Changes around the home.

I am always changing things around the house or painting things. Although I take photos, I am not very good at doing posts about them - talking about the sea or garden take the priority! Last week I had nothing planned on my day off and so I spent the day cleaning and rearranging things to give more of a summer feel.


The sweet peas and poppies were from the garden. The smell of sweet peas always instantly take me back to my childhood and summers wouldn't be the same without them!

This first project was the redecoration of our daughters room - she choose this very bright pink colour at the start of her teenage years! I had forgotten how bright and awful it looked! With her agreement and choice of colours, we gave it a make over.



This is the same room transformed. It looks so much better now and she loves it too, although it usually only looks this tidy when she is away at Uni!




A while ago I found this cake stand in a charity shop for £5. I have been looking for one of these for years and nearly bought one back in March for £25. I was really pleased to find this bargain. My Granny used to have one of these stands. I remember seeing it laden with a cream tea and chocolate cake - can you visualize it too?  One day I will recreate that image, but I'll make sure that the dog and cat are out of temptations way! I wasn't very popular when I bought it home, but my husband told me last week that he actually quite liked it now it is painted and on display!


Our first dining table and chairs were given to us second hand from my brother when we got married. After about 7 years we treated ourselves to a pine table and chairs, they were all the fashion then! Although it has served us well, it has started to feel very dated, so I bought some Anne Sloan paint and repainted the chairs and the bottom of the table. We also took off the wax off the top of the table to give it a more natural look.It took my daughter and I ages to do, but we have been pleased with the results.

  

Another bargain we recently came across was this empty herb pots for 50p. I love blue and white china and it looks good on the kitchen window.  I love using herbs in cooking and salads.



Needless to say our home reflects our love of the garden and the sea. So there are different themes in different rooms! I  recently saw the boat and houses and couldn't resist buying them. They reminded me of the colourful little cottages down by the harbour. Where do you get inspiration from to decorate your home?



Hope you all have a happy weekend.
Sarah x

Comments

  1. Oh you are good at decorating Sarah, your daughters room looks calm and restfull now. The cake stand is so beautiful painted and what a bargain too! That's a really good idea for the table and chairs they look so modern now. Our house is very very light and airy with big windows and bright sunshine, so strong colours tend not to go. I try to pick very natural colours to reflect our surroundings and they seem to be my inspiration. Lovely post though Sarah and I can't help but think there will be rush on second hand cake stands all over the country!

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  2. Lovely post....Lovely...! :).

    One thing l do like to see and that is fresh herbs on a window sill...Wonderful! And, such a lovely smell. Use them ALL the time on cooking!

    And, l love pine! My dinning room is done out in Scandinavian pine..Table, chairs, benches, dresser, bookcase....Had it all from new, so, it's 37yrs old, and, worth a lot of money now.
    Had a quite a few diner parties over the years, the table sits up to 10 people, 12 at a push...!
    ~~~Love my pine~~~

    Also have a cake stand, similar to the wooden one.....Though, l keep house plants on it...So, it's a plant stand...!!! :>).

    HeHe! Must beg to differ on the bedroom though...!!!
    Prefer the pink one...My bedroom is entirely done in pink...So is the bathroom...! Must have my pink...Even the PC that l'm writing this on is all pink...The PC, the keyboard, the flashing mouse, the speakers....Ah! Well! Where would l be without it...

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    1. Hi Willie,
      You must have spent many good times around your table over the years! You must love pink!
      Sarah x

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  3. All your makes and transformations are fab Sarah but I really do love the cake stand! You got a real bargain!

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  4. aww I love all your transformations :) I get inspiration from blogs haha and I spend far too much money on home magazines!

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  5. What lovely make overs, I have lots of plans but never seem to get around to them!
    Xxx

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  6. I simply love the cake stand and what a bargain too. It suits the colour as well. I like re-organizing during the summer, anything for a change sometimes. Your daughter's room looks totally different. Well done you.
    Patricia x

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  7. I love the wallpaper in your daughter's room. Everything looks so lovely in your home and I liked hearing about how you came about a certain look. I have never seen a cake stand like that one....what a nice piece. Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed seeing parts of your home. X

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  8. I love the idea of using poppy seed heads in a flower arrangement. Your little seaside cottages are so cute x

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  9. Your decorating projects turned out beautifully! Like you I love the ocean and have some nautically themed paintings and photos and knick knacks and many things that have been given to me by family and friends. I found some used chairs at a nearby auction house and I discovered IKEA for bookshelves and my bed! Thanks for posting, Sarah :)
    Gracie xx

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  10. It's so satisfying to make changes in the home like this and to 'freshen' everything up. I do love the sense of the sea and the coast in your house, I'm sure if I lived by the sea it would inspire my decorating, too.

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  11. Very nice! I just love your daughter's room; that teal color is fabulous.

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  12. You certainly have been busy! Beautiful make-overs! Love what you did to your daughter's room, such an improvement, she must be so happy with it even if she is away to uni a lot. Pretty cake-stand and so fresh looking with a layer of white paint over it. Love the white chairs as well!
    I look around my living room now and see... pine.... Must grab the paint brush again soon ;)
    Love the nautical theme in your home, so summer, I like to add some 'nautical' as well in summer but things have been far too hectic this year, I just haven't found time for it. So nice to see it here instead. Thanks!
    Marian

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  13. Your house looks lovely and summery. I'm inspired by the changing seasons and enjoy changing cushions and curtains etc for winter and summer, and other accessories for all four seasons..they all have their charms. It's fun, and as you show us, needn't cost a lot. Must try this paint everyone is talking about!

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  14. Precious Sarah! I must have left the house to start my day before you posted today; I love to catch you first thing!

    I LOVE HOME RENOVATIONS at all levels. I agree that your daughter's pink room is softer, more peaceful and easy on the eye in white and aqua! GOOD JOB! And the stand in white now looks fantastic. Your home is just charming with the fireplace! And thank you for coming to visit and walk down memory lane with me on the California seashore. So many memories.....

    Hugs! Hey, how is Miss Daisy? Anita

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  15. I love all your transformations, you have beeb very busy. My inspration are the seasons and nature. And i love the colour aqua all the time! X

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  16. You seem to have boundless energy Sarah - a wonderful more grown up room for your daughter, and all your painting with Annie Sloan - don't you just love Annie Sloan paint? she halves the work involved. The cake stand was a great bargain and looks so attractive with your bits and pieces on it. Love those little houses with the seagulls flying overhead. they remind me of that lovely photo you did of the pastel coloured houses reflected in the sea a little while back.

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  17. you did a great job in your daughter's room. love the style of your dining chairs.
    x

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  18. I love the colours of your daughters new bedroom, I think that blue (turquoise) is one of my favourite colours (think because I also love cerise pink and lime green!). You are very creative xxx

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  19. Wow that is some cake stand, now I'm going be on the look out for one also, your daughter new room look very pretty. The little houses are very cute.

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  20. White is such a cleansing and clean colour, the cake stands looks lovely, and the chair too.

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  21. Loved reading this, I love sweet peas too and have never had a garden without them, only just getting flowers on up here though. So my cottage by the sea will soon be full of little jugs of them.
    The last pick with the boat and little row of cottages I really love, where did you get them ?

    Annie

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    1. I bought the cottages from this lovely shop here www.thomasandlucia.com/
      Sarah x

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  22. What wonderful make-overs the room looks so much brighter and fresher. Love the sweetpeas my Mom grows them every year and I always pinch a bunch when I pop round to visit ~ Sarah x

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  23. I admire your artistic and decorating abilities! Sadly, I have neither. I am looking around our new home, knowing it needs a personal touch, and feeling at quite a loss. I don't suppose you would like to come visit for a week and help me out? :-)

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  24. Great post and lovely photos. I love charity shops.

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  25. Love your makeovers. Your daughter's room looks lovely now, very fresh. xx

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  26. Hi Sarah, I love this post! Your sweetpeas look beautiful! It's always nice to fill a house with homegrown flowers. Love the turquoise your daughter chose for her bedroom makeover and the herbs pots are just the thing! And I know exactly how much work repainting the spindle back chairs were because I did something similar and it's backbreaking work isn't it! The little boats and houses are so cute! We have a shop in Southsea that sells similar and I bought a friend a little house, they really do look like the houses in Cornwall! Have a lovely weekend! Sharon

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  27. Wow, what a makeover. I love your daughter's room and what you did to your table and chairs but my absolute favourite has got to be your cake stand, it's beautiful.

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  28. Such a change Sarah! Her new rooms looks so much lighter and larger! My eldest daughter had the same bright pink colour on the wall in her bedroom. It has white and light blue walls now. Much better :-).

    The chair and your new cake stand look good!

    Wishing you a happy weekend,

    Madelief x

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  29. All of the changes are lovely. Sweet peas make me swoon. The boat with the seagulls is so charming. I like to get inspiration from the seasons and what is happening outside my window. We don't have cake stands like that around here, I really like the updated look you gave it. Happy weekend to you.

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  30. Hi Sarah,

    You have been busy and love all the decorating you have been doing - your daughters room looks fabulous and I love the new look to your furniture with the Annie Sloan paint.
    I adore your pretty sweet peas, know they must smell divine and fresh herbs on your kitchen windowsill is something I like doing too.

    Happy new week
    hugs
    Carolyn

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  31. Hi Sarah,
    Love your redecorating photos. Beautiful shade of blue for your Daughters room. A nice cool feeling. I've been also in the altering mood. Why not re-paint it? Looks like Summer has come to your home. Have a wonderful week.
    Blessings,
    Bobbie Lynn

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