DOOR

I adore this door. When we bought the property in a wreck, this door had always remained beautiful. It is the original interior door used in the warner properties, and despite a fair few people telling us to bin it, I was ADAMANT it stayed. We resized it and moved it to the living room, so it floods the hallway with light! I will miss this little door when we leave!

LATE

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I HATE, hate, hate the late shift at work. There is one benefit though, a little lie in. I'm enjoying the last few weeks of our fully finished flat, before we are back in overalls every spare second we get with the new property! I love our little flat, but am equally excited to get our teeth stuck into the new place!!

LIGHT

I love our edison lights. The beehive filament is so exciting to watch dance around. We have them all down the hallway and one in the living room. 

 

 

 

FOR SALE

So here they are. The final shots of the flat. I chose my favourites to share with you! White, white, white!

 

 

PHOTO

The photographer from the estate agents came the other day to photograph the flat. They were here for three hours, so at least we know the photos will be good!

Let the viewings commence.

LAMP

I love these industrial, metal desk lamps. This one needs rewiring. But for know he's sitting pretty on some shelving.

CHOP

We are decreasing our meat intake, slowly slowly. I find it easier to decrease bit by bit, tricks the mind into not realising anything has changed...

At the moment, I have cut out all red meat, I don't eat fish, and am only left with chicken, once or twice a week.

Saturday evening, I cooked my most favourite vegetarian dish of mushroom bolognese. Mushrooms are an amazing substitute for mince, they've got a great consistency, and are actually quite meaty once cooked down.

SAFE

Sunday, saw a delightful (or not) trip to Safestore in Chingford. I love their corridors, even if it is a bit scary. We took the last bits of our "left over" stuff and locked it up, until after we sell. We are on the home stretch now... The exterior decorator has a few bits to finish off, and a few snags inside too. But we are NEARLY THERE!

SCHOOL

We bought these school chairs a few months ago from eBay with the inclination to do them up. But we haven't had time! So they are now for sale on eBay! They'd be a great project for someone. Just need a light sanding/ filling and reprinting. We were going to paint them grey, shockingly! If you're interested in bidding, do click HERE go go go!

MARKET

Today we categorically said we would have a lazy day and completely relax. We had a lie in and then walked to the farmers market in Walthamstow. At this time of year they always have these beautiful flowers! I have no idea what they are called! Any advice much appreciated!! We bought the paper, and ate croissants on the walk home. I am now cooking a roast. I LOVE LAZY SUNDAYS!

SAUSAGES

I'm not a huge meat eater, but when I do eat meat, I save it for things like this! Guiness Sausages, from The East London Sausage Company. I believe it was the first butchers dedicated to just sausages!? It sits pretty, with original shop frontage in E17's Orford Road. They do all sorts of meat treats, and the best bit, they are free range. I served it with thyme mash, gravy, and garlic green beans. All on a boiling summers evening. Probably not the best timing.

DIPTYQUE

diptyque everything. I would wear diptyque and nothing else if I could. Their perfumes are wonderfully nostalgic for a time I've never seen, or places I haven't yet been to. Philosykos for day (the heats of a Greek summer, journeying through the fig tree fields to get to the sea,) and Tam Dao by night (brings you the heat of the Goan jungle, with hot notes of the most precious of all sandalwoods.)

I love that each of their scents has a tale, a heavy tale and a clear vision. When you read about the insipration for each one, you inhale and are almost there. To transcend a vision so clearly is quite the skill, and diptyque do it very, very well.

On to candles, Feu De Bois for the living room, a heavy wooded scent. Baies for the bedroom, a bouquet of berries, and Genevrier for the bathroom, the purity of juniper. Even unlit, the whole room smells incredible.

 

Candle: diptyque, Feu De Bois

HABITAT

The bobby Habitat lamp is a classic. So simple, goes with most tastes, and of course white, which I seemingly cannot get enough of recently, as I type in my white jeans... All of the above and it's also very reasonably priced!

We got one for either side of the bed in the main bedroom. 

Bobby Lamp: Habitat

Plants and pot: IKEA

Perfume: Le Labo, Liberty 

FOR THE RECORD

Shelves either side of a fireplace is not exactly the most original idea, but we wanted them nonetheless. However, we decided to go for a thinner depth, to make them a bit different and make them more of a display unit as opposed to storage. We decided on one side being our favourite records- the ever evolving favourite records, and the other side to be frames and/ or pictures/ flowers. Here's the record side! The other side is not quite finished yet!

SHELLING

Abel and Cole are fantastic. We've been getting our weekly fruit and veg from them for a few years now. A friend bought me a juicing box as a present and I was hooked ever since. Organic, reliable, in season veg. You can see where your food is actually coming from and as I get older (and wiser of course) I become more aware of our impact on the planet and our responsibility to source food from fair and reliable companies! I've long been interested in nutrition, and it's comforting to know exactly what I'm putting in my body! We are what we eat, after all!

I was a virgin to shelling broadbeans until recently. It was rather therapeutic! 

 

Broadbeans: Abel and Cole

Cutting board: IKEA

Colander: Flea market in Norwich 

WASH

Aesop is my most favourite skin care brand. Absolutely everything about it! From the obvious heavenly scents to the branding, to the shop fittings, to the canvas bags! The whole experience of shopping with Aesop is a delight! I couldn't pick between "resurrection" and "reverence" so I bought both! The whole bathroom smells incredible after using!

Hand wash: Aesop 

Marble tray: H&M homeware

Plant and pot: IKEA

BLUME

Lavender is a firm favourite smell. There is an overgrown bush in our neighbours garden, and every time it rains I can smell it through the windows! So glorious. I couldn't resist picking a teeny tiny bit of it yesterday! Whoops. It's now sitting pretty on our new shelves in the living room!

FLOOR

This weekend, before we put the furniture in the living room, I took a cup of tea and just sat on the floor and gazed in part amazement and part disbelief. The room needed a lot of work, and had been a storage room for months and month (and what felt like years and years!)

Sitting on the floor and drinking out of my favourite mug, staring at the empty room felt wonderful and brought a smile to my whole weekend. We are getting there! Slowly but surely! 

Mug: From SKANDIVIS, design letters by Arne Jacobsen

Tea Towel: IKEA

BATHROOM

As you've probably gathered, we love slate. The theme continues over into the bathroom. I love the simplicity of natural stone, the imperfections, and the fact that no two piece is the same. We installed a stud wall, with cememt board, then tiled on top, and plywood followed by slate on the floor, as with the kitchen. Slate looks great in its natural state, but even better scrubbed up!

 

 

 

LIVING ROOM

The first floor warner flats traditionally have lovely large, spacious living rooms. Sadly, the owners before us had put up a stud wall, to half the size, and to make a third box room. We decided to get rid of this and bring the room back to its full potential!

I had visions of taking a sledge hammer to the wall, but Paul's Dad told me this was ridiculous, and messy and there is indeed a tidy way (boring way) of removing a stud wall. It involved punching lots of holes in a line, to create a cut out, then hammering in the crowbar between the holes to actually cut it out. I was good at this. Precision is my forte. Once removed neatly, the pieces of plasterboard are stacked... NEATLY. Lovely.