We’ve been in the flat now for just over 6 months and they have been the bloody best. I feel SO at home and yesss, there’s more bills to pay and we live a little further out now from our friends and family but I could not be happier to have our own space and have had the opportunity to make it our own a little – something when renting is hard to come by.
For those that don’t know, Charlie and I got a super good deal with our rent and was given the approval (and money) from our landlady to decorate the place as we please (it basically hadn’t been decorated in 20 years) We spent months painting, ripping off wallpaper, putting up more wallpaper and cleaning and it’s definitely not perfect. You can see the before and afters here – it’s a bit rough around the edges but the space is amazing, the location is literally a dream and I’ve had the best time starting to make it feel homely and finding little bits to fill the white walls and I’m bloody buzzing to get a Christmas tree up!
Finding a style you want to go with is bloody hard and 100% if we’re living in it for a good while, I’ll want to change it all up (classic) but for now, I wanted to share the pieces I’ve picked up and have been obsessed with, which let’s be honest is basically the entire contents of Ikea and Next (Amen for them)
DINING ROOM
I’ve struggled with this room the most as for a while it felt a bit like a ‘nothing’ room. We had a comfy arm chair in there and a couple of mis-matched book cases (which I’m still not a massive lover of) and we didn’t really use it other than to hang our washing out and as a bedroom when were decorating our actual bedroom. I then moved our dining room table in there and it’s started to transform a little and definitely feels more lived in.
How a room can transform just by adding a table runner, some fairy lights and an extra plant I have no idea but here you go…
Table runner – Picked up a geo patterned table runner from Ikea for £5 and I am obsessed. Do I have a clue what it’s used for? Nope, not at all – but it looks cute. Ties in the black and grey (and yellow) theme for this room and instantly made the table cosier and more in keeping with the rest of the house.
Coasters – I umm’d and ahh’d about spending £10 on 4 coasters from Next for a while but I don’t regret a thing about eventually buying them. Again, they are geo patterned and porcelain which I love. Can’t go wrong with a good coaster can you (the answer is no, you can’t)
Giant Aloe Vera – Are you even an adult if you don’t have an Aloe plant somewhere in the house? I picked up this beauty for I think maybe £7 in Ikea (well actually, my mum was a babe and got me this one) and also brought me a grey planter for £4 and I love them both. I like that it slightly takes away all the attention from our giant tree which I’ve now covered in fairy lights to make it even more garish (obviously). Charlie is also buzzing about it, as you can imagine.
As well as the above, we’ve put up some artwork in there (all from Desenio), added pops of yellow, re-purposed an old side table to make a cute reading nook and as far as a dining room/washing area/reading room/second bedroom goes, it’s definitely getting there.
LIVING ROOM
Our living room has always been my fav but actually I’m finding it the most difficult to ‘get right’. I haven’t fully committed to a colour scheme mainly because I can’t decide but I’ve slowly started to add some pieces to decorate which I’m hoping will evolve into the style I want to go for (whatever that is) Eventually I want a bigger mirror, more cushions and throws and possibly, if I’m feeling really frisky, better decoration for the alcoves than our moving in cards… *face palm*
Hanging plant – To start this off, obviousssly I’ve joined the rest of Instagram in the fake Ikea hanging plant phenomenon (yes, that’s a thing) I think this was £6 (I might have paid extra for the pot that it was in but have no idea) and the beauty of it is that it’s never dying on me. It was one of the main things that when I moved in, I said I’d get for the alcoves in the living room and I’m obsessed with it.
White tribal vase – I really love the the natural tribal décor with whites, creams and wicker but unfortunately feel like I got the memo on that style too late and already had pink and grey. Nonetheless, I’ve ignored that for now and picked up this giant vase from The Range (tacky heaven btw) – it was £18 so slightly on the pricey side for a vase but it has helped fill our fireplace a little – it doesn’t quite go with the tiles appreciate that but as we don’t own the place, we can’t be ripping up tiles just yet. The vase is empty at the moment and maybe need some advice on whether to keep it like that or fill it with some fake grass or something – help me plz.
Art from Desenio – I bloody love Desenio and have brought a few prints from there for the house. These two I’ve plonked on the fireplace for the time being and perhaps need to find them a new home but I love the monochrome palm prints and kinda fits in with the natural vibe I was going for in this area. The prints differ in price depending on size and the white frames are the Fiskbo range from Ikea and range from like £2.50 to £6 for the bigger 50×70 ones – bloody bargain value.
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There’s definitely more picks in the house that I’ve love but I’ll bore you with those another day. I have so many plans for the new year – to finish the painting and tidy up the shower room, finish the decorative pieces in the living room, buy new wardrobes for the bedroom and invest in a few rugs but given it’s now basically Christmas, I’ve had to keep the new purchases to a minimum.
Obviously won’t be to everyone’s taste and yes, we might be quickly approaching cold season where I can see my breath due to no central heating but this is home to me and I wouldn’t have it any other way (well, I probably wouldn’t say no to the heating…)
lovelove,
thehouseonthegreen 