work well. TIP: try and eat dinner as early as possible so that you don’t get acid reflux when you lie down and go to bed. This is where I will end this blog post because I am not sure how to help with the small meal dilemma. If I come up with some sort of magical formula for quick, easy and nutritious small meals then I’ll put them together in another blog post. I have bought a few books to try and help, but I haven’t found much inspiration. Wish me luck!

I’ll keep this brief because let’s face it, there is a huge amount of information out there about pregnancy; and a lot of it contradicts each other! The first trimester As much as I always knew that morning sickness did not actually mean that you would be sick every morning, I was still incredibly naïve about what morning sickness actually meant. Morning Sickness? More like “all day long sickness!” My first trimester was nearly completely taken up with feeling sick all day every day in addition to feeling absolutely exhausted. This is not even an exaggeration. I literally felt nauseous from the moment I woke up until about 4pm every single day along with the exhaustion. My morning sickness, which I firmly believe should be called “all day long sickness”, started at around my 6th week of pregnancy and finished around week 13/14. I am told that it is normal for your morning sickness to end at around week 12 but for some it can last until week 20. When to tell friends and family My husband and I had made decision not to tell anyone until we had passed the dangerous weeks of pregnancy. For those who are not aware, unfortunately the risk of miscarriage is at its greatest in weeks 5-6 and then again in weeks 8-9. This is according to the midwife that I saw in a private scan that I had scheduled in week 10. Of course, this doesn't mean that if you pass this point in your pregnancy then you will be fine, there is always risk. It's just that these are the most risky weeks. Secretive drink swaps I know of a lot of pregnant women who underwent the secretive swapping of alcoholic beverages with their spouse in order to spare themselves the “why aren’t you drinking?” question with the knowing glances down to your belly that every woman gets. You can’t exactly respond “I’m on antibiotics for cystitis”, that would bring the mood of the party down somewhat! Although that would be a good excuse! Private scan anyone? I knew keeping my pregnancy a secret was going to be difficult in the run up to Christmas with not only having to avoid alcohol but also all the foods that pregnant women can’t eat that seem to come out at Christmas time. I’m referring to cured meats and cheese boards - cheddar is basically the only type of cheese on a cheese board that pregnant women can eat. Forget about stilton camembert or brie! It just so happened that my NHS scan was 23rd December, by which time, we would have already seen the vast majority of our friends and family in the run up to Christmas. To help with the situation, we decided to book a private scan for week 10 and were free to start telling people with the knowledge that the baby was healthy. I'd definitely recommend this if you're happy to pay and want the reassurance. Apart from anything else, I was pleased that I didn't have to wait the full 3 months before having a medical professional actually confirm that I was pregnant. Not that there was any doubt, of course I had all the symptoms, but it is an odd feeling not to have that medical confirmation for such a long time. As much as there isn’t much to say about the first trimester, there is quite a lot to think about. With the sickness and exhaustion, try not to worry about anything until you have your energy back in the second trimester.

If you post publicly to social media then chances are that you're hoping to go viral. I never thought that it would happen to me, I just thought that it was one of those things that only happened to people who already had 1 million followers... but we all now know that that is not the case! We all want to go viral right? Think again... "Small minds have always lashed out at what they don't understand" - Dan Brown This quote might sound a bit harsh but I can't help but think that the angry comments I get about paint (yes, I really do get a lot of angry comments about paint) must be because people simply don't understand. For instance I get near death threats about what I've painted and the paint not lasting - I say "near death threats" as they don't actually tell me that they want to break my neck or that they want to set fire to my house. They just like to imagine it happening or just "want to commit arson" as one charming lady told me. Tile paint and the paint on my stairs is a particular trigger. People just don't realise that there is such a thing as paint designed to paint directly onto tiles or onto stairs without the need of priming. That's it. That's why I get my near death threats. Bizarre isn't it?! That's the problem with going viral, you're content is pushed out to people who wouldn't normally see it and therefore don't necessarily have an interest in your genre. Therefore some of these new people don't actually know anything about the topic at hand when they decide to insult you and your work. Obviously the examples I've shared are the extreme, but the norm isn't much better! Abuse It's simple. Abuse is rife on social media, even if all you do is share videos of you painting things - believe me! Of course I get lots of negative comments from people who simply don't like my home or a colour I've chosen. Sure, that's fine and they're allowed their opinion and in no way did I think that 100% of people would like it. It's just a shame that they feel the need to take time out of their day to tell me so when I've worked so hard on something I love. I think that the fact that they feel the need to pause and be critical rather than just scrolling on says more about them than me. Misogyny Then there's the misogyny. Yep, it's out there, it's vocal and it isn't monitored. I've used the reporting tools many a time to report harassment, abuse, violent comments and insults based on my gender (and often the fact that I'm white and married). Then I'm told that there's no violation. This is a huge problem, particularly for female DIY accounts. Unfortunately there are a lot of men, and sometimes women, who insult women because they are women doing DIY. These people tend to go down the mocking route. Laughing and telling women that they're stupid fools who don't know what they're doing because they're women. Most of the time, however, these comments are from men telling the DIYer that everything they did was wrong or it won't last. They may not always say "because you're a woman" but the aggressive and condescending tone is there, it's in their choice of words. You see, there is a difference between offering advice and aggressively telling someone that they shouldn't do what they're doing because it's wrong and only they know the right way to do something. You could argue that these people aren't misogynists though. Either way, they're still abusive and aggressive. It always amazes me how they know things about my own house and projects that I don't based off a 15 second video - oh no wait, that's not possible! "Karens" This is a bit of an unfortunate term for anyone actually called Karen! You may not have heard or come across them. If that's the case then lucky you! They are worse than everything else that I have mentioned in this blog post. The reason being that they are self-righteous and reprimand you for being an awful human being. They really try everything that they can say to make you feel like you are the scum of the earth. Again, all I do is paint things and generally ignore people who are rude and abusive towards me. Occasionally I'll politely defend myself by explaining whatever their complaint is. Then the "Karens" come in to tell me how awful and rude I am for being too sensitive and not being able to take "other people's opinions" - that's what they say about comments that I would describe as condescending & abusive rather than an opinion or advice. They usually end with "if you can't take it then don't post it" or something to that effect. The idea being that you shouldn't post anything if you can't roll over and accept abuse from thousands of strangers. That seems to be the favourite reasoning for allowing and justifying abuse on the internet. They seem to think that it's the fault of the victim of the abuse for not being able to "take it". Strange isn't it? What confuses me more is that these self-righteous Karens choose to reprimand me for politely pointing out that it's just paint rather than reprimanding the people aggressively telling me that I'm a bitch who doesn't know what she's doing - hence why I try and ignore them as whatever I say, no matter how polite will result in more abuse. I think that they like the reaction. I guess that's the thing, these people are, quite frankly, ill. They don't understand and they are not well enough to process information in the way that you or I would. So they lash out. And I'm the easy target because I put myself out there - painting things. The Good Having said all of that, there are good things about going viral. There are far more positive comments and people asking questions because they like what you've done and are thinking about doing it themselves. There's the fast growth - although I did find this a bit overwhelming and I felt like I didn't really know any of the people following me, hence why I prefer a more gradual growth. The opportunities. With a large following and high views comes well paid work with brands you love. I owe a lot to going viral on TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. Overall, going viral is fun, exciting and pays well. Just remember that the social media companies aren't going to make any meaningful changes to their platforms anytime soon, if at all. They make money from people staying on the app and people are more likely to stay on the app if they have a strong emotional pull - say for instance, having an ongoing argument in the comments section.

Since I've started my own business, I've come to understand the art of haggling with pride. I've been pretty good at it too. So here are my tips to help you next time you try your hand at it... #bargin #haggle #homeinteriortips It's Simple - Don't! Not quite what you were expecting was it? Maybe it's the fact that I'm in constant negotiations with brands for my livelihood, or maybe it's just that I'm simply scared of angering a contractor and ending up with a rubbish job, still paying loads of money and potentially more to have it changed. Or maybe it's both, because I live through both sides of the argument on a daily basis. Whatever the reason, this is what I know... Hear Me Out Not haggling might sound counter intuitive but hear me out... "reducing the price means reducing the quality" A quote for a service is the price. It's as simple as that. A contractor/sole trader knows how much of their time will be absorbed in a project, they know how many people will be involved, they know how hard it will be and they know the cost of the products. You're also paying for their knowledge, advice and experience. This is why the price is the price. If you insist on reducing the price, well reducing the price means reducing the quality. In the list of things that they need to consider in their quote for work, the only thing that can change is the actual product - not their time, experience, number of people on the job or workload. If you think a quote is too high, then you either negotiate to have less quality or less work done. Or find someone less experienced to suit your budget. 3 is the Magic Number That's why it's always a good idea to get 3 quotes. Not just to make sure that you're not being overcharged or make sure that something isn't too good to be true. This way, you also get a feel for the contractor/ sole trader and the quality of their work. Then considering your budget, make your choice. At least then you don't start off on a bad note after having argued your way to a 10% discount... it may be a decent cash saving but in my opinion nothing is worth angering the people who you are paying to work hard on a job that you're going to spend a lot of money on regardless of any savings. Remember, you will be the one living the with end result. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that people give slightly higher quotes compared to what you think the work is worth. It could very well be that they don't want to undertake this particular project, so if they are going to do it then they may as well get paid well for it. Or, if they're not wanting to take on the project, maybe they're hoping you won't accept their quote. You know what, good on them! It still means that the price is the price! If you have an undesirable and unusually difficult project then you may have difficulty finding anyone to do the work at a reduced price. I am fully aware that if I asked a landscape gardener to do a simple project in my enormous and awkward garden, with no guarantee of parking near my house and about 100 steep steps from the bottom to the top of my garden... well then, they should be able to add on an 'inconvenience' fee (I just came up with the term but I think it works quite well for what I'm trying to say) I'm sure that even a gardener hired to do a simple bit of pruning in my garden may add on a little bit extra given how difficult it is to even reach my flowerbeds! Negotiate, Don't Haggle This is where negotiations are useful. Let me use myself as an example, without giving too much away about my finances! I'm usually approached by brands wanting to work with me. I charge a fee for my time, the actual work, my reach on each of my social media platforms, my integrity as an influencer (I only work with brands that I love), a license to allow the brands to repost to their social media platforms for a specific time period and many many more variables. Often I'm asked to produce a huge amount of work, sometimes worth thousands of pounds, in exchange for an item that cost the brand £20-£80 to make. FIY I have a very solid understanding of profit margins in retail as this was a large part of my job for nearly a decade. I hope that you can understand that this is insulting to say the least - not a great way to start 'haggling'. Keep in mind that I have to pay tax on gifted items so I have to make sure that it's worth it. When these types of collaboration proposals occur, I tell them politely that I don't work for free. My usual phrase is that I am happy to share a gifted item to my Instagram stories as a review. I always feel like this is a fair way to work, especially if I don't know the company very well and is a great option for companies that don't have a budget - particularly small and new companies. I know instantly if they are a brand that I will like or not by their response. If they agree, then chances are that they are good people part of a good brand just trying to get their products out there because they believe in them - great! If they insist that they need at least 4 stories, a grid post, a reel and a TikTok, (a huge amount of work) all with use of my content on their marketing platforms in perpetuity, for an item that cost them £80 to make, then they're not a brand that I would want to promote. Some brands, however, are polite and understand that I should be compensated for my time, hard work and dare I say it, skill. This is where we negotiate, as often they do not have the same budget as the huge companies. Fair enough! They can't all have the same budget as Amazon! In which case, once I have a full understanding of what they want me to do, I give them a breakdown of all my fees and they simply select what will benefit them the most for a price that fits in their budget. It's pretty simple and a much more respectful way to work. Ultimately, negotiating is a great way to find a mutually beneficial agreement for both parties. Haggling is just trying your luck and doesn't benefit anyone in the end.

Flipping furniture is a trend in itself. I actually had no idea until I posted about a couple of mine and people started commenting about my "furniture flip"! Read on to find out why I love them so much! #diy #diyfurniture #diyideas #homeinteriors #flippingfurniture New Life "What happens to tired, worn and old furniture?" We always used to take it to the local tip or if it was in pretty bad condition and we just so happened to have a skip in our driveway, well, then, we would break it up and dispose of it in there. That was before the likes of eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace dominated the second hand market. Nowadays, people seem to love picking up a bargain, or even something for free and giving it a new lease of life in their home with just a little bit of TLC. Free? I have given away plenty of old furniture for free on Facebook marketplace. Some people think I'm mad and should at least charge £10. Don't get me wrong, if something is small enough to fit in a car and could be carried away by 1 person rather than needing 2 people, then I'll charge a suitable amount depending on the condition of the item. If the item in question is large, awkward and needs a van or trailer to be transported away from our house then I'll gladly give it away for free seeing as they are saving me the hassle of getting rid of it myself. Add a Little Bit of Spice Not only is upcycling a great way to inject some creativity into your home but it's also a great way to showcase your own personality. In all honesty, I had no idea what my home decor style was until we bought our house. Before that, we had rented fully furnished homes that were blank canvases and needed a few pictures on the walls, but that was about it! Plus I was saving all of my money, and I really do mean all of my money for a deposit to buy my own flat. As it turned out, I met my husband and we bought a house together instead. Then of course, all of the money is in the actual house! In the run up to the move, my husband bought loads of pieces of furniture at an auction, my mum helped us out by picking us up a few bits when she happened to see some cheap items, I got a few bits from a couple who were downsizing and then the rest was just from Ikea. It's in the Mix Having a mix of furniture and styles is my ideal. I always used to think that I liked matching furniture sets because that's what we're shown in TV ads and Ikea showrooms. Now that I've been here for a few years, I can honestly say that I would much rather that none of my furniture matched! I love the mix! Having a few pieces that I've painted and added new details / hardware is so satisfying! I have some of my projects on my Instagram and TikTok profiles and I will be sharing some step-by-steps on here too so keep an eye out!

It’s time for an update! My staircase is the most popular topic across all of my social media accounts so I will be sharing all the updates as I go, from what I decide to do to the landing to topping up the paint and keeping it clean and dust free - as much as I can! It’s been eight months since I painted my staircase and whilst I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to to top up the paint so soon, I am not in the least bit surprised. 8 Months Ago I had a little bit of a conundrum when I was planning my staircase project back in January. I had accepted a collaboration to paint the staircase with a well-known paint brand and it was all agreed that I would do the project and post about it on Instagram by the end of February. "...after the bath renovation was complete I was going to paint the stairs" Now, this should not have been a problem. I was due to have my bathroom renovation completed in February, so the idea of painting my staircase at the end of February, after all of the renovation had been completed, should have been fine. My plan was to do all of the prep work, so ripping up the carpet, taking out all the staples, the sanding, filling in the holes etc beforehand. Then after the bath renovation was complete I was going to paint the stairs. That would make the most sense given that having renovation work done in a house is probably not going to be the best thing for freshly painted stairs. Especially given that the work entailed knocking down a wall which we knew was going to create a lot of dust. "I was going to have to crack on with painting my staircase knowing full well that it was probably going to get a bit scuffed up..." The problem came, however, when the bathroom work was delayed. It couldn’t have been helped, it’s just the way things have been throughout the pandemic with high demand, freight issues, Suez Canal blockages, which in turn created a huge backlog even after the blockage had been clearer... the list goes on. The delay didn’t actually bother me, but it did mean that I was going to have to crack on with painting my staircase knowing full well that it was probably going to get a bit scuffed up, scratched and worn out after the bathroom renovation was completed. In all honesty, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be but it did still need a fresh coat of paint. Especially because, in anticipation of this problem, I hadn’t actually used enough coats of paint in the first place. I decided at the time that if I needed to do another coat of paint in the near future, then I may as well only do the bare minimum required initially. Eight months later "under normal circumstances it wouldn’t require topping up quite as soon" Fast forward to October and I have decided to paint the stairs. Thankfully, after a good thorough clean with sugar soap it turns out that it was only the black paint that needed topping up. The white paint cleaned up very well. So that halved my workload straight away and it is such a relief to know that the paint really does hold up very well! And under normal circumstances it wouldn’t require topping up quite as soon. The black paint was a little bit worse for wear because it had the most traffic and unfortunately I had a picture frame fall from the wall and it created quite a few scratches as it bumped down each step - and it gave us a bit of a fright in the night! My Top Tips There’s not much to say here that I haven’t already covered in my other posts so if you want to have more details please see my DIY staircase blog post but you can also find all of my videos and details on my IGTV and Instagram highlights. After a thorough clean I allowed the steps to air dry and then I put a little bit of tape on every other stair to signify where to step whilst the paint dried. I recommend you do this to avoid being stuck upstairs or downstairs at any point! I didn’t bother using masking tape as I am pretty good with the cutting in brush but of course you can do that if you are not comfortable free painting. Finally, I worked my way down the steps so that I could sit on the steps as I painted. All in all, it took me about half an hour to paint half of the steps followed by about three hours to dry. Then it was another 30 minutes for the other half of the steps and three hours to dry. This was probably the easiest DIY job I’ve ever done! And what a relief too! Now I won’t dread topping up the paint again in the future!

This is the hardest project that I have accomplished to date and I am so proud of myself. I had never done anything so ambitious before, other than sanding & painting my staircase, and there was no way to know if it would come together. 6 months in and it still looks just as good as when I finished, so I must’ve done something right! #diy #diycladding #tongueandgroovecladding First things first, think about the room This room gets virtually zero natural sunlight. It is west facing, which usually means that you get a bit of sunshine in the afternoons. Not this room. You see, by the time that the sunshine reaches this side of the house, it’s blocked from view by the huge hill that we live on. This means that this room is in perpetual shade. And what’s the best way to deal with that? Distract from the fact. "I decided that I wanted a feature wall to draw the eye to stop you from realising that the room is dark." It was easy to decide which wall should be the feature wall. The larger wall which you see as soon as you open the door. What Type of Feature Wall? I’ve always loved panelling but I wanted something that would suit the feel of my home. Board and Batten panelling is very popular at the moment and it looks great, but I thought that it would make this room look a bit too much like a hotel room. I wanted a cosy homely space. Given that our home is in the middle of the English countryside, I realised something a bit more rustic and imperfect might work best. Tongue & Groove Cladding You might think that this is the easy bit. Just stick up some panels and you’re done. Nope! I knew that I wanted the panelling to go high up the wall. I didn’t want it to take up the whole wall as I wanted a bit of a contrast at the top for a nice paint colour and I knew that I wanted to hang some lights above. But finding the cladding was actually really difficult. "Trouble is, I couldn’t find any ready prepared cladding in the correct size" All the DIY videos that I watched on YouTube suggest buying ready prepped wood. Great idea and I would definitely recommend this if you can. Trouble is, I couldn’t find any ready prepared cladding in the correct size. I suppose that there isn’t much demand for it. "I had to prepare the wood" The only Tongue and Groove Cladding that I could find in the right size was from B&Q. It wasn’t sealed or primed and reading the reviews I knew that I needed to get some spares. I’m so pleased that I did as some boards were warped, broken or had holes. Fair enough, it is wood and very thin wood at that and it wasn’t sealed or primed, so I knew that it wasn’t perfect. This meant that I had to prepare the wood. Preparing the Wood If your wood needs prepping, then the first thing is to make sure that you seal the knots with knotting solution. This prevents the natural sap of the wood from seeping out and ruining the paint. "I applied a mist coat... 30% water to 70% paint" Next up, I applied a mist coat of paint as per the instructions from the paint brand that I was using. This was 30% water to 70% paint, the idea being that the wood will absorb the paint and not be such a waste of paint. Normally, I would have applied a primer, which of course you can do, but I decided to simply go with the mist coat because that was what the brand had suggested. So far so good, my panelling still looks exactly the same as when I finished it six months ago. My way vs others You may or may not know, but I’ve had quite a lot of videos go viral on multiple social media platforms. And without fail I will be told by many men, I don’t know why it is always men, that I have done everything wrong. I am certain that there are far better ways to do a project like this, which would be why you would hire a professional. But I am not a professional and I do not have all of the equipment readily available and I do not know where to source the best materials. What I do know, however, is that I did this project in the best way that I could manage all by myself whilst navigating various limitations. Let me outline a few of them for you here. "Do whatever suits you best, so make sure you plan it through to the finer details." Wonky Walls As I’ve never done a project like this before, I did not appreciate how walls are not straight, despite what they may seem. This means that you need to make sure that you use a spirit level in order to keep your wood panels straight. Lack of Space Had I possessed a larger home, with a workshop, a large garage, or simply a large space where I could lay out 45 wooden panels, each of which 2m in length, then perhaps I would have prepped the wood before securing to the wall. As it happens, if I had a large enough house to do that, chances are that I would be pretty wealthy and therefore I would pay someone to do this project for me. If you are panelling a small wall, however, you might be able to prepare the wood before attaching to the wall. I personally am not sure if this is the best way, a better way, or a more logical way than securing straight to the wall first. Given that I had no idea how many coats of paint I would need, and ending up with five coats in total including the mist coat, I found it easier to manage having the wood attached to the wall. "be the judge of your own workload" Plus the final panel always needs to be cut to the correct width, unless you’re super lucky to have a wall that happens to be the exact width of 40 boards! Oh, and you don’t even end up using all the boards as some are warped or damaged so it seems a waste of time to paint them all only to find you can’t use some. You can be the judge of your own workload here. Do whatever suits you best, so make sure you plan it through to the finer details. The fun bit The fun bit of any project is always the painting. The prep work is always the least fun but is usually the most important so please do not skip any of the prep work and make sure that you thoroughly research what you need to do for the materials that you are using for your project. That means follow brand instructions as well as researching. I ended up with painting four coats of paint on top of the mist coat. At least, I think I did from memory, it was a while ago now. One thing I am certain of is that it took me a very long time, used an awful lot of energy and I ended up with my whole body feeling very tired and achy after I had finished this project. "follow brand instructions as well as researching" The finishing touches My original plan was to add a peg rail on top so that I could then have a little shelf for propping up things like pictures and hanging plants. In the end, I realised that if I added shelving on top it might feel like the room was a little bit boxed off and the ceiling was perhaps a bit lower than it actually is. So I decided to just add decorative beading which I already happened to have. This worked really well and I’m so happy with the final product because it also meant that it was easier for hanging up the pendant lights on either side of the bed. The absolute main thing to remember with this or any DIY project is to do thorough research, including researching the actual products and materials that you will be using as some instructions will relate to completely different products and you may have to treat different materials and products differently. And don’t skimp on the prep work! #decorate #homeinterior #homedecor

Who would’ve thought that my humble little kitchen would create such a storm! It reached 6m views on Instagram and another 6m on TikTok… crazy numbers when you think about it. That’s before the numerous articles came out about my decorating projects. The questions I get are all the same, so here is a round up of the process and everything I used. The Products First up, here’s everything I used: IKEA door knobs £69 incl delivery Annie Sloane wax brush £24.95 Rustoleum Furniture Chalk Paint £32 & Furniture Finishing Wax £12 Ronseal Tile Paint £21 Garden trading company Shelving £25 per shelf, small All DIY products purchased from B&Q Painting Tiles "I cleaned the surface and then painted 1 coat of Ronseal Tile Paint. That was it!" This caused the most controversy on my reels and TikToks. I think that the main reason was that people didn’t know that there is such a thing as tile paint, so they believed that I hadn’t applied the paint correctly - and they really enjoyed telling me that it would scratch off. I explained to them that I did this project 4 years ago and that the “after” pictures were from the previous month. So it has lasted us pretty well! I gather that in the past, tile paints required you to scratch up the tiles first to help the paint stick. Not any more! That’s the beauty of time; like most things, technology improves with time as does DIY materials and products, including paint. I cleaned the surface and then painted 1 coat of Ronseal Tile Paint. That was it! If I had used a pale colour, I probably would have needed a few coats. Top Tip Learn from my mistake and paint the cabinets first. I painted the tiles first, then applied masking tape on top of the tiles (a few weeks later) to then paint the cabinet surroundings. Sounds sensible but no! When I removed the masking tape, some little bits of tile paint peeled off. So avoid yourself the hassle of having to top up the tile paint and just do that bit last. The Cabinets A lot of people don’t realise that cabinet doors can actually be taken off really easily. I see so many people talk about how they unscrewed their kitchen cabinet doors so that they can paint them easily. You do not need to unscrew anything. It is just a simple click and release job. It will be very unusual if your cabinets are designed in any other way. I numbered every single door and cabinet so that I knew exactly where each door came from and where I would need to attend them. This is just useful in case the hinges are at slightly different angles so it’s best to put them back in the same place. Taking the doors off makes your life so much easier given that you have to paint multiple layers. Choose your paint carefully Depending on what type of paint you use, what type of finish you are wanting, and how you will also need it to be easily cleaned, you will need to make sure that you use a suitable paint. "you may need to use a primer before you start or prepare the surface" The reason I chose chalk paint was so that I didn’t have to worry about sanding or priming. I tested a patch first to make sure that it would adhere to the surface. Once I knew that it worked, I went ahead with the project. If you’re not using chalk paint, you may need to use a primer before you start or prepare the surface in a different way to what I did for my project. Please make sure you are fully aware of the instructions for the paint that you choose. Roller or brush A lot of people tell me that I should have used a roller for my cabinets. The truth is, I did start off using a roller and didn’t like the finish. So I switched to a brush. Just do which you feel more comfortable with. Generally speaking, I prefer painting with a brush over rollers for a variety of reasons. You will need a sealant "The best rule for this is, whichever paint you use, use a sealant from the same brand." If you use your kitchen as a kitchen, then you will need to be able to clean your kitchen cabinets regularly from any spills and splashes. In which case, you will need to seal your cabinets after you have painted. For chalk paint, you will need a wax. I used a round wax brush to make the application easier but you can use a cloth too - I did try this, however, and I couldn't help but feel like little bits of fluff from the cloth were sticking to the wax, so it might be best to just use a wax brush. Depending on what type of paint you use, you might need a different type of sealant. The best rule for this is, whichever paint you use, use a sealant from the same brand. They should recommend which sealant to use anyway so make sure you have selected the right one for the paint you have used. The finishing touches New hardware and shelving can make a huge difference in a small space. Switching out the cabinet knobs for something that will compliment the new colour will add that extra something, especially in a small space. Whilst shelving can add another dimension to your kitchen, offering you the opportunity to mix textures and layer in some other colours - I love adding plants like pothos so that they can drop down and overhang, almost like a waterfall. Keep in mind that a project like this is a great way to update your kitchen quickly and easily without having to spend a fortune. I did this project knowing that one day, we may decide to get a whole new kitchen. Until then, I wanted it to look more neutral and be a relaxing space for cooking.

I don’t think that I have a particular style or taste when it comes to home interiors. I love a bit of everything. My house is an eclectic mix of old and new, vintage and modern, with a few antiques and industrial elements thrown in... I’m sure that whenever we decide to move house, my new house will be approached in the same way. I may not always decide to decorate our house to have the exact same feel all the way through all the time. I just find that buying things that I like, even if they don’t match, will somehow work together in my home. I think that the most important thing when decorating a home is to understand the character of your home, as well as your own character and style. "Even new builds can have unique characteristics..." For instance, Victorian elements can look misplaced in a modern home or new build. That’s not to say that all new builds have no character or anything unique about them. Even new builds can have unique characteristics, despite the fact that they are all built to the same specifications in a particular block. There will always be something that is different and it’s about decorating your home to suit the style of the home. "... it’s about decorating your home to suit the style of the home." My home is in the middle of the English countryside in the Surrey Hills. I have always wanted to try and bring elements of the outside in. That’s why there are so many greens and browns and neutrals throughout my whole home. But also a few pops of colour in the pinks and the blues for a bit of added interest. Then I throw in a few accent colours like metallics, goals, industrial black. That’s just because I like these colours as accents. My goal is to work with what I’ve got to enhance it, not to completely change a house. Ultimately, my perfect house is not my current house but my current house is perfect for us right now. So there’s no need for me to completely change it. A few well chosen paint colours, feature walls, and furniture that I like should serve us well. "my perfect house is not my current house but my current house is perfect for us right now. So there’s no need for me to completely change it." I think that the best way to explain this is my kitchen. I went viral many times over my kitchen on all of the social media platforms. People loved finding out that you could paint tiles and that it’s easy to take kitchen cabinets off to paint them and just put them back. Whilst others relished in telling me how I had ruined my home because they preferred the way it looked before. Now I never said that I didn’t like the way it looked before, it just didn’t flow well in the house. It didn’t suit the overall character of a rural English countryside home. It was very retro, which I think would look great in a New York flat for instance. So I decided to make the kitchen more neutral and look more like a rural English countryside kitchen. So painting the cabinets white and the tiles grey works for this purpose. Apart from anything else I wanted the kitchen to look good enough until one day we decided to replace it. So this was always only a temporary measure. I hope that helps to explain and to give a bit more of an idea of how to approach decorating your home. It’s not about a complete overhaul, but rather enhancing the phone that you have already in a way that suits your personal style.

Who would’ve guessed that designing a bathroom would require so much thought? Surely it is just a room where you brush your teeth and shower? Think again. Designing a bathroom really does take a lot of patience, research and imagination. I suppose that’s why so many people need the help of professionals, just like we did. As much as we love to do DIY, we knew our limitations and we knew that we needed professionals to help us. Here are some things that we learnt from them. #bathroom #bathroomrenovation #bathroomideas #bathroomdesign Sunken Basin "The professionals clearly saved me some long-term pain here." The very first thing I said to the bathroom designer was that I wanted a round basin sitting on top of a vanity cabinet just like you see in all of those gorgeous pictures floating around Instagram and Pinterest. That idea was barely entertained as the professionals quickly deterred me from what I thought was my favourite design feature in a bathroom. They explained that whilst it looks good, these types of basins are unable to have an overflow drainage hole. This means that you are automatically more at risk of accidentally flooding your bathroom. We don’t want that do we?! So instead I opted for a gorgeous basin sunk into the vanity unit. I have found this so much easier to clean as I just have the basin itself and the flat surface around it. I don’t know how I would’ve coped if I also had to get into all of the awkward corners of the basin sitting on top of a vanity unit. The professionals clearly saved me some long-term pain here. Handheld Shower Speaking of cleaning, I’ve always found it so much easier to clean a bathroom with a separate handheld shower. After scrubbing your bathroom and your tiles it’s so nice to rinse the bath and tiles surrounding it with your showerhead. "most of my points centre around the cleaning aspects of the bathroom. I clearly want to make an easier life myself!" Plus it has the added bonus of when you enjoy your bath, if you decide to wash your hair in the bath then you can just rinse out the shampoo with clean water. Large Floor Tiles This is where I realise that most of my points centre around the cleaning aspects of the bathroom. I clearly want to make an easier life myself! "The larger the floor tiles... the less grout there is to keep clean." The larger the floor tiles, the less grout is used, and therefore the less grout there is to keep clean. We all know that it’s much easier to clean the tiles themselves than it is the actual grout in between them. Grey Grout Continuing with the theme of cleanliness, we all know that pale grout can get easily discoloured. Opting for grey grout not only look chic but is less likely to discolour and therefore easier to keep clean. Handles in the Middle Moving away from the cleaning aspects and more towards the useful things in the bathroom. "Why aren’t they all designed like this anyway?!" In order to make life just that little bit easier, we decided to have the handles for the taps including the temperature, the handle for the bath, as well as the handle for both showerheads in the middle. For the simple purpose of not having to lean around the shower screen, reach in and turn on the shower whilst getting my head wet in the process. Why aren’t they all designed like this anyway?! Extra Wide Bath As we only have the space for a shower over the bath, as opposed to a separate walk-in shower, we decided to have a wider than normal bath. This gave us a bit more of a luxurious feeling for the shower as we had more space in there. And needless to say we have a shower screen as opposed to a shower curtain. I cringe at the memories of my uni days when the shower curtain would stick to my legs in the shower! Steel Enamel Bath You know that sound a bath tub makes when you step into it? That sort of bending plastic sound? Well a steel enamel bath won’t make that sound. It’s resilient and sustainable, so it will last for longer than a standard plastic tub. Worth the investment I would say. Deep Basin One of the things that bugs me the most about washing my hands in poorly thought out restaurant bathrooms, is how inevitably, water pools on the surfaces at the sides of the basins. The simple reason for this is because the taps are too low and the basins are too shallow. So there’s nowhere for you to actually wash your hands. Unless of course you’re happy to get a little tiny bit of water on one hand. "we have a deep basin, which means that we are less likely to splash water all around the basin. Simple." Anyway, you can probably tell this is one of my pet peeves. So to get around this we have a deep basin which means we are less likely to splash water all around the basin. Simple. Shower/Bath Combo For us, this made sense. Different people have different priorities but if you’ve got a small bathroom, or even a medium-size bathroom, having a separate walk-in shower and a separate bath tub will mean that your bathroom is more likely to feel cramped. "it is amazing how our big family sized bathroom feels like a big family sized bathroom" I was desperate to find a way to have a separate walk-in shower and bath. We were knocking down the wall to make the bathroom bigger, so I was determined that a separate shower would fit. The professionals did all of the plans and came to the conclusion that we would just be knocking into something at every turn had we have gone down that route. They said that physically it could be done. But they would not recommend it. I am so pleased that we listened to them because it is amazing how our big family sized bathroom feels like a big family sized bathroom and yet I cannot envision how or where we would put in a separate shower. I would much rather have that big bathroom feeling than feel cramped. Heated Towel Rail This may sound like a simple one, and a little bit obvious. For me, I have never lived in a property with a heated towel rail. Whilst I know of course that they do exist, to me this is a luxury. So I couldn’t write a blog post without mentioning it. What I would say, is get the biggest one possible. It is amazing how many towels you will want to hang up on your lovely new heated towel rail. Your bathroom may very well be the smallest room in your house but I am sure that it is one of the most used as well. Be sure to take your time with the design and imagine how you would use your bathroom and how you want to feel in your bathroom. My main focus throughout the whole design process was to end up with a bathroom that made me feel like I was visiting a spa. I believe I’ve done just that. Good luck with yours!

It isn’t in me to toot my own horn or to draw a lot of attention to myself, despite the fact that I have a blog and 130k followers across multiple social media accounts. Nevertheless, here I am and I thought it’s about time that I shared a little bit more about myself given that I spent most of my time just photographing my home without me actually featuring in much of it at all. So if you would like to get to know me a bit better, read on. I’ve written a book Hardly anyone knows this, this is definitely something that only immediate family have been told, and very close friends (and a couple of the people that I used to live with when I started to write the book). "that’s the real reason why I started building my social media accounts, in the hope that I would build a following who would, hopefully, like to read my book" It isn’t published and I haven’t been brave enough to give anyone the full copy yet, come to think of it, I still have a couple of chapters left to write, so I suppose it isn’t really finished yet. When it is, I would absolutely love to get it published. If I’m really honest, that’s the real reason why I started building my social media accounts, in the hope that I would build a following who would, hopefully, like to read my book. So if any of you budding readers happened to be a publisher or know a literary agent, send them my way! All photos in the above grid taken by Lucy Tallyn Wiltsher 2009 It may surprise you to know, that the book has absolutely nothing to do with DIY or home interiors. It is a book that I started writing many years ago when I finished university. It took me about 8 years to write about 80% of my book. Since then, I’ve taken an unintentional break to get married, buy a house, renovate a house and set up a business... I’ve been busy in the last few years. The book is historical fiction, set during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero through until the Year of the 4 Caesars... in case you’re wondering, I have a degree in Ancient History. I’m an introvert This will be pretty clear to anybody who knows me, apart from my family. For some reason they all think that I’m extremely confident, loud, and I never stop talking. That’s just because they are the ones who know me best, and I’m the most comfortable around them. But to anybody else who I have ever met, whether that’s work colleagues, friends of friends, or general acquaintances, people tend to comment about how shy I am, which in itself is actually quite a strange thing to discuss with a person you don’t really know. "A teacher of mine used to say that I was quietly confident. I think this describes me perfectly" It may interest you to know being an introvert doesn’t mean that you’re shy at all! Just as being an extrovert doesn’t mean that you are loud and obnoxious. As an introvert, I am a good listener and I measure my words carefully before I speak. This is often mistaken for shyness. Evidently I'm quite good at keeping my face out of the picture... never noticed that before! The above grid includes previous Ad collaborations A teacher of mine used to say that I was quietly confident. I think this describes me perfectly. I don’t say or do anything unless I am absolutely sure and I am confident in my own abilities. Perhaps that’s why I share so many decorating tips without being at the forefront of my own social media accounts. I worked in the fashion industry for 8 years They say that the average person changes careers 3 times in their life. Well, I’m on number 2. The career that I truly believed that I would have for the rest of my life was working in the fashion industry. I have worked at some of the biggest brands in the world including Gap and Net-a-Porter, managing my own departments and deciding where to invest the budget (alongside the buyer who was the more creative side of things whereas I was the money). "I was made redundant... that was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me" That all came to an end once I was made redundant after having been furloughed for the best part of 2020 during the pandemic. As it turns out, that was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me. So there you have it! A few little snippets about me. Perhaps if I'm brave enough I'll share a few more one day. But first, I've inspired myself to get cracking with my book... watch this space!

Who knew that there were so many different types of wallpaper? No? Me neither! For a complete novice like myself, easy to use wallpaper is a must! The paste to wall technique is, by the sounds of it, much easier than the traditional technique of pasting the wallpaper first. Read on to find out why. #wallpaper #decorating #homemakeover I must admit, I was very nervous about wallpapering. Not only have I never done it before, but I was being paid to film a before and after video for Instagram and Tiktok so the pressure was on to get it right! Not that I would have admitted that to the brand paying me! I wouldn’t want them to think I couldn’t do it, although I wasn’t 100% sure myself! For clarity, this blog post is my own views and content; I have not been paid to write a blog post but decided to do so as DIY and decorating is what I’m about. "I was very nervous about wallpapering. Not only have I never done it before, but I was being paid to film a before and after video..." Mix it up So first up was mixing the paste. I was so surprised to find that there aren’t many YouTube videos or quite frankly, any useful instructions relating to this part. Yes it doesn’t take long to mix, but surely the measurements need to be relatively correct? First things first, work out what type of wallpaper you have. As I used paste the wall type of wallpaper, the thickness of the paste may need to be different to when pasting the wallpaper directly. I will continue this narrative with the paste the wall method in mind. "Embossed or heavily embossed, however, will require a thicker paste." Once you know what type of wallpaper you have, then you need to know what subcategory it is. Flat wallpaper is the lightest and therefore will not need such a thick paste. Embossed or heavily embossed, however, will require a thicker paste. In all honesty, I found the measurement instructions on the back of my paste packet a little bit confusing purely because it was the first time I’ve ever done a project like this. Now I know what it was getting at, it makes perfect sense. Find your starting point No one wants to end up with wonky wallpaper. To avoid this you need to begin wallpapering away from the side wall to ensure that your first drop of wallpaper is straight. If you have ever decorated a room before, whether that’s wallpaper, panelling or even buying furniture for a particular space, then you won’t be surprised to know that walls aren’t always straight. To find your starting place, measure the width of your roll of wallpaper and deduct 3cm. This measurement is how far you need to be from the wall at the side. The reason being that this will be your starting point and the final drop will be in this gap. You know that the final drop will fit as it is smaller than the width of paper and all you will need to do is trim the edges. "The reason being that this will be your starting point and the final drop will be in this gap" It’s coming up plums A bad subtitle I know, but I couldn’t think of anything to make a plum line sound exciting! Let me know if you have any better ideas! I must say that this was something that flummoxed me when I was looking at instructions for wallpapering. I had never heard of a plum line before doing this project. Essentially it is a weight tied to the end of a string so that you can draw a straight line down the wall for lining up your wallpaper. Alternatively, you can use a spirit level. "I had never heard of a plum line before doing this project" Get stuck in! The instructions I followed said to use a roller to make applying the paste to the wall easier. In all honesty, I don’t think it made the process any easier or faster, all it did was give me more things to wash up at the end. So I personally would stick to a brush and the bucket that you have mixed the wallpaper paste in. It’s not like painting where you have to get the perfect finish, you just need to make sure that it covers the surface. Remember, when you put the wallpaper on, you then smooth it out with the smoothing brush, which will inevitably move around some of that paste anyway. It’s more important to make sure that the paste brush gets into the edges of the wall, to reach the coving and the skirting board. So save yourself some washing up. "I personally would stick to a brush and the bucket that you have mixed the wallpaper paste in" Apply enough paste to the wall to allow for not only the width of the wallpaper but also a little bit wider than your wallpaper, just to ensure that your edges stick down and then you don’t have to worry about getting too close with the paste for the next drop of wallpaper. The fun bit Every DIY or decorating project has a fun bit, and it is almost always the last bit. In this case it is the part where you actually get to stick up the wallpaper. It was strangely satisfying having all of the wallpaper line up perfectly and it was so reassuring to know that if anything did go wrong it was easy enough to pull the wallpaper away from the wall and start again if necessary. Best practice is to make sure that you have at least a few centimetres of wallpaper to spare at the top and the bottom. For ease I allowed the roll of wallpaper to sit on the floor whilst I pulled the wallpaper up to the top to stick down. "have at least a few centimetres of wallpaper to spare at the top and the bottom" Following the plum line (to make sure that the wallpaper is straight) I gradually made my way down the wallpaper, brushing in a downward motion to ensure that there were no air bubbles underneath. I brushed top down in small sections and from the centre out to the sides of each drop the wallpaper. Trimming was surprisingly fun given that I had a very handy little tool called an easy trimmer which not only trimmed the wallpaper at the exact angle that I needed it to for the coving and also the skirting board, but it also kept the section of wallpaper flat to the wall as I cut. And that was it, nothing strenuous or too difficult at all. One feature wall done in an hour and a half. I daresay that it’s not only easier but far quicker than painting two or potentially three coats of paint. This may very well be my new favourite method of decorating.

Who could've guessed my humble hallway would generate so much chat?! After 10 million views on Instagram, followed by another 2 million views on a follow up reel, alongside 3 million Tiktok views and 1 million Pinterest views… and many more, well, I figured it was high time I wrote a blog post about my staircase makeover! #viral #diy #staircase Here I’ll talk through what I did, what set backs I had and what I would change if I did a project like this again. Spoiler alert - I’d pay someone to do it for me! 8 Weeks! I don’t mind sharing with you that this was a very extensive, time-consuming and exhausting project. At the time, I had a full time job and so I could only work on it at weekends. I think you will agree spending every spare moment you have on something like this can take the fun out of it, so I gave myself a few weekends off too. So all in all, it was about 10-12 days of work. Not bad for a newbie. It’s all in the prep As with all DIY projects, the prep work takes a long time and is so important, setting you up for success for the whole project - or perhaps your downfall if you don't do it right! We ripped up the carpet and used a crowbar to lever up the carpet grips. This was the quickest part of the whole project. "there were always so many clusters of staples" But then came the staples. My oh my the staples! If you know, you know! I picked up a pair of pliers and manually pulled, eased, and levered up the 100s of staples. At least, it felt like 100s. And don’t forget all of the corners and edges of the steps, and the bits that were under each of the lips of the steps… there were always so many clusters of staples in these areas! And just when you think you’ve got the last one, you suddenly spot 3 or 4 more! With every staple you remove, there are 2 holes to fill in. And they are so difficult to see! Top Tip I’ve seen a trick that other people have done: they prime the steps which helps them to see the holes for filling with wood filler. I didn’t do this, purely because my paint was self priming so it didn’t make sense. I would definitely do this, however, if I were using a different paint. Top Tip One little trick with wood filler, when you apply it leave it for about an hour and then wipe your hand over it to gently remove the residue rather than waiting for it to dry fully and have to sand it down. Then comes the sanding - and wear a mask!! This by far was the least pleasant part of the project. It took forever, it was incredibly messy, I got completely covered in dust as did the rest of the house even though all of the doors were closed. I have a little tip on how to reduce the amount of dust towards the end - it’s quite a shocker! "I have a little tip on how to reduce the amount of dust towards the end - it’s quite a shocker!" A lot of people ask me why I sanded off dark coloured paint to then repaint black. Well the answer is that when we moved in four years ago I painted the banister, just the banister, in a glossy brown paint. For this project, I decided that I wanted the banister to match the colour of the steps and I wanted it to be a black matt paint. So I was using a completely different paint that I wanted to match up with something else. Not only that, but you need to sand your surfaces properly before painting. A lot of people have disagreed with me about this point on TikTok and Instagram, but the best practice really is to sand down the surface and then prime and paint, unless you are using self priming paint of course. You can do a light sand and paint over the top of paint but this may cause issues further down the line. Have you ever seen any of those videos of people using a heat gun and scraping off layers of paint? Well that’s what you would have to do in the future, or if not you then someone else and they will not thank you for it. "the best practice really is to sand down the surface and then prime and paint, unless you are using self priming paint" Painting over paint, is also not completely fool proof anyway. If you paint over paint, you risk it scratching off as the new paint struggles to adhere to the surface. What's more, you get a pretty poor finish, even if you do use a good primer to make it stick. So all in all, short-term pain of just sanding the old paint off will save you trouble in the long-term. After all that sanding, the house was a complete mess and covered in dust. This was where we took a bit of a break in the middle of the eight week stint. We spent quite a lot of time not just cleaning the hallway and landing, but also cleaning the rest of the house and making sure that the whole house was dust free. Who wants to paint when there is dust floating in the air? It would be a blimmin nightmare! Then the fun bit! The painting is the fun bit of any job. You might think that this is also the easiest bit. Of course not! Painting staircases means that you actually have to really think about what you’re painting and when. You really do have to plan. Top Tip I painted every other step so that we could still use the stairs whilst allowing the paint to dry in between each of the coats. This is another reason why the project took such a long time, as we needed to do 3 coats of paint for alternate steps followed by 3 coats of paint on the other half of the steps So after all that time and effort, what would I change? Dip my hands in paint! I would use the sock technique for the spindles - but I’d switch this out for a rubber glove with a wool glove on top. If you haven’t heard of the sock technique trend, it’s all over Tiktok but it hasn’t appeared on Instagram or Pinterest yet. The idea is to wear an old sock on your hand, one that you don’t mind ruining, and dip it in the paint. This makes painting spindles quick and easy without accidentally flicking paint everywhere. "Wear an old sock on your hand, one that you don’t mind ruining, and dip it in the paint. This makes painting spindles quick and easy without accidentally flicking paint everywhere" Something that slowed me down during this project was trying my best to avoid my brush flicking paint as I painted around the awkward edges of the spindles. The sock technique supposedly stops this straight away. But it must be awfully messy… so I would suggest wearing a surgeons glove with a wool glove on top. Attach your sander to a hoover! If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably already done a few DIY projects before realising that the little hole at the end of your sander is designed to attach to a hoover to help collect all the dust as you go. I’ve mentioned this a few times and people are always absolutely amazed! I’m not surprised that no one seems to know about it - 16 million views and not one person mentioned that I should have attached the sander to the hoover! When I did the stairs, there was a lot of dust in the air for days! I think it would be worth every penny if you don’t have a Henry hoover already, to invest in one and make sure that your sander has the correct section to attach it to. Our normal hoover was just a bit too awkward for wheeling around as we tried to sand but a Henry hoover should give you a bit more ease in movement. Seal the sealant Add a topcoat, even though this was self priming and self sealing paint, the priming side of it seems to have worked perfectly as there’s no flaking. I find, however, that I’m constantly inspecting the stairs so for peace of mind and to stop me worrying so much about potentially marking the stairs, a topcoat would help That covers all the most asked questions and all my top tips! My final Tip of the Day: Pay someone else to do it!

Wait... hold on... is this real? Why yes it is! Our long awaited bathroom renovation is finally completed and it was well worth the wait. Talk about building suspense! #homerenovation #bathroomupdate Step 1 - Measure We began the process after the first UK lockdown was over, so it was about July 2020 when we called and they came to measure up and talk to us about what options we had for what we wanted to accomplish. Step 2 - Layout They sent us through some layout designs for the bathroom explaining that they tried their best to incorporate everything that we wanted but in some cases we had to compromise. For instance, I had initially explained how I would love a separate walk in shower if at all possible. When designing the bathroom, however, they realised that there wouldn’t be enough space without making the bathroom feel cramped. Fair enough, they can only work with the space that we give them right? So instead they suggested a wider than usual bathtub to help us feel like the shower was a bit more luxurious... awesome suggestion! Massive tick from us. Step 3 - Select the items We went into their showroom for this bit, in September 2020. This bit was so interesting. I apparently have expensive taste, who knew?! I suppose after so many budget DIY projects, if I’m paying the professionals to do the work, well then, it best be done to last. What I loved the most about the design process was the way that they brought their experience into the discussion. They wanted to know how long we planned to live in our house, so that we didn’t go overboard on the budget. This demonstrated to me that they genuinely wanted us to have the bathroom that suited us the best, rather than the bathroom that would make them the most money (not sure if you would get the same customer service at a big corporate company). It makes sense doesn’t it, if you’re getting a new bathroom but you’re only planning on living there a few years then there’s no need to pay out for a really expensive renovation... the new owners would probably do that in a few years time anyway! “It was so interesting to discover that some of the gorgeous designs that you see on Instagram and Pinterest are not actually going to last well with children” They also asked us if we were planning on having kids... not in the annoying way that anyone you meet seems to think you should have 3 kids by the time you’re 30, but in a useful way: “if you’re planning on having kids then let’s make it a bit more child friendly.” I never particularly realised that a bathroom could be child friendly or not particularly child friendly until this conversation. It was so interesting to discover that some of the gorgeous designs that you see on Instagram and Pinterest are not actually going to last well with children. “Basin on top of a cabinet... there’s no overflow, so there’s an increased risk in your bathroom potentially flooding” Here are a couple of examples: The basin on top of a cabinet As stylish as these are, and as much as I wanted one myself, there’s no overflow, so there’s an increased risk in your bathroom potentially flooding if your child decides to leave the tap running and the plug in for those 2 mins you happened turned your back. Also, I’ve always wondered how it works with the wooden cabinets with a basin sitting on top... surely the water damages the wood, even if you do treat it? Or maybe I just splash water about more than the average person?! If you have this set up, let me know how you keep it looking good in the comments. Tiny adorable tiles These may look gorgeous and be one of the key fads right now (I say fad as I don’t think that they’ve been around long enough to be called a trend). The smaller the tile, the more tiles you need to fill a space and therefore the more grout you need. “Mo’ grouting mo’ cleaning” Sorry I couldn’t resist. In short, as if that wasn’t short enough, the more grout you have then the more dirty it’s going to get. Not that grout attracts dirt or anything (I don’t think it does anyway!) but you know how annoying it is cleaning the grout in your shower, don’t you? Therefore, we opted for large floor tiles as we figured that the floor is going to be a high traffic area and I don’t fancy scrubbing the floor clean all the time. So hopefully this will help reduce the amount of effort needed to keep the bathroom floor clean. “the more grout you have then the more dirty it’s going to get” I must admit, I did decide on popular subway tiles for the shower but paired with grey grout so hopefully this will help too! So maybe that’s one trend that will be here to stay. Step 4 - Installation The magic was completed earlier this month in August 2021. As much as we would have loved to have had the work completed earlier, well, not only has there been a pandemic but the Suez Canal blockage messed up a lot of shipments, even after the blockage was cleared due to the backlog it caused and the high traffic going through the ports. It can’t be helped. We are just so happy with the result, it’s transformed the house and given that it’s a room that we both use multiple times every day (especially now that we both work from home), it was well worth the wait. Let me know your thoughts in the comments

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when you buy a house you have no money left to fill it. Sound familiar? Never fear, there are some things that you can do to help make that big blank canvas feel more like your home. Find some Freebies! It may surprise you but a lot of what we have was given to us by family and friends. It’s a mutually beneficial deal. Often people store unused furniture in their garage thinking that it may come in handy again some day. That day happens to be when you move into your house with nothing but clothes and books because you’ve been renting furnished flats up until then. You take that unused piece of furniture that was taking up space in their garage and they don’t have to lift a finger to have a bit of a clear out. Win win for everyone. So if you’re lucky enough to have someone offer up something for free or very cheap, go for it! “... don’t be scared if it isn’t quite to your taste. That can be changed as I explain later.” Obviously it’s a bit different if there’s a big gaping hole where there shouldn’t be so don’t take things that will be too much of a faff to fix. But equally, don’t be scared if it isn’t quite to your taste. That can be changed as I explain later. It’s the same with Facebook marketplace. A lot of items go up for either free or for very cheap. I personally stay away from anyone trying to sell something at a retail price or a slight discount, no matter how much I like the item they’re offering. You’re doing them a favour by coming and picking up that piece of furniture that they no longer want, so that should be factored into their asking price. Vintage Finds The best way to make a house feel like a home instantly is to fill those big blank walls. Mirrors, pictures and picture frames, can easily add up and become very expensive if you buy new and you most likely will want to keep your money aside for more important purchases, like a bed for instance! #vintagefinds “... local auction, trade show or warehouse sale... you could get a real bargain” So how do you find cheap mirrors and pictures? Google for a local auction or trade show. People often assume that auctions are places where people spend loads of money. The truth is you often spend less than you would had it been sold elsewhere. Prices will only go up if lots of people are bidding for a rare antique. If you’re just after some basic furniture, vases, pictures or mirrors then you could get a real bargain. And the added bonus, not only will your artwork and prints be more unique but they will most likely come already in frames. “not only will your artwork and prints be more unique but they will most likely come already in frames.” I picked up a chest of drawers for £50 at an auction and these pictures were 2 for £20 from a warehouse sale. Trade shows are slightly different but you can find some real treasures there too. Traders will set up their stalls to sell their goods for only a slight markup. Often they need to clear out their stock and after taking time and effort getting it to the trade show, they might even be willing to sell fairly close to their material/labour costs, so not even giving themselves much of a profit. So as a rule, I don’t actually haggle as I know that their price is their price and they might not even be making much of a profit. It works for furniture too! We got our solid oak lime washed dining table for £300 from the Ardingly Trade show. Something similar from a standard retailer would easily sell for £1200 RRP Upcycling Furniture Upcylcing furniture will be your saviour. It saves you money and it helps add a bit of a twist giving you the opportunity to show a bit of your own personality. You don’t even have to get that creative. It’s amazing what a bit of primer and paint can do, or if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, switch out the hardware or legs. There are so many #furnitureflip tutorials out there, including my IKEA hack. Take a look and get inspiration. You might just find that your favourite piece of furniture was free! #upcycle #furnitureupcycle It’s amazing what a bit of primer and paint can do, or if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, switch out the hardware or legs.” You can find the details and materials for some of my projects in my other blog posts and on my Instagram. Home Accessories This is a quick win. Home accessories are cheap and easy to move around until you’re happy with the way a space looks. You can pick them up anywhere too. Charity shops are a great place to pick up bits to display on shelves or vases for dried/ faux flowers. If there happens to be an affluent area that’s within driving distance, go to the charity shops there. They might just have some of the best items. I find that I’m constantly moving around home accessories. It gives a space a bit of a free refresh without spending a penny (after the initial purchase obviously!) Soft Furnishings If you want to make a bit more of an impact, rugs and curtains can change a space dramatically. Dunelm have a great range of ready made curtains that are good value for the level of quality, and they come in a large range of sizes. For ease, stick to the same type of curtains needed for whatever curtain rails you have already installed in your home. So if you have a pole, you have more choice with eyelet or pleated. If you have an older style track, then you will have to stick to pleated only. “For ease, stick to the same type of curtains needed for whatever curtain rails you have already installed in your home.” Similarly, rugs transform a space from drab to homely. Whether that’s on a carpet or hard floors, it doesn’t matter. Ikea and H&M are great as my go-to for affordable, stylish and good quality rugs in a range of sizes. Know where to invest Staying budget friendly doesn’t mean that you can’t have anything brand new. It’s about knowing where to invest and where to save. We only have a few key items that we bought from high street retailers specially for the house such as our bed, sofa and coffee table. They’re the things you will want to invest your money in and we know that they will last us years. The tips I’ve shared here are great for filling in the gaps, which we all need!

This is pretty handy if you've already read my post on selecting paint colours & the importance of the direction of the room. Here I explain how the direction of each of my rooms impacted my decisions... as well as where I went wrong! There are so many brands out there offering a wealth of colours and it can become overwhelming. If there was a way to reduce the choice based on the type of room, wouldn't that make life easier? East-Facing Main Bedroom “East-facing... gets a huge amount of sunlight all day long...” Our main bedroom is East-facing and we're on top of a hill so it gets a huge amount of sunlight all day long, with direct sunlight hitting it for most of the day. This makes the room almost illuminate. A room like this can handle most colour pallets but we decided that something calming would work well for our bedroom. We wanted to avoid "visual noise", a visual merchandising term meaning that we wanted this room to be a place to unwind with a good book before going to sleep. So we knew it was best to avoid stimulating colours such as bright and vibrant hues. We can really relax in this space. West Facing Guest Bedroom / Nursery “West-facing... don't get much sunlight during the day but will get a warm glow in the evening.” West facing rooms don't usually get much sunlight during the day but will get a warm glow in the evening. This room, however, has the added complication of being blocked by the top of the hill we live on. Therefore sunlight becomes obscured by the trees and the hills itself. So selecting a colour for this room was very troublesome. I decided that I wanted to distract from how shadowy this room can get by creating a feature wall on the otherwise large blank wall behind the bed. Painting it a pop of colour in green has helped to draw the eye to this area, helping to make the room appear larger and brighter. The height of the cladding helps to elongate the height of the ceiling, making it appear light. If the cladding were lower down the wall, the room would have appeared smaller and potentially more cramped with the feeling of a low ceiling. The pale pink walls offer a contrast to the cladding that isn't as stark and harsh as white could have been . White would have also emphasised the shadows in this room. Opting for a soft pink instead makes the room glow as it almost reflects the light back into the room. Narrow & Dark Hallway “this is quite a narrow hallway so it doesn't get a lot of natural light but I wanted to make sure that I had a neutral base colour without looking too washed out.” I always knew that I wanted elephant's breath from Farrow & Ball on the walls in this room and on the landing as well. It's such a good basic neutral colour that also adds a bit of warmth to a room. Since painting I have noticed that this colour adapts really well to changing light. This is quite a narrow hallway so it doesn't get a lot of natural light but I wanted to make sure that I had a neutral base colour without looking too washed out. I did, however, noticed that when we had carpet, the hallway did still feel a little bit too washed out. So I knew that I wanted my staircase to pop against the neutral background of the walls. That's why I decided to go for the strong black and white #monochrome staircase. Add a bit of a statement to the hallway when you walk into the room. In the future, I may decide to soften it slightly by adding a runner. East-facing Living Room This is probably my favourite room in the house, in part because it was the first room that was completed. We decided that we wanted a feature wall for the fireplace to make that stand out even more and become a focal point in the room. Especially as we are often seated on the sofa opposite and it's such a lovely wall to look at. I decided on Hauge Blue because it's a good gender neutral colour, meaning that both my husband and I would love it! It had the additional bonus of brining elements of the outdoors in, which is why I tend to go for greens, neutrals and browns. The perfect balance for living in the countryside! This room gets a huge amount of sunlight for the vast majority of the day as it is east facing. If has a feeling of being illuminated throughout most of the day and so we weren't scared about using such a dark colour as a feature wall. Small Dark Kitchen Rustoleum Chalk furniture paint is great for kitchen cabinets as you don't have to sand, you just need to clean though I would recommend testing that the paint adheres to the surface in advance by testing a patch on the inside first. It would then need to be sealed with was to protect the paint from and help you clean any spillages. I used Ronseal tile paint, which did not require any prep work other than a clean and I didn't have to seal it either, it was just 1 coat of paint! Perfect! There aren't many colours to choose from so I purposefully selected grey so that I could get away with 1 coat but I imagine for pale colours you will need 2. Dark West Facing Dining Room Dilemma This is where I have gone wrong with my paint colours. I became too enamoured with the idea that the dining room colour had to be the same as the living room purely because they flow from one to the other almost like they are one big room. This has not worked. The dining room is the complete antithesis to my living room. It gets almost no natural sunlight not only because it is west facing so the sun doesn't reach this side of the house until the afternoon, but by then the tall hill and trees behind our house obstruct the light. So unfortunately, this room feels like it is permanently dark and the fact that I have painted it in a pale grey/blue colour means that all I have done is emphasised all of the shadows in the room. So this room will need redecorating. I think that the best thing for a room like this and I hope that you don't have a west facing room with a huge hill blocking any sunlight, but if you do the best thing would be to go for a dark colour. I know that might sound counterintuitive but given that the light colour I have at the moment emphasises the shadows, a dark colour should absorb the shadows. Ultimately, what I need to do is embrace the darkness in this room. I am considering using up the rest of the Hague Blue paint that we have sitting in our cupboard because not only do we have enough but it will flow through from the living room really well and this paint should reflect any light and absorb any shadows. I have other ideas for this room to, which means that I may not get around to decorating this room for a while. Keep your eyes peeled! Lucy's Hillside House | Content Creator & Blogger

Choosing the right paint can be tricky, especially when there are so many different brands, colours & emulsions out there. And believe it or not, mixing that Farrow & Ball colour at your local hardware store won't give you the same impact as the real thing, no matter what that savvy home interiors enthusiast says. Follow these guidelines and you'll be amazed at the difference. #paintcolours #decorating #colour Direction It might not sound like it would make a big difference, but the direction the room faces will change the way a colour looks. East-facing rooms will get large amounts of light for a large portion of the day, west-facing not so much. So select colours that will enhance the space, not simply colours you prefer. I have a separate blog post on selecting paints depending on the direction the room faces. Samples This is a bit of an obvious one but with a not-so-obvious twist. Most people will know to get paint samples to help them choose between a few different colours. Those same people, however, don't know to use them. I'm not doing some sort of odd 'sample-shaming' here. I didn't know this until about a year ago, after we had painted most of the rooms in our house. So let me spare you from repeating some of the mistakes that I made (don't worry, I'll tell you about those mistakes in another post). Paint samples will be affected by the existing paint colour. Best practice is to in fact paint a piece of paper with 2 coats and hold it up to each of the walls in the room, at different times of day, to see how the colour looks in the different lights. “... paint a piece of paper with 2 coats and hold it up to each of the walls in the room” This has the added bonus of not having to squint and tilt your head at various angles to try and differentiate between 6 blobs of colour on the wall. That and you won't have to paint over an uneven surface when you finally do select your preferred paint. Emulsions It's true, there are a lot of different types of paint once you've selected your colour. Ultimately, if you're just painting a room, then you only really need to choose between two types: matt or sheen. Matt is more popular and the standard type of paint, so your best bet is to go with that if you're not wanting anything that will reflect the light and shimmer. Sheen can work well for small dark rooms or as a feature wall, though you do not have follow that as a rule of thumb. Matt paints will work just as well in these circumstances too. Overall, matt is more likely to suit the room whilst sheen is a bit more particular. My living room feature wall is Hague Blue from Farrow & Ball in their Modern Emulsion, which is their sheen emulsion. I absolutely love it and wouldn't want a matt colour on this wall. We in fact got the matt emulsion first (it's still there on the inner section of the fireplace) and we decided it didn't work. We loved the colour so tried out the sheen and it's here to stay. Lucy's Hillside House | Content Creator & Blogger

How to save that eye watering #deposit to get you on the #propertyladder and all the other things that you will need to know... I wrote this in 2021 and the core themes are still relevant but since writing this, the economic landscape has changed dramatically. The Deposit Believe it or not, this is the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to buying a house (see my previous blog post "How to get on the property ladder") but it takes years, even decades to build up a decent enough deposit depending on your income and outgoings so it's best to get started as early as possible. My savings technique was to try and save £200 every month since I was 23. So nearly £2.5k/year right there. Sounds easy but I know it isn't always possible. Some months I couldn't save anything whilst others I could save a bit more. I kept track of every penny I spent, which was easy as it was all on my credit card statement. Back in those days the banks didn't have the fancy pie charts on your online banking monitoring where you spent your money each month. So I did this myself in excel but I'd definitely recommend seeing what budgeting tools your bank has to offer as it will be far more advanced than what I used at the time! I could see straight away if I had been a bit frivolous on a night out or had a bit of a shopping spree. It kept me in check and on track. I also made a promise to myself that any bonuses would be paid straight into my ISA. I've only ever had 3 bonus payments in my life, 2 of which were £500 so it didn't make a huge difference but it certainly helped, especially when there have been months when I couldn't hit my £200 savings target. “... it takes years, even decades to build up a decent enough deposit depending on your income and outgoings so it's best to get started as early as possible.” Of course, as I got older my salary increased (ever so slightly). My salary has always been below the average in the UK but I found a cheap place to rent in Clapham for £375 a month including bills... I don't know how I did that in all honesty. It was luck more than anything as I was on £18k a year at the time and couldn't afford to live in London where I worked... until my sister's friend's sister (sorry for the tenuous link!) needed a flatmate for a room which was £375. The flat was a bit of a dive, I tried to make it pretty with throws and cushions so it was liveable but when chicken bits come up the drainage hole in your bathtub on a regular basis it's a sharp reminder that you live in a bit of a dive. The chicken bits were nothing to do with us by the way. The children in the flat above had a habit of flooding their bathroom so that water gushed through our ceiling once every few months so I've always assumed that they also stuffed food down the drains and those grim bits gradually made their way down to our flat. Anyway I digress! I just wanted to give you a little flavour of the sort of financial situation I was in whilst I was saving money for my deposit. I didn't have things handed to me; I had to work hard and budget hard, which doesn't by any means mean that I didn't do anything fun. I still went out to clubs (what are those again?!) and dinner with my friends. I was just very careful about how often I did these things and monitored how much I spent to keep track. It takes two baby I literally sang those words as I typed them... "it takes two bab-eh-eh-eh, it takes two bab-eh-eh-eh, me and you!" Sorry, enough of that... So you have a deposit but what next? Saving £200 a month between the ages of 23-29 equates to £16,800. Luckily for me (or not so lucky depending on what element I'm thinking about at the time, those chicken bits still make me squirm thinking about them) I continued to rent that cheap room for £375 for quite a few years and slowly moved into slightly nicer rooms in the same flat for slightly more money... but my salary had increased so I was able to save more than £200 each month. Then I met my husband-to-be, and we rented a flat together for more money than I had spent on rent before but my salary was also higher; so I could still save more than I was before. What was even better, was that he was saving too. “...buying with siblings... make sure that you're both clear on the percentages.” Unfortunately, that's the crux of the matter. Nowadays, depending on where and what sort of property you want to buy, it's likely that you'll need help. Some people buy with siblings, I think this would have been a great option for me had both my brother and sister not been quite so many years older than me and already settled. They both managed to buy on their own (again, they're a bit older so got on the property ladder at really good times) so they didn't need me. That would be the danger of buying with siblings, there will always be an older sibling who is more likely to be in a stronger financial position, so things aren't really 50/50. If you do go down this route, just make sure that you're both clear on the percentages. If one is footing 70% of the deposit, then they should cover 70% of the mortgage payments and that should match the deed. Otherwise you could open yourself up to some arguments in the future when it comes to selling and splitting the money, which will ALWAYS happen with siblings. As soon as one sibling finds their future spouse or life-partner, well then it's inevitable that they will want to build their lives together and will need the money from the property to buy one themselves. Being smart from the offset means that you should be able to keep the division of assets pretty amicable. No one wants to fall out with family over money. It's becoming more and more frequent for #firsttimebuyer to buy together. It makes sense, 2 small deposits make one big one! Not only that, 2 salaries means that you can borrow more from the lender. Some would argue that buying a house together is a bigger commitment than getting married, so just make sure that you're both on the same page, wanting the same things and more importantly, have a really good feeling about buying your first house together before you commit. If you don't even question it then you're off to a great start! It takes another two baby I didn't sing this time, too many syllables! Parents... the next big thing in property buying. We were incredibly lucky that our parents didn't need to chip in to help with the deposit. Having said that, we had miscalculated some of our stamp duty, surveyor and lawyer fees (we were newbies after all!) so ended up needing a little help to fill the gap here. The amount was small so it didn't worry the mortgage provider but this is something to be aware of as I have heard of sales not going through or at least being delayed because gifted money had not been declared properly. “As part of the mortgage process, you need to show ALL bank statements and prove how you got your deposit.” If you find yourselves needing a little help from mum & dad then you must declare it. Not doing so puts the whole process at risk of falling through. As part of the mortgage process, you need to show ALL bank statements and prove how you got your deposit. It makes sense when you think about it. They want to make sure that they're not lending to money launderers among other things. Simple. So don't give them a reason to be concerned by seeing a large some of money suddenly appear in your bank account without an explanation. Sorry to end this blog post on such a serious note! That wasn't my intention. Buying a house is such an exciting time but there are plenty of rules to follow. As long as you're relatively clued up (no one is completely clued up don't worry!) then you will be fine. If you're interested in more, this is in fact the follow on from my previous blog post "How to get on the property ladder" Lucy's Hillside House | Content Creator & Blogger

From Credit Scores to Money Saving Tips and Mortgage Brokers. It can be a very daunting process. Not only is buying a property one of the most stressful things that you can do (sorry I won't sugar coat it!) but it's also something that you have to work towards for years before you even realise that's what you're doing! Never fear, though. There are things you can do that will make it feel like you're effortlessly making your way onto that property ladder. Read on to find out what I mean. Forward Planning “... it's something you have to work towards for years before you even realise that's what you're doing!” I bought my house, the first and only one so far, with my husband at the age of 29. I had been preparing for that moment since I was 22; not the husband bit, I was a bit of a man-hater at 22! Luckily for me, I happened to have an older brother and sister, 6 and 8 years my senior, who had bought their first properties. Watching them go through the process taught me what I needed to do in order to get onto the property ladder #firsttimebuyer It's never too late to get started on building your credit score Let's start things off with something simple. Credit cards. This is the easiest way to build up your credit score without any real effort. Even store cards are a great way to show lenders that you can pay off your bills every month. After all, that's the point. Mortgage providers want to see that you can manage your money and pay your bills before they lend you 100s of thousands of pounds (I'm in the UK for any international readers). Makes sense doesn't it? Now that you understand the why, let's move on to the how... “Credit Cards. This is the easiest way to build up your credit score...” It's not just simply having a credit card or store card; you have to use them. I know that it can be scary and I've met so many people in my life who have told me that they don't have credit cards because they don't trust themselves. Well then, neither will the banks. An easy solution is to use your credit card for something mundane and regular. Petrol or train tickets for example. If you're filling your car up every week then pay using your credit card and just transfer the money over at the end of each week. Or use your credit card for the weekly shop. Simple. You'll be building up that trust with the banks in no time. I also happen to love store cards as not only do they work in the same way but there are often perks like earning points with them when you use their card, which can be exchanged for vouchers. I love the John Lewis Partnership card, it's basically a credit card but they send me vouchers every now and again! The only thing to be aware about is to not let the payments go late as otherwise not only could you go into arrears and get yourself a late fee charge but it could potentially impact on your credit score. So that's why if you find something that you'll be regularly spending your money on anyway, use your credit card and pay it off each week. Once it's a habit you won't even think about it. You could even set up a direct debit if you're worried about missing the payment. Council Tax & Electoral Vote I stand corrected, THIS is the easiest way to get a good credit score. Just by telling the government where you live and registering to vote (both things you should do anyway!) you're helping mortgage providers work out if they have anything to worry about. If you've been good at paying your council tax and utility bills for your whole adult life (I can't remember how many years they go back but from my last Experian check they asked for every address I had lived in since I was 18) then you will get a strong score. On the other hand, if you were regularly late at paying any of your bills or have anything that's still outstanding on a previous address... well then you will have a very poor credit score. “Experian... tell you if you have any unpaid bills at your previous addresses.” That leads on to my next point... if you have any concerns about your credit score then there are many companies that offer services. Experian for instance, is one that I've used in the past and they calculate your credit score based on everything I've spoken about above... and they tell you if you have any unpaid bills at your previous addresses. This gives you a chance to fix the problem before it becomes a surprise when you apply for your mortgage in principle. ISA I will do a whole other post on deposits but first, if you're serious about saving for a deposit then you will find keeping the money all in one place so much easier. Especially if you can find a place that will earn you interest and (hopefully) put you off from dipping into the honey pot every now and again to fulfil your shopping spree urge! I am personally not eligible for some of the schemes out there so I can't offer advice on those but your bank will be a great place to start. See what they have on offer in terms of ISAs or help-to-buy schemes and start from there. Mortgage Broker We were incredibly lucky that my husband's cousin is a mortgage broker. So we didn't have to search for a good one we could trust; we already had one! If you are completely new to the process I couldn't recommend this enough. I didn't know where to start with buying a house. I was great at all the prep-work I've already mentioned. The actual process and what I needed to do and when, however, that was a whole other kettle of fish! (excuse my English slang for those of your who aren't used to the quite frankly bizarre English sayings we have!) A Mortgage Broker will be on top of all the current deals and will be able to recommend the best rates and mortgage providers that are the most suitable to you and your purchase. Not only that, but they organise everything for you, so all we had to do was select from his recommended list, send over all our bank statements, read the documents and sign. The whole process gave us peace of mind. Invaluable. If you're interested in learning a little more then I have another blog post called "Saving a deposit" Lucy's Hillside House | Content Creator & Blogger