Bathroom Makeover

I knew the bathroom needed working on as soon as I saw the avacado suite! It wasn't just about the colour either, the bath was in poor condition and was very deep and narrow. The pink and white patterned tiles were not to my taste and the room felt cold, dark and small. Unfortunately I do not have any before pictures of the bathroom!

We had several quotes to fit a new bathroom suite but all designers insisted it was not possible for us to tile the walls ourselves. Apparently it needed doing as soon as the old suite was taken out. We wanted to keep costs down so in the end bought a white suite from the DIY store and found a local plummer to fit it for us. 

It took 2 days in total and then we could get working on tiling. I say we but I mean my husband!

The work begins! I chose big cream tiles to make the room brighter

 I chose big cream tiles for the bathroom so the room would look nice and bright.

Keeping the décor natural meant that I could have a variety of colourful accsesories and change them as often as I wished. I have several sets of bath mats, towels and flannels. At the moment mauve is my favourite as it's soft and gentle looking and very Spring like.  

 

I picked some Cows Parsley but it did not last long in the bathroom. It looked really pretty though!

I think my husband did a fantastic job of the tiles, considering he had never done anything like this before.

The little jug is from B&Q! At only £4 I think it was a bargain.

The bathroom feels really nice now and it is so nice to unwind in the bath after a long busy day with a few candles lit.

The Summerhouse

I am not actually sure what to call this little room that joins onto our home. It was built with the property in the 1960's and I guess you could say it was an early type of conservatory made from wood. It reminds me of the summer houses you can get for the garden so that's what I'm calling it!

Words can not describe it!!

Basically it has 3 sides and a roof and was built over the kitchen window and back door. When we first moved in, the walls were damp, roof leaking and the carpet was filthy, thread bare and musty. 

Whilst my husband carried out other jobs, this room became my project and I decided to paint the walls white to make it lighter. I spent ages painting it, ripped up the carpet and put a tile effect floor down. The finished result? Hmmm. It looked nice for about a day! The damp was causing mould to grow. I was horrified. The glass windows were soaking wet every day. I was using my karcher window vac every half an hour! 

The damp was horrifying!

So, I spent many hours on the internet trying to find a solution. I read that vents could be installed to help with condensation and that the walls could be insulated and then covered with plaster board. 

So after much research, my husband re felted the roof and I sprayed dettol onto the wooden walls. Once it had dried out and the mould had disappeared before my eyes I began to paint it cream. I used Cuprinol garden shades in Country Cream. I used this paint on the wooden garden benches last year in the shade Willow and it's fantastic. Lovely to paint with and looks like it was painted yesterday. It's weatherproof for 4 years. I painted the outside of the building in Willow.

Already starting to look much better!

Once the walls were painted cream, I bought voiles in Ivory for the windows and made a window seat using two wooden blanket boxes. I thought that they would be useful for storing wellies in. I added seat pads and cushions to complete the look.

The voiles help to create a softened look and the wooden boxes that make the window seat are useful for storage

Finally, I found an off cut of a wooden effect floor which has finished it off lovely. I solved the wet window problem by using a dehumidifier! It's amazing how much water it collects over night. I love this little room now. It's so bright and clean and such a transformation!

Cushions, baskets and vases help to create a country feel

New wooden effect floor to complete the look

 
 Storage boxes make an ideal window seat 

I really can not get over the transformation! I love sitting on the window seat with a cup of tea looking out into the garden. When the weather is nice and warm I can have the doors wide open but it is also lovely to hear the sound of the rain beating down on the roof. Especially now as since the roof has been refelted it is actually waterproof! 

A Morning in the Kitchen

I do love cooking and baking in my little kitchen! I have an allergy to dairy products so I like to plan my meals in advance and cook in batches so I have some left over for the freezer.

I love this cute egg house my sister gave me. I do think plug sockets are ugly!

There are so many options these days for dairy free products and Pinterest has been a great source for information and inspiration. I do love cheese and always on the look out for dairy free alternatives. Please let me know if you can recommend any!

Here are a few pictures of meals and snacks I've made from the book Deliciously Ella.

Thinking ahead. Meal and snack planning in advance

I love having my equipment close to hand so I keep my food processor, juicer, blender and slow cooker on the kitchen work tops. My food processor is the Magimix mini plus and has been worth every penny. I use it nearly every day and it's fantastic for chopping veg and salad.

Preparing my morning smoothie

My blender was from Next and I make delicious smoothies and soups. I love the range of homeware in Next.

 My slow cooker was Next too and is perfect for meals for 1-2 people. If I'm batch cooking I use my large slow cooker. Ideal for filling the freezer!