Curtains and blinds

Well, the Angels continue to smile as more boxes are dismantled, but most progress this week has been made on window coverings.

We initially thought we were very fortunate in moving into a house that had blinds on all the windows, meaning that we did not have to rush the process of buying curtains.  However, we did not appreciate how oppressive metal Venetian blinds can make a room feel.  So it quickly became a priority to re-cover the windows in softer materials.  It has made an amazing difference: more light is let into the room during the day, and at night the light is properly blocked out leading to more restful sleep!

Our hallway blind - soon to be replaced!

The top floor bedrooms - featuring small gable windows - were the first to look more homely with simple, colourful roller-blinds.  On the first floor, Leo opted for some black-out dinosaur curtains and I took the decision to buy Yasmin some plain off-white ('oyster') curtains.  Felix helpfully pointed out that they were boring, but bearing in mind that she already had a stripy, multi-coloured Roman blind underneath and fuchsia pink curtain poles, I thought that was enough colour in a space of 160cms by 185cms!

Yasmin's fuchsia pink curtain poles! 

Our bedroom and the downstairs reception rooms took a little more thought.  We wanted Roman blinds but decided (for now, at least) that we could use some perfectly good curtains from our old house.  My former neighbour, who is a whizz on the sewing-machine, split our sitting room curtains in half to make two pairs for the downstairs snug and study.  They were tailor-made for our old sitting room that had a large bay window, but it was really nice to be able to re-use them.

So now, having resolved the natural light issues, we are beginning to consider the artificial lighting throughout the house - what to keep and what to replace... I'll keep you all posted!

Priorities for sorting out a new home!

It must not be over-looked that both Chris and I are Librans and so quite obsessed with decor and aesthetically pleasing designs!  Rather than directing removal men as they unloaded the lorry, Chris was busy taking all the "fire escape" signs off the doors and walls, desperately trying to make our new house more like our home.  Ten days into the move and the nesting bug has caught me too - although the logical side of my brain still says unpack boxes first, then decorate etc, I had to put a few pictures up and what a difference it made to make our house feel more like home!

So although most of our time so far has been taken up by unpacking boxes, working out the boiler and oven and trying to stop the fire alarm from going off by accident, we still have time to dream about wallpapers and wet-rooms!  Our latest idea is cracking on with the hallway as soon as our boxes are unpacked.  It makes a big impact in terms of making this place feel more like a family home, because there is so much hallway space, but in some ways it is fairly straightforward - painting, perhaps some wall papering and eventually a change of carpet.

Meanwhile as decorating is still a little way ahead in our journey, there is a new motto in our house that is relevant to our unpacking frenzy: "Another Angel is smiling!" - this came from Chris who piped up while dismantling yet another box: "An Angel smiles each time a box is killed!" - I like that image that these Angels are looking down on us while we beaver away at making our new house our home and watch over us, encouraging us to keep going with all the work that needs to be done.

Moving Day!

Finally, we did it!  Moving day was a week today, so all packed up and ready to go - full of excitement and ideas:  One morning, a few days before moving, the entire family were all sat on our bed with paint samples discussing what colours our children will choose for their bedrooms.  A week later and we have already visited Homebase, and the kids have their colours and are now just waiting for Mummy and Daddy to hurry up and get painting!  Last time we moved house, our eldest was 2, so we didn't have the same situation where now everyone has their own opinion!  Felix at that stage was happy with blue and so it was - the boy's bedroom was painted a light blue colour.  Now on the other hand, they are growing up and have their own rooms for the first time and so more diplomacy was required on our part.

In theory, both Chris and I agreed that the children can choose their own colours.  The only veto was that Felix could not have BLACK - as was his first suggestion!  So we went through all sorts of elaborate plans of different walls being painted different colours and different combinations, but when we got to the shop, Chris found it harder than expected to accept his children's choices.  Not that they had chosen anything outrageous but simply that they do not have the design experience that adults have and were perhaps not choosing the best options for their room.  For example, Felix has a small attic room and wanted a blue/ purple colour called Lupin which was lovely but would end up making the room feel very closed in.  Yasmin wanted pink and purple and so far we have just bought pink, but she is not letting up!  So this is a learning process for us parent's too - letting go and allowing our children to make their own decisions and learn from their own mistakes.  Leo was "conned" dare I say into choosing a painted wooden curtain pole rather than the brash metal pole that first took his fancy as Chris persuaded him that it was an elven stick!  So Felix has come round to a paler blue and cream, Leo is happy with his green and Yasmin is still campaigning for her purple - I am sure it will all turn out ok in the end.  And this is only the beginning of our design adventure!

I promise some photos of our house next week - still struggling to get broad band set up! - Oh, the joys of moving!!!

It must be fate!

It is all finally coming together!  I have always felt that this house was "meant to be" for us; even at the start of the process things just seemed to slot into place.

For instance, on the fateful Tuesday when I'd driven all the way from Dorset to view the property for the first time, I contacted my mortgage advisor. Usually this means leaving a message and having a conversation some later. This time, I was put straight through and Dave (our mortgage advisor) very calmly and competently told me what I needed to do and what we would need to borrow. Phew! - it was all okay, we could afford the house; he put me in touch with a firm of solicitors and arranged a mortgage promise to be faxed to the estate agent's later that morning.  Fantastic!  All going to plan so far, and so armed with a coffee and biscuit, I set about writing the bid for what I hoped would be our future home (fingers and toes crossed).  I wrote what I hoped was a very good bid, describing not just the offer amount, but what we hoped to do with the property. It was all delivered to the estate agent's office by 12.30, after which I set off back to Dorset for the rest of the family holiday! 

All we had to do then was wait...  Little did I know then, that the two months until the Council meeting on 25th October 2012 was a short wait, compared to some of the other delays we've faced! In the end, though, we got there: contracts have now been exchanged and amoving date set for next Wednesday. So the next time I sit down to write this blog, I will be sitting in our new house! I'll be bursting with ideas of what to do with it, but first I guess I will have to tackle the boxes and all the unpacking!!  My head is a little fuzzy right now with the 101 things that need doing before the move, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and soon I can finally get down to crafting my new home!

They say no news is good news...

That saying turned out to be true in our case!  While we were away, our buyers found new purchasers for their house, so the chain is restored and we are all up and running again for moving.  All we need to do now is wait... yet again!

Now I am back at home, my mind has turned to practical issues, such as getting the house as clean as possible before we leave, do some tidying in the garden and just enjoy the sunny days in the spring in our "old house" as it is now referred to by my two youngest children!

Perhaps, it was all meant to be... a delayed move?!  Moving just before a holiday is not ideal and now that we are back, if we had moved before, we would have been in the thick of unpacking boxes and ready for another holiday by now!  This way, things are much more relaxed, we have time to make all the other arrangements at a steady pace before moving and can focus on the move rather than trying to pack up for a 3 week holiday as well!

So while I wait, I can carry on dreaming about interiors and buy candles as my inspiration from Sweden:

Beauty and function

I have learnt a lot about Scandinavian design and style from their transport systems.  Their airports and train stations tend to be spacious, light and airy.  The airport in Oslo, I remember from a trip 12 years ago -  the images of glass and beautiful woods has always stayed with me:

 We have been on a number of train journeys both in Norway and Sweden in the past and the scenery is breath-taking to say the least:

Journey to Flam in the fjiords for our honeymoon!

As well as being able to admire the views, travelling by train gives you a great opportunity to take in all the styles of architecture in the region.  Last weekend we travelled across Sweden on a high-speed train to visit friends in Gothenburg.

 As well as loving the opportunity to see more farmhouses along the way, I was also struck by the simple beauty of facilities on the train, there to make the journey as comfortable and efficient as possible.  The tables on the train are made of thin veneers of beech - much nicer than the plastic ones in the U.K!  There are plug sockets and reading lights for every seat, plenty of leg room and a comfortable seat for a long journey.  Toilets are clean and all come with a baby changer!  Lunch can be pre-booked and is served in an American-style diner on the train - fantastic! 

Several lessons could be learnt by the railway companies in England, but I also picked up a few tips - such as how important it is to have easy access to  plug sockets in the home and how much of a difference wood furniture can make to the ambience of a place - wherever you are!

Scandinavian design

I think my last post summarised the important elements of Scandinavian design: light, wood and warmth.  So what will I take home with me from Swedish interiors as inspiration?

Northern Lights in N. Sweden

Sunlight, candlelight and the clever use of artificial light are all important across the world, but I have really been struck by the brightness of the natural light here in Sweden.  Especially in these spring months of April and May, the blue sky emerges with dazzling sunlight bringing everyone out from the long winter hibernation inside.  Also having the Northern Lights on your doorstep up here in Scandinavia must have an impact on how you consider light, it being such an amazing sight.  It is one trip I plan to put on my bucket list (when I get round to making one); to me it looks so surreal, unnatural even, and I guess it is even more amazing that this is a natural occurence in our world.  From my short time here, I have gathered that people love natural light - from the sun and from candles - and there is much use of neutral tones, but at the same time, there is a real celebration of colour in the buildings and interiors:

I think the fantastic thing about design and interiors is that it becomes such an eclectic mix of a person's personality and their experiences in life - what they have been inspired by both locally and further afield.  For me nature, light and a sense of cosiness and warmth are all important in my home and perhaps that is why I have found so much that I like in Scandinavia, as it brings all those elements together.

For me, once I have found the right inspiration, it is a matter of interpreting that into interiors.  I visualise that the ideas I will take home from Sweden will appear in little ways - wooden furniture as a feature piece, or a splash of colour to create warmth; the use of glass or neutral tones to accentuate light, and a theme of simplicity that runs throughout the house.  Here are a couple of interiors I liked that display Scandinavian design: