You may recall in an earlier post that I said we were in the process of slowly refurbishing our lovely but rather tired Cornish barn conversion. This time round we’ve decided to pace ourselves rather than rush in all paint brushes blazing. My approach to design has mellowed a lot as I’ve moved through life and I’ve become a great believer in living in a space for a while first in order to add a little time and perspective on your refurbishment project. What do they say, ‘m

I have commented in previous posts about how some of my friends and family thought my husband and I had suddenly taken leave of our senses when we told them of our plans to say goodbye to the town we knew so well and had grown up in, in order to pursue our dream life in Cornwall. For some, Cornwall is just a sleepy backwater that people go to on holiday or have a second home / holiday home in. Either way, for most; there is a general consensus that you don’t give up your suc

I love that all things vintage is going through a bit of revival at the moment. There’s so many vintage fairs, flea markets and shops in the South West, it’s hard to know where to start. What a problem to have I hear you say. Yes, it’s a hard life sometimes. I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently had a very successful day sourcing some items to refurb and pop on my new online store. Believe me, it’s not always like that, but I have to say the quality of items avai

The weather in Cornwall, even for the start of Autumn, has been stunning and I’ve been able to work outside on my furniture for much of the time, rather than being stuck inside my workshop. However, once the sun disappears over the grassy hill at the top of our garden and down the valley out of sight, is starts to get a little chilly and you can feel Autumn in the air. Even the cow’s in the adjoining field moo in protest at the they lose the failing light and warm sun on thei

With so many differing trends and designs in the interiors market place, I thought it might be a good idea to write a blog every so often spotlighting a specific Designer. This week, I’d like to spotlight Dutch designer, Piet Hein Eek. Eek was born in Holland in 1967 and graduated from the Academy for Industrial Design in Eindhovan in 1990. Whilst studying there, he started to gain attention for his exam project ‘Scrap Wood Cupboards’. As a result, he sold the cupboards an

I touched on, in my earlier blog 'And So The Cornish House was born...', mine and my husband’s desire to change our life and our reasons for choosing Cornwall to do it. I think it’s about time I covered how our relocation has gone thus far. Naturally, for the first six months, I think it's only normal to feel like you are on some kind of extended holiday in your favourite place in the UK. Yippee! Beach days, long coastal walks, cream teas whenever the mood takes you, which ow

Whether you are designing your dream bathroom or just a more functional interior design solution for your home, there are some key tips I recommend you follow to help make things go smoothly. < Layout – This may sound fairly straight forward, but changing your existing bathroom layout can make or break a bathroom and add hundreds of pounds on to your labour bill if you decide to move existing plumbing, waste drainage and/or pipework. Of course, you want your bathroom to loo

After a busy week hunting out vintage treasures and refinishing some of my recent vintage finds, I decided to take the day off and instead, focus my attention on our cottage garden. As part of mine and my hubby’s dream to give up our successful careers in the city and say goodbye to the rat race, we decided we wanted to try and become a little more self-sufficient in terms of home grown produce and join the ‘Tom and Barbara’s’ of the world, rather than the ‘Jerry and Margo’s’

The weather in Cornwall has been stunning these past few months, even as we draw towards the end of summer to Autumn, and there’s nothing more rewarding than sitting outside my workshop on a beautiful day listening to the sound of the birds tweeting, the waves crashing and the occasional mooing of a cow. Yes, our house is surrounded by undulating Cornish countryside but just 2 miles to the coast and there’s nowhere I’d rather be when the day is as perfect as it was yesterday.

Dear Readers, Forgive me for I have sinned. It's been 5 months since my last blog entry... Why is that? Oh, I don't know really. I have been busy with the business and possibly took my eye off the ball in terms of blog writing. Well, I'm a creative professional, what can I say! I'm easily distracted by something beautiful, whether that be an interiors project, my own home renovation or refinishing a piece of furniture. Yes, it is a poor excuse, but I promise to be better f