House update: 2 months of lockdown
Hello :) How are you?
We’ve been in lockdown here in the UK for just over 8 weeks now. It’s been an odd couple of months. I’m not quite sure how to best describe how it’s felt. Quiet, peaceful, frustrating; on the whole though, I admit, it’s been generally quite delightful. I have, on more than one occasion, asked myself if I should be feeling positivity and contentment during a time like this? Some may say not. But I say why not? I realised early on in this period of isolation that feeling sad and guilty won’t help anyone; the world heals faster the more positive energy we send out to the universe. I feel healthier, more rested and more at ease with myself than I have felt in a long time. Possibly since I was a child. I’ve felt less rushed, more accepting and much more present. So really, it’s been 8 weeks of unexpected additional time to enjoy our new home and a slower pace of life; 8 weeks to fall in love with where we’ve moved to; and 8 weeks to learn to better appreciate the small things. 8 weeks to reflect on where I am in life, and on where I want to take my life from here onwards. And 8 weeks to continue getting overly excited about all things design!
We’ve been able to make the most of the time at home to work on the house and garden. Unsurprisingly, deliveries have slowed our house decorating process somewhat; I’ve lost count of the number of items we have ordered that still haven’t arrived. That said, the extra time around the house has provided us with the time to really get to know it; to understand how we use the rooms, to understand how the light falls in each room and how we would like to decorate and use the rooms going forward. Luckily, the ideas I started with are still the basis for how we plan to decorate the house. We started the decorating process with a focus on the living room and dining room, partly as these are the rooms we use the most and partly so that when we can socialise once again the most social spaces will be ready and comfortable. The kitchen will stay as it is for now; a bigger project to tackle over the next year or two. The bathroom is going to be an ongoing project - it’s perfectly usable as it is, albeit a bit boring and the shower a bit crap! The bedroom and hallway will follow the dining room.
Despite the lack of deliveries, we have made some progress and I wanted to share some images with you:
The living room is getting there but we have a lot of items somewhere in the post. This little tv cabinet has arrived however! We just need some additional furnishings and decorative items to go with it! We don't have a TV but loved the curved shape of this Made one. We managed to find an ex-display one for a bit of a discount, hence the teeny tiny bit of paint missing on the drawers. I'm undecided about the grey. Might paint it another colour!
How gorgeous is this Areca Palm! My lovely Buddha statuette always makes me smile. Matt wasn't sure at first but now he loves it too. The one thing we are being patient with is replacing the fireplace. I really REALLY don't like this one. The surround is OK. But the rest needs replacing as soon as we can. The plan is to source an old stone fireplace; something a little more suited to the house.
And here's a snippet of the dining room. Not finished yet, but most of the wallpaper is up! Neither of us have put wallpaper up but I think we've done a pretty good job at lining the pattern up! This gorgeous paper is called Cranes by Osborne and Little. I love how the greens in it work with the green paint on the walls.
Garden centres started to reopen last week which makes me smile. We braved the one closest to us - Hiller’s Garden Centre, Bath - yesterday and finally got to pick up some houseplants (and some outdoor ones)! I had a LONG wish list and managed to find all but 3 of my favourites. As mentioned above, it’s been great spending time in the house before buying as we developed a far better understanding of the sunlight and (hopefully) a better understanding of which plants will be best suited to which room.
Some of our plants on the decking looking pretty and ready to be properly potted up.
This is a rose we bought recently in root form. It's a climbing David Austin Wollerton Old Hall rose and has started to grow leaves! I am so excited to see it bloom eventually. The flower is beautiful.
These are a mix of shop bought, nursery bought and many grown from seed. We've actually planted most of these now, but this was our patio for a while! Crowded to say the least!
I just love this photo :) White flowers will always be my favourite.
Here's a happy Matt watering the plants!
And, finally, here's my new orchid. It's in our bedroom and is just lovely. The mirror was black; I painted it white this weekend and it works much better in the room (which is still to be painted).
I'd love to know if you've been up to any decorating since we've been in lockdown. Leave a comment below!
Thank you for visiting :)
Sarah x