What Are You Wearing? Feeling Jaunty….
February 1, 2010Prints of Animals
February 3, 2010I’ve been feeling a bit down on my house lately.
I live in a rented place, so sometimes it’s a bit hard to put your stamp on it. You don’t want to do anything too permanent to a place that isn’t yours. I need to replace a lot of my furniture and sometimes it’s easy to focus on the things you don’t like rather than the things you do.
So, to perk myself, up I spent a few minutes wandering round my house picking out the little things I do like. What I discovered is that while I might not like the rooms as a whole at the moment, they’re all full of little things I love.
LIVING ROOM/LOUNGE/FRONT ROOM/SITTING ROOM
Whatever you want to call it. It’s where I keep my TV and the sofa that’s falling apart. It’s also where I keep my beloved Papasan chair that is also nearing the end of it’s life and I need to find somewhere other than the Pier (RIP) to replace it.
My favourite things in this room:
I don’t even know where the frog came from, but he lives on top of a floor standing lamp in my room and he makes me happy.
The wooden bowl on top of the TV was made by Mr Chicks Dad. It’s contents vary depending on my mood, but currently include some pine cones collected on a walk in the woods, a carved wooden egg that says “Hugs”, a rose brooch, and, randomly, a Comic Relief red nose.
DINING ROOM
As far as I know this room only has one name right?
This was an amazing find in a Charity Shop window for 50p. I’d been looking for a cake stand for ages, then there it was. Not only is it gorgeous, it also folds up, in case I want to take it on impromptu cup cake picnics.
In a tiny corner under my stereo (remember them?) lives 2 elephants that used to belong to Mr Chicks Grandfather. On top of them live a fruit bowl and this cute tea tin, bought second hand from a tea shop in Norwich.
My bar! Ah, how I love my bar. When the rest of my house is a tip full of broken furniture I bought cheap 10 years ago I will still love my bar. It was a graduation present from my Mum & Dad.
Above it appears to be a shrine to Coca Cola. A vintage bar mirror, “stolen” from a pub when I was a teenager (one I was looking around with the possibility of living in, not one I was drinking in, my Parents are publicans) and 2 vintage postcards. On the bar itself lives some cocktail shakers, 1 a gift and 2 from a Boot fair, a fantastically kitsch manneken pis soda syphon Mr Chick got me for Christmas and this lovely box I bought in Prague (the love heart shot glasses behind are also from Prague)
BEDROOM
Another room with one name. Why does just the living room have more than one name?
A collection of cuties in here. My bedroom is probably one of the only rooms I almost like as a whole (but I need new curtains!) It’s mostly black and white, but I love the splash of colour from the vintage blanket box (a boot fair find) and the kitsch coasters beside the bed. The 1950s clock was another Christmas gift from Mr Chick.
This mirror was £1.25 from the Scope Charity shop. Originally it was gilt, but we sprayed it black to go with the room. I have another one I got for the same price (same shop, where are they all coming from?) that I’m going to keep gilt, though I haven’t yet found it a proper home. Reflected in the mirror in the bottom corner you can see a cross stitch of Calvin & Hobbes that Mr Chick made last summer. Another of my favourite things.
Paying attention to the little things makes life much nicer. So if you haven’t yet today, take the time to look around and remind youself of all the little things that make your life and your home.
18 Comments
I’ve got a great bureau off my great nan. I’m not sure how old it is, probably 70’s, but it looks like it’s from the 40’s.
We’re also building two bookcases with a drop down bed inbetween in our living room. We only have a small one bed place so we need somewhere people can sleep over that doesn’t take up too much room.
Finally I love the paint job and my red retro accessories in our kitchen. It used to be a horrible pink but now it’s mostly white
I’m planning to move so can’t be getting new furniture right now.
Maybe soon!
I loved reading this and getting a peek into your house.Looking round ours we have not put a stamp on it, nothing really is ours. Everything is just there for necessity – we rent too. The only favourite thing I can tell you about my house is the photographs of my son, and the ones of me and him. As we don’t have many of those.
@compingmad
Well that’s what I felt mine was like, I felt it was full of junk, till I looked at a bit closer.
I like the flexibility of renting though.
I love the area where I live but there I plenty of things about my rented place I would change as well. I dream of an old house with wooden wooden floors and lots of thrifted old furniture…
My favourite is my Chinese cabinet in the living room, it adds character to the room.
I love your bar!!
.-= Alice´s last blog ..Yellow Tights =-.
Oh, I used to have wooden floors and I miss them so much. I hate carpet!
Ah, my bar rocks 😀
Well our house is ours but it takes forever to put a stamp on a place, plus of course it costs! So we all go through this dilemma.
Downstairs is slowly coming together then I go upstairs and despair!
However focussing on the lovely things you have sometimes makes you realise that your place doesn’t look that bad after all!
I love my 1950s framed adverts (for an airline and a cigarette brand) I just haven’t gotten around to putting them up yet…
I know the feeling of trying to make a rented place your own, without making many permanent changes.
What I love most about my apt is my dark wood bookcase and my kitchen that I revamped earlier this year.
.-= Maddy´s last blog ..Mii Too! =-.
What a pretty house 🙂
.-= Leia´s last blog ..Year of the Tiger =-.
Thank you!
wow, i love all your amazing pieces! well i guess i love that my house is old (1924) and it has really cool hardwood floors. i have asian and vintage accents throughout. still a work in progress though. great post! 🙂
.-= suzy´s last blog ..Prints Please =-.
I’m jealous of hardwood floors so much!
My house was built some time in the late 1880s I think. It’s an old Victorian terrace, there’s a lot of those in UK cities!
Such cute things you have in your home! I really love the blanket box you have in your bedroom, it’s so pretty!
what a great idea to go around your house and find the things you do like…you have some lovely items in your home. i’m completely envious of the mirror you got for 1.25!! i’m so into mirrors like that lately!! perhaps i just need to paint my old mirror – thanks for the idea!
i can sympathize with your rental situation. we lived in a rental for years…i felt i would go crazy staring at all the white walls. i did find success though with wall decals – great way to spruce up the walls!
.-= Piper´s last blog ..{find + seek…xoxo} =-.
I love those mirrors, it’s just luck I saw 2 in the same charity shop, I’ve never seen one before for such a bargain price!
this seems like a fun practice, i am definitly going to try to do this in my own house in effort to focus on the good stuff.
Ps. I love those vintage coca-cola prints over the bar and those black frame mirrors are divine!
.-= Kristen´s last blog ..Kaitlyn’s Guide to a Fabulous Valentine’s Day =-.
I love the clock in your bedroom!
I have a pair of 1950’s chairs, low slung, with red vinyl arms with a wood inlay, and black & white small dogs tooth material on the backs & seats. My hubby and I love them and i’ve never seen a pair like them.
I also love my 2 massive lava lamps. Being a bit of a collector, i would rather shave my head than give up these beauties!!!