Renovating a bathroom - options I'm exploring

Now that our kitchen is finished, out next big project in the house to save up for is our bathroom. Replacing a bathroom in a home is one of the most expensive jobs to undertake so it's so important to really think things through. Mistakes can be very costly! One of the ways to ensure things go to plan is investing in professional help when it comes to finding your dream design. After all, they know the bathroom industry inside out! Innovative & latest bathroom designs with a variety of products are available in Harrogate showrooms.* Make sure you talk to someone as sometimes they come up with ideas you never thought of!

Image from Pinterest via Elle Decoration Sweden

Image from Pinterest via Living Extra 

Image from Pinterest via Sheer Luxe

Image from Pinterest via Harvey Maria

I'm toying with a few ideas when it comes to deciding on a design. I'm keen to keep in with the colour theme of grey as like the rest of the house. I really like the idea of having one colour which pulls the whole house together. I'm thinking light grey patterned tiles on the floor to help make a statement and white metro tiles in a chevron pattern on the wall. Maybe spilt the wall with tiles on the  top half and a dark charcoal grey on the bottom half. Grey and white are such great colours to use as a base because you can change the accent colours quite easily. When you're spending so much money on a renovation it's not ideal if you get bored of it easily and then can't afford to switch it up.

I'd love a whole new bathroom suite as our one has seen better days. At the top of my list is a huge, round waterfall head shower and a rounded bath. Ideally I'd love a freestanding bath but alas, we just don't have the room. Storage is also something I'm extremely keen to incorporate because space isn't at a premium and I have a lot of lotions and potions to keep hidden! I'm hoping to get a cool sink cabinet in a charcoal grey. Storage doesn't have to be boring! Finally I'd love a luxurious glass basin and huge statement mirror on the wall to help finish it off and hopefully make the room feel bigger.

I guess we better get saving!

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Learning to pick your battles

Outfit:
Silky black wrap top: H&M (similar)
Skinny black leggings: Matalan (similar)
Red pointed shoes: Next (similar)
Gold tassel statement earrings: H&M

I'm very highly strung. A trait I have inherited from my dad. And probably my mum too. We are a family of quick tempers which causes for some lovely explosive arguments. Something that first freaked out my boyfriend when we first started going out! I'm not one who is afraid to voice my displeasure and often lash out. Part of me thinks this is great as people will always know exactly how I feel. I don't have a poker face and I know personally, I like to know where I stand and know how other people feel. But the other part? The other part thinks this is tiring. It is tiring to always be fighting. It consumes so much energy and if I'm honest, I really can't be bothered anymore. I increasingly just want an easy life.

Learning when to stay quiet isn't about 'losing' or appearing 'weak'. If anything it means you're being the bigger person. It's so liberating to take a step back and and admit that this is one battle that really isn't worth losing the energy over. By picking to fight every single battle doesn't get you anywhere. You reach a stalemate and if the two of you are as stubborn as each other then that stalemate will last for a long time. All that negative energy doesn't do anyone any good.

Next time someone really gets under your skin, take a step back and really think. Wonder if it is really worth it going in all guns blazing and try not to act immediately. Arguments always have consequences and sometimes they're not consequences you always want to deal with. So make sure that the issue you're fighting over is truly worth it. Ask yourself if the battle will matter to you as much tomorrow or next week as it does currently. Chances are emotions are just running high and it's not actually that important. It's amazing how much better you will feel after opting for the quiet life!

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Welcome to my new living room

It's been a long process - and still ongoing - but we now have our second room complete. That feels good to say! We've finally completed our living room and it's such a joy to come home after work and relax. I wanted a room where I could display all my knick knacks I've collected over the years and one that really represented our personality. A room where people walked into and thought, 'yes this is very much Sophie and Connor's home'. So how did we transform it? Read on! I will put all the links at the bottom.

The owners before us loved colour and the walls were a very bold Quality Street purple shade. It didn't really fit into my minimalist wall theme. It also boasted a carpet that absolutely reeked of cat wee so didn't stay very long at all. I'm not much of a carpet fan at all if I'm honest so decided to splash out on a real wooden floor as we don't plan on replacing it. The dining room had been blocked off with a partition wall to make an extra bedroom. We took this down to help open up the space and it's been a revalation. It's made the house look so much bigger and although we're not using it as a dining room, it's really helped to have that extra space.

There was a white York Stone fireplace that had a very distinct 80s feel to it. This had to go straight away so my boyfriend and his dad very kindly got rid of it in the first week. We had been told by the previous owners that it was an open fire but when we looked into it further, it turned out it wasn't actually safe. The gap was too small and it would have cost too much money to make it bigger. Money that we didn't have. So we went to plan B. Thanks to the partition wall being taken down, the fireplace was no longer in the middle of the room. So my dad and Connor boxed out the fireplace with plasterboard to help make it central. I absolutely love how it looks and it's such a talking point of the room. I'm obsessed with grey as I think it makes a great neutral. It's a shade that so many other colours go with. Farrow & Ball's downpipes is that dark, charcoal grey that I craved and was the perfect choice. The patchwork tiles help to lighten it up and stop the area from being so dark. Yellow is my all time favourite colour and I was keen to incorporate this into my living room. Mustard and grey are one of the best combinations so I choose to use mustard as an accent colour.

One thing I desperately wanted was a gallery wall. For the past five years we've been trying to collect prints from all the different cities we've visited. We haven't managed to pick one up in every place but I'm so happy with the ones we've collected. I love that every time I glance at them I'm immediately transported back to happy memories. I opted for an array of difference coloured frames to help make the pictures stand out against the white wall.

I'm not a fan of blank walls and my boyfriend isn't a fan of things on the wall. So as a compromise I picked up the copper shelf to help display some trinkets and make it feel homely. By having a shelf, my trinkets feel much more contained and less like clutter. When we went to Copenhagen, our Airbnb had a billy bookcase in their living filled with little knick knacks they had collected all over the world. I've totally stolen that idea. At the minute it mostly just houses my travel books but I do have Matryoshka dolls from Budapest, a programme from Aladdin on Broadway and a traditional Dala wooden horse from Sweden. I'm very much looking forward to filling it up!

The next project? Saving for a boiler and moving it to the loft so we can decorate our bedroom!

White paint: Cotton White Dulux
Grey paint: Downpipe Farrow & Ball
Grey and white patterned tiles: Wickes
Glass vase: LSA International via Homesense*
Grey concrete planter: La Redoute
Yellow planter: Sainsbury's
Light grey chaise lounge sofa: DFS*
Mustard armchair and matching stall: IKEA
Grey metal floor lamp: IKEA
Grey side table: La Redoute
Black wooden bookcase: IKEA
Custard cream cushion: Nikki McWilliams
Gin cushion: Matalan
Abstract cushion: Sainsbury's
Mustard patterned cushion: Rooi*
Grey crochet stalls: Aldi*
Copper shelf: Maisons Du Monde
Mustard herringbone throw: H&M
Grey radiator: Soak.com
Black metal cage lampshades: IKEA
Gallery wall picture frames: Wilko and IKEA
Gallery wall prints: From travels
NYC print: Oliver Bonas

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