Maybe it’s the nerves of sharing my style and taste on the internet, but I feel I should preface this post by saying… I do not pretend to be a stylist. I have no real idea of what I’m talking about. But I have one rule: to curate, not decorate. I want every little thing to be in my space because I love it, not because ‘it’s what you put there’ or because circular mirrors are ‘in’. Yes, there are trends that I get all lustful over, I’m definitely not a trend dodger. Nor am I a trend follower, I just like what I like. So some of my plans might be bang on trend. Some might be weird or unfashionable, but I’m just going to tell you all anyway because we’re all friends here.

And if this is the uncool house, I reckon it’s ok for me to be uncool about it.

We are currently only focusing on the decor. We eventually want to do a garage conversion and replace the kitchen amongst a heap of other things, but that heap requires many pennies. So I plan to save a bit of money where possible on the decor so we can syphon it off into savings for the longer term goals. I’ve splashed out on a few things, but most pieces are going to be budget-friendly buys.

The Backdrop

ALL of our walls are currently magnolia. It has to be said that I’m not a fan of magnolia. The back garden is south facing and the front windows are huge, which means we’re bathed in glorious light most of the time and that warmth just makes the walls look a very… Ick. I’m thinking of painting most walls some kind of variation of white and/or grey. I know that’s not groundbreaking and I would love to venture into colour, but I feel like until we make changes to things like the kitchen, bathroom etc. I just want to live in the house with a neutral backdrop to really get a feel for seasons, light and how we use the space. Then I might get my adventurous painting clothes on. The only colours we’ve chosen (I think) so far are Little Greene’s Shirting for the living room and Welcome Deep for the dining space (as you can see in my shoddy move-in phone photos, it’s a joint space separated by an archway). The jury is still out on other room colour choices, but I’ll keep you all posted.

Dark Woods

The very first piece of furniture we bought for the house was an unnecessary one. After a long day of shopping for the furniture we ‘actually’ needed, we came across this reclaimed wood beauty in Sterling Furniture (for all you Scots reading) and fell in love. It was pretty spendy for a sideboard, but we bought it there and then, (even though we really needed, you know, beds and a sofa etc.). With dark, brooding wooden furniture in mahogany, teak and walnut all finding its way back in, I guess I’m embracing the trend. But I will be keeping a hold of my Scandi style ash dining table too. Contrast and balance. We’ve all heard of mixed metals being a thing, maybe mixed woods can be too?

Smoked Glass

When I was a little girl I had a favourite cup at my Nanny’s house. It was a smoked glass cup I used to eat beat up eggs out of. And I don’t think I’ve ever really fallen out of love with smoked glass since. We can all admit it’s *very* 70’s, and whilst I have no intention of giving the house a full 70’s vibe, I think a little nod to it would go down a treat. So when we spotted this bargain light fitting in Ikea, I was all over it. We’ve hung it in the corner in our living room on a black cord and it’s currently one of my favourite nooks of the house. I’m now thinking of other ways to incorporate smoked glass. It would be a beautiful bathroom accessories material. Very Aesop and medicinal looking. With white walls and leafy dark green plants? It could also be useful on my plastic reducing quest… I’m getting unnecessarily excited.

Brass

I was never really on the rose gold and copper train. It’s a stunning metal and I do love looking at it in other people’s homes (and my best friend’s corker of a wedding ring) but I kind of like my metals with a bit more grit and grunge. Brushed steel, nickel and brass. Especially brass. It’s like gold, but not gold (I warn you, my descriptions are excellent). We had very dated wall lights in our entrance hallway and decided they were one of the first things to go. We replaced them with these brass, crystal cut sconces, which I adore. I will definitely Instagram these and other details in place once the dreaded magnolia paint is gone.

Bohemian Textures

While I love clean lines and structured spaces, I’m rather Stevie Nicks at heart. I’d like to have a minimal look overall and bring warmth and comfort into the space with some bohemian elements, big textures and handmade vibes (all within a relatively neutral colour palette to keep the space calm and restorative). Spending most of my working week staring at computer screens has me gasping for handmade, tactile finds. I’m currently on the hunt for a white but heavily embellished bohemian style basket. I’m also in the market for a stone or shell chandelier for our bedroom, similar to this one but without the eye-watering price tag. If you’ve seen anything like this on your travels, I want to hear about it!

Yin and yang

I promise I’m not going to get all feng shui on you (a la 1999, although I confess to having Japanese wallpaper and a water feature in my bedroom as a teenager!), but I think there’s a lot to be said for balancing the masculine (yang) energy and feminine (yin) energy in a space. By this, I mean playing with contrast. Like at the moment, I love the harsh, dark, industrial look of our console, but I feel like we now need to balance it with a voluptuous, soft armchair, quite possibly with a pastel colour. I’m not really into all-out industrial spaces, but the full-on chintzy cottage vibe doesn’t work for me either. So I’m figuring, why not play around with a little of both?

So that’s it so far. That’s my springboard of ideas. I’m happy to keep you all updated on room changes and purchases here or via Instagram. There’s a lot to be done and it’s going to take time, but I’m kind of excited to share the progress.

Any trends or not-so-trends you lot are lusting after? I’d love to hear about your own ideas (or that-thing-you’re-trying-to-find-that-you-totally-made-up-in-your-head-but-you-hope-is-in-a-shop-somewhere – like my stone/shell bedroom chandelier).