Spicing It Up

Hello my lovelies!

We’ve had some colder than I would like spells of late, and the wind has been quite strong.  It’s not been beach weather for sure, and gardening isn’t as pleasant when plants are bending and blowing all over the place. 

But no matter. I keep finding little indoor projects to keep me busy.  Like this very simple tweak that took no more than maybe 15 minutes but has made a big impact on my day to day visuals. 

I had an area next to the hob where I kept salt and pepper.  And that area got pretty cluttered when I found some beautiful seasoned salts lurking in the back of a cupboard during a rainy day clear out.

So I set myself up with a little salt rack.  Taadaah!

 It started out like this. 

A very 80s pine spice rack.  I think we all had one of these that decade. 

It had housed my miniatures collection in my booze cabinet.  Yup, the booze cabinet was another clear out mini project on yet another cold and rainy day. 

I was clearing the shelves above the booze as a new home for overspill party glasses moved from  the display dresser.  Yup, yet another rainy day clear out.

And in one of my rare Marie Kondo moments I decided that if very old  miniatures of  Tis Maria and Green Chatreuse has sat in the rack for years they were unlikely to ever get drunk.  So in a trice the collection went down the sinkand the rack stood in a queue to go in the rubbish bin.  (I doubted that this would sell in a charity shop, it looked so uninspiring)

Then I looked over at the forlorn looking dated rack and suddenly in a flash of inspo I thought that it might just fit in a space below the overhead kitchen cabinet next to the hob. 

And it did!

”It’s called spacial awareness”, I smugly told hubs.  

”That’s why I’m so good at side-parking the car 😉🤣.”

So I slapped some white paint on it.  As you do. 

And now all that clutters up the little space to the side of the range hob is this local pottery salt pig (it was my mum’s).

Such a quick tweak but one that has created a huge impact.  IMHO 

Do you find that one declutter leads seamlessly on to the next?

Have you had any of those quick tweak moments on rainy days?

Maybe you have an old spice rack lurking that could entertain you on a rainy day too!

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

Hi my lovelies!

Well, yesterday was productive.  I spent all of ten minutes on two whole niggly jobs!

But first, let’s recap. 

Recently I finally got round to painting the back lounge window frame SEE HERE.  I also got round to applying some grey Liberon to the frame on the left of the pic, bringing it in line with the others in the room.  

I then FINALLY got round to replacing a tatty old ivory table lamp shade with a black one, as there are elements of black in the room. 

It smartened up this little area a tad but the old brass base didn’t blend with the silver coloured fittings in the room and the lamp table was tired, but hey ho, thought I. 

Of course I then had to replace the ivory shade on the larger pottery lamp in the same room. And I immediately found that the shape worked better and the black blended easily with the base and the area.  Black is a neutral, after all.  

And they say leoprint is too, but I don't think my home can handle that degree of pattern mixing!

So, niggly lamp shades task, a big fat✅. 

 I was pretty pleased with my quick tweaks.  That brass lamp base was  still niggling me, of course, and the little 80s repro table it sat on wasn’t doing the room any favours either.  But I’d used my last scrapings of the old Liberon jar to paint the frame ...

 Then, eureka!  I followed my own Amazon link and bought a magic pot in the St Germaine colour, a shade which has been a trusty friend over the last twenty or so years.  It arrived in a couple of days!  Good old Amazon. 

And  yesterday I managed to find my ten minutes of Dynamic Me - I slipped on a disposable rubber glove and grabbed the kitchen roll (2 sheets is all that’s needed). 

I rubbed the  cream on the lamp base, allowing some  brass to come through to create a softer distressed look.

A few minutes later and the table was covered a 

light silver grey shade.  Honestly, it’s really that quick - lamp base and table done in under ten minutes.   I ❤️ this Liberon metallic cream stuff.  

I may just paint the red leather insert too but no hurry eh?

So now I have lamp and table that complement the room.  In no more time than it would take to drink a cup of coffee.  

And that’s one of Liberon’s appeals.  No job is too arduous and if you have a spare ten minutes in your busy life, who knows what you can achieve.

It’s the perfect stuff for lazy old me!

Before

And after ... just ten minutes after!

A la perchoine,

Mary. 

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Sometimes little niggly jobs hang around undone in Chez Pout for weeks, months , years.  Yet they often take relatively little time to complete and the satisfaction is immense when they're done.

As was the case with the little niggly jobs I've completed this week.

The Picture Frame

Firstly, a brief history of this picture. 

It starts back in the seventies.   Salon was the Daily Mirror cartoonist, and the newspaper and the publishing company TP worked for BITD were ultimately owned by the same company.  Caricatures by Salon of the company directors were hung in the boardroom and when TP left, he was given his picture. 

And it ends in the teensies with me FINALLY getting round to painting the picture frame to blend in with the other pictures around it in the Chez Pout boardroom!

Here's TP rocking his 70s flares and sideburns!

The frame was dark brown.  The other frames in the vicinity are shades of grey, but just a few, less than ten, and definitely not fifty.

But during this past week something clicked -  I'd stared long enough at this mismatch of framage.   Carpe diem.  Action this day!

So on this day I seized a little pot of *Liberon cream paint (*see below for details).  I opened this pewtery magic and with a piece of kitchen roll I got rubbing!

I left elements of the original brown frame to show through.

This way, the grey picks out the colour in TP's trousers flares and the brown tinges blend with the rest of the picture. And of course the frame fits in with its neighbours.

And the whole process took about ten minutes.  So why did I wait so long?!!!

The Window Frame

The other small tweak of the week was this bare wood window frame.

This is the only "before" pic of it I could find after a quick trawl.  It's over my shoulder, just in case I need to point it out!

The bare frame dates back to 2010, so it's been staring at me for nine years. 

Yes, you read right,  nine years!

TP painted the nearby door and window frames last year, but ran out of puff or enthusiasm for white paint and this window frame remained bare and sore-thumbish.

So, and not before time, this week I decided I could no longer live with the mismatch of framage in this room and this window frame got the Pout Paint Pot  treatment too!

This job took a little longer than ten minutes, but a few hours applying three coats of paint over two days and the job was done.

And here's the "after" shot.  Nothing sore-thumbish or mismatched with these frames eh?

The feel in this back room seating area is now harmonious.   After nine years and a few hours of my time I can now cross two jobs off my mental list of the many niggly jobs around the house.

And my paint pot spilleth over with immense satisfaction and love!

Does any of this sound vaguely familiar?

Do YOU have undone jobs that irritate and niggle, that you know will take but a few hours of your time ... WHEN you get round to it?!!!

A la perchoine,

Mary x. 

*STOP PRESS!!

And have I got good news for you and ME!

*Liberon gilt creams come in various shades of gold and silver and they are the BOMB!

  I've been using them for 20+ years for all sorts of exciting decorating jobs.

My last pot was sadly empty after this job 😢 and sourcing it from our small island has always been challenging and nigh on impossible.  

But through writing this post I've discovered it's available on Amazon and I am super excited to share this news with you!

I really recommend you give this little pot of magic a go - it transforms in a trice and you use little per job so it lasts for years.

*Liberon gilt cream - the Duracell of paint pots!!!

Bedroom Makeover - Almost Done ✔

Well, things have gone a little awry at Chez Pout.

My bag was packed and I was ready to go, but I didn't leave on a jet plane.  Bertie had other plans for me this morning.  You don't need to know the details but suffice to say, I spent my time at the vet, then mopping up and mothering him.

I spent some of my sofa time with him thinking about my bedroom project and how I hadn't shared with you one of my new loves.  So let's do it ...

Taadaahhhh !!!

Meet my new love, my nightstand.

Cute huh?  If you like traditional, that is, which I do.  So it's cute.

I searched high and low to find cabinets which fitted the mood of the space, and fitted the space itself.

This narrow unit is wood, the finish is a soft grey chalk paint and the unit top and drawer inners are left unpainted.

The narrow unit on the left was what I was working with previously.

Now I have ample surface space for water carafe, tissues etc and drawer space to neatly stash medication, hand cream etc etc.

The pair of units gives a more cohesive look to the room.  Do you agree?

My next task is to sort out a nice window dressing.  The blackout blind doesn't quite work and it looks clumsy.

Any suggestions for dressing a dormer window, ladies?

So bedroom project - almost done, ✔.

And back to today.  It's been quite a rollercoaster.

But Bertie seems to be responding well to his medication, so I'm hoping to be able to join holidaying TP soon, claws crossed.

For I really do need to be Leaving on A Jet Plane.

A la perchoine, 

Mary x 

Guest Bedroom, Done✅

Hi peeps!  Greetings.

I got back home from holiday last night and today is going to be a day of unpacking, grocery shopping and taking Bertie in for his usual post-post vet visit.  

Oh and hoiking out all the things I stuffed in cupboards just before the cat sitters arrived when I ran out of tidying time!  Fortunately this time that's not too horrendous, but there were a few things that didn't get ticked off my massive to-do list.  

Are you like that when you have people coming to stay!  Your aspirations don't quite match your time and energy?

I'm also keen to pick up where I left off pre-holiday.  Working out which room or area of the garden needs my most urgent attention.  I'm really keen to keep the momentum going with my room tweak projects!

I also have blog stuff to write up and I really must do some outfit posts - I'm really missing those.

Meantime, I just thought I'd pop up on your screens to show you how the guest bedroom makeover is panning out. 

Tadaah!  New nightstands!

As you hopefully will remember, I had to buy new bedroom cabinets when I discovered that adding a brass headboard to the already tight space resulted in the current nightstands not quite fitting.  The space had been reduced by the extra few centimetres taken up by the brass invader.  Yes, room decor in Chez Pout is a precise science!

The nightstands arrived just a couple of days before our departure date!  It's ok, I had a plan B!

I'm pleased with them.  They're solid and the drawers are a nice dark unpainted wood inside.

They fit beautifully with a little space to spare, so they don't looked wedged in like their predecessors.

I chose the traditional style to blend with the existing furniture, to save money.  The leggy style and wavy edging soooo matches the dressing table so I lucked out there - matchymatchy in outfits, matchymatchy in decor!

I'm keeping the old bedside cupboards either side of the dressing table for extra storage - for the moment, that could change!  

The post_march-madness-guest-bedroom makeover HERE explains how they found themselves there.

The heirloom blue Victorian nursing chair was a determining factor in going with the room style and colour.

The en suite shower room is beyond the glazed door (same colour scheme of couse!)  The mirrored door of the wardrobe alongside provides good back up for outfit shots when TP is out playing golf.

The room looks out on a field with a horse or two, so it's an uplifting view.

A white fur throw softens the browneyness of the bed chest.

A little mirror insert reflects more light and field view.

In fact I think I may call this room The Versailles Room as it reminds me of the palace's use of mirrors and glazing!

And now I'm itching to be a guest in my own home and have an overnight here.  With breakfast in bed provided by TP of course.

See happy-valentines-day.HERE to read more of my aspirations.

Yes, I'm still hanging on to that dream!

A la perchoine, 

Mary x.

March Madness - Guest Bedroom Makeover

The Guest Bedroom Makeover.

Another box ticked in March.  Almost.

Much March Madness has been going on in my home.  

I summarised in my previous post how much attention I've given Chez Pout during the month.  

Here's the guest bedroom, the focus of recent attention.  It's an almost finished room but I just had to share it with you NOW!

The scheme is blue and white and a light putty colour.

The Room Before (pics from about 5 years ago)

The room is long and narrow. 

It was bitty and a bit bland.  It lacked "identity".

I changed it round a bit a few years ago, after these shots,  but only a little and I knew it was unfinished work.

The glazed door at the end goes through to the ensuite shower room - it was a wardrobe run when I bought the house; that changed pretty soon after moving in!

A double wardrobe was built using one of the old wardrobe mirror doors (just in sight on the right).

The Makeover

So, the room was long overdue a revamp and I had to decide what elements would drive this project.  That was the easy part.  

1)  the large Japanese islands oil painting.  It's big and doesn't fit in any other room.  I had it in my bedroom in my previous house and I've had it for 27 years so it ain't going nowhere!

2) the blue velvet Victorian nursing chair, which belonged to TP's grandmother.

These two items were the key drivers.  So blue was the colour for this room, obvs.  Then came the hard part, the makeover!

During the Makeover

We're messy workers.

But you've got to break eggs eh ...?

The Almost-finished Room

We switched the brownware roll top desk for the white glass top desk.  I felt it created a dressing table and determined the mood of the room.  I then painted the limed mirror white and we positioned it to span the desk.  It reflects light from the window opposite and creates the illusion of width in this narrow room.

A surprise bonus were the old bedside cupboards.    Adding the old brass bedstead, surplus from the main bedroom, added an inch of width to the bed, which meant the cabinets now didn't quite fit the already-tight space either side of the bed.  Removal of the bedstead wasn't an option as it had been 

a b*%%#& to fit difficult to fit, so TP came up with plans to saw bits off the cabinet tops and take out chunks of skirting board.  

I stepped back and paused, had a "ha'peth of tar" moment and said "You know what, I'll buy smaller nightstands!".  And just like that, the v.old cabinets were queued for the charity shop.

 But when tidying up the mess after painting, I happened to shove one of them out of my way, next to the dressing table.  Then as I tidied some more, I was suddenly inspired to see if the two fitted either side.  They did, just!  So they stayed.

I like the run of desk and cabinets and they provide extra storage.  Maybe I'll freshen them up with a lick of paint, maybe I won't.

Similarly, I'm undecided about painting the old chest, but it needs to stay at the end of the bed to stop the bed sliding all over the wooden floor on its castors!

The glazed Billys from Ikea are tremendously good storage and a few years ago when they switched walls I had a carpenter build shelves up to the wall.

TP tidied up the dangly TV cabling in trunking.

Yes, that troublesome brass bedstead was so going to be dumped when it became surplus to requirements after the arrival of the new master bedroom whizzy bed, but I thought I'd give it a go in here before it left the house and I liked it!  The brass links to the touches of gold in the picture frame.

TP refreshed three walls with a putty coloured paint and although he wasn't convinced at first, we added a blue wall to echo the blue in the painting and bedding to knit the room colours together.  It balances out the long corridor effect of this room shape and creates a cosy feel.

Everything else was washed and ironed and looks fresh again.

The Deets

Expenses

Valspar emulsion paint (great coverage):

2 pots Sling Your Hook (light putty), £30

1 pot Self Soothing (blue), £15

Duvet from M&S, £35

Nightstands, 2 x £69 + delivery, £147.95 (currently in transit)

Freebies

Leftover Dulux Trade white eggshell for mirror surround.

Bed, bed set, curtains, rug,  etc, existing. 

Desk swapped in to create a dressing table.

Cabinets flanking the desk, no longer fitting the original space and were going to be charitied.

Bedstead a throw-out from the master bedroom makeover and was destined for the charity shop too.

So for a little over £200 and a bit of washing and furniture shifting, the room has been revamped.

My guests will enjoy a fresh spring feel to the room - La Duchesse, what do you think of 'your' room now ?!!

2018 was my year of Light Touch.

I've declared 2019 to be my year of returning things to their rightful place in the house.

I've lived here 16 years and over the years things have been chopped and changed and switched and some are no longer where they are best suited. This white desk is a perfect example of my 2019 Right Place drive - it's natural place is here.

  

Ok this isn't a modern room makeover.   It's not all black and moody and mid last century.  It's traditional.  

You will see that the decor style was determined by the style of existing hard and soft furnishings as I didn't want to spend too much on this room after splurging on a full makeover in the master bedroom!  So it's perhaps a bit "old lady" in decor terms.  But the room had always been hotch potch, thrown together with a bit of this and a bit of that.  It still is, I 'spose, but it seems a bit more cohesive now, more singular in style.

I think a lot has been achieved here for a handful of loose change  and a bit of graft - I've made a silk purse out of a sow's ear and the room is now inviting and pretty.

I hope you like our work!

Do you have a neglected spare room, filled with furnishings that had nowhere else to go?  

A room that could perhaps benefit from taking a step back and a rethink?

It's surprising what can be achieved with a small budget when you focus on a room's identity driven by what you already have.

Some of this room's changes have been purely accidental - The Universe can sometimes be your interior designer!

A la perchoine,

Mary x