Paper pretty

I have to say, i’m a bit wary of wallpaper. Maybe it’s the flashbacks to my parent’s ’90s floral designs, or maybe it’s the fact that i’ve never stayed put anywhere long enough to make my mark. Whatever the reason, i’ve always stayed well clear. However, lately i’ve been thinking it could be fun to experiment. But how do you make a more personal statement with wallpaper, when you know hundreds of other people have rolled out the same patterns on their walls?

Then I found these… I love how quirky and fun they are. They would really make your home feel unique and personal.

Should have kept all those old textbooks…

Although, who an resist this floral paper? Perhaps my folks had it right after all…

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Book bugs

Noah loves books. He loves to chew, rip, throw, sit on, hide and kiss them, actually, just about anything apart from sit and look at them. This is why most of the time, the tiny flat which we inhabit looks like a bombed library. Don’t get me wrong, i’m not complaining. I understand that one day all the chewing and ripping will turn into quiet observation, so until then I am happy for him to be surrounded by his books. It’s just what to do with them once he has finished his demolition. He has a bookshelf in his bedroom, but recently it seems to have been taken over with stuffed toys and cleverly placed, out-of-munchkin’s-reach parenting books. I’d love to have some book storage especially for him, so that he can reach and admire his beautiful, colourful books – and if i’m lucky, put them back there at the end of the day (hmmm).

Here are some lovely examples of the kind of thing i’m after.

Quick observation – If this kid was Noah, he’d be in the middle of some Spiderman-esque manoeuvre, foot on each yellow chair, reaching for the top shelf…

And lastly, how lucky are the boys and girls in Beijing to have this as their public library?!

I heart Ercol

I’m having a love affair with Ercol. It’s a rather one-sided affair, as I don’t think our pocket money or lounge space will ever stretch, but I can admire from afar. For now…

It’s the simplicity and softness of the designs that do it for me. I’m not one for anything too angular, so the subtle curves on their retro pieces just make me SMILE! Here are some of my favourite pieces.

What i’m most interested in are the armchairs, as I have a little mystery i’d like to solve. Whilst I was having a moment of Ercol envy and eyeing up a cleverly upcycled Ercol armchair, I suddenly realised that the chair in question was almost identical to the salvaged armchairs I have in the living room and bedroom. Could it be that my love affair HAS actually blossomed for real and that I do in fact posess some Ercol loveliness?? Take a look and see what you think.

Without the Ercol stamp or model number anywhere on my armchairs or foot stool, i’m a bit stumped, but I do think that the chair upcycled by Sarah-Jayne Guest is almost identical to mine, even down to the tapered legs. I’d love it if anyone could shed some light on my Ercol mystery!?

Duvet days

If there’s one thing BS hates, it’s my ice cold feet creeping into bed of an evening. I have to sleep with the window open, which in Scotland equals a freezing cold bedroom for 10 months of the year. Today I thought i’d compromise by treating poor, cold BS to a new feather duvet. It won’t replace our old one, but just add to our snuggly layers. I thought i’d see what else was out there to keep us cozy in bed.

I love, love, love this retro inspired duvet cover from Urban Outfitters.

Girly, gorgeous and RED, from Anthropologie.

Imagine how snug and draft-free you’d be in this alcove bed.

Or if all else fails, this bear sleeping bag by artist Eiko Ishizawa is bound to keep you toasty, grrrrrrr!

Stripey love

Ooh, I do love a bit of a stripe. They’re certainly everwhere in our house, from baby to blankets, to knickers… I would love to incorporate even more stripes into the flat and maybe on the walls if I were brave enough. I love the subtle ways that some people have embraced stripes.

Here are some more delicious stripes that you can wear/eat/drool over….

Crazy recipe here.

Dorothy Perkins stripes on sale, yippee!

I love this refurbished chest of drawers, snap it up here.

Munchkin rocking his stripes! x

Forest Chic

To escape the rain that poured down all day long yesterday, we took our soggy baby along to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh to check out the Forgotten Forests project that my friend Elinor had been curating. If you didn’t already know, this year is the International Year of Forests and as well as lots of activities, the Botanics have converted an indoor space into a kids play/event area under this very theme.

Although my heart does belong to bright, clashing colours, I can also appreciate the harmony of more earthy, neutral tones. What I liked most about the design of the exhibition was the many different textures used to represent the forest. And, because I couldn’t help myself, I started to think about how this could be used in living spaces, to bring the world of nature inside…

This woodland wallpaper reminded me of the forest inspired room that BS and I slept in in Valencia a few years ago.

Here are some other ways to bring the outside in…

And lastly, I couldn’t resist sharing this beautiful tree necklace.

Knock knock

I love the architecture of Edinburgh, but sometimes I have to admit that it does all look a bit dull. In a city full of tenement buildings, I see front doors as an apportunity to add colour and character to these otherwise monotonous streets. Nothing says “Welcome, do come in!” more than a nice, bright front door. Yesterday I took Munchkin to the New Town in Edinburgh to see if the residents there were being creative with colour. Amongst all the greys and whites, we found a few lovelies. I espeially love the electric blue door.

I’m afraid to say our own front door is rather bland, although we do share it with six other flats, so I won’t start fighting over the colour scheme any time soon… At least the lady upstairs has added some colour by planting lovely hydrangeas!

Check out some of these colourful entrance ways…