As I have been cooking, eating, drinking… and then cooking, eating and drinking some more over the last week, I have not had much time for any interiors dabbling. Not that it is a bad thing, in fact it made me sit back and look at the house with a visitors eye. I saw things I liked, and some things that could be improved. Therefore I have decided that this coming year the following things must be done, (and it will be interesting to look back and see if I actually made them happen in 12 months time via the blog).
1. Get on with the kitchen extension
I have had plans drawn to create a huge new kitchen from a tatty old outside decking area and to tweak existing rooms into a new laundry, wet room and study. The plans have been sent to the council for approval, and already have been sent back with a query and a demand that the planning gets upgraded to a more expensive version, (for their benefit not mine)! I am going over permitted development scales, so have to pay far more money for my extra 1.5 metres that I would like.
So I need the plans tweaked, a hefty fee attached and then hopefully I will get the go-ahead in 6-8 weeks time. If this happen, then realistically the build will not start until at least Easter. I have learnt to be really patient on this whole plan, and am a bit ‘Que Sera, Sera’ about it. Until I am actually standing in the new kitchen I am refusing to believe it will finally happen.
This is how I want it to be; rough luxe, industrial, mega-high ceilings and light.
But this is probably what it actually will end up like:
Lovely, but could be a bit skinny due to budgetary constraints…
2. Purge, purge, purge
Often when I open a cupboard, I am rained on by linens, decorative out of season pieces, tennis kit, things that I had forgotten we owned and generally too much STUFF.
2015 was the start of the purge and I have been quite ruthless, but it is still a household with far too many things. I need to follow the advice of the guru Marie Kondo, so things that do not ‘spark joy’ can be removed. This is quite a hard bit of advice to follow when sorting things such as paperwork, as bank statements, bills and insurance policies don’t really spark much joy anywhere in my life to be honest.
Regardless, I shall try and apply this principle to purging. There is a great website from Home Storage Solutions where they tell you what to get on with each week of the year. Like a timely reminder for slackers/procrastinators like myself, so I have signed up for 2016.
3. Master Bedroom makeover
I love my bedroom, but it has not changed for 5 years, and I would like to make it a bit more dramatic and moodier.
I am planning a very dark brown-based rich aubergine, right up over the ceiling as well. This colour called Bleeker by Abigail Ahern is fantastic.
I also have my eye on some beautiful silk wallpaper for the wardrobe panels with Chinoiserie details of birds and blossom. But it all depends on the colour of the walls so that element may change.
4. Guest Bedroom Makeover
We have a spare bedroom that is used for guests, and my mother is usually the main visitor so I decorated it with her in mind. It is OK, but does not really make my heart sing so this room will also be re-done this year. There is only really one area that a bed can go due to the positions of alcoves/radiators/a door and a Victorian sink. It is also a possibility that I switch it to becoming my youngest daughters room so she has more space. Hmm, need to think on this one…
Bed canopy and linens by Sanderson, walls in Hay by F&B
Aubergine fireplace wall
5. Ignore what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out’, and just do what I really like
Fashion in interiors change so fast, that it is really easy to just follow trends only to find that they have changed within 6 months. I don’t really agree with this for my own house, so I could never do the minimal and clean lined look which is on trend now for myself. I recently came across Ros Byam-Shaw’s book ‘English Eccentric’ and I literally drooled over every image. The homes are so beautiful and full of interesting items, so much that they make my own look quite bare.
So that is the plan for 2015, on top of the usual furniture makeovers and crafty dabblings. It will be good to see if I can get on with those plans on top of everything else. Happy New Year to you all.
Emma Kayne 