The Pink House - Reclaimed Wood coffee table DIY by Amy

As I mentioned in my kitchen post, we've been trying to reuse and recycle materials wherever possible.  Please excuse the rubbish photos in this post but I think they give a nice overview of the process. 

Here is the wood as it was before:

Book reviews by Amy

I know, I know, I promised more house updates but you know when you’re just itching to talk about something? Well, as is often the case with me, it’s a book. Specifically it’s The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. 

Pink house kitchen / dining before & after

Before:

Survey results - a personal post ;)

Thank you SO much to everyone who's taken my survey so far!  I wasn't sure how many people would actually take the time to do it but I have found it so interesting and definitely helpful, I'm so grateful.  (It's still open so if you fancy adding your tuppence worth, here's the link!)

The information I've received so far has been along the lines I expected but there have been some surprising and lovely comments.  There's only been one slight negative so far and that was something I had expected might be an issue anyway (hence including it in the ticky boxes to make it easy for people to confirm any thoughts), the fact I use too many photos and some posts are too long as a result.  Something I've been trying to work on as I'm my own worst editor!  Clare has helped me with that along with my general photography skills which I've also been working on recently over at Bexphoto.  I'm hoping it will make the blog look even better too as I think I am taking better photos now and thinking more about what I choose to include.  Downloading BlogStomp has certainly helped in being more strict on which photos to use and presenting them better but I will continue to try being stricter and keep more photos for albums on the Olive Dragonfly Facebook Page instead.  So if you are a fan of lots of photos, I suggest liking the page ;)

Before and after coffee faces (it was hot milk not coffee don't worry!)

The Pink House - Lego loft! by Amy

I'm so excited we have another post from Amy today!  This attic makeover is simply awesome despite having minimal work done to it.  What an amazing space to play in!

In the absence of any real progress on any of the other rooms lately, I'm going to share one of our favourite rooms in the Pink House with you. It's our Lego room! When we saw the loft we knew it was the perfect place for our Lego play den and we are so incredibly happy with it and love being up there - which is a good thing as it's going to become our main living space for a while soon whilst the downstairs is being redone!

I only have a couple of 'before' pics of when it was storage - it's not very exciting but as you can see was already painted and carpeted.

We didn't have to do much in terms of decorating - just added some IKEA wall lights, and some B&Q blinds - we don't ever close these at the moment but they'll be needed when we have a full house of guests and it's being used as an extra bedroom.

The sofabed, armchair, TV cabinet and shelving is all IKEA, as are all the soft furnishings except for the blue campervan cushion which was from John Lewis. The black lamp is from B&Q and the lightbox and brick lights were gifts. The green frames are also from IKEA (I've put this in just for Bex's info 😉)

We've also added this snazzy multicoloured LED strip lighting behind the beam at the end so we can light the room up in any colour.

As you can see, I didn't bother tidying up the ongoing builds scattered around the floor by my window bench, because a Lego room is not somewhere where your Lego should be carefully tidied away, it's a space for playing!

Everyone says this is the room they can't wait to visit, and we are excited about having our first friends over to stay soon. Side note - if anyone fancies a holiday in Essex you know where we are!

The Pink House - guest room before and after by Amy

I absolutely LOVE our first before & after peek inside Amy's amazing new house!  It's inspired me to want to sort out our mish-mash of a spare room soon.  I love what they've done with this space, so calm and stylish.  Over to Amy...

The room we decided to make our guest room had previously been the master bedroom.  It's got a lovely river view and great inbuilt storage but is on the corner with the road so we decided it was better for occasional rather than regular use.

The final result

You can't really tell from the before photos but the whole room, including the ceiling, was covered in woodchip, which was a real effort to remove!  And after we had removed it we were pretty scared the ceiling was going to fall in as it was covered in large cracks.  All of the plasterwork is lathe and plaster so it would have been a massive and very messy job to redo the ceiling so instead we elected to fill the cracks and paper it. One piece of advice for you all - papering ceilings is bloody hard work and WILL lead to arguments. 

BEFORE:

The ceiling:

We decided to go nautical in this room but we wanted it to maintain a high end look and not feel tacky or themey.  There were a few bits from our old flat we'd originally intended to go in here but have decided they don't quite fit.  James found this AMAZING Cole & Son wallpaper and that really set the tone for the rest of the room.  It's an original wallpaper pattern from the 1900's and is based on Hokusai's Great Wave which I'd studied at uni so it was perfect in lots of ways.  We decided to tie that through with other nods and added the Hokusai print and book.  We also decided to have a bit of fun with our ceiling ordeal and frame this vintage Puffin postcard.

AFTER:

We've still got a few bits still to do - I'm looking for a mirror for above the fireplace (I'd seen a lovely white wooden round one in The Range but it was too small) and once we've found one we will hang the frames currently on the mantle on the opposite wall. My uncle has also given us a lovely curvy old wooden chair that will go in the corner by the door and I'm trying to find a nice fabric to reupholster the seat pads that will go well with the wallpaper in a complementary clashing sort of way.  Overall though we are so pleased with this room and it has turned out exactly how we wanted it to, which makes all the blood sweat and tears worth it!

Where we shopped:

• The chest was left for us by the previous owners and we think was home made. 
• The fireplace and floorboards were both original features that we uncovered. 
• The blue wall is painted in B&Q Valspar Sea Swirl, the white is just Crown trade matt brilliant white, and the gloss is Wilkos own brand one coat brilliant white (which is ace!)
• The bedside tables were from ebay and also we added brass knobs from The Range to those and the cupboard doors which were just painted white.
• The bedside lamps and the glass ombre lightshade were both from Dunelm. 
• The white frames are from Poundland and the wooden ones were BHS.
• The bedspread was from Homescapes and the cushions are John Lewis and Primark.
• The bed is our old one from John Lewis bought in the sale a few years ago but with an ebay headboard.
• The wallpaper is Great Wave from Cole & Son.

The kitchen - plea for help! The Pink House by Amy

So as you will have seen from my last post, we are about to launch headfirst into some serious decorating! Usually the 2 of us have very similar taste on pretty much everything (lamps and light fittings being the notable exception) but we are really struggling to decide on how to style the kitchen. Luckily this is going to be pretty much the last room we do (living room and downstairs hall will probably be the last) so we’ve got plenty of time to decide what we want but I’m totally stuck. We have a completely blank space to play with as we’re relocating the kitchen so literally anything goes. Key features to take into consideration are a red brick fireplace (which I’m going to paint wash to a more natural brick colour and open up a bit to put a BRIGHT PINK range style cooker in), and some beams which are currently really dark but we’re going to strip back to a lighter wood.

My all time favourite kitchen style that I keep coming back to is modern white gloss units with wooden worktops but I’m really nervous about the wood because in my experience it marks and stains really easily, especially around the sink.  J is leaning more towards a shabby chic country kitchen style but I don’t feel as though that fits with our overall style. Other styles we both like are either a really modern industrial type vibe which I like but worry I’d get bored of, or brightly coloured units with a light stone worktop which are really fresh and funky but might look a bit garish with our brightly coloured appliances and utensils?

I’d honestly welcome any thoughts and also any top tips on kitchen shopping as it’s our first time!

Amy

Book reviews by Amy

I'm delighted that Amy wants to share some of her own thoughts on books here as I have been reviewing a lot more books myself lately too.  I already have all of these on my "to read" list, I'd actually heard of  The Essex Serpent as Sarah Perry's sister is a friend of a friend but I'm very excited to read it now after reading Amy's review.  I'll also be posting about the books I'm reading for book club soon in case you'd like to read along with us.

After two weeks off work to start our renovations in which we didn’t get as much done as we wanted but still achieved a lot, including my first attempt at plastering, it was back to work as usual and settling in to our new routine as long distance commuters after 12 years in zone 2!  I decided before we moved that I would not be a miserable commuter and would use the time wisely - on books.  Last week I read three books that I loved.  The last time I read that much was on our last holiday so although our new long commute is tiring, I’m really enjoying the me time of music and reading and glancing out the window as the fields roll by. 

Anyway, the books. 

The first was The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith which I’d had on my kindle for yonks but never got around to.  I really enjoyed it although couldn’t help picturing Cormoran as DI Sleet from Murder in Successville which was a bit off putting.

The second was the Cursed Child script book by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne & John Tiffany. I won’t give anything away here #keepthesecrets and all.  I’m not one of those numpties you see moaning about how they didn’t realise it was a script, but I do think you could inevitably sense something missing from this story, and the lack of scene setting made for a couple of confusing moments and some of the new characters being better rounded than others.  I loved part 1 and the first half of part 2 but didn’t love the last section.  Having said that I really want to see the play now. 

But the main reason for my writing this post is to recommend a beautiful, luscious novel – The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.  I bought this a few weeks ago, attracted by the gorgeous cover art and the fact it’s based in my new manor, but had been saving it, and boy was it worth the wait.  Set in the late 1800’s a few years after the earthquake (yes, the same one that my house withstood!) it tells the tale of a young widow who moves from London to deepest darkest Essex (i.e. up the road from me) with her son and female companion, intent on becoming a renowned naturalist and discovering a new species, living or dead, but ideally that of the Essex Serpent – an old mythical creature believed to have been re-awoken by the earthquake.  The story takes in love, friendship, feminism, sociology, medicine and much more along its many twists and turns but the thing that made it such a joy to read were the characters who were so wonderfully formed they leapt from the page.  I loved it so much I even overlooked my offence at one of the characters describing ‘the pink-painted Essex houses’ as ‘the dwellings of half-wits’ and I urge you all to seek it out and read it.

Next up - Pimp State by Kat Banyard.

Amy's New Home - The Pink House by Amy

I am delighted to introduce a new regular contributor to the blog!  You may remember Amy has written us a couple of guest posts in the past but the great news is, we now have a brand new home renovation project to share with you!  Amy has just bought a beautiful house in Essex and is going to share her home project with us here!  So over to the wonderful Amy and her tales of The Pink House...

As many of you will know, we’ve not had the best of luck when it comes to moving.  Getting to this stage where we are almost in our own house, with stairs and a roof and outside space and a proper front door has taken over two and a half years and more stress and heartbreak than we would ever have imagined, but it’s not a cliché to say that things happen for a reason and the house we now call home is one we could never have dreamed we would be able to own at the start of it all.

The previous owner had lived there for 41 years, and one of the things we fell in love with was the history connected to the house.  It’s grade 2 listed and has been a pub and a school as well as a home, has been countless different colours, and has even withstood an earthquake!  Our lovely vendors had clearly loved the house, and we wanted to respect all the love and care they had put into it in our own plans for renovation.  Our aim is to reflect the age of the house in our style of decorating, whilst at the same time applying a few modern touches such as a more open plan style living area, adding an en-suite and dressing room for our bedroom, as well as keeping an overall aesthetic that reflects our own slightly eclectic style.  We love traditional period features, mid century style décor, and bright spacious modernism and I think our plans reflect all of those things.

I’ll be posting regular updates on our renovations as they are done, and probably sharing a few cries for help in sourcing particularly tricky things I have my heart set on along the way :)

Amy