I'm Trying....

...to fit in a little sewing time... but there's stuff to do..
I've decided to decorate the hall, stairs and landing..

I'm dragging myself into the 21st century and getting rid of the teracotta tartan carpet, I loved it in the 90's but it's got to go...  

it will be repalced with another tartan but in a  much more subdued colour palette.

The sewing will have to wait.

So Much....

For blogging more regularly!....I've just run out of steam. The decorating in the lounge is done, I've

 re-up-holstered a chair and reorganised the craft room.

The drawers are now full of stuff...

My new Jonny Hannah print is framed and hanging.

This is the view from my craft table.

and a few collectables, bits of driftwood, plastic knitting needles and a bowl of wooden cotton reels.

A Lot's Been

...going on, I've been decorating again, the lounge this time..but...
I bought myself this!

 Getting it home was a bit traumatic and getting it up the stairs to the craft room was a challenge! At one point I didn't think it would fit.
We took off the glass top as it was smashed and also took out the glass front..that reduced the weight so now I don't think the ceiling will give way! It took forever to clean and get all the old sticky stuff off but it's done now.  what you can see is the service side but that's the way it is in the room....all those lovely drawers to fill.... and yes they are now full...full of stuff that I'm sure I'll never use if I live to be a hundred. A serious declutter is needed, I'm slowly going through the house as I decorate and getting rid of stuff. I love a good sort out!.

Well.....

...The paper is on... and now the furniture isn't the right colour..

So it's out with the paintbrush again!

No room in the craft room for anything else!

Crafting....

..on a large scale.. wallpaper stripping!

Painting...

This is whats's coming off, it's been on for around 12 years! It's an old Sanderson print.I love it but it's time for a change.

This is what's going on, It's Harlequin Lola Rose, the photo's not too good, the background is a lovely Eau de Nil shade and the leaves are Moss Green...I love a bit of chintz

Lots to do, the ceiling is painted and I've got the woodwork undercoated...busy day tomorrow!

More later!

You May...

..or you may not have wondered where I've been, well I've been crafting on a grand scale....fitting a new kitchen for the offspring.

I love the wallpaper she chose.

The big orange DIY shop have a new Valspar paint department... we took a wallpaper sample along, they scanned it and hey presto perfectly  matching paint!

How clever is that... it's great paint too.

Normal crafting may resume shortly!

Transformed...

... all finished....but what a palaver.. bought the undercoat... picked up the wrong colour.. grey instead of white...exchanged it, got it home, it's water based instead of oil based... I hate water based paints for decorating, the finish just isn't the same..

Persevered, 3 coats of undercoat... thought I had some satinwood for the top coat... no! had to go to the big orange shop. Not a tin of Dulux satinwood in the shop!...what's that all about, it's basic stuff, had a rant but got me nowhere. They had water based...  but as explained I hate that stuff.

They did have some own brand oil based satinwood, bought that.....I've never tried painting with treacle but that's what it was like... I've been decorating for decades and that's about the worst paint I've ever come across!

so... from the depths of the cupboard I mixed the remnants of several tins of leftover satinwood paint...

and 3 coats later ( after picking out the lumps) it's done....I was thinking of decorating the hall... maybe not!

The papers are Maggie Holmes.

I Could...

...Lie to you and say this is the reason I've not blogged for an age..(more decorating... in lieu of moving house)..this time the spare room. I love chintz and I don't care whether it's fashionable or not.
The room was black and  white with  pink  blinds..the blinds had to stay so...

Now it's white and duck egg blue with pink blinds... the paper is by Laura Ashley..(Think I'm going through a blue phase)

I've also been away on a crafting weekend with friends... but that's not the reason for the lack of blog posts...it's just that I've not been very productive in the craft department of late.... and I'm just bone idle!
Hopefully inspiration will strike soon..

I'm Slowly...

... Getting there...Just how many shades of white are there?...sometimes I think there's just too much choice your mind boggles.I have to say I chose this as much for the name as for the colour, what I thought would be a nice soft off white...... wrong!    its was grey and not just a hint of grey but very grey... so I altered it, added more white and a little ivory to warm it up and slapped it on the ceiling then altered it a little more and slapped it on the walls.It's a flat matt....nice but  it marks really easily.... not a good choice for a craft room but that's life!.

The furniture is in....

And filled to capacity...it's like getting a quart into a pint pot!

I've been ruthless and thrown out so much stuff out and recycled even more... I've come to the conclusion that too much stuff can be a bad thing..as well as cluttering your space it clutters your head too.....I feel ever so slightly liberated.
The houses were most peoples choice...If you're wondering it's from Sanderson, it's called Jubilee Square and was a dream to put up. I love it so thank you.

A Bit Of A Dilemma!

... I'm decorating the craft room... crafting on a grand scale, the problem was just where do you put all the stuff... it's in the spare room, in the box room, on the landing,in my bedroom... I've already broken my toe walking into a pile of books..

anyway which paper do I choose? its just for the one wall, the rest of the space will be covered by Besta units from the Land of the Flatpack!

I'd love to know which you prefer....