Oops, I confess, it’s been a few weeks since my last confession blog post. What with London Design Festival, client interior and exterior work, a packed Airbnb and more renovating here at home, there’s just been no time to write. Actually, that’s a lie. If it hadn’t been for this (and yes I know, it’s kinda cheating on my 6-images-on-a-Monday-thing)……
…then I probably would have had more time to blog. Introducing you to Rocky, who up til week ago was simply known to the RSPCA as Cat and to us as Ginge. He rocked up here in May, a bit scratty with a very limp tail, but still strutting through our chaos nonchalantly, occasionally leaving a little scented present. He’d sit in the bushes watching us, never coming near but never being chased away by Missy either which was odd as she doesn’t particularly like other cats. His condition deteriorated in the late summer until three weeks ago when he was also limping and coming closer to the house begging for scraps. I fed him, caught him and took him to the RSPCA for a check up and microchip scan. No chip. But, a broken tail, punctured foot, broken & rotten incisors, fleas, worms, still ‘intact’ and a bladder disorder meaning he’d have died of kidney failure imminently. Bless him, it’s like Builder Cat knew he needed help. To cut a long story short we’re now one Go Fund Me Campaign, three operations, a life threatening infection, many scratches and some incredible farts later. He’s been renamed Rocky as he’s put up such a fight to survive, like feral mini lion. Friends on Facebook and Instagram have been amazing, chipping in to help pay his vets bills and we’re just reaching the point where he might he be past the danger point of another infection taking hold. Our fingers and toes are crossed!
Autumn is definitely here isn’t it, no Indian Summer for us in Manchester, blimey we didn’t even have a British one. The last day working on the new drive before I went off to LDF17 felt like the last summery afternoon, getting the top soil down to hide the ugly but necessary concrete ramp holding all the blocks in place and layering bark around my plants to protect them over winter. We were supposed to be doing a shoot so everything had a trim and tidy too, and even though it unfortunately fell through, at least that’s another job ticked off the Moregeous list.
LDF17 was just brilliant as ever, a three day whirlwind of Decorex, 100% Design, Design Junction and Tent (even though it’s not actually called Tent anymore, it’ll always be Tent as long as it’s in the Truman. And anyway I keep forgetting what it’s supposed to be called now). My fav two for 2017 were 100% and Tent. Blog post coming up on Saturday as to why.
There’s way too much to see in three days, well, two and a half if you count travel, especially with all the incredible satellite events and fancy launches going on. Even so, it was clear to see where interiors are heading for the next few years and what will be filtering through into all of our homes. As busy as we were, my glamorous assistant/niece Tess and I still managed to sneak in copious amounts of champagne at the lilac lit V&A, mingling with London Fashion Week models at the Made.com party. Yes, I felt like a Borrower. But after all that fizz, I stopped caring.
It might have been prudent to have taken my height giving trestles to make me taller amongst all those glittery giants, that way I might have got a look in at the waffle table…
Real life eh, from the high life to the, um, high life. High in terms of reaching anyway. Client work in September included this decorating job where the whole ceiling needed attention, everything from stripping back the mouldings and filling cracks to fibre lining and emulsion. Simply painting without lining would have been a nightmare, with the cracks reappearing within weeks, so I lined it all and though I say so myself it looks like new. To bring some colour and life into a very large room with little natural light, I hung a green trellised paper which compliments the grey LVT timber (Polyflor) really well. Modern but elegant is the brief for this newly renovated family home. Looking forward to getting the lights up!
Back at home we’ve started to work on the main living room. Is it just me or does the dreaded C word feels like it’s just around the corner?! With three and a half bedrooms and two bathrooms *almost* under our DIY belts, plus heating and hot water, it’s time to move works downstairs and crack on with the renovator’s room of choice – the kitchen. So what did we do at weekend? Build a window seat. Granted a gorgeous one now I’ve fitted the mouldings and painted it Pitch Black but still, a window seat. Not a kitchen. However bear with me. When the living room is ‘done’, i.e. all the decorating finished, wallpaper up and giant parquet flooring glued down, we’ve got somewhere to properly relax when the chaos of the kitchen / diner starts. That’s the thinking anyway. It’s a plan. It sounds like a plan doesn’t it? Please say yes.
Plus now we’ve got two cats’ bottoms to accommodate instead of one, an extra large window seat is required 😉
My final picture is just being included because it’s so damned pretty. It’s my favourite image from the whole of LDF and boy, were there a lot taken. I haven’t actually even downloaded them yet, that’s for later this week once I get on top of office & rental paperwork and painting the window seat.
It captures so much that I love: organic glamour, balance, texture, luxury, beauty and decay, all in one very clever installation. Now, to capture that in a kitchen….
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