recent blogs

rattan

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 relocating to Andalucia. It's close, but at the same time, until the ink has...

minimalist colour palette

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 us, and created a real warmth in our stone house. However, what you...

quick bathroom makeover

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 days, preferring the walk in shower in the downstairs renovated...

the well room : a makeover

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 properties to buy, we're seeing things slightly differently and have realised...

hotel heritage : ljubljana : slovenia

hotel heritage : ljubljana : slovenia

According to the website, the recently renovated Heritage Hotel is... ...one of Ljubljana’s finest boutique hotels. It combines the rich cultural heritage of a Renaissance bourgeois building from the 16th century with the luxury of modern architecture and the prestige...

the snug reno : update 2

the snug reno : update 2

When we viewed our stone house in 2016, we found a very sorry looking room - a cellar, of kinds - down the stairs from the living room. The stairs were treacherous to say the least. Very thin pine treads, on a steep vertical with no handrail. These hinted at what we...

window shelving…

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...

decoupage doors…

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 furniture is covered by cutouts...

les papiers…

les papiers…

Not long ago, who'd have thought you, or me, could have a piece of Jean Paul Gaultier in your own home? If you're a fan of the unconventional designer, you can now have a roll (or two or three) of wallpaper from his couture collection, Les Papiers. We saw, and fell in...

seaham hall hotel

seaham hall hotel

We were very lucky to be invited to the party of a great friend, held at the astonishingly beautiful Seaham Hall, on the north east coast, where, in January 1815, Lord Byron married Anne Isabella Milbanke. This association for an ex-English teacher, is just literary...