Renovations and decorations

One of the things we have been doing recently is moving back into the newly renovated and redecorated master bedroom.

After what seems like a very long time (16 years!) the room is finally completed, Compostman did a terrific job and we are so pleased with the result!

The colour scheme in the bedroom is similar to that which we chose  for the sitting room. With the wooden floor, furniture and doors the effect there was (in our opinion) really lovely - lots of earth tones. It was only after we finished that we realised the colour scheme was similar to one we had seen in an online paint catalogue!

Regardless, these are our favourite colours and we wanted a similar, warm, cosy effect in our new bedroom. Compostman and I discussed colour schemes but in the end we decided we liked the caramel/terracotta/chocolate theme so much that we would use the same colours again. And of course we still had lots of paint left over, so it was a thrifty move to make as well.

So in our new bedroom we have one terracotta wall,

the other three walls are caramel, the woodwork and ceiling is white and we have picked chocolate coloured blinds for the windows. 

Obviously to turn a painted room into our new cosy bedroom I had a wish list of things we needed;  a bed, headboard, mattress, wardrobe, lighting fittings, several chests, new curtains/blinds and at least one bookcase (!) as well as blinds, a rug or two, a blanket chest and pictures, candles etc.

After a good clean up and polish we re used our old wooden wardrobe and chests and with the new (FSC) solid oak wooden floor the overall effect is pretty good, although I do say it myself :)  We removed the old carpet and took it away - we inherited it when we moved in and it was old, even then, but not in a good way.

We have moved our divan bed and headboard from our old bedroom.  I decided to replace the (very old and rather faded) curtains with blinds as I realised just how much better blinds would be to shut out the light. I managed to find some blackout blinds in exactly the right colour chocolate and the old curtains have been washed and cut up for patchwork and rags.

I remembered I had a wool rug stored away in the loft which we inherited from Compostmans parents' house. I got it out and it is just right for the room :)

I am now sorting through the fabric stash to see what I can use to make the log cabin quilt I have in mind for our bed in the new bedroom :)

Apart from a couple of small rugs for either side of the bed where our feet hit the floor and a chocolate valance sheet, the room is finished and it is just how we wanted it. I am so pleased with the result :)






The view from one of our bedroom windows.

Our new bedroom - gaining inspiration from on line shopping sites

As some of you may remember, Compostman has been refurbishing and redecorating our guest bedroom with a view to making it our bedroom. He has been very busy, rehanging the door, putting in new skirting boards, new flooring, he also did a complete repaint with a lot of preparation needed first as the plaster was so bad.

When we moved in to Compost Mansions we chose the smallest bedroom to sleep in, mainly because it had the chimney breast in and was the warmest room in an otherwise very cold house.  But it was rather cramped in there!

The guest bedroom is much larger and has two windows rather than just one and we always planned on moving in "eventually".  But "eventually" ended up being 16 years...

Well you have to think about things before you act, don't you?

Anyway, the room is finally completed, Compostman did a terrific job and we are so pleased with the result!

The colour scheme in the bedroom is similar to that which we chose ( after much argument discussion ) for the sitting room. With the wooden floor, furniture and doors the effect there was (in our opinion) really lovely - lots of earth tones. It was only after we finished that we realised the colour scheme was similar to one we had seen in an online paint catalogue!

Regardless, these are our favourite colours and we wanted a similar, warm, cosy effect in our new bedroom. Compostman and I discussed colour schemes but in the end we decided we liked the caramel/terracotta/chocolate theme so much that we would use the same colours again. And of course we still had lots of paint left over, so it was a thrifty move to make as well.

So in our new bedroom we have one terracotta wall,

the other three walls are caramel and we have picked chocolate coloured blinds for the windows. 

Obviously to turn a painted room into our new cosy bedroom I had a wish list of things we needed;  a bed, headboard, mattress, wardrobe, lighting fittings, several chests, new curtains/blinds and at least one bookcase (!) as well as blinds, a rug or two, a blanket chest and pictures, candles etc.

I did a lot of looking at various Pinterest boards and magazines and on line shopping sites to get ideas - there are lots of lovely things to look at, and I get a lot of inspiration from on line stores even if I don't buy that many items from them. I  always come away from an on line browse with design ideas for colour schemes - both for the house and in the garden.

After a good clean up and polish we re used our old wooden wardrobe and chests and with the new wooden floor the overall effect is pretty good, although I do say it myself :)  We removed the old carpet and took it away - we inherited it when we moved in and it was old, even then, but not in a good way.

We have moved our divan bed and headboard from our old bedroom - I would love to have bought a new bed, something like this Auvergne divan from Tempur which I spotted on the Olrids and Downtown on line shopping website. It is exactly the right colour to go in our new bedroom. But we have a perfectly good divan bed and headboard with a new-ish and expensive mattress, so sadly this lovely bed had to stay on the wish list of things I would like, but can't have. I have ordered a chocolate brown valance sheet for our divan bed, though it is a poor substitute.

Another thing on my wish list were blackout blinds - I got the idea to replace the (very old and rather faded) curtains with blinds when I was asked to review the Hilary's Web Blinds site and I realised just how much better blinds would be to shut out the light. I managed to find some blackout blinds in exactly the right colour chocolate from Argos. The old curtains have been washed and cut up for patchwork and rags.

The room had some old and very tatty down lights, which we wanted to replace so I was really pleased to spot the lovely down lights we now have, on the Homebase website , for an on line discount price. I have only recently realised that things can be cheaper if you buy them on line and then collect in store, rather than buy them in the store!

One item on my wish list was a rug and I saw one (again on the Olrids and Downtown site) which I was quite tempted to buy. Then I remembered I had a wool rug stored away in the loft which we inherited from Compostmans parents' house. I got it out and it was a very similar colour scheme and design (which is why I liked the on line one, I guess!) and it is just right for the room :)

There are still bits to put away and more pictures to hang on the wall, but we have been in our new bedroom for a week now and are very pleased with it. I do have a small amount left over from the budget and we would like another bedside chest so I may buy this one.

Or I may not, and instead put the money toward redecorating our old bedroom (last room and then we are finished, for now!)  or even towards fabric to make the log cabin quilt I have in mind for our bed in the new bedroom :)





The view from one of our bedroom windows.

Snapbox photo printing service - review

As you may have noticed, I love taking photos. I love to document my day. I carry a small Fuji Fine pix camera around with me all the time and I snap away, documenting and capturing what I do, as I do it. I use these images in so many ways - I obviously put them on here and on The Compost Bin  :-), I use them to illustrate talks and lecture notes; I refer to them to see what I was doing and when, I check back to see what "this time last year" looked like in the garden, and so on.

I don't pretend to be a particularly good photographer, but occasionally I do see an image I have captured and thought "ooh I like that - I wish I could have that as a print" but somehow I never get around to actually printing it off. I used to print off a lot of my shots in the good old days of film but since the advent of digital cameras I haven't done much printing.

I was recently contacted by SnapBox  an innovative digital photography service newly launched in the UK by established fine art printing company, JONDO. Snapbox very kindly offered me a free print in return for trying out the service.

Compostman has been refurbishing and redecorating the guest bedroom and it will (very soon!) become our room. We have a new colour scheme on the walls, a new floor, new blinds, a new flower bed to look out at, so what better way to brighten up one of the windowless walls than to put up a lovely print?

 

So, I went to the website, uploaded my chosen image from my computer, cropped it until I liked what I saw, picked a size and then put it in my basket. During the process you get to see what the print looks like, in the frame, against a wall. A few more key strokes and lo, I had purchased a print to hang on the wall. 

The whole process took me less than 10 mins from start to finish and was much like loading images onto Blogger (only faster!) 

Apparently you can also upload a photo from your mobile device, or select one from your Facebook albums. Alternatively you can email an image from your device to Snapbox.

 I was most impressed that the print arrived the NEXT DAY! I ordered it at 11 am and it arrived the next day by courier at 2 pm. What about that! The parcel came well wrapped up in recyclable stuff - I will be adding the cardboard to the compost bins.

 

And this is what I chose - it is one of the Bumblebee images I took from the Centaurea next to the polytunnel door.I am so pleased with this print - it looks just like I wanted it to and the image quality is excellent.

At the moment it is standing on my dresser in our bedroom, waiting for me to get round to hanging it on the wall.

Disclaimer -This post mentions a company who sent me a voucher for a free print, in return for me trialling the website and going through the ordering process. It originally appeared ( in an expanded form) on The Compost Bin. As always, the words I write are my own and are my honest opinions.

Bumblebee print for our new bedroom wall :)

 Remember the SnapBox review I posted about last week? Well I was most impressed that the print arrived the NEXT DAY! I ordered it at 11 am and it arrived the next day by courier at 2 pm. What about that!

The parcel came well wrapped up in recyclable stuff - I will be adding this cardboard to the compost bins.

The print itself was well cushioned on a separate card.

And this is what I chose - it is one of the Bumblebee images I took from the Centaurea next to the polytunnel door.

I am so pleased with this print - it looks just like I wanted it to and  the image quality is excellent.

I shall be putting it up in our newly finished bedroom, which we MOVED INTO TODAY! YAY!

A before and after post is being put together, but for now I am just so happy to be in a lovely, clean, decorated, pretty room.

With a lovely SnapBox print on the wall :)