Chapter
May 01 2018
We’ve lived in our ‘new’ flat for over a year now, and it still feels like a design work in progress.
I meant to do a home tour ‘when it’s finished’ but I’m starting to wonder whether it will ever be! And actually, it’s probably more interesting to chronicle the process than show off the picture-perfect end result, right?
Maybe it’s all the Queer Eye and Great Interior Design Challenge I’ve been watching on Netflix.
I’ve also been pushing myself to be more creative in every corner of my life. I want my home to be a work of art, and also a space for creating art.
I’m a super picky shopper. I wait around for the perfect thing, to a fault.
It’s been four months since our ceiling lamp broke, and for four months, we had a bare lightbulb hanging in its place. It took four months for me to say you know what, a cheap paper lantern shade is better than a BARE LIGHTBULB.
I still intend to replace it with The Best Ceiling Lamp Ever. One day. But in the meantime, there is something.
On the train back from London Steve and I made a list of home projects to complete by the end of the month. We jotted down all the stuff we’ve been meaning to get done, that would make the most impact.
Here are the results of that list (see the original scribble at the top of this post!)
I figured IKEA was a good one-stop-shop for all those little things. Like…
A Ceiling Lampshade!
From bare lightbulb to not a bare lightbulb. This makes a world of difference, for a couple of quid.
Bath Mat
We have a tiny shower room, and they don’t really sell bath mats that fit the shape we need. So we bought a big one and cut it to curve around the shower. Hey it works! And now it’s a soft place to stand, and the floor in the shower room isn’t perpetually wet.
Muffin Tin
We are so spatially stingy with kitchen equipment, but after having some tasty savoury muffins in London, we decided to get our own muffin tin to make some at home. We’re on a constant quest to upgrade our snacking.
Loaf Tin
We make my mom’s banana bread recipe all the time, mainly because, as my friend Chris puts it, I’m “really bad at eating bananas”. It was a huge decision to buy a loaf tin in the first place, and it really makes sense to have two, so that we can bake two loaves at once.
5 Skirt Hangers
IKEA used to have better wooden skirt hangers than they do now. The new ones are too metal-y.
But matching hangers are better than 3 mismatched ones (including a plastic Top Shop one that was left in the wardrobe when we moved in). I need only 3, but got 5 to make space for more. ABUNDANCE.
Storage boxes for the kitchen
We started to pile up extra food (like pasta and flour) on top of our cupboards, and the clutter was driving me crazy. We bought these cool new storage boxes for storing that stuff. They’re prettier and sturdier than they look on the website!
We wanted to get Snug a dog bed from IKEA, but the Edinburgh branch doesn’t have a pet section, so we stopped at Pets at Home and chose this one from 3-Peaks.
We were told that Samoyeds don’t care for beds, preferring to sleep on the cold hard floor, but as soon as Snug came home she curled up on an IKEA chair cushion, and started to steal our jumpers to use as blankets. (We should have known; she’s a Leo Moon).
She quickly outgrew ‘her cushion’, so we bought her a cheap bed (that she chewed up immediately). It was time to invest in a proper one that she loves (and has yet to destroy)!
Shower strainer and Sink caddy
IKEA didn’t sell shower strainers, and I couldn’t find suitable washcloth hooks, so we ordered these from Amazon. We’ve spent many months browsing home shops and cute boutiques looking for these essentials. Time to swallow that (minuscule) shipping fee!
Wooden hangers and more boxes from IKEA
IKEA was out of wooden hangers (all the employees were shocked) so we ordered them. We need 33 and ordered 5 sets of 8 to have plenty (ABUNDANCE).
We also ordered 3 more storage boxes for the kitchen, after seeing them set up and noticing we can fit more.
I must say: I can’t stop staring at our wardrobe. Having hangers aplenty that are all smart and matching has made a huge difference. My best clothes feel respected, and the empty hangers set a clubhouse standard for allowing new pieces into this streamlined space.
Our blinds were mostly broken, and it was a daily frustration adjusting them. So Steve cut them off and we discarded them. It’s so nice to not have broken things at home!
Our bedroom curtains (which are too orange, but oh well) do the job for now, and our living room windows are bare at the moment. My action step this month is to start to research curtains and blinds to see what the options are to replace them. (suggestions welcome!)
I made a ‘techie corner’ of all our board games and a charging station. It was piled up on the floor, and before we got better chairs, this was fine. With a bigger chair in that corner, though, it got cluttered. So I moved the board games into our storage cupboard, and the charging station into a drawer.
We have this random piece of furniture that was left in the flat when we moved in. It’s very much a temporary solution, but I’m proud of its organisation. We each have a drawer for our bags and the things that tend to go in them, and the bottom drawer holds two charging strips, our laptops, and phones.
I am ashamed to admit that we had a pile of rubbish in our bedroom.
Wallpaper scraps that Snug had torn off the wall. A removed kitchen cabinet door we’re not using. Snug’s chewed up bed.
We didn’t know what to do with these things. So we got rid of them.
These little changes have refreshed our home, and leave me excited to keep up the quick nesting pace. I don’t know what next month’s updates will be yet, but I’m eager to get started!
P.S. How I Infuse My (Grown-Up) Life with Harry Potter Stuff
P.P.S. What are your favourite sources of interior design inspiration? Send them my way please!
