Coffee, the country and life as we know it …..

Believe it or not this post has been sitting in drafts for two months waiting to be posted but with two kids under the age of three I find my blogging time has been sweetly sabotaged. Even now I  am typing this with one hand to get it done – I guess I get full marks for perseverance.

During the last holidays (hubby is a teacher) we often tried to sneak off for a coffee when the two new additions to our family (our foster boys) went off to access with their parents. It is our time alone to dream and chat and connect. Usually our bunch are not up and awake when we sneak out as they tend to sleep in during their holidays. We headed up into the hills to a small village called Emerald.  It has such a lovely small friendly community feel about it and the simple country lifestyle appeals to me more and more. Hubby and I often joke that when we are older and all the kids have left we could end up in a caravan touring the countryside (I think I get that from my Mom and Dad). Anyway I digress as I dream….. we found this amazing coffee shop and bakery in Emerald. I can’t believe we haven’t discovered it sooner. It was the hub of the village – the atmosphere was wonderful and buzzing but we just loved the decor. We acted like total tourists and were snapping photos of everything inside. This is my kind of decor – a bit of industrial, a bit of rustic charm, a bit of country meets vintage – I LOVED everything!!!

We couldn’t believe it when our coffee arrived. They came in these glass jars with handles – how cute and original is that? We sat on an old leather brown couch and enjoyed our coffee,

Three days later we headed back for another fix – this time armed with our laptops – I could get used to writing in a place like this. As usual the place was cooking. The food is good there too but really it is the atmosphere that makes the place so wonderful. Here are a few of the snaps I took – not great photos as they were taken on hubby’s iphone but you get the idea.

We are rapidly heading for the end of the year and my head is spinning at all there is to do before we get there. Michaela has completed her first year of Uni which makes me feel ancient in some ways and Ethan is going into Year 12 next year. We are delighted that he can do his Certificate 3 in Fitness while completing his Yr12 as this will be a good start for him.

I have booked our camping holiday for a week in December and looking so forward to getting away from it all. Camping with a baby who will probably be walking by then and an almost  3 year old will certainly have its challenges and keep us busy, but hopefully some sun, sea and a change of scenery will make us feel relaxed nonetheless.

I have had the urge to tackle some creative tasks again and Michaela has done her first renovation project which turned out so well. She has wanted an old roll top desk and eventually we found an old one that needed some work. She did a great job – I will hopefully have a chance to take some photos this holiday.

Then I have been itching to paint my boring old hat and coat stand for a while – eventually decided on a bright green paint and I am delighted with the results. Aaron (my youngest) referred to me as arty farty the other day – well I guess I am a bit  – still love the green though – now it stands out against the wooden cupboard doors instead of blending into it.

This is how it looked before:

This is how it looks now:

Yes you probably noticed that I painted the dresser too – was getting a bit bored with the wood look!!

Summer is showing itself tantalizingly every now and again and I am so looking forward to it – there are so many reasons I love it so much – sun just makes me happy – Hubby and I were commenting how even the kids come to life when the weather is beautiful – they get outdoors and actually play basketball/soccer with one another and it is so good to see them doing this as often teens have a tendency to hive off in their own rooms attached to their technology devices. I am just loving watching them as it won’t be too many years left till they fly the coop and we won’t have them with us. The days are longer and even that cheers me up. Our kitchen vegetable garden is looking fantastic – we are enjoying some broccoli and lettuce at the moment but soon hope to have tomatoes, capsicums,egg plant, spinach, beans, strawberries as well as some corn. Our flowers are looking really pretty too.

Michaela has been taking driving lessons – we decided it was the best way to go as we have not got the time to spend every day teaching her. Already she is making nice progress and as soon as she has finished her lessons we will be able to get her hours up on the roads. It takes about five years to get your full license here in Victoria – a long process!! Recently we bought a new little car as our Nissan Maxima needed a new clutch – it would have cost us about $2000 to repair and being 17 years old we really felt it wasn’t worth the spend. Instead we have bought a very fuel efficient Hyundai Getz – this is also a perfect little car for Michaela to learn in and runs on the sniff of an oil rag.

So that is all my catch up news – not much has happened in two months (which is a good thing as then this post would never have been finished!!) – better start my next post as it may be awhile before I get it posted. So from me, enjoy summer!!

Nesting ….

I have been so busy over the last few months since we began fostering that I haven’t had time to be creative or the energy to work on projects. Just keeping my living room floor clear of toys and toddler gunk has been a mission. I have also been looking for another house for us to rent that has more space but to be honest I have not found what we are looking for. So now I have settled in my heart that we will stay where we are unless something amazing comes up that is affordable. For now we have good, manageable space and a great size yard and a very good rent. The owner of our property is also making some long needed improvements that will make a difference. After settling all the yearnings to move I got this crazy nesting urge – that is I felt the creative bug bite and I wanted some things done – NOW, TODAY, IMMEDIATELY. I am not the patient type when an idea comes to mind – lucky for me Hubby is the same and so off we went shopping and spent some of our tax return. I think too it is the start of Spring that has got me going – sunshine just makes me happy and feel energised.

I started with my veranda – Moved one of my paintings out there as a statement and added some cushions to the bench.

We have been eyeing out a giant canvas from IKEA for two years now but we have never splashed out on it because it was a luxury for us. Last year I was planning to get it for Hubby’s birthday but as usual some expense came up and we never quite got there. Yesterday we decided to just splash out and get it. It has been placed over our mantel and covers that horrible seventies arch brickwork. Although it covers almost the whole wall we love it because it is a picture with such depth and perspective and it draws you in creating a feeling of space. We just love how the rope  bridge  almost looks like an extension of our jute rug on the floor. The problem though was that the brick work was still ugly and seemed to diminish the beauty of the canvas so I bought some mdf and painted it with Taubmanns suede finish in a green colour. Then I put the two strips of green mdf down the side of the canvas covering the brickwork. I must say we are quite pleased with the result as the picture stands out more now.

The next thing I have been wanting to do for a while is to change the lights in our living room. Firstly the lighting was so poor  as the glass shades are yellow and secondly they are just plain UGLY!!!

I wanted to modernize the look a little without spending too much money. Initially I had my heart set on certain lights from IKEA but then Hubby and I were a little concerned they would be too dull again. Also they were more than I wanted to spend as this is a rental property. Eventually we settled on two large shades to hang from the ceiling at a very affordable price.

Since the boys have arrived to stay with us we have re-configured our home slightly. We have blocked off the doorway from our hallway into the living room so that you get access to the living room from the dining room and kitchen. The reason for this was to prevent the toddler using the circuit as a running track constantly and also because he gets very stressed when someone walks out the door – this was becoming stressful every time someone went out the front door. Now he is not always aware when someone leaves. We blocked off the door with a hutch in the entrance. Although this works it is not the prettiest sight in the living room as again the doorway is arched brickwork. I came up with a plan to  add texture to the wall and to cover the back of the hutch with a blind that hangs from ceiling to floor. I got this at an op shop for a few dollars.

For the longest time ever I have wanted a console table to hold some items in my lounge. I have been looking on Ebay for something I could restore but even the worst ones have been too pricey for my liking. As I was wandering through IKEA I spotted some metal trestle table legs that were going for a song so I snapped them up. I wanted my table to be very rustic in appearance so we popped into Bunnings and picked up three sleepers that had beautiful texture and colour. In no time Hubby had constructed my quick and easy console table for me. I had thought of wrapping the metal legs in jute twine to make it more rustic but I actually like the contrast of the metal and rough wood so for now it will stay the same. I still need to sand the table top and get it looking beautiful as at present it is still rough and ready.

We have picked up some very lovely pieces over the last few months from Op shops and specials. This standing lamp has a bit of an industrial feel/ movie set feel and we got it for $17 from Target on a clearance sale. Our deep red shag rugs that match my cute little sofa were a buy on sale again for $30.

I have been collecting old suitcases for ages – they have become quite fashionable again and so are not always reasonably priced, but these babies were going at various stores for a few bucks.

I decided to improve our entrance hall at the same time. It is still a work in progress but this is what I have done so far. Hubby  bought me a coat stand for the entrance hall ( I have been coveting one of these for years). He picked it up at an op shop for $6. I have plans to spray paint it a really funky bold colour – maybe a deep turquoise.  I was really bored with the look of the pine hutch so I  decided to paint it in antique white and then sand it so that the wood showed through in places. The knobs  will eventually be replaced by some colourful ceramic ones.

I have also been looking for a chair for the entrance hall. Finally I found this red vinyl chair for $10. It has been nick-named the “Thinking Chair” because the toddler gets put there regularly when he has tantrums. Seems to be working a treat.

Our dining room has also had a makeover slightly. The table needs to be sanded again and I plan to keep it lighter this time by simply applying some Danish Oil rather than a stain. Hubby brought home some high backed leather style dining chairs that were far more sturdy and comfortable than the set we had. He picked them up with a table for $30 from an op shop ( yes and you thought I was the op shop queen – he is fast usurping that title from me – I have trained him well). We didn’t need another table but we did want a small one for the computer so hubby quickly got our his saw and cut that table up to make a smaller one (Clever man!!).

Some other changes – I have moved my ladder from the bookshelves in the living room (as I feared a toddler would be squashed by falling ladder) and put it in my bathroom as a towel holder for when we shower.

This weekend has been spent getting our home back into some semblance of normality and order ( except for my laundry that is piled with washing as usual -SIGH…..) and I have loved being creative again – I have missed the satisfaction that comes from creating and making something/ re-purposing something. Hubby has been busy too out in the kitchen garden. New winter veggies are growing – broccoli and cauliflower and sweetpeas planted. We are trying out some new ideas we have recently seen too – growing plants on a trellis – so we have a passion fruit plant and an olive tree growing this way – can’t wait to see how they turn out. Roses are pruned and ready for spring/summer. Hubby found a whole lot of beautiful terracotta pots thrown out to plant so slips getting planted.

All in all this nesting spree has been very productive and the best part is that it has not cost us an arm and a leg (other than our beautiful canvas we treated ourselves to.

 

Creativity

I go through moments where I am feeling very creative and I just want time to sit down and CREATE. Usually these times are when I have my schedule jam packed with the mundane routine things that need to be done. This can leave me feeling frustrated and grumpy. The other side of the coin is probably more frustrating – needing to get creative tasks done with zero motivation or inclination. This has been me this week. I am so focused on my book right now and getting it completed that I haven’t wanted to tackle any creative tasks around the home. I have been working on my cover design for my book and it has taken many hours. I promised Michaela that I would make her a cover for her laptop as she needs to take it to Uni with her but she didn’t want a chunky bag as she already has a bag she carries her books in. We chose some fabric and it has been sitting on my dining room table for days. Eventually I knew that I could procrastinate no more. So feeling very uninspired and uncreative I set to work. Due to my lack of enthusiasm there is no tutorial for this – just a completed picture (which is probably just as well as I winged it and had no idea what I was actually doing). I quilted the fabric with a layer of batting and calico as the inside lining. I tried going around the butterflies to make it hold together and give them some definition. Then I made an envelope flap and attached it to the bag. To close it I sewed on some leather cord to make a loop and added a button to hook it over. I must say I was quite pleased with the result even though I had zero enthusiasm for the project. Take a look.

 

 

 

 

Once I have designed my covers for my book I am thinking of getting your help to decide which you think is best – I thought a little give away might inspire you to give me your opinion. More about that later.

A week ago Hubby, Aaron and I took a drive up to Emerald Lake. I absolutely love Emerald – it is in the hills and is a quaint little village – we are always on the lookout for a house to rent there with a bit of land. It is only an extra ten minutes drive for hubby to work although further to get the kids to school but would be so worth while being able to live a little more in the country. So far nothing that works for us has come up but I continue to look and dream.

We had a walk around the lake and enjoyed the sunshine.

 

Don’t you love the picture of the tree trunk in the middle – I felt like I was in an enchanted wood – it looked just like a tree face to me. (or maybe I just have a vivid imagination). What do you think??

 

Hubby reminded me that in my last post I asked what you thought of Zoe’s curtains – then I forgot to add a photo – here is a photo of the curtain print.

 

 

I also made an art work with two canvases covered in a bright, funky  fabric for her room.

Now I just need to hang them straight heehee.

My hubby is the best – I love this man to bits!! He was away last week on a school camp down in the bay. He made the effort to go into some little gift shop and buy me a present – not just any old present but one that is just my taste. He found this big white jug that had Milk printed on it and it looked a little rustic and countryish – just made for me. Then he bought me flowers to put in it – what a sweetie!! Really made my week. I took some photos of my lounge as I finally have made some new curtains from fabric I bought from the Op shop – the ugly green lounge curtains are GONE….. I can’t tell you how happy I am!!

 

So considering I haven’t felt too creative this last week I guess I did get some things done!!

 

 

All Things bright and Beautiful ….

At the start of every new year I get the urge to change things – my nomadic tendencies coming out I guess. If I want change I cannot break down walls or paint as we rent, so I have to find  some ways to make cosmetic changes to our home. I long for the day we can put our own stamp on a home that belongs to us. So I decided to shuffle up some things at home and re-arrange some of our furniture and add some other touches. Soft furnishings are a great way to add colour, pattern and texture to your rooms.

The first room I decided to tackle was my bedroom. I did not want to make major changes but I did want to introduce a little more colour and pattern. I started by buying three really cheap frames from the Reject Store and framing some vintage prints which I also purchased from the same store a while ago. I framed them and put them up over my bed to add a bit of colour to my room – I must say I love how they turned out. Hubby was a bit naughty – he was taking photos of my rear end as I struggled with the frames. Needless to say I had to forgive him as hanging three pictures meant that levels and spacing was very important and to get them accurate  I did need his help. The sweet man obliged!

Then I moved my cute red/burgundy sofa into my bedroom and made a comfortable corner to read/relax. Added to that I put the two yellow cushions I bought from the Op shop on my bed with my Union Jack pillow I made. Now my room is not just white and taupe as it always was but has a bit of colour in it. One thing I will never move away from is my white linen – I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything (except maybe some new, crisp beautiful white linen!!).

In my lounge I needed some furniture – the big mustard coloured sofa has served us well but it was definitely time to go. I quickly found a home for the couches which left me able to  shop on Ebay. I managed to buy two similar colour sofas to my previous couch for $20 and they fit into the space so much better. I decided to add some more pattern and colour into my lounge by making cushion covers for the cushions I had to otherwise the mustard furniture   dominated the room. The fabric came from a big recycle store  and I paid $5.99 for all different designer quality off-cuts. Then I simply ran up some covers and hey presto a whole new look in my lounge. I really was pleased with how the cushions turned out. All that needs replacing now is the ugly green curtains in my lounge. I have moaned before how much I hate them and truly they do not improve with time. Curtains are extremely expensive here, so I am always on the lookout for curtains at the Op shop. Because my window is so huge it is difficult to get enough of the same curtains this way. I will persevere though!! I moved my painting of the Greek Village and replaced it with my Tuscan sunset painting. Goes beautifully with all the colours in the cushions.

I even made a cushion from an old jumper I found at the Op shop – truly people you can use ANYTHING to be creative.

Part of my decorating pleasure always comes from the fact that I will not spend a lot on making our home nice. My bedroom redo cost me $18 and my lounge cushion covers cost me time and about $4 in fabric. Add $20 for the two new couches and the total for the two rooms was $42. If I had purchased new items it would have cost me 8 x $10 = $80 for cushions, A new lounge suite about $1000 and frames $18 giving me a total of $1098. I saved a whopping $1056. Now who wouldn’t want to re-purpose furniture?

I also kept the really ugly square coffee table that matched our old mustard suite – I am hoping to re-purpose this baby and make an ottoman for the centre of our lounge – more about that when I tackle the project. I also need to re-upholster my dining room chairs as they are so tired but first I need to find the fabric I want to use.

Another tip for great ideas is Pinterest – I find this site so inspiring – all the creative ideas people have are amazing – check it out if you haven’t already. So we continue to find creative projects to tackle. Michaela wants to redo her bedroom this holiday – I have an idea for a lovely headboard made of doors – watch this space in the future.

In the meantime … Happy recycling!!

Recycling and Re-purposing…..

I am passionate about recycling goods – I haven’t always been good at it, but the older I get the more I believe in it. This is not only because I want the environment to be a healthier, greener place to live where our landfill isn’t full of all sorts of rubbish, but because I think we are living in a throw away society today. Granted things aren’t made as well as in the past and seem to die a lot quicker, but then again we don’t make an effort to mend things as in the good old days. I love looking for things that someone else has tossed aside and has no use for. If I can re-use something and re-purpose it then I am one happy gal.

Today hubby and I took a trip to the city to pick up a couch that I won on ebay. I have been looking for something that will stand out but not break our bank balance at the same time. One of our current couches is too big and looking a little tatty now so this sweet baby was perfect. I absolutely love the colour. Hubby nearly choked when I told him it was burgundy, but as soon as he saw it he fell in love with it. It is now the stand out feature in our lounge which has cream couches. Now even though this couch was not thrown out, I consider this to be a part of recycling – it is taking someone else’s goods and loving them and using them until there is no life left in them. Buying this little couch made me feel good too because the young couple are moving back to Wellington in New Zealand. The guy was born in Cape Town, grew up in NZ and has lived here in Australia  – it felt a bit like our own story. I was glad that we were able to help them out and be blessed in return.

Isn’t she cute?

I think sometimes people find my passion for second hand shopping quite strange, but I would rather be scratching through an op shop pile of goods any day than queuing in a shopping mall for the latest and newest trends – that is just me. Part of the challenge is seeing purpose in the things you find and seeing potential to make bits and bobs into something quite unique – that is my joy.

My latest learning curve is something called Art Journaling – it is simply using a journal to put down thoughts but it is combined with creative art work. Since I love painting and writing this is a perfect way to express myself. Again I have chosen to re-purpose something. Instead of buying a new book to write in, I took an old book I was throwing out and turned it into my art journal. Now I get to re-use it and the print from the words make a lovely background to play on. Hopefully I will get to share a bit more of this another time.

So my project this holiday is to recover my dining chair seats as they are very scruffy and to complete a few other creative projects (I might just make another cushion cover or two…), Here are the photos of my lounge now that it has all been put together. Hubby has a new app on his phone that allows you take a panorama photo – very cool!!

The other thing I love about re-purposing things  is that there is history in every item. Things have stories and there is love in all sorts of goodies you find. To me it gives the opportunity of making your home unique and putting your own stamp on the the look you wish to achieve. I am not one for the catalogue look where all the furniture looks styled and designed to reveal a “showroom”. I would struggle to live like that. I think every home should reflect a bit of your personality and individuality.

The other project I have been working on is my new studio/ art room. More about that another time!! Hubby has been working very hard getting our vegetables planted – he has made a raised bed and it looks great. Feels like summer is on its way at last and I’m loving it!

I Just Made A Cushion Cover

I am as pleased as punch with myself – in fact if my arms were long enough I would pat myself on the back ( the top of the shoulder will have to do!!). I made a cushion cover today out of scraps of material and it turned out better than I thought. This is my take on a Union Jack Cushion. We have a beautiful curtain and homewares shop in our local village. Usually I browse through there, salivating  at the gorgeous items – but thats all I do – salivate! The items are more than I would consider paying, but it does get my creative juices going. They always have a basket at the door with fabric off-cuts that you can buy. They are usually about a fat quarter size and great for craft projects. What I like about them is that the fabric is good quality curtain and upholstery fabric. So this is where I got my fabric for this project – you get 8 off-cuts for $2 so it is a steal.

I have not taken photos as I was just experimenting – I could kick myself now but it is an excuse to make another one and write a tutorial. The photos below were the inspiration for my cushion.

 

So this is how it turned out. I am definitely going to try this again in different fabrics. I worked out that my cushion cover cost about $3 and the feather inner cost $9 from Ikea – so it totalled about$12 – not bad.

 

It’s been a while!!

Hello Blog and all my Friends,

It has been awhile since I was here last – not because I haven’t wanted to be here, but because there has been a lot happening in our lives over the last month or so. My top priority has been looking for work and although nothing has come through yet, I have applied for quite a few, had one interview and am presently waiting the outcome of that. We have also been working on a project that has been on our hearts for awhile and now we have seen the start of that – will share more later. Today is the last day of the school holidays and we are enjoying the beautiful weather. We have had a lovely holiday and it has been very relaxing. we have not really been anywhere but  having time to potter around at home and do some projects has been lovely.

I am very proud of Hami – he has built a treadle feeder for the chickens as we found the birds were eating so much of their food it was costing us a fortune – now with the new feeder we should save a lot of money as only the chooks will have access to the food. What a clever man I am married to!

I have also found a few more wooden ladders to add to my home – Hami took the one ladder apart and stained it for me – now it hangs on our bookshelf he built and looks like an old bookstore ladder -love it!!

The other little ladder just stands in the corner of our lounge – to hold books, a coffee mug or whatever – it looks very rustic – I love the unusual – no one could call my decor “normal”. We went to the market this morning and I found these flowers for $2 – they reminded me of the wild flowers that grew outside our back door when we lived in George – Zoe loved those flowers as you can see from the photo!

Another idea I had was to tear off the covers of old books and bind them together with old string – this gives an old feel and is lovely.

I also found this cute clock at the market for $5 – I love the way it looks like an old alarm – so cute!!

I am very happy with the way things are looking in my home – it really pleases me when I can find old things that others throw out to create  the look I want – I don’t want brand new, expensive items that cost a fortune – I like simple, recycled items that have history and a story.

Zoe and I had to tackle another project this holiday – she needed to make a puppet for school – what a performance!! We tried two different patterns that were far too complicated, but eventually we found a pattern that was so simple to follow and this is how she turned out – we were both delighted at the outcome – we still need to put a dress on her.

So now to tackle some last minute chores before evening – tomorrow we are back into routine and ready for term 2.

I hope to be back soon – I have missed you all!!

ladder time

Today I decided to tackle my wooden ladder that I found abandoned on the hard rubbish. I started by taking the back of the ladder off so that it was just a leaning ladder. Then I really didn’t like the colour it was, so I went out and bought some paint. This is what is looked like when I found it.

This paint is a Taubmann’s  paint and the colour I chose is called “Wharf Blue”. I really love this colour – I set to work painting the ladder and it was an exceptionally easy job.

Once it was done I loved it but wanted to make it a bit more unique. So, I printed out some words on the computer and then stencilled them on the side of the ladder in Antique white paint.

It looked a bit too neat at the end of the job so I took some sandpaper and roughed it up a bit so it had a more weathered look. I love how it has turned out.

I’m feeling creative….

I have an assignment that is fairly challenging  that needs to be done and I am procrastinating. Well actually, I am not really procrastinating – I am hoping inspiration will strike. Trying to get one’s mind back into study mode is a bit tricky and hubby has been helping me by insisting I  do an hour of study in the evening – good man that he is!! Anyway I am feeling creative – just to complete the tasks I have been wanting to tackle for ages!! My rumpus room/TV lounge is not a nice place. It is full of mismatched furniture and carpets and I am tired of it – I know what I want so I am in the process of revamping – will reveal all when it is done. Another project I have wanted to tackle for a while has been my fridge. This is an old fridge that is beginning to rust and look very unappealing as the photos show. No matter how hard I scrub the front, it still looks like there is food on the front – NOT A GOOD LOOK!!!

So my solution was to make it into a feature.  I sanded the paint on the front and down the sides of the door with sandpaper. Then I cleaned it and finally I painted it with Black chalkboard paint. Now I can stick photos on it, or write my shopping list on it – whatever mood takes my fancy!!

So here is how she turned out!!

So far no one has been allowed to write on my fridge – I am enjoying the neat black finish for awhile – this confuses the family of course but too bad!!

These are some more of the photos that I took of Aaron and Zoe at the Cheese Factory. This is a lovely old building and the brickwork made a lovely backdrop.

Getting Aaron to co-operate was a little harder – he was sick of having his photo taken by this stage so we had to bribe him with a chocolate easter bunny. Amazing what chocolate can accomplish!!

So that is what I have been up to – I have two birthdays coming up soon where I will need to come up with some cake ideas. Michaela is celebrating her 17th birthday on Mother’s day and Aaron will be 5 a week later – I can’t believe how fast they grow!!

Now it’s time I stopped playing on my blog and got down to tackling my assignment ….. mmmm …… well yes!!!

Funky Junk…

Every six months here in Melbourne we have something called hard rubbish day where any old furniture, white-ware, toys, carpets etc. can be put out on your verge and it will be collected by the council for you. This is marvellous as it means that you don’t have to  go to the dump and pay big fees to get rid of items. It also can get a bit festive as people tend to swap junk so to speak. Often people will take our junk and we will find things that others are tired of – great recycling!! We spent the whole afternoon putting out our rubbish on the verge and that meant reshuffling a few things indoors. I have in mind to spruce up our entrance as it is very messy at the moment and not too appealing. What I am planning is this:

• Put up a new light at our front door – found this brand new light at the op shop for $10. Our previous light was an embarrassment – just a piece of metal sticking out with a dirty globe on it – yuck!!!
• This old bookshelf or piece of shelf was probably a great piece in its day. I managed to convince hubby to let me keep it off the hard rubbish pile ( we were given it) as I had things in mind for it – hubby rolled his eyes and gave that “I hope I don’t regret this”  kind of smile.
• This wooden chair was next to hubby’s bed as a table but we have now got him a bedside table so this will be used at the door just for fun.
• A basket for some shoes that are always being kicked off.
• Some old tins that I will spruce up to plant some colourful flowers in it.

More about that when the task is done!!

I have made a lovely little workspace for myself next to my bed. I was given a desk with a bookshelf on the side and so because I am planning to study this year I decided I need my own space. Here is my workspace. I plan to eventually add some cool crystal knobs to the drawers but that will come with time.