Our current journey started in 2017, when we sold our home in West Didsbury, Manchester. We’d lived in the mid-terraced, three bedroomed house since 2000, but had recently renovated it, creating a very unusual, completely open plan space. This gave us a craving for more space. To be somewhere which didn’t have houses to each side of us and to the back and to the front. To be able to see the sunset, not other roof tops. We took a complete leap of faith and sold the Manchester house, buying a stone house, high up in the hills in northern Istria, Croatia and set off on a very new journey.
We really hit the ground running and from day one, had to get our heads around not only sourcing tradespeople and materials but also considering what we wanted our new home to be like. Underpinning our thought processes, was the constant idea that we wanted to create something which was unique and bespoke – and as far from the traditional interior of an Istrian house as possible. We wanted to get to know our new environment and feel the house and understand the space. We wanted space, light and clean lines. We wanted our style, but we knew it would evolve. It would take time. It would become Slow Design…
Renovation
Interiors
Lifestyle
Latest Blogs…
It’s A Filthy Job – But Someone’s Go To Do It…
Ah, Christmas Eve. Snuggled up on the sofa, the woodburner roaring away, lights twinkling, candles flickering, the scent of mulled wine filling the room as we wrap gifts and eat chocolates and watch festive films. That's what it's all about, isn't it? It's certainly...
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Window Shelving
One of the things that we've always meant to tackle, but never got around to it, as there always seem to be other jobs which take priority, is the levelling of a number of our window sills. Some are level, but some, including one in the living room, are still in their...
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Christmas 2020
Well, it's definitely been a funny old year. Since returning from our Christmas road trip, back to the UK, in January, we have been nowhere. Coronavirus quickly put paid to our usual kind of year. No eating out. No mini breaks. No visitors to us, meaning that we've...
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New Year, New Project
Almost four years to the day, since we bought our first renovation project in Istria, we have the next one within our sights. I think we have always known that the stone house was never going to be the house. We have been so happy in it and we've worked so hard to...
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Decoupage Doors
Decoupage or découpage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an item of...
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Walnut Pesto
There are certain foodstuffs that we buy, that I know should be so easy to make ourselves, but for some reason, never get around to it. Either, there's something we don't have from the ingredients list, Or, I just assume it won't be as easy as I think it might. Pesto...
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Creating a Car Park
We've never had a garden big enough to accommodate our cars. In every house we've lived in, parking has always been outside, on the street. Apart from having to usually fight for parking space outside our house in West Didsbury, we've never really considered parking....
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Grey & White, with a Woodland Vibe
We've never had so much space and shape to play with before, in any of the houses or flats we've lived in, and our stone house has proven itself to be a complete source of surprises. Each time we think we've finished somewhere, we see...
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Smoked Tuna with Pasta
Almost with the flick of a switch, summer seemed to end yesterday, and autumn arrived. The temperature dropped and grey skies replaced the bright blue sky we seem to have had for weeks and weeks. Although we're still hopefully weeks away from having to light the...
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Green Wall Maintenance
If you're a follower of what we're up to, you'll know that our renovated stone house in Istria, is currently for sale. You might also know that we have a very unusual feature in our front garden. We are right next to an abandoned house and one of its walls forms one...
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Open Plan Visioning
We've reached the stage in our renovation journey, where we've been thinking of the next stage. Our stone house is now renovated - or, at least renovated as far as we want to go. We could have a (modest) swimming pool built, but being...
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Oprtalj – Step into the Past…
Our nearest town, Oprtalj, isn't really a town. At least not in the sense of what we'd regard as a town back in the UK. Oprtalj is not much bigger than Burton Road in West Didsbury, but with a couple of restaurants, a wine bar, a school, a food shop, an interiors...
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