I’ve been feeling a bit down on my house lately.
I live in a rented place, so sometimes it’s a bit hard to put your stamp on it. You don’t want to do anything too permanent to a place that isn’t yours. I need to replace a lot of my furniture and sometimes it’s easy to focus on the things you don’t like rather than the things you do.
So, to perk myself, up I spent a few minutes wandering round my house picking out the little things I do like. What I discovered is that while I might not like the rooms as a whole at the moment, they’re all full of little things I love.
LIVING ROOM/LOUNGE/FRONT ROOM/SITTING ROOM
Whatever you want to call it. It’s where I keep my TV and the sofa that’s falling apart. It’s also where I keep my beloved Papasan chair that is also nearing the end of it’s life and I need to find somewhere other than the Pier (RIP) to replace it.
My favourite things in this room:
I don’t even know where the frog came from, but he lives on top of a floor standing lamp in my room and he makes me happy.
The wooden bowl on top of the TV was made by Mr Chicks Dad. It’s contents vary depending on my mood, but currently include some pine cones collected on a walk in the woods, a carved wooden egg that says “Hugs”, a rose brooch, and, randomly, a Comic Relief red nose.
DINING ROOM
As far as I know this room only has one name right?
This was an amazing find in a Charity Shop window for 50p. I’d been looking for a cake stand for ages, then there it was. Not only is it gorgeous, it also folds up, in case I want to take it on impromptu cup cake picnics.
In a tiny corner under my stereo (remember them?) lives 2 elephants that used to belong to Mr Chicks Grandfather. On top of them live a fruit bowl and this cute tea tin, bought second hand from a tea shop in Norwich.
My bar! Ah, how I love my bar. When the rest of my house is a tip full of broken furniture I bought cheap 10 years ago I will still love my bar. It was a graduation present from my Mum & Dad.
Above it appears to be a shrine to Coca Cola. A vintage bar mirror, “stolen” from a pub when I was a teenager (one I was looking around with the possibility of living in, not one I was drinking in, my Parents are publicans) and 2 vintage postcards. On the bar itself lives some cocktail shakers, 1 a gift and 2 from a Boot fair, a fantastically kitsch manneken pis soda syphon Mr Chick got me for Christmas and this lovely box I bought in Prague (the love heart shot glasses behind are also from Prague)
BEDROOM
Another room with one name. Why does just the living room have more than one name?
A collection of cuties in here. My bedroom is probably one of the only rooms I almost like as a whole (but I need new curtains!) It’s mostly black and white, but I love the splash of colour from the vintage blanket box (a boot fair find) and the kitsch coasters beside the bed. The 1950s clock was another Christmas gift from Mr Chick.
This mirror was £1.25 from the Scope Charity shop. Originally it was gilt, but we sprayed it black to go with the room. I have another one I got for the same price (same shop, where are they all coming from?) that I’m going to keep gilt, though I haven’t yet found it a proper home. Reflected in the mirror in the bottom corner you can see a cross stitch of Calvin & Hobbes that Mr Chick made last summer. Another of my favourite things.
Paying attention to the little things makes life much nicer. So if you haven’t yet today, take the time to look around and remind youself of all the little things that make your life and your home.
