Home Sweet Home: Flat Tour

This weekend I finally got round to taking some photographs of the flat and some of the redecorating we have done over the last couple of months. Interior design is a love of mine, so I had a lot of fun! We live in a one bed flat, so we have had to think creatively when it comes to storage space. We also desperately needed new carpets in the hall way and living room which took up most of our budget so the rest of the decor needed to be on the cheap. We started with plain white walls and added pops of colour using accessories. I’m so happy with the final result!

Home Work Space

My little desk is my absolute pride and joy, I love it! I knew that I wanted a stylish and practical work space as I started working more from home so I treated myself to the Eames style chair (Ebay) and new desk (Ikea). I wanted to add some bright pops of colour with the hot pink photo frame (Urban Outfitters) and the yellow oversize lamp shade (Ikea). The tea cups are vintage and make fun holders for paper clips and pens and the glass bell jar (Monsoon Home) containing my bunny is just a fun accessory. I would like to get a bigger cork board to hang above the desk in future so I can expand my inspiration board too. Next to the desk is a black leather style stool (Argos) which is hollow inside and provides great additional storage.

Living Room

We kept our original black leather sofa but purchased a new storage / TV stand (Ikea) which we customised to fit our needs by leaving one door off and cutting out holes at the back for cables from the various media players. The other side contains boxes with DVD’s / Games etc. The wooden chest is a family heirloom and provides great storage and a home for my Russian doll collection. My picture display is one of my favourite things in the flat and is made up of random pieces of artwork and posters we all ready had in various frames which I had collected from charity shops, Ikea and Urban Outfitters. The tall purple lamp (Home base) stands by James black acoustic guitar and the existing book case filled with CD’s and DVD’s. To hide the thermostat on the wall I simply covered a canvas with some Habitat wall paper to make a cheap piece of art. Be sure to use home shopping catalogues when redesigning your lounge.’

HallwayWe already had a storage unit in the corner and decided to keep that to store my hats and scarfs in a basket, as well as a bowl for keys and a nice scented candle. The picture on the wall was created by framing a free wall paper sample from a DIY store. The main thing we added to the hall way was a large mirror (Ikea) which has really made the space feel more open.

Bedroom

The bedroom had been recarpetted a few months ago so it was just a case of refreshing some of the accessories. I got some new neutral curtains (Next) and a purple lamp (Homebase) along with the floral lampshade (Urban Outfitters).

I was very kindly sent the bedding to review from Joules. It is just gorgeous! The fabric is excellent quality and I love the pattern and the bright colours, it looks perfect on our Ikea bedframe along with star shaped fairy lights. You can see the full range of Joules Bedding here. The bowl on the window sill was a present from my parents from Turkey, I think it looks like something you would find from Anthropologie.

Kitchen

Ah my little kitchen! I spend so much time in there and have so much stuff I need to fit in! I hand painted the ‘apple a day’ art work years ago and I still quite like it. The yellow shelving units are just plain wooden shoe racks painted bright yellow and they make great display shelves for jars of grains and beans – I also use a vintage cake stand to hold jars of spices. The other shoe rack is kind of a tea and coffee making station with all my teas lined up, some mugs and storage tins. Underneath that work top is a wheel out stand alone unit with drawers and baskets which I use to store my ever expanding recipe book collection, my nut butters, nuts and dried fruit and dehydrator. I have strung some vintage fabric bunting across the window for a bit of fun too, and please don’t judge me on that pile of laundry to be ironed!

BathroomThere’s not much to out bathroom to be honest. Its a very old light blue suite that we can’t afford to replace so we have made the most of. I’ve added some nice little touches like hanging decorations and vintage china wear to old tooth brushes etc. It does the job!

Do you enjoy interior design? As I said I had so much fun here, I enjoyed matching new and old elements and getting in lots of bright colours. The space feels very ‘us’ – well ok then, more me than James ;-) What is your interior design style?