Room Tour: Angus's Bedroom

I am assuming that you're as nosey as me and that, therefore, you'd like to see some photos of our new house. I've been sharing corners and snippets of our home here, but there is still a lot to do in every single room and it's in no way finished. It will never be finished, I know that, but my list of outstanding jobs motivates me to get things done. Some tasks are large, like decorating the hall, stairs and landing (my heart is already sinking - all those doors to paint...) others are smaller like changing that bare hanging light bulb in the dining room for a proper light fitting. But even the small jobs require spare time and spare money, and those things are in short supply. 

But last week, I declared Angus's room Finished. I think it might be one of my favourite rooms in the house actually, which came as a surprise; it's an awkward shape and size, there is only one place to put the bed, the carpet is knackered...but it reflects him somehow and he just loves his room, and that's probably why I love it too. There is no matching scheme, nothing that organised. Just neutral walls and lots of colour, black and white. All we did in this room was paint everywhere, choosing an off-white for the walls and white for the ceiling and woodwork. While I love the look of pure white paint, I knew it would look very cold in this north-east facing room and this is much warmer. We will replace the carpet at some point (it's in a bad way) but for now hiring a carpet cleaner and buying a rug sufficed.

His bed is one half of the bunk beds he used to share with Bella, and which used I to share with my sister when I was little. The white unit beside his bed used to live in our bathroom, but I much prefer it here. It's perfect for storing the random bits and bobs which six year old boys collect. 

The poster is a sheet of wrapping paper, a fun and cheap way to decorate walls, and I used these to hang it. The fairy lights are from Cable and Cotton, and the duvet set and hanging toy storage are both from IKEA.

The window sill holds toys or clutter, depending on your interpretation, and a black out roller blind helps keep out the morning sun. The view is nice too, lots of trees and rooftops.

At the other end of the room are two sets of cupboards. I just love the coat rack* here, providing both colour and storage. It's one of my favourite things ever - we've had it for years, and I think it's looks brilliant in a child's bedroom, or anywhere for that matter.

The rug was an inexpensive find and I love the eye catching chevrons. 

Those cupboards are very deep and go right back into the eaves; the one on the right is the airing cupboard and the other is a wardrobe. We call this the Narnia wardrobe because, behind the hanging space and toy storage, is a little den, carpeted and with a light!

As you can imagine, both Bella and Angus love to go in here, shut the doors and play or read. Kids like small spaces, don't they?

The bookcase and picture ledge (both IKEA) provide not only storage but space for favourite toys and books, very important for little personalities to shine through.

The wall opposite the window and bed holds a large wall map. As Angus grows, we might put a desk on that wall, perhaps a drop-down one to save space for playing on the floor.

Something Angus loves to do is stand on that toy box and look at the map. His love of geography is almost as great as his love of badgers, and it has fired his imagination in a way I didn't think possible. At bedtime, after his story, John and he play this game where Angus stands on the toy box and, using his plastic sword like a pointer, finds the countries that John calls out to him. "Peru!" "Mongolia!" "Greenland!" The faster the better, and there are extra points if Angus can also name the capital. Please don't think we're those kind of "make everything a learning opportunity!" parents, trust me, we're really not, and this game often ends with Angus high as a kite and me moaning at John for getting Angus excited right before bedtime. 

It occurs to me now, as I write this, how much I really enjoyed helping the children decorate, furnish and arrange their rooms. I had to know my place on quite a few occasions, stepping back and letting them do things themselves, hard as I found that. Bella especially had very strong opinions on absolutely everything, and there was no way she was going to let me make the decisions for her. Angus was a little easier to persuade, but it's still very much his room and not mine.

Two last things: this is not a sponsored post, I've just provided links as I know people like to know where things come from, as do I when I read blog posts. And no, it's not always this tidy and yes I tidied it for the photos.

*

* I cannot believe how much these cost now!! We bought ours about ten years ago (in a bygone era of two incomes and no children) and seriously, it was about £100 less than this. I still love it though.

Bluebells

Spring is such an optimistic time of year. But spring in the woods, when the sun filters through the trees and everything is that particularly lush, verdant shade of green, like a green concentrate - that's impressive, and not to be missed. It makes me feel wide awake and grateful to be surrounded by so much colour. Suddenly there are leaf canopies overhead and cow parsley in the hedgerows. The kids found long sticks and played Room on the Broom with them - my two always walk for much longer and complain a lot less when their cousins are there. We admired picturesque cottages and grand houses, tried to identify wild flowers and talked a lot about how pretty the woods are right now. And, this afternoon, on a long, circuitous family walk, we found some bluebells. And not just a few, but a carpet. They went as far into the woods as I could see and my heart sped up when I saw them. 

Copper Dipped Pots and Jars

Thank you all so much for your suggestions for badger related gifts, especially the t-shirts. You amaze me with your kindness and goodwill. I've looked at all the links but decided in the end to buy some good quality plain t-shirts and applique on my own version of a badger. I wanted something in the style of Boden or Joules, something bright, graphic and colurful. I will share my results with you; I sense a badger themed post coming up, not a subject I ever thought I'd be blogging about! 

Thanks also for the bird feeder advice. You lot know everything! After standing outside and looking in I thought the big, shiny tap slap bang in the middle of the kitchen window might be a deterrent so I moved the feeder to spot a little further away, but where we can still watch activity (if we ever get any) from the dining room. Nothing to report yet. I think it's been too windy, I've hardly seen any birds over the last few days. But we did find a nest in a large bush in the garden. We've left it well alone as even I know not to disturb a nest, but the kids were very excited. It's empty but we saw a blackbird flying in and out with bits of dried grass at the weekend, so maybe there will be something in it soon? Actually, I'm a bit excited too. 

*

Anyway, to today's subject. Don't you just love it when you come across a little crafty project that is cheap, quick, very easy and satisfying too? Sometimes you just need instant gratification, and I found that today in the form of a can of copper spray paint. But first, let me warn you: spray painting stuff is very addictive.* I have been wandering around the house looking for things to spray but luckily for everyone found most of my targets in our recycling bin. 

You will need:

• A can of spray paint. I chose this brand** and liked it very much - it went on smoothly, no runs, good coverage. They do other metallic colours too but I love the pink tones of copper.
• Various pots, jam jars and cans, or perhaps vases or pots that have seen better days.
• Masking tape.
• Clingfilm.

Use the masking tape to create your line between sprayed and unsprayed areas, covering the bits you want to stay clear with clingfilm. 

With this brand you can re-coat in half an hour so it's quite fast drying. Then, when it's dry and you're happy with it, peel off the masking tape and be dazzled. I'm not sure what kind of heavy duty use these would stand up to, but I spilled water all over the sprayed jars while filling them for the flowers and can report that nothing ran.

I found an old mason jar that was missing a lid and, with the centrally placed logo, decided to spray the whole thing.

Here is a white ceramic pot, bought in the bargain bin in M&S years ago, which I was using to keep cotton buds in on my dressing table. It was going to go to the charity shop - now it's my new favourite thing. I love the contrast between the copper and the white.

This is just a plain jam jar.

And these glass dishes are the ones that come free with GU puddings. They make excellent tea light holders, but small metal cans would work well too, providing you filed off the sharp edges well first. Imagine how good lots and lots of those would look grouped together.

This is a coffee jar, one of the Douwe Egberts reusable ones with the glass lids. (Speaking of which, have you seen their limited edition Orla Kiely jars?? Exciting! Not that I'm looking out for them or anything...)

 

The scent of the sweet pea has earned it a place on my bedside table.

Happy spraying!

*

* It's also nasty stuff, so read the safety guidelines on the can and make sure you use it in a well ventilated area. 

** This is not a sponsored post, it's just that B&Q happens to be our nearest DIY store, and I know people like links to things. 

Notes From A Bank Holiday Weekend

I've been watching the morning light and liking the stripes.

I am procrastinating over this wall. More is needed but I don't know what. I have frames but nothing suitable to go in them.

I'm working on a blanket for Bella's bed.

She requested rainbow and white zigzags, so that is what she's getting. I'm about a third of the way through.

Urban bluebells. How have I not noticed these before? I never saw any in Leeds. They're everywhere, along verges by main roads, in between pavements, hiding in with the nettles and litter in the most unlikely places. Something I wanted to do this spring was go for a walk in a wood full of bluebells and take lots of lovely photos, and I'd still like to do that (although I'm running out of time), but these unexpected roadside flowers delight me.

I over-baked a batch of jam doughnut muffins.

I wonder how long I can use the excuse that I am getting used to my new oven.

My mum treated me to a vintage coffee pot. It's bright daffodil yellow, a sturdy shape and has just the right amount of wear and tear while still being able to hold water. 

Angus is lining up his toy animals again.

He spends hours lying on the floor, carefully placing them in some kind of strange two-by-two Noah's Ark queue.

I think Rodda's packaging is so stylish. I hope they never change it. I also hope they bring out some nice merchandise, like tea towels or aprons. I'd love a Rodda's tea towel. 

We created a flower bed on the long, boring but also sunny back wall of the garden. That was hard work. Angus is telling me about all the worms he's put in his bucket here.

We made a bird feeder. John says it's too near the kitchen window and they wont feed from it. I hope he's wrong as Angus's homework is to document the bird activity on the feeder, and if it's too far away I wont be able to photograph or look up the birds. I can identify a pigeon and a robin and that's about it.

We had a monochrome walk around Chichester Harbour this afternoon. 

A flat white sky.

I hate those skies. They make me squint. Too bright without sunglasses, too dark with, they suck the colour out of everything.

Grey sea.

Beige reeds.

Thank goodness for all that green. It's just emerging now, lush and shiny and new.

This one is obsessed with badgers at the moment, both the toy one he's holding and real ones. They're learning about nocturnal animals at school. His birthday is coming up and he's asked for a badger t-shirt (I can't find one anywhere, naturally), books about badgers and a badger birthday cake. Help.

Gosh, bank holidays. They're exhausting, aren't they? Ours started early with a school training day on Friday. The morning was a blur of errands and shopping but we had a small celebratory lunch at my mum and dad's house as my Dad retired this week. He jokes that he's not so much retired as moved from paid to unpaid work, as my mum keeps referring to something called The List. Happy retirement Dad. The weather here has been cool, wet and windy, just absolutely typical for a May bank holiday weekend, and has kept us on our toes by not raining when it said it would and then raining when it said it wouldn't. Lots of pottering, gardening, DIY, family time, gin and tonics, fish and chips. Nothing exciting to see here, just lots of happy normal.