Growing Spaces

Storage secrets for a family home

Heather — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:32:18 +0000

For the next three months, I’ve joined up with the newly formed Tots100 Home Club – a group of bloggers who love their homes and interiors including Jen from Mum in the Madhouse, Liz from Violet Posy, Karen from The White Approach, and Kelly from Domestic Goddesque – to take on a project in our homes each month in association with Homebase. This month’s theme is ‘Get Organised’, so we’ll each be sharing some smart storage ideas with you on our blogs. You can also share your organisation tips on the Tots100 facebook page, or see some great ideas on the Tots100 Home board on Pinterest.

It is my not-so-groundbreaking opinion that you simply can’t have enough storage in a family home. Or any home, for that matter. Much of my interiors-related energy goes on working out what should live where, and how to maximise the storage our house offers. Just as you think you’ve cracked one problem area, the family’s needs shift, and you find yourself left with a whole new storage challenge to solve.

There are so many problem areas to tackle that I found narrowing it down to just one pretty difficult. I’ve decided to deal with the clutter problem in our hallway – an area that tends to look like a hurricane has hit it.

This shot was taken mid kitchen project, so actually a lot of the clutter had been deposited upstairs out of the way (and the cat litter and tray don’t normally live right next to our front door), but the main problems are:

Coat storage – all our coats are stored on a cumbersome coat stand that takes up too much room and really dominates the space when piled high with everybody’s numerous coats.
Shoe storage – where do they go? Ours are scattered throughout the house, which doesn’t help the already extremely stressful job of trying to get myself and two 2.5 year olds out the door.
Post etc – we frequently lose important letters such as bills because we don’t have a place to keep them when they come through the door.
Keys – as above, these are always getting mislaid and cause unnecessary stress and arguments until they are tracked down.
Other junk – all that other stuff you need to grab when you’re running out the door with kids, such as the bag containing the travel potty and wipes, the kids’ lunch bags, umbrella, cash for parking, rain coats, wellies and my sanity.

Hopefully I’ll find solutions to each of these problems during my hallway storage project, the results of which I’ll be sharing with you later this month. And as I know that toy storage (or lack of it) is a major issue for a lot of people I’m also going to do a post with my top tips and ideas to help get toys organised.

Some MADder begging….

Heather — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:05:01 +0000

Thanks so much to everyone who nominated this blog for Best MAD Home Blog in the MAD Blog Awards 2012. It was my begging video that sold it to you, right? To say I’m chuffed to have reached the final is a huge understatement. It’s been hard work getting this blog off the ground as well as blogging over at Young & Younger, raising twin toddlers, and trying to fit work into the gaps, but I’m so glad I’ve stuck with it.

Having a space to write (and video myself going on and on and on…) about homes and interiors has given me a renewed passion for blogging. There’s so much I want to do with this blog – I’m often awake in the night with ideas racing around my head – and I really do love being able to share my passion for all things home-related.

Please do check out the other fantastic blogs in the Best MAD Home Blog category – Violet Posy, The White Approach, Love Chic Living and Frugal in Cornwall. Congratulations to everyone for making the shortlist.

Anyway, enough waffling. If you’ve enjoyed this blog, have found anything useful on it, or just want to make my day, please do head over to vote for it in the Best MAD Home Blog category. Ta very much.

Heather x

Soft Spot: Next

Heather — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:37:47 +0000

There are bright pink flamingoes and the bright pink flamingoes make a heart shape together. What’s not to love about this cushion, apart from it’s bargainous price of £12 from Next?

Oh, and I have a personal crush on this cushion because my toddler twins call flamingoes ‘felling goers’. Priceless.

Soft Spot: Pretty Dandy

Heather — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:20:03 +0000

When online interiors boutique Pretty Dandy followed me on Twitter last week, I headed straight over to the site to check out the products, and this African print cushion caught my eye instantly. I have a real thing for stars, and I love the colours and African vibe of this fabric. The cushion is handmade from cotton, backed with a cream Irish linen and you can choose whether it’s filled with duck feather or synthetic.

At £26.99, I definitely think this cushion has a place in my home. How about you?

How to update a dresser

Heather — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:59:33 +0000

Traditional dresser, £70, eBay

We spent a long time searching eBay for the perfect kitchen dresser at the right price. Our patience paid off when Ben spotted this wooden dresser, and we managed to get it for an extremely pocket-friendly £70. We wanted something that needed a bit of fixing up. Originally we planned to paint it, but the battered wood of the cupboard section is so lovely, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, we added colour and pattern using wallpaper.

The dresser didn’t have a back (either on the shelves or the cupboard underneath), so we bought some hardboard and cut it to size.
Before attaching to the dresser, the hardboard to go behind the shelves was wallpapered using Bella Stripe from Harlequin. We used ordinary wallpaper paste.
Once the paper was dry, the hardboard was stapled to the back of the dresser using a staple gun.

Hardboard back stapled to dresser

Bella Stripe wallpaper from Harlequin

Easy dresser update done

Soft Spot: Nikki McWilliams

Heather — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:36:46 +0000

Custard Cream Cushion by Nikki McWilliams

I am continuing my biscuit obsession, and bagging the first spot in my new ‘cushion of the week’ series is this hand-printed Custard Cream cushion by Nikki McWilliams. My good friend, Victoria, recently purchased this cushion and I have had cushion envy ever since. Dundee based designer and maker Nikki’s fun biscuit-inspired design has been screen-printed onto weighty 100% cotton, with a biscuit-tone linen/cotton backing, and the cushion costs a very reasonable £28.

And if custard creams aren’t your thing, there are other flavours – including Jammy Heart, Tunnocks Caramel Wafer, Nice and Chocolate Digestive – to tempt you.

Just make sure not to dip them in your tea.

The kitchen final tour

Heather — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:03 +0000

Here’s a final breakdown of where we sourced everything, if there’s anything I don’t mention please ask! I’ll be adding all the details to my Steal My Style page, along with everything else you see on Growing Spaces.

Kitchen units: Greenwich white, Howdens
Worktops: Mistral Winter Drift solid surface, Karonia
Tiles: Victorian Retro Metro gloss wall tiles in turquoise, Tons of Tiles
Table: Fern white gloss extending table, Danetti
Flooring: Elite white oak laminate, QuickStep
Tripp Trapp high chairs in red and purple, Stokke

Time lapse kitchen transformation

Heather — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:51:50 +0000

The perfect biscuit tin?

Heather — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:31 +0000

I am in no way claiming to be a trend-setter as this wasn’t one of my most original purchases, but having watched various people post photos on Instagram of their amazing Marks & Spencer biscuit tins, I couldn’t stop myself heading to my nearest store to bag my own. I’ve bought these two for now (with the added bonus that they are full of biscuits), but I can’t promise I won’t be buying more. Maybe our house is just crying out for a biscuit tin collection. Of course I’ll need to eat all those biscuits first…

Marks & Spencer biscuit tins

Cushions are a waste of time. Discuss.

Heather — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:27:14 +0000

Yes, unbelievably, this was the tweet that greeted me one Tuesday morning.

Where to even begin? For an interiors stylist, this tweet is like a red rag to a bull. Cushions, beloved of any home shoot or interior magazine, are such an integral part of furnishing interiors, that to even suggest they might be anything but one of the most essential instruments in anyone’s decorating tool kit, is tantamount to heresy in my book.

Scandalised, I immediately replied to Molly (Molly, before you bombard her with outraged tweets, is also a cushion fan who was just looking for like-minded individuals to defend her corner), and swiftly found myself passionately defending the humble cushion on Molly’s Heart Wiltshire radio show, Heart Breakfast with Jez & Molly. You can listen to me here (I’m on at 2mins 37 into the clip)…

In summary, my arguments in favour of using cushions in the home are:

Cushions are an easy and cheap way to add colour and pattern. The fantastic range of cushions in the fantastic homes ranges by leading supermarkets means that you can even pick up a new cushion while you do your weekly shop. So if you fancy a quick update for your sofa or armchair, buying a new cushion to adorn it couldn’t be easier. In fact, you don’t even need to buy a cushion – as this easy envelope cushion tutorial shows, even a sewing beginner can turn a piece of fabric into a brand new cushion cover. I like this idea so much, I will be bringing you a video tutorial in due course.
Cushions add comfort. Yes, I have a comfortable sofa, but I still need a cushion (or three or four) to sink into at the end of a long day. The best thing about a cushion is that it offers flexibility so can be positioned to suit each individual. If you don’t like a cushion, move it out of the way. Where’s the problem here?
Cushions can instantly update a room. You don’t even have to open a tin of paint to give a whole room a new look. If you fancy a change of colour, a scattering of new cushions is just the way to achieve it in five minutes flat.
Cushions on a bed add a touch of boutique hotel style. And, if you’re lucky enough to enjoy a cuppa in bed in the morning (trust me, with twin toddlers this is a rare occurrence in our house), a couple of cushions behind you will make lazing in bed even more comfy.

The cushion debate has awoken me to my true love and dedication to All Things Cushion, and I will be celebrating this love regularly on Growing Spaces with a new regular slot called Cushion of the Week – a shining example of cushionhood currently rocking my world.

In the meantime, here are my latest cushion purchases, £12 each from Habitat, which I bought on a recent 20% off evening online.

So please do share: are you a cushion lover or a cushion hater?