The Art of Excess.

Things.

I love them.

All sorts of things. I love nothing more than browsing an over-stuffed shop and rescuing gems from their dusty prisons on shelves; being glossed over by unseeing eyes all day long. I love to take them home and let them shine in their own right - bringing life to them. So while the house renovation has been an incredible project we are really getting to the good bit now. The bit where I can come into my own and feel less useless. I can't lay floors, I can't create an underfloor heating system and I can't install wood-burners but what I can do is make a house a home. For months I have been mourning all my beautiful trinkets and treasures, packed away in newspaper and bubble-wrap and, sadly, actually forgetting some of it.

But this past weekend OH decided by depression was getting too deep and my beautiful prizes from shopping trips gone by needed to be resurrected from their gloomy temporary graves. Since we moved in the coffee table that once resided in our rental home front room has been next to my side of the bed. This has meant side-shuffling in and out of my slumber-place day in day out for 7 months. 7 months of shuffling! Madness! So the first thing we did was clean it down and move it. As soon as it was out of the room we could see the bedroom we'd envisaged all those months ago. It was immediately airier and brighter and it surprised us both just how good that felt. It spurred us on and while OH got on with his jobs (mostly outdoor related) I set to work dressing the front room and the newly re-homed coffee table. This is not the big-reveal as there are still quite a few things to do - trim the fireplace, hang artwork, make the doors....the list is worryingly endless....but here's how we're looking now:

This is the naughty coffee table that had me shuffling about. We were both decided that it would have to go as it just wouldn't suit the new room but now it's in it we aren't overly offended by it. Sure, we'll get a new one at some point but for now it is doing everything we need it to; looking pretty and even offering an extra seat in the room when needed - it's surprisingly strong.

These bookends were a split-second buy in a thrift store last year. I was at the till buying something sensible like cooking pans and they caught my eye - I actually asked a stranger to pass them over to me in the queue. OH wasn't sure at first - I think he saw something of The Godfather in them, but he loves them now. I chose to group a few style books in between them. I'm not one to deny that I am a magpie when it comes to creating something - be it interior or sartorial. I like to pick and mix from all sorts of sources.

I absolutely adore both these frames. The one of us was taken at a friends' wedding way back in 2013 - we'd only been together about 6 months but we were already best-friends and inseparable. We have so much fun together - I'm lucky to be getting hitched to such a great fella. The picture of Italy was a beautiful gift from my sister for my birthday in March. OH and I got engaged in Rome in November, as you know, so Ellie decided to immortalise the date for us in this special way - and in bold colours, it's as if she knows me or something?!

This table was a great find in a market last year when I was working in London. I sent OH a picture, more as a joke, but I couldn't believe it when he rang me back and asked how much it was. The next thing I knew I was arranging a courier to get it up to Manchester for us. We had to store it at my mums while we renovated but now the messy bit is over we're able to really enjoy it. I love it with my cage light and Georg Jensen candle holder on it. I love light sources!

Reginald - another great discovery. He was in amongst a mish-mash of other interior pieces. I knew I loved him the second I saw him. I can't remember how much I paid for him now but I can't with most of these pieces. And I don't expect to. If I did I'd know I didn't really adore them because usually, when I love something that much, the price doesn't really come into it too much - that is quickly cancelled out by the hours of happiness they will give me just gazing at them.

My style is best described as excessive. I like to group my lovely things so it gives me maximum visual pleasure whichever way I choose to look. I always find the best way to do this is to group various sizes of objects to keep the eye travelling - a cluster of small, round, similar looking things is nowhere near as exciting as one of varying heights and textures.

So we're off...next weekend may be the bathroom makeover I've been working up to. Everything is in place; paints, pictures, accessories, so stay tuned!

Hupdate: A House Update.

It's been a little while since I last posted due to various work trips, wedding prepping and the fact that we've spent every last waking second making the final push on the downstairs house renovation.

When we moved in, back in October, it was hard to imagine getting to where we even are now. After all, we ripped down plaster and walls, took floors up, lived with no kitchen, lived with no heating (the average house temperature through winter was 11 degrees...there were some less than wonderful evenings during that time), lived with no water (that was fun!) and generally took things right back to basics. Still, we pushed on; and last weekend we began to see why.

When we moved in the front room looked like this:

We'd had 8 weeks between getting the keys and getting in so we'd done a fair amount of the major demolition work in that time.

It was like moving into a dust pit.

That wrapped up thing on the right is my beloved Smeg fridge - just look at the state of her, poor thing.

Since October our living room furniture consisted of this - yes, those are garden chairs:

These pictures were taken pre-kitchen so we had a lovely kitchen/living room hybrid thing going on that, while hideous to look back on now, served us well.

Then the floors came up...

We learnt to balance pretty quickly, I can tell you. One bad foot meant a redo of some very technical work at times.

Then the new floors went down:

We used engineered oak throughout the whole downstairs because what we didn't want was radiators. So we chose underfloor heating and a wood-burner to keep us cosy. The engineered oak allows the underfloor heating system to work - solid oak won't let the warmth through.

Of course I am simplifying the steps in a major way but I would imagine to most people this is all achingly boring so I'm trying to be brief.

Once the floors went down we covered them in think lining paper (meant for prepping walls for papering.) This was an amazing tip from OH's mum. Good quality lining paper is ridiculously durable, non-porous in most cases and protects like nothing else we've used in the build. So whilst I *know* the floors look that fabulous underneath it all, we can barely see them!

So about 3 weeks ago the front room painting started in earnest.

Obviously all the pics include OH and not really me but I promise I was doing my half of the work!

After weeks of deliberating over wall colour we plumped for Farrow&Ball's Pavilion Grey.
We didn't actually - we went a trade paint place that does 'replicas' of popular colours and did it that way. I love the F&B floor paints we've used upstairs and they're really hard wearing but I'd heard from friends that the wall paints were a different ball game - chalky, constantly rubbing off against clothes and furniture and needing a fresh coat annually. I don't have time for that!

We decided to take the grey all the way up the walls but pick out the original features in white and have the ceiling white too. We hope that it gives the illusion of even higher ceilings which is part of what I love about the house - the feeling of space even though they're relatively compact rooms.

After we finished the painting we could FINALLY banish the garden chairs. While they've been marvellously loyal and useful their place is not indoors so off they went. Cue: The Chesterfield.

Our friend Mark helped us get it back in on the deal of beer and rugby if he completed the task. He didn't let us down. So up came the paper covering the floor and in came actual indoor seating. I almost cried.

Then came the windows. They were replaced just over a year before we bought the house which is brilliant but then, for some reason, the woodwork around them was stained a grim dark brown (see above.) So we set to work getting that all white and it instantly transformed the room.

OH made the genius decision of getting custom made blinds for the windows so they sit snug in the panes and look neat. And 2 nights ago, after living in a fishbowl for a week, he put them up.

And then I *did* cry.

So in 5 months we went from that to this. Next step is the dining room. Another Hupdate featuring that coming soon.

Hank Meets World.

I've heard people remark in the past that they are wearing 'two hats' or have 'two heads' when they have a lot on their plates and have to try and keep some perspective. I've never really understood that. Until now.

During the day I am a fashion sales account manager. In the evenings I am a house renovator and in between that I'm a wedding planner. To say this is a little overwhelming is an understatement. But so far I'm managing to keep my head. Ask me again in 5 months when I have a hallway to paint, a wedding in 4 weeks and 2 collection deadlines looming. You may not get the same even-headed response.

As a result of this my diary is a precise animal. I know my movements more than 4 weeks ahead, I can tell you the dates of the next 12 Saturdays off the top of my head and I stick to my plans. If only to keep some sanity.

Last weekend was a good example of 'The Heads' at work. On Friday I had some major meetings in the London office so had to focus entirely on them. Once they were wrapped up I hopped on a train back to Manchester upon which I looked at marquees for 2 hours on my iPad (I know, crazy and exciting times *ahem*), then on Saturday morning we had to get up at the crack of dawn and get over to where we're getting married (about an hour from us) to meet the vicar who will be officiating, then to meet one of my bridesmaids for a dress fitting, then back home to a dinner party. But not straight back home. Oh no - of course there was a renovation associated pitstop at a B&Q megastore sort of on our route home.

So within the space of 36 hours I'd been 'work-Sarah', 'wedding-Sarah' and 'what-the-heck-are-you-doing-that's-an-awful-lampshade-Sarah'. These things combined do not make an easy Dry January. If B&Q sold gin I'd have been off the wagon!

But what had started as a foot-dragging (yes, like a moody toddler) trip for me soon became quite exciting. You see, our local B&Q is a small store - good for paints, plugs, power sockets and the like. But this was a 'megastore' and I think I could have actually set up home there.

So off we set careering about the aisles with our trolley and laughing that'd we'd become 'that couple' Oh dear.

I don't know what's happened to B&Q but they have really upped their game.
Look what we came away with...

These have REALLY pleased me. We are so far over-budget on the renovation that the budget is now a tiny dot on the horizon. As a result this means some of the details have had to take a hit for now. I have been pining for Tom Dixon shades since I can remember (by the way, am I the only one who gets annoyed when a designer they have loved for ages suddenly seems to be everywhere?! Hmf.) but they are almost £100 a pop and when you need three this isn't really ideal. But B&Q have definitely not disappointed; at £29 each these were a no-brainer. We'll be changing the cord, length and rose at some point very soon but we were both too excited to get them up asap.

Then there's this beauty...

Our house was built in 1907 and while the majority of the original features remain downstairs some of the more beautiful ones, like ceiling roses, have long since been torn out. Well I am here to put them back in. And with the help of my now firm favourite B&Q I can do this for such a reasonable amount. I think this was around £35 and I know it will look amazing with the lighting I am planning for it. Ooo I can hardly wait!

Definitely the most 'boring' of the lot (but still thrilling to me) was this new mat for the front door. It ticks all the boxes, great design, strong colours and actually cleans shoes. Marvelous all round.

Now...the next one we did NOT buy in B&Q. We acquired him some years ago and he is probably one of my most prized possessions. For a while he was re-located to a bar in Farringdon but I was heartbroken when he went and OH spent weeks negotiating his safe return to surprise me. Last week I came downstairs to find him hanging in his new home. Ladies and gentlemen - meet Hank.

He lives in the back fireplace space where we keep the wood for the wood-burner. He (literally and figuratively) lights up my life. When I found out OH had squirreled him back up North for me I almost cried. His lights are a little tricksy and are special order from a company in America who still make these lights for circuses. No biggy. I have 100 on order! Now, I know his name shouldn't really be Hank. I know he is in fact a she - she is Laika. The first dog ever to enter space. But she died up there and that is just too sad for me to think about every day so she is now a he and Hank it is.

So we're getting there - the fact I am begining to start to nudge in the direction of actually dressing the house is very exciting but we still have a long way to go. Namely burning lead paint off original mouldings verrrry carefully ready for some fresh new shades. This is back-breaking stuff and takes hours upon hours. But when it is done I know it will all be worth it and I'll be so pleased I took the time to do it. More updates in the very near future. OH also built a man-cave this weekend...

New Chapters.

Wow.

Well, hello again. It's been a while. But I needed a proper break; not a brief week or two, riddled with the guilty 'I need to blog' feeling. A full no-guilt-focus-on-work-and-personal-life-and-stop-doing-so-much break.

In fact, such was the magnitude of the break that it appears I decided I needed to pile more onto my personal life plate so... OH and I bought a house!

It's in our beloved town of Chorlton which isn't the cheapest place to buy so we knew we were never going to get a bargain but our friends and our much-loved lifestyle are based there and the thought of moving away from it was too much of a wrench for us so we sucked it up and bought up.

It's a 3 bedroom Victorian terrace which I know is most peoples idea of hell ("A terrace?! how small and, er, quaint!") but it's actually my idea of a dream home so I am beyond thrilled with it. Or rather...what it will be.

Right now it's a phenominal mess of a building site but it hasn't dampened our spirits. We are going at it full steam ahead and have 1 month from now to move in. Our evenings and weekends are taken over and we've become almost complete social recluses but we don't care. We need to put hours, days, weeks and months into our bricks and mortar so that's what we're doing.

Here are some pics of the house as it was when we bought it. I'll label them as what they are/will be:

Living Room

Dining room/bar

Kitchen

Our Bedroom

My Dressing Room

Yard

And the day we got the keys:

And here are a few pictures of it last week. I'll try to do it in the same order but if I don't succeed I'll label these too:

Living Room

Dining Room / Kitchen / Bar

Kitchen (knocked through to Dining Room)

Our Bedroom (mid-fireplace restoration)

My Dressing Room

I know - it's not nice. And it's not pretty. But it will be and we won't rest until we have it matching the vision in our minds. This was last week - we now have a lot of plastering done and even some initial paint work:

Our Bedroom

Our Bedroom

My Dressing Room

Stairs and Landing Plastering

As you can see, in our bedroom we've decided to restore the old fireplace which I cannot wait for. We've not taken a small amount on; we've had the house just over a month now and the progress we've made has been nothing short of back-breaking but we're seeing results every day. This weekend the french doors go in the back of the dining room to lead out to the yard and the floors upstairs are my project to sand and re-stain and varnish.

Pinterest is currently being an enormous help - if you want to see some of my inspiration pins follow me. I'm 2dyeiv - just click to see my boards and follow me.

So - that's where I've been. But I have been asked so many times about the build and the interior decoration side of things that it's given me the oomph I needed to get back on here and share it with you.

I hope you like it and will continue to follow my progress as we move forward with this gargantuan project.

Happy Tuesday!