Over At My Place : Emerald Green and Kelly Green

I absolutely love emerald green and kelly green. I think they're such fresh and fun shades of green and I never get tired of seeing them. As far as I'm concerned, these kinds of punchy, bold green is under-used on furniture or even as accent colours, despite being Pantone Colour of the Year for last year and looking amazing with both navy and warm metallics like gold/brass/copper. I have a few elements of emerald green in my own living room and I'm actively adding more as and when I find them. I think these punches of colour add a little joy into what could quickly become too dour a space; with my Chesterfield chair, the Hague Blue walls and my penchant for heavy, antique or dark-painted furniture. I like to think that this colour adds a little youth to the room.

Here's my lamp with kelly green, spray-painted shade.

 I also lined it with some of my favourite wrapping paper from Fred Aldous.

 Which I then used to mount an awesome print on top of:

Lastly, I have four of these green H&M seat cushions on top of my repro Eames Eiffel chairs. They were cheap, comfy and I think pretty cute.

I also ordered a matching rug to go in front of my fireplace - will upload pics when it arrives in mid-March! Long lead times is one of the few disappointing things about ordering from cheap and cheerful H&M.

Furniture Upcycling: Edwardian Chest of Drawers

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that one of my favourite things to do in life is upcycle furniture. I currently have a spare room full of projects in various stages of completion (finishing off a piece is not my strongpoint!) and I'm starting to think that it's almost a sickness! Anyway, I recently completed a chest of drawers that I'm particularly proud of, so here's the before & after.

I thoroughly cleaned the piece and gave it two coats of blackboard paint. I then did coats of matt varnish and added the emerald glass knobs before adding green chevron paper as drawer liners.

I love it and it's going to be hard to part with, but she'll be going in my online shop once I get everything up and running!

Style Crush: Terrariums

Terrariums are so very cool at the moment and if you follow interior design trends, you've probably been aware of them for 2 to 3 years; but they've really blown up recently. I love a good terrarium, especially one that's a bit quirky or is in a glass/brass combo vessel. I LOVE me a little brass. I've decided to have a go myself at making one (really, how tricky can it be?) but in the mean-time, here are some gorgeous inspiration pics:

You can buy these on Etsy courtesy of the wonderful ABJ Glassworks

I think my original obsession was kicked off by this post on The Brick House in 2010 - they look fab and eminently do-able!

Staying the course

Well, it's been almost 4 months since I last blogged which is not acceptable! I spend so much time on the internet reading other people's blogs and reading interior design/lifestyle e-magazines but don't have the time or inclination to update my own? Not cool! I've decided I'm going to make a real, concerted effort to update this blog at least 3 times a week, no matter what else is going on in my life...... and there's a lot coming up! Namely, my wedding on 20th September. As if that wasn't enough, it's a big year in other ways: My Mum & Dad got married last month after 30-odd years together (!!!); I turn 30 (!!!!!!!!!!!!) a week today; I'm determined to take a step forward in my career this spring, rather than the steps back (however well-intended) I seem to have taken lately; and a couple who are very important to me are going to be parents later this year.... I'm a grown-up whether I like it or not! I figure I might as well start putting more time and energy into the things that I love as I enter my thirties; who knows where this will have led me by the end of the decade, eh? :)

Plus, with a view this pretty, I should be writing here every chance I get.........