That's not what it's for....

Why hello there!

Today I'm going to show you a little something I did em....let me see.....maybe three months ago!! Yea, I told you I fell behind with my posting on here.

When we moved into our flat originally we slept on a mattress on the floor. The first day here we managed to get a lot of our furniture from the local charity shop, including a bedside mini chest of drawers. So we had a bedside table going on without the bed. The eventually we got the bed. I was the lucky one who got to sleep on the side of the bed that didn't have the chest of drawers so I had to put my light on top of the head board of the bed!

For a long time I would pop into the furniture charity shop in Lewisham and have a quick whizz around to see if they had anything suitable for my side of the bed. Unfortunately because the heater is pretty close to the bed I needed something that was fairly skinny.

After months...actually over a year of looking, I decided to do it myself. Myself and Adam went of to Ikea looking to see what could work. Just as I was about to give up hope I spotted this box and thought it would work perfectly (while looking for a link to it, it looks like it's not there anymore). I bought the cheapest stool Ikea had to offer and hey presto, a bedside table!

Despite the fact that none of the furniture in our bedroom matches I didn't want to keep the box in its original pale wooden colour so decided to stain it. I stained it with a mahogany wood stain. Unfortunately since I was doing it on a not so pleasant day I had to try do it inside.....bad move. DO NOT try to stain wood indoors. I managed to give all parts 2 coats of stain and then we promptly left the flat for the evening to avoid the fumes!!

It'll need a quick going over in the summertime as I'd like it a little bit darker but it does it's job nicely at the moment. I like having more storage in the bedroom too and for once i haven't filled it up completely!

Another little bit I like about it is that it doubles as two items of furniture (essential in a tiny London flat). As I didn't screw the box onto the legs I can still pop the top onto them and turn it back into a stool...yay for extra seating!!

Do you loath having mismatching going on or do you just embrace the oddness of it all? What have you re purposed?

Chloe x
(p.s. did you notice my lovely new cushion on the bed??)

What's in a new year?

Blogosphere has been awash with new year resolutions and goal setting for the last couple of weeks.

As usual, I'm slightly late at all the revelling and welcoming a new year in. Why? Mainly because I've been rushed off my feet. 6 weeks off uni hasn't turned out as nice as i thought it sounded but I'm getting my head around everything now and finally embracing all the things that i have to do.

With all the rushing about i took time to switch off my brain and have a gentle think about new years resolutions.

Firstly let me tell you a little secret. I hate new years resolutions. I'm also not that big on the whole new years thing in general. It makes little difference to me other than i have to try to remember to put 2014 instead of 2013 when writing the date. Some people feel like life is going to change dramatically and suddenly be great just because a new year has started.

Well done you if you feel that way and genuinely make a go at trying to make it better. I know lots of people who just expect things to change in a new year without trying though and it just seems so silly.

It also seems stupid to set something that you probably don't enjoy in the most depressing time of year. It seems to me that people end up stopping their resolutions after a couple of weeks and then end up feeling crap about themselves for not continuing with them.Then the whole thing is just worse than it would have been if they didn't set a goal in the first place.

Why make yourself feel bad for enjoying yourself. I did dry January last year (not intentionally, it just kind of happened) and it's not really something i could be bothered to actually set as a challenge for myself.

I know some people live off goals and setting goals and making lists of things they need to do. Don't get me wrong, i like to make lists too, mainly because ill forget everything otherwise, but i just don't feel like i constantly need to set myself goals and challenges.

If I'm not happy with something I'm doing i try to stop myself from doing that. Since Christmas I've tried to stop myself from eating chocolate so often (it's really not great for my poor skin). However, I still managed to contribute to the eating of three tins of sweets in my house while i was home for Christmas. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I'm just going to use it as a motivation to eat more fruit instead.

So, where am I going with this rant? Well i have decided to try set myself one little task....i refuse to use 'goal' in my personal life.

This poor little blog has been neglected since birth. I manage to find time to read the blogs i follow, check Pintrest a couple of times a day, I even recently joined Instagram. I've got projects completed and pictures sitting on my laptop, waiting to be put somewhere. I am therefore going to get my ass in gear and start posting on here more.

Life gets in the way of lots of things but i like doing my projects, i like reading about other peoples projects and i am going to try my bestest to talk about and put up my projects here.

There a 'task' for me to complete in the coming year, and onwards!

How do you feel about the new year? Do you like to set yourself goals and make resolutions?

Chloe x

Reflecting on a past weekend: Christmas Countdown

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This past weekend has been a treat.

Uni has finally finished, so I could properly relax without the guilt of needing to study hanging over me. With all that guilt gone we got properly into the Christmas spirit.



We rounded up the Christmas shopping on Saturday afternoon, with a lenghty stop in the bookshop. One of my favourite shops to be in at Christmas time is a good book shop. The books are always displayed so nicely and with people wanting a quick present idea the interesting and quirky books you wouldn't usually think of are easy to find and have a flick through.

I found one such book in Waterstones and I'm really excited for the lucky recipient to open their present and see it there.

The other thing that is always good about books shops at this time of year is that even though they are busy, they're still a place to retreat from the crazy crowds, i don't know how they do it but bookshops always seem peaceful compared to everywhere else. When i used to work in a well known accessories shop i used to retreat to the nearest bookshop during my lunch break to get away from all the shoppers at this time of year....bliss!!

Our weekend also included a trip to the cinema to see the Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I'll give it to the cast of this film, they do well. I had only seen the first film a few weeks ago, slightly ignoring it because i thought it would be another horrible triology aimed at teenagers....but no, this seems a little bit more. Well pleased with it.


Sunday saw a delicious roast dinner in town and then a little wander around the chocolate festival at Southbank.  It was amazing. So many stalls selling amazing chocolate, ranging from your run of the mill milk chocolate, to raw chocolate, 100% and so much more. We indulged and got some delicious chocolate from this little company and enjoyed looking at the range of chocolate options available all around the festival.

A catch up with friends before we all head off home for the Christmas holidays, and a stop to sing some carols in Trafalgar Square ended the day off brilliantly.

How are your weekends leading up to Christmas?

Chloe x

Looking forwards

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Christmas is getting nearer and nearer and as soon as i get through a horrible week of exams, coursework and reports in uni i get to relax.

What i am most looking forward to? Well here's a list of the simple things:

• A chance to get into the Christmas spirit before i leave London
• Enjoying Oxford and Regent streets' lights without having to think about needing to shop for Christmas presents
• Getting home to fresh country air
• Walking the dogs while breathing in said air
• Sitting in front of the fire with the Christmas lights all on and family all around
• Carol services
• Eating mince pies and drinking Baileys

 What things are you most looking forward to this Christmas?

Chloe x

A mid-week break: Krakow

A few weeks ago myself and Adam went on a little mid-week break to Krakow. We initially thought Munich and perhaps the Christmas markets there but timings didn't work out since we only had the week at the start of November to go......so much for studying during reading week!!

We left on the Monday with a very early start, needless to say all we were able to do at Gatwick was sit and stare at the planes, no perfume spraying for me! It was worth it though as we were able to be in Krakow before lunch. The usual check in time/ arrival to the hotel imbalance happened and so we decided to leave our bags at the hotel and have a little wander around to kill the 30 minutes before we were allowed to check in. We stayed in the Kazimierz district. Just a little walk down from our hotel was the river, and the whole way along it's banks are really wide footpaths and accompanying cycle paths....amazing. We had thought we could walk all along it until we reached Wawel castle but that was a little bit far. Instead we soaked in the surroundings and took pictures of some unusual things.

Once we managed to check in we left for lunch and then on into the old town. There we say Florian's gate, the Cloth hall among other places. The cloth hall is wonderful at night time all lit up. We were a little early for dinner but found an underground metal bar that was pretty suited to us, full of nooks and crannys for us to explore. Day one was pretty eventful to say the least.

Day two was a day trip to Auschwitz, which I'm not really going to go into but it was worth the trip and definitely somewhere where people should try to see at some stage.

Then sadly it was our last full day in Krakow but we made the most of it. We got up bright and early to try and get some sight seeing done before it rained again. We managed to make it as far as Wawel castle and cathedral before it started to rain. Along the way were some interesting sights. Krakow seems to love it's canal barges turned into restaurants. We decided to have a self guided audio tour of the cathedral. It's a pretty impressive place, and houses one huge bell...Sigismunds bell. As we left the cathedral it decided to once again start raining (but we're used to that nonsense) so we made the most of it and grabbed a pretzel and stood under the umbrella watching people climb up the hill to Wawel castle. Then hot chocolate was needed. One thing about Krakow....their hot chocolate is AMAZING.

We tried to fit in as much as we could so i think we manged to see pretty much most of the sights in the old town, we even managed to fit in some time to see the underground medieval town which is underneath the cloth hall. Sadly neither of us were really impressed with it but still, while in Krakow!!!

This was definitely one of the best little trips I've been on, Krakow has lots to do, see, eat, and drink. I think ill definitely go back. Have you ever been there? What was your favourite bit?

Chloe x

Winter nests

Red heart cushion, love cushion, cable knit cushion
Three hearts, 

As it steadily gets colder I am steadily getting more and more desperate to create a cosy nest that will be my bed. When i was in town getting some bits and bobs at the weekend i noticed that BHS has a sale on. So in i popped to have a peek around. I was not dissappointed. The sale is on nearly everything that is lovely. I nabbed a brushed cotton (or flannel as i would like to call it) red check duvet set and stared at all the lovely cushions and throws that they have to offer. This then started my spiral into winter heaven. Above are the four cushions that i like most that will now go with our new duvet set, maybe ill buy them one by one and eventually our bedroom will be a cosy paradise.....unlikely but one can wish!
Do you have a need to snap up cosy homewares the second you see them??
Chloe x

Casting on a new hobby

So my updates have gradually ground to a halt....can you tell uni has started back?

Luckily this term has started gently, no major stresses at the moment and i think i can say that i am fairly focused with regards to work load.....well kind of! Despite this autumn has come and as usual a cold has too, i don't know what it is but i can never avoid getting a cold no matter how hard i try. Luckily an unlimited broadband and lovely film streaming service has kept me happy when i get back in the evenings. I've also started a knitting project.

From my previous post on dress making you can kind of gather that i like making things for myself, i think it may be something that has diffused from my mum to me, as she generally says "i can make that for you" whenever we see a nice woolly jumper/ cardi in shops, although in the end she never does.....real life gets in the way! I do however like knitting, i don't enjoy it. I'm nowhere near the stage of skill where i can say i enjoy it. I have to focus VERY carefully on what I'm doing to be able to ensure that I'm doing the right stitches. I have however made a few things in my lifetime, snowmen, santas (all when i was in primary school when I'm pretty sure my mum knit most of it) and a scarf. The scarf i knitted two years ago and has it definitely been something I've been proud of. It took me three months (told you i was unskilled), and has some nice things about it. It's teal and mustard (nice autumnal colours) and has cool a cool cable pattern running through it.

Now however i want to up my game, i want to be able to knit more. BHS has such nice woollen blankets at the moment and all i can do to stop myself from buying them is be dragged away by Adam. So i have decided that i will slowly make my way to blanket making one step at a time. The first step was to knit something, from start to finish, all by myself. No help. at. all.

I decided i wanted to do this while i was at home and dragged out all the knitting paraphernalia that is there. Sadly there wasn't any patterns for knitted hats like i wanted but i did find a pattern book that has patterns for trivial things, like tea cosys, mobiles, etc. I decided to make a tea cosy and voila...here it is!

It seems to sit nicely in with the rest of my tea time shelf....it has to, there's nowhere else for the teapot to live!

I did a bit of a silly thing when i was making it though and on one of the sides i left out two rows which means that when i sewed it up together one side is longer than the other and it now sits in a funny way on the teapot....but who can tell? It does it's job well and i can say that i was able to knit something from start to finish completely by myself.....oh and a tiny bit of you tube to work out how to 'sew it off'!

Is anyone else knitting or is it just me?
Chloe x