Hello all and happy Thursday. Only one more day 'till we have finished week 2 of our social distancing. Well, the workweek anyway :) How did you all get on this week? I actually found this week much easier than last week; I think because I felt more prepared. You?
Also, did anyone try any of yesterdays tips from Ireland Creatives? I baked cookies! Like this is a major deal for me. I do not cook or bake, so I am extra proud of myself!
Today we are getting some more tips and advice from Ireland's creatives. :) We will be looking at a few DIY's and interior tricks :) Excited? Me too :) So again my lovelies let us step back into the world of interior design and give our heads a little break from today's madness.
Enjoy xxx
Painting & Planting....
Paint it with Lynn Ferrari from My Old Brand New Home
There's so many things you can do at home with your interiors during this quarantine. But a great way to make a big impact to interiors with the least amount of money and it's something you can most definitely do yourself is... paint. Have you been dreaming about painting your hallway navy, or going with a bold colour in your bedroom... maybe you have laminate wardrobes you'd love to modernize or you've seen a cool feature wall on Pinterest you'd love to try. To start, I'd say the pick a room or area in your home that's not part of your main living space and get creative. That way if you don't love it you wont have to look at it all the time. I tried my hand at an ombre wall in an area of my house that we didn't use that much and now it's one of my favorite spaces.
Check out Lynn's step by step guide on painting your own ombre wall here and omg please! If any of you do this please send us the photos! :) :)
Make your Home a Calm Oasis with Norma Owens from The House That Will
It's important that design elements in your home work well for you in your everyday life. With people spending more time at home now than perhaps ever before, it's a good time to spot the things that can be improved. That could be as simple as re-arranging your kitchen cupboards and drawers for a more efficient workflow, rearranging the furniture to suit more family time, or designing a new home office space to make it easier to work from home.
This is a strange and stressful time, and now more than ever it's important that our home feels like a calm oasis. If you don't already have one, try creating a cosy corner to snuggle up in with a good book or a glass of wine. Cheer yourself up by giving your bedroom a little lift, for example with some new bedding purchased online. Use leftover paint to make a mural in your children's bedroom, or scraps of fabric to make new cushion covers to freshen up the look of a room.
Bring the Outside In with Saara McLoughlin from Redesign
My number one tip right now would be to really focus on bringing your outdoor spaces to their full potential, whether big or small, garden / balcony whatever it might be and if you don’t have that option how about bringing the outside in with plants and by maximising the amount of light you allow into your home. This time of year I always enjoy tidying up the garden after the winter and getting ready for the warmer months and it’s almost a festive feeling when things start taking shape. Spending time outside is so essential to our wellbeing and now more so than ever (after a week of self isolation here) the garden has been a huge lifeline in keeping our entire family happy. Getting fresh air, sun and exercise is so important all year round and makes such a difference especially at times of worry and uncertainty and if you can’t leave your home then where better to be than out in the garden. I would recommend paying attention to where you have the best sunlight at different times of the day and placing your furniture with this in mind so you have comfortable spots to enjoy your coffee break and meals out in the sun.
Most of us probably have plenty of paint left over from previous projects and these can come in handy if you’d like to add little pops of colour around the garden which will add to the atmosphere.
Right now is also the ideal time for planting many seeds and growing your own plants and vegetables is hugely rewarding, as well as budget friendly and good for the environment too. This is something you can do even when living in apartments with no gardens by making use of your window sills.
Wherever you live, open those doors and windows and enjoy the fresh air and brighter days while we wait for life to get back to normal.
I hope you have all gotten something good out of today's post. Even if it just some much-needed headspace :)
Tomorrow is the last of this mini-series (although I might do another one soon). Tomorrow we will be chatting with the lovely Aisling from Vintage Hill Cork and Rebecca from Hedgeroe Home.
Chat to you soon lovelies and hope you are all enjoying the fab weather today xxx
Stay Safe, Style So Simple - Aoife xxx