Sometimes, you find somewhere to stay, that is just so exceptionally beautiful, you spend your whole stay, drinking in the interiors, the exterior, the accessories and accessorisation, and just...
Interiors…
As much as we love our home, we love to travel, too. We like to seek out the unusual and we take inspiration from wherever we go. Following design blogs is not something which preoccupies us. We don’t want our home to follow the latest trends. That doesn’t mean we’re not influenced by what we see around us – we just know what we like, and if it’s not bang on trend, so what? It’s our home and we’ll do with it, what makes us smile.
Since starting this major renovation, we’ve become more creative, not only in what we do, but how we do things. We don’t have a bottomless pot of money – far from it. We still work full time – but luckily, as website designers, we can do this from the comfort of our home – and so we do need to be resourceful. Online trawling is one way we seek out new ideas, as well as recycling and upcycling what we already have.
Gone are the days when we’d throw something away, simply because it no longer suited. Becoming more conscious of waste and finances has made us think more creatively – and here, we’ll share what inspires us.
recent interiors blogs
la posada del mar : denia : costa blanca
Denia holds some lovely memories for us. Over twenty five years ago, we rented a big villa with a pool and holidayed there with friends. None of us had very much money and a two week holiday was a...
rattan
Our thoughts are beginning to really turn to what could be a whole new life for us. Although we are not over the line yet, we are as close as we have been to selling our home in Istria and...
minimalist colour palette
We've been working on the process of stripping back the colours in our home, for the last year. Our initial colour choices were quite bold - deep navy, copper, shades of grey. These worked well for...
winter mornings…
Our bedroom is by far the largest room in the house, and could definitely accommodate an en-suite. We've thought about this addition so many times, but it's always seemed a bit of a luxury, when so...
quick bathroom makeover
We've spent so long focusing on other areas of the house, and in particular this summer, the garden, that we've neglected a couple of rooms. One being the upstairs bathroom. We rarely use it these...
concrete table
When we lived in West Didsbury, we renovated our three bedroom terraced house, knocking down internal walls, and eventually creating a very contemporary, open plan home, which included a large...
mediterranean inspired bedroom
In keeping with a lot of the renovation and redecoration work we've been doing throughout the house, we've taken the decision to revamp the largest bedroom. This is a lovely room, with two windows...
welcome, wooden benches
Our blue IKEA Tobias dining chairs have served us well over the past few years, and are still in good condition. They've stood the test of time, often sitting in a room which has resembled more of a...
the well room : a makeover
With Spring knocking on the door and a house to get back on the market, we've been beavering away at the interior of our home since New Year. Now that we are also seriously looking at other...
a place for dinner
Although we are lucky enough to have a few options regarding where we can eat, sometimes we just want to eat in the living room, where the big woodburner is and where we can watch TV. When we've...
the *unfinished* apartment : citta alta : bergamo
Although we've largely finished the renovations of our stone house, I can always find something else that needs to be done. So, effectively, it always "unfinished". But not on the scale of these...
string curtains…
Our bedrooms are not overlooked and so we don't necessarily need curtains at the windows. But sometimes, curtains - or a simple roller blind - can just finish off a window. We have installed white...
winter teal
The main bedroom in our house is large. Certainly bigger than any bedroom we've ever had before - and keeping it warm and cosy in the winter, is something I work on every year. It's great in the...
hallway reno
Not all renovation projects need to involve demolition and mess and heavy tools and living with dust and dirt. I like to think that's all kind of behind us - at least for now, but we never say...
nuvolette : cole & son
In a previous post I wrote about our desire to eradicate the parts of internal walls which have not been plastered and are still the original Istrian stone. Some people would love the walls, but as...
best purchase of the summer…
For quite a while now I've been longing for one of these chairs. But, the garden has never been quite finished, so the idea of swinging gently, whilst sipping a cocktail, seemed ridiculous. We had...
six years on…
Looking back over photos taken when we came out to view the house in Istria, and stay over as guests of the owners, has been a real experience. I can remember, obviously, what condition the house...
les jardins de villa maroc : essaouira : morocco
It’s always great having friends in-the-know when you travel abroad, as they often give you top tips that you don’t find in guide-books or through internet searches. Because usually you don’t know...