Bits and Bobs

Its been a while since my last blog post.  I have a few bits and bobs to share with you.  Firstly, on my latest trip to Glasgow I ordered the curtain fabric for the dining room.  I needed 17.5 metres in total which should be enough for the curtains, pelmet and a couple of cushions.  I am still to buy the lining, curtain rail, thread etc...

Tartan - Skye Heather from Remnant Kings

I also went back to House of Sher and bought a couple more light fittings for the house.  These are for the hall and are a smaller version of the large statement light in the entrance of the hall as shown in an earlier blog post.  I also got 20% off....boost!

Light for top and middle landing of hall

My next project was a slight set away from interiors and towards baking - a 30th birthday cake for my sister!! I haven't baked in years, despite my childhood ambition to have my own bakery - how I went from baker to engineer I don't quite know!!

Baked two chocolate cakes to make a sandwich

Bought ready to roll icing in a variety of colours my sister likes - plum and grey

I bought capital and small letter cutters online plus number cutters

Took a while to get the hang of this - my tips would be roll icing very thin
and use plenty icing sugar to stop it sticking

The final product.  I bought a bow cutter but couldn't get it to work
so improvised with some heart cutters I already had...

Really pleased with how the cake turned out and happy to report it also tasted really nice :-)

Here's me and big sis on her night out.  We went for dinner to Jamie's Italian in Glasgow (which I would definitely recommend) and then for drinks at Corinthian.

Me (R) and my big sis (L)

2012...

Over the festive period I got some shocking news which has made me stop and review what is important to me - my friends and family.  I have decided that I should be doing things which make me (and them) happy and that is my resolution for 2012.

I have been toying with the idea of giving up photography for a while and basically since I moved in my new house I think I have done only one or two shoots.  Its still a passion of mine and is always something I will do for me but I no longer feel the drive to pursue it so aggressively and let it dominate all my time.  There was a period when every weekend would be filled with photoshoots and as a result each evening I would be editing images until 11pm having worked all day as an engineer.  Those days are gone and I am learning to relax and loving doing up my house.

I spent this weekend down in Glasgow helping my amazing sister decorate her bedroom.  We painted it grey...pleased she is also loving grey!!

We were having a bit of a clear out and a trip to the recycling centre proved fruitful for me!!  I spied a traditional style wing back chair in amongst the unloved furniture and decided it would be perfect for my house!  I have been trying to find a chair to re-upholster but Ebay and its Pick Up Only pieces located in England is frustrating!!  So we piled this chair into the back of the car and off we went...

Love the studs on the back

I am yet to decide exactly where the chair will go (bay window in lounge or dining room), and therefore what colour it will be.  I wondered about doing it myself, I know somewhere which does upholstery classes.  But think this might be a difficult item to attempt as a beginner!!  So I am going to get some quotes from the professionals first.  Will keep you updated on the chair :-)

Next interior project will be stripping the wall paper in the hall (this could take weeks) and also making curtains for the dining room.  I have found another tartan fabric which I like so hopefully will be making a final decision soon.

getting tweedy

I have just joined Twitter and am really enjoying it so far.  I am of course following LivingEtc and slowly building up my profile with celebs I like!!  You can find me there @the_grey_house

Now that the dining room is almost finished I am trying to find a suitable fabric for making curtains.  I have decided we definitely want a tartan of some description.  I want it to be wooly/tweed type fabric rather than cotton.  While browsing in John Lewis I came across the Moon range of fabrics.  I have since looked online and we have selected a few which I have ordered some samples of.  I want something quite quirky so are leaning towards the final fabric.  Of course remembering that the room is a dark olive green.

Beningborough - Graphite (Moon)

Sandringham - Mandarin

Longleat - Indigo (Moon)

I will reserve judgement until the samples arrive but fingers crossed one of these might be nice.