Project: A windowsill herb garden

Hi guys,
One of my home mini projects for this weekend was to create a little herb garden on our kitchen windowsill. I love having herbs growing in the kitchen: it means your kitchen always smells lovely, and it really makes a difference to your cooking when you can add fresh herbs (even a bowl of pauper's pasta tastes like a treat with some fresh basil in it!)
You can pick up very affordable herbs plants from your local garden centre or from a chain DIY shop like Homebase or B&Q. Or, if you like to bag a bargain (like me) and you live near a car boot sale, have a look there. There are always stalls selling plants and flowers at this time of year, and I picked up each of my herb plants for just 50p each at our local boot sale this morning.

The indoor planter pots were from Matalan for just £3 (available to buy here) and the fork markers were a present from my mum and dad (brought all the way back from an antique shop in America).

The other jobs on my hit list for this weekend are to paint our entrance porch, build our new garden furniture, and finally unpack the last boxes in our bedroom: admittedly, buying a few plants and pots was the easiest job on the list, but at least I can say I've achieved something other than watching Eurovision this weekend!

Have you done any projects in your house this weekend? I'd love to hear all about them!

Love Tor x

Our New House: The before pictures!

Hi guys,
Sorry for the long gap between posts. With looking after Wilbur, and the (frankly confusing) process of buying our first house, there hasn't been much time to drool over gorgeous interiors. But we did it - we are now officially homeowners and we moved in last week!

There's plenty of decorating, unpacking and repair work to do. But for now, here's what the house looks like before the process begins:

So what have we got? Well it's a three bedroom house with an entrance porch, large open plan living/dining area (with gorgeous bamboo floors) and a frankly disgusting kitchen downstairs. Upstairs are three bedrooms (2 double and one single, which will become my office) and a bathroom. Out back we have a garden big enough for BBQs and a veggie patch, and a garage.  Our own little patch to call home!

I'm planning on adding wallpaper feature walls to the master bedroom and living room. Every room in the house needs painting. The doors and windowsills need stripping back and varnishing. The stairs are going to be power cleaned and painted. And the kitchen needs updating without spending too much money. And that's just my job list for the next month!

Over the next couple of months I will be posting hundreds of posts inspired by our new house: room makeovers, shopping wish-lists, and no doubt curses about how hard all this DIY is. I can't wait!

Love Tor x

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Primark's Home range for SS13: New arrivals

Hi guys,
Making your house look nice, and making your stamp on your living environment doesn't have to cost a fortune. Back when I was a student or starting my first post-uni job, and flat broke, I still wanted my rooms/flats/houses to look as nice as possible. To be places I wanted to go back to at the end of the day. And to reflect my personal tastes.

Luckily, thanks to shops like Primark and their homeware ranges, that's an attainable goal for almost everyone. Buy a new throw for £3 and a couple of £5 cushions and your bed will immediately look more inviting. Toss a floral towel (instead of that white one that's gone grey!) over the back of your chair, and instead of looking untidy, you'll look like you're making a style statement.

£20 spent in Primark can freshen up any room: affordable for even the poorest of student. Here are my picks from the lastest new arrivals that you will find in store right now:
Square votive candle, £2.  Patchwork cushion, £5. Jade floral towels, £1.50- £9.
Love cushion, £5. Patchwork hearts cushion, £5. Chick shower cap, £1.50
Patchwork throw, £15. Cupcake doorstop, £5. Cupcake kit, £2.

I actually really like the look of those jade floral towels. And I know my cupcake obsessed sister will just love that cupcake doorstop! Have you picked up any Primark homewares? Do you have any tips for styling your space on a very tight budget? I'd love to hear them!

Love Tor xx

Pattern love: Sanderson Dandelion Clocks

Hi guys,
I have a new pattern obsession: the Sanderson Dandelion Clocks pattern. As soon as I saw it I knew that it would be the wallpaper for the feature wall in my living room (When we finally get the new house signed off: fingers crossed!): I just can't decide which-colour way to go for. Blue and green or purple and yellow. Decisions, decisions!! Those aren't the only colour-ways though - there are around a dozen different options. And this pattern must be popular! Not only can you buy the wallpaper and the fabrics, you can also buy the cushions, the bedding, the mugs, and even place mats and coasters. I found one website that was selling a full dinner service with the pattern on it. It's the matchy-matchy homeowners dream! It has a really lovely retro mid-century feel, but it's still very modern, especially in the blue and green colourway. I've spent the past month looking at various wallpaper patterns near daily: I've been ordering samples online and trawling wallpaper vendors at the weekends like a woman possessed! But as soon as I saw the pattern I knew that it was the one. It really was love at first sight!

I will be buying my wallpaper from John Lewis. You can also find alternative stockists on the Sanderson website.

Love Tor x

Captivating cushions: Buy from Brand Alley today!

Hi guys,
When it comes to soft furnishings, my motto is more is more. I like my sofas and beds to be covered in blankets, and stuffed full of cushions and pillows: and if they're all mismatched, all the better! I guess you could say I have a varied taste when it comes to interiors, so the style of our house is eclectic (I think that's the polite way of saying slightly mental!) Even the baby's room is a cushion-fest: The sofa in his room is covered in a whopping 7 different pillows!

Today I am planning on adding even more cushions to the mix in our bedroom: because BrandAlley have an amazing cushion sale, with all cushions up to 50% off! BrandAlley is one of my favourite designer discount sites: the fashion choices are always great, but they also often have wonderful interiors options.

Here are some of my favourite cushions in today's sale, and prices start from just £7!
The sale is running from today until Sunday 3rd March, and like all sales, the best stuff tends to go fairly quickly: so if you're looking to add some more cushions to your collection (like me!) then you'd better get a move on!!

Love Tor x

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Inspiration: Painted Staircases

Hi guys,
The house we are buying (fingers crossed!) has stripped wood floors throughout. Lovely! But sadly the current owners have also stripped the staircase to reveal a not-especially-nice shiny wooden staircase underneath. We've talked about carpeting it to hide the hideousness. But in doing a little googling I came across an even better idea I thought I'd share with you guys: painted staircases!
Reasonably cheap to achieve (Ronseal diamond hard floor paint costs £30 per 2.5 litre tin), all it really takes is a little hard work and accuracy with a paintbrush. And the paint dries in two hours, so if you time it right you can still get up the stairs to bed that night!

As you can see people have done things from the very simple (painting the stairs just one colour - this is what I would want to do) to the thoroughly creative and artistic: the only restriction is your imagination! I especially love the staircase that was painted with blackboard paint: if your staircase is opposite your front door you could leave messages for your partner/family to see as they walked into the house!

If we do this I'll post a tutorial, and let you know how hard/easy it was to achieve!

Love Tor x

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Artwork for Valentine's day

Hi guys,
Valentine's day is just four days away. I know this not only because of the bombardment of advertising all over the TV, but also because of the number of puzzled men wandering around House of Fraser when I headed into the city centre this morning.

In other (but it is related I promise) news, Hubby and I made an offer on a house this weekend and it was accepted. Which is a huge yay - we're another step closer to being home owners. It also explains why this Valentine's day we decided the presents we exchange have to be useful for the new house. Now I toyed with buying him a knife set (too boring) or bedding, and then settled on a brilliant home based gift idea: art work for Valentine's day!
Hubby has mentioned a couple of times that he wanted a London themed piece of artwork for the house, to celebrate all the happy time we spent living in London, before we moved back to Norwich. His tastes run more to union jacks and photo montages though, which isn't my taste at all. Then I found this print, which fulfils his London-based criteria, whilst still being stylish enough for me.

If you're looking for a home-based Valentines gift idea, why not think about a print or artwork that celebrates a special place, event or theme for you? Great for your house, and shows you care at the same time. You can't lose!

This framed print is from House of Fraser, and cost £25.


Love Tor x

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