Macrame hanging planters

For those of you who don't know, which won't be many as I bemoan this to just about anyone I meet,  I live in the teeniest of little studio flats with my boyfriend. Sadly unlike Lucy I do not have the luxury of a dressing room or even a wardrobe of my own (I share mine with Ed, so hard!!). So anything which is space saving is a dream come true for me.

Since moving to London I've really missed having a garden and being able to grow things. I've been successfully keeping alive a basil plant from Tesco for a few months now and it got me feeling confident and wanting more. We really lack surface spaces where plants can sit and I find they tended to look a bit messy, so I hunted around on Pinterest for hanging planters and found this little tutorial. I won't rehash it here as I couldn't explain it half as well, but basically I followed it and was pretty pleased with the results.

I just used some cheap string I found in Tiger, the tutorial recommends using a thin rope but that just seemed a bit pricey for me and I had this string hanging around doing nothing. I used these sticky hooks on the ceiling so I didn't need to put a hole in the ceiling (we're renting and I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon). Just make sure you check the weight of your plant and how much the hooks will hold, I used two hooks for each plant just to be safe.

I even started to get confident and come up with my own variations on the original tutorial, it really is very very easy to do Macrame!! If you can tie a knot you're going to be just fine. One top tip I did work out is that it is a lot easier to do if you have some way of anchoring your strings together so you can keep your tension even, like when you used to make friendship bracelets and asked your friend to hold the ends for you. I worked out that a bulldog clip attached to my duvet worked pretty well for me and meant I could lie around in bed whilst making these, win!

I have now added a mint plant and a pretty succulent with pink flowers to the collection and am feeling very happy!

Nicci

xx

Spin those records

I totally copied the lovely Nicci and purchased myself a record player and it is fast becoming my favourite purchase, possibly of all time. The only issue is that it's now started a new second hand shopping obsession, kitchenware and clothes will probably have to take a back seat for a while whilst I build a vinyl collection. The current holy grail of records for me is Buckingham Nicks, the album Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham released prior to joining Fleetwwod Mac, a few quick scans on eBay tell me that this could be an expensive wish.......

Lucy

xx

My House - Hallway

A little while ago I blogged about the finished kitchen and living room, while it's now the turn of my hallway, ooh the excitement!

It was pretty hideous before as you can see in the top picture, thet blue carpet was so dark and the yellowy magnolia walls were really dingy. 

The hand rail has been stripped, the walls painted a light grey and a new runner fitted on the stairs, that short list makes it seem like it was an easy job but we underestimated the time this area would take. We have two flights of stairs and two and a half landings and it seemed to take forever to decorate! 

More pictures will be going up on the walls over time, at the moment it's mainly ones I've found in second-hand and charity shops. We also created an Instagram wall using prints from Prinstagram, I particularly love this and can't wait to update the wall as and when I print more pictures out. 

Lucy

xxx 

Just discovered- Ferm Living

Ferm living by nicci-robertson on Polyvore

I have just discovered Ferm Living and wanted to share the joy with you all. Ferm living is a Scandinavian company specialising in gorgeous home ware with an emphasis on great design. I'd been looking for a wire basket like the one above to keep my slightly out of control wool collection in, which is what led me to this site.

Everything on here is beautiful and looks so well made, I love the fresh colours and contemporary prints. Their catologue is absolutely dreamy as well and great if you're looking for inspiration. While the prices are a little steep perhaps, I think for investment pieces as well as inspiration you can't go far wrong.

If you know of any other gems like this we'd love to hear about them.

Nicci
xx

My House - Kitchen and Living Room

This past year, the boy and I have been renovating and redecorating our flat. It has been stressful,tiring and supremely annoying and there has been blood, sweat and tears. The flat has taken over our life and at times has been a bit of an unweilding beast. Well we have manned the beast and our flat is FINISHED. I cannot stress how happy this makes me! I thought I'd share a few pictures of what the living room and kitchen looked like before and what it has become. (Please excuse the earlier pictures, they are not necessarily at the right angles and in bad light but you get the idea!)

We are really happy with how this room has turned out, before it was pokey, dark and poorly laid out with a ridiculously large hallway and landing area. The door way has been brought forward and the dividing wall knocked down which has helped to open up the space. The kitchen is B&Q Carisbrooke Taupe with handles from Ikea, the large patterned rug and the two free standing kitchen tables, the sofa and kitchen stools are also from Ikea. The TV table is second-hand, found through Ebay and the small table next to the sofa was found at Judy's Vintage Fair (we blogged about it here). On the sofa there is a mixture of cushions, some home-made and some found at vintage/charity shops. 

This room feels really light and airy and it is so lovely to live in. 

Lucy
xxx

Fancy Full Fridays - Homes Edition

Image Source

I haven't mentioned on the blog yet that I am currently three quarters of the way through renovating our flat which at times has been fairly challenging and stressful. But we rounded a corner in the New Year and we are on the home straight! Here are a few things from around and about that I want to include in the beautiful abode........

This wall hook from Etsy may come in handy in the second bedroom (aka my wardrobe room) for displaying hats. necklaces and some of the pretty items of clothing I appear to have acquired through years of vintage shopping.

I seriously love these storage buckets, I think they maybe a necessity for all our bits and bobs that seem to be floating round.

This house makes me swoon. We have just painted our hallway grey and I am completely in love with it. This house has provided me with some inspiration and has some beautiful pictures and decoration. After I've lived in my flat can I go live here?

This wardrobe system has answered all my issues with my clothing storage. I did some scale drawings that hurt my head but I think I've cracked it.

You can follow along with the renovations plans at Fancy Full's Pinterest and on our Instagram account.

Wish me luck for painting this weekend, Happy Friday!

Lucy

xx