Create a modern fairytale in your home

There's something about fairy tales and classic children's stories that make me smile. They are brimming with magic, wonder and delight. My all time classic has to be the Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, which is about three children Jo, Bessie and Fanny who discover a gigantic magical tree that grows in an enchanted forest.

Intriguing characters inhabit the tree, including Moon-Face, Mr Watzisname and Silky the Fairy and at the top of the tree a ladder leads to ever changing magical lands like the Land of Goodies and the Land of Take-What-You-Want. I mean come on how much would you LOVE this to be real!

Then there are films like Mary Poppins "a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down", the Wizard of Oz "follow the yellow brick road" and Chitty Bang Bang "There are children here somewhere, I can smell them". All of these films and more give us the chance to escape, dream and wonder so how about injecting some of this into our everyday lives and honouring them in our own homes...

All of the above images are hyper-minimalist poster designs of the classic children's stories that we have grown to know and love. Created by Christian Jackson of Square Inch Design, a man "obsessed by quality Art & Design" they are currently available to buy at Fab UK for a reduced price of £26 each (normally £31).  So minimal, so hip and at just a glance without reading the title you immediately know which story the poster is about. These are too cool for school (kids) so go grab yourself a few and transport yourself to land of magic and wonder...sings "somewhere over the rainbow..." *smile*

www.homerestyler.co.uk

Fab finds: gifts for the home websites

As my friends will confirm, I am an absolute Christmas fan. I adore everything that is about the Christmas season and make sure that I get stuck in early doors to make the most of every single day of it. So I was delighted when Devon Life asked me to write this years guide to decorating your home for Christmas feature. Woo hoo, absolutely, it would be my delight *smile*. So I began research in fervour and because it is still a little too early to start talking about this topic I would like to share with you some brilliant websites that sell unique, beautiful, affordable, quirky, lovely.... gifts that are perfect for friends and family not just for Christmas but all year round.

1
RootsLiving is a newly started company based in the UK which stocks all sorts of lovely Scandinavian products, mostly sourced from Denmark. They have a shop is in Ascot, but they have a huge range of products online.

Casalinga retro cool looking latte cups

dry your dishes, by nord moose tea towel

snuggle up, by nord white energy tea

Roots Living stock one of my favourite modern Danish ceramic brands Casalinga and sell accessories including vases, jewellery, notebooks, cushions and candles. They are a new company and selling these kinds of products, I am sure they will be successful.

2
Sophia Victoria Joy is a UK based illustration and design business that believes in quality eco friendly products with traditional british roots. This is why all products are designed and created here in the UK with close attention to detail throughout.

These wishes are all for you navy gift wrap

Rustic style storage hessian sacks

Sophia Victoria Joy sells unique and beautiful rustic looking wrapping paper (the Christmas range is adorable, I'll definitely be sharing more info on that at a later date..and buying some too!), blackboard items, hessian sacks and cards but can also personalise items too. You can also buy giant swirly lollipops on the website too...so when you order something for a gift you can treat yourself too hee hee!

3
Cloudberry Living is an online boutique that sells a range of generally funky, high-quality and definitely fun gifts and contemporary home accessories from Sweden, Denmark and Finland. I love the mix of brands that they list, just scrolling down the pages makes me smile because they are full of colour and are just so hip!

Funky & practical, ISAK Tingleby cups

Nature inspired Ferm Living cork mats

So huggable, Ferm Living Edward beanbag

Giving gifts is for life not just for Christmas. I hope you like these websites and that they have offered you some inspiration for future gift purchases. Bookmark them so you don't forget them! While you're there why not check our their Christmas ranges, well you can never be too organised *smile*

www.homerestyler.co.uk

Before & After: yellow, grey & white living area

Good morning, I hope you are having a good day so far today. I'm feeling all energised and smiley today after a lovely few days celebrating my birthday but am on serious detox after way too much delicious food and bubbles...well until my weekend away at my best friends house this weekend that is hee hee!

Enjoying birthday bubbles & wearing yellow!

Enough about me. Last week I posted some pictures of gorgeous things I had found to style my living area in our rented house and today I would like to share with you how I have pulled the look together to create my yellow + grey + white living space. I am delighted with the outcome.

The space looks fresh and bright but cosy and welcoming, ready for the cold months that lie ahead. As I mentioned before in my post 'How to decorate & style your rented home' you really can personalise a space without making any major changes to a room and without spending a fortune. I love my yellow ceramic bird knobs (one of them was unfortunately broken but the online shop where I bought them, Mit Hus, has very kindly offered to send me two free replacements. They have sold out of yellow but are going to send me two black replacements, which will also work brilliantly with my scheme).

Here are a couple of 'before' snaps I took with my phone camera before we moved in;

Living room blank canvas before

Living room & study area before

Cosy seating area after

Funky wallpaper & new knobs

Cosy reading corner & big blooms

Little touches

I have hung lots of mirrors to bounce the light around the space

Minimal, fresh & light working space

Looking thru the cubby hole into the living room

Tweet tweet

Simply dressed sideboard in the kitchen

I hope you like what I have done so far. I am so excited about getting my roman blinds so when they are ready and in place, hopefully within 3-4 weeks I'll post some piccies of those too. Let me know your thoughts and what you might have done differently.

Take care and I hope you've got your cosy knits and winter boots out, I think Summer is officially over. Bring on the hot chocolate *smile*

www.homerestyler.co.uk

Room styling: white, yellow & grey living room

I LOVE creating new looks and styling rooms, which is why I am having such fun creating our new home at the moment. So far I have had a great time and a lot of luck with bargain hunting to find the perfect objects, soft furnishings and wallpaper to design my living room. I'm going for yellow (my absolute favourite colour!), grey and white to create a fresh, bright and cosy feel for our waterside home. Here are a few of my fab finds so far...once my lovely postie has delivered them all and I've found the right spot for them all I'll post some photos for you to see. Let me know what you think!

Funky yellow ceramic birdie doorknobs, Mit Hus

I would have been prepared to pay good money for these knobs (I adore them!), which are going to go on the drawers of a small chest I have just finished painting in off white and grey. However when I ordered them they were half price yay!

Soft grey & white spotty merino lambswool cushions, Bronte

I came across Bronte a while ago at a design fair and fell in love with the quality and cosiness of their soft furnishings. When looking for cushions, I found these dotty ones reduced on Achica, so I had no excuse not to buy them, well they were reduced by about 60% *smile*

Rosehip fabric, Scion 

This funky Rosehip fabric by Scion will be the material for my roman blinds, which are currently being made. A depiction of rosehips and leaves on a simple stem is the perfect design to bring life and pattern to the room. I can't wait to hang them.

Yellow silk cushion, John Lewis

These vibrant faint slub textured knife edged yellow silk cushions will inject some simple luxury and shimmer to my sofa.

Matching grey & white spotty merino lambswool throw, Bronte

Part of me can't wait for the darker, colder nights to come in so I can snuggle up under this throw. It arrived yesterday and it really is so soft and cuddly. I'm sure to need it, the house was built in 1860 and has mega draughty windows and doors!

Groovy yellow glass vases, IKEA

I already had this mouth blown, hand crafted vase in my last house. However I accidentally packed it and it is now stored away with the majority of my belongings that wouldn't fit in this house...so last week I bought another one. For £5 you can't really complain and anyway, a yellow loving girl can never have too many yellow vases...now I just have to hope I get some beautiful blooms for my birthday next week!

Last but not least is this amazing wallpaper. Don't you just love it? I ripped a huge sample in a store recently so I could frame it but I cannot for the life of me remember where I got it. I have spent ages online today searching for it with no luck. Please, if you know who the manufacturer is or where I can buy it please let me know, I would love some more, thank you.

So, I hope you like how things are coming together in the living room. I'll post some piccies soon.

Buy for now.

www.homerestyler.co.uk