Getting over the bathroom blues

I wasn't sure I'd manage a post today.  Although Friday is a day I usually have to myself and get to do my own thing, I had put today aside for ...... upgrading my iPhone 3 to my new iPhone 4s! 

My iPhone 4 has been sitting patiently in its box for a week or two now, waiting for me to pluck up the courage to tackle the switch. 

Many hours later and it's all done - PHEW!  Nothing lost, no mishaps whatsoever and major, major excitement as my iPhone now talks to my iPad - I just took a photo on my iPhone and straight away it appeared on my iPad - um, how cool is that.

Anyhoo, I digress.  The other task I undertook today, while various software updates, backups and whatnot were occurring, was putting the bathroom in my new home into some kind of order.  When I moved in, it looked like this ....

Ah, the joys of living in an unrenovated 1958 house.  Now I don't know about you, but I'm a hopelessly impatient renovator.  I want everything done NOW, or sooner if possible.  The thought of living with awful and tatty decor is just soooooo depressing. 

But the reality is, you just can't do everything at once - especially when it comes to expensive upgrades like a bathroom.  So here are some of my tips for living with a room that's sadly in need of a revamp, but will just have to wait .....

• Keep it clean, just as clean if not cleaner than everywhere else.  A space that feels cleaner will always feel better - don't neglect it until you don't even want to go in there anymore!

• Create distractions!  Add plenty of things you want to look at, so your attention doesn't wander to things that make you cringe. 

My look is generally quite busy - which if you've been reading make space for a while you'll know is my style - and I've put even more little things to look at in my bathroom, because there's plenty I don't want to see!

• Think laterally about what you use for decoration. 

This is a favourite, favourite tip of mine, for any room or any decorating situation.  In a bathroom, you could stick to displaying all your products and toiletries, but for me they tend to all look the same after a while.  To introduce different shapes, colours and textures, see what else you have around the house that would spruce things up, like a scarf on a hook ....

Or some tiles perhaps ....

• Lighten up dark corners.

I put the Jeffrey Smart picture in the yellow frame above the bath for a specific reason - until now that whole corner felt so dark and grungy that it was making an already small room feel smaller.  Now there's something nice and bright to draw your eye across the whole width of the room, making the space feel just that little bit bigger.

And my final tip ....

• Save like mad until you have enough money to create the room of your dreams!

Til next time, Nx

P.S. Can you spot the budgie?

A little dream come true

Happy Friday everyone. I hope your week has gone well and that you're looking forward to a weekend filled with fun, relaxation, adventure or rest - whatever it may be that your body and your soul need most right now.

Last Sunday was my birthday, and to celebrate, I wanted to invite a few close friends round for lunch. As you may, or may not know, I've just moved house and I'm very happy to say that my new home has a deck - and a pool.  This is, or should I say was, the deck ....



Now a few years ago, I have no idea how many, I got the notion to track down some bright and beautiful, colourful fabric that I could turn into a tablecloth for a large outdoor table.  Not that I had the large outdoor table at the time, so it was a random notion to have!  I scoured the internet, becoming a little obsessed in the process - I had the fabric exactly in mind, if only I could find it!

Thank goodness for Marimekko, now my #1 all time favourite fabric house. The last piece I could find of the discontinued Dorma fabric by Maija Isola in the yellow/orange/pink colourway flew my way from the US of A for about as much in postage as the 3m length of fabric cost me to buy!

I think I actually got teary as I opened the package and shook out this utterly delicious fabric for the first time.

Since then, I have secretly dreamt of a day, a day when I would find myself sharing some fun and laughter with enough friends to fill my roomy entertaining space, to sit at my great big table, covered in my glorious Dorma fabric ....

And of course I couldn't stop there.  It's one thing to sit and eat around the table, but what about space for everyone to chill out and relax in between dips in the pool?

Just take 2 cane chairs bought on eBay ($89 for both) with some floor cushions from Spotlight ($25 each, reduced from $50) ....

A child's bed from Endeavour Foundation charity shop ($59.95) turned into a daybed with some fabric from Spotlight and a few more cushions ....

A cane table (free - it was council clean-up here recently, you see) with no top, a piece of marine ply from Bunnings and a length of oilcloth from Spotlight (hmmm, been there a few times lately!) ....

A few accessories here and there ....

Add in some very good company, fresh prawns and bubbly, then a dip in the lovely warm pool ....
And what have you got?

Some very happy campers - none more so than me. 

Til next time, Nx



Texture Tour

I'm still recovering from moving house, so what better way to ease back into blogging than to get the old holiday snaps out again and finish my trio of tours. Just in case you missed the other two, here are Colour and Pattern, but today it's all about Texture.

There's something about the word texture and its many meanings that I really connect with. 

I feel as if, for life to be interesting, for it to stretch us and grow us, it's got to have texture, and stacks of it.  We have to "take the rough with the smooth" and weave our own way through "life's rich tapestry".

Detail from Temple of Apollo by Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay at Jupiter Artland

Texture adds warmth and depth to a space or place, and so often tells a story. 

Snuff Cottage, Culross

You can see texture, but you can also feel it.

Clay Tree Wall by Andy Goldsworthy at Jupiter Artland

My favourite interiors, and artworks, have those elements that make you want to reach out and touch them.

And it wasn't deliberate, but apart from 2 of these images (and I'm sure you can guess which 2!), my choices for the Texture Tour are all from my native Scotland.

No particular reason, maybe it's because I know it so well that I tend to look closer and notice the beautfiul details.

Like the lichen on the rocks, or this fence railing at the cemetery overlooking Loch Leven ...

But it doesn't really matter where we are.  

Texture is all around us, adding beauty and interest.

The trick is remembering to stop and take notice.  Our own little tapestry will be all the richer for it.



Til next time, Nx