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Friday, November 25

Planning a Home Renovation Part 2: Deciding the style of your Interiors

My first ever all white room

What's your style?


What is your favourite time of the year?

Mine is Spring.  I love the freshness.  The bright Spring days and cosy evenings that are not too bright too late.  Mild weather warm enough to ditch the jackets but cool enough for a cardigan in the evening.  I love a cardigan and, if I could swing it, they would all be made from cashmere and merino wool.  Soft, light and a quiet luxury.  It kind of sums up my taste.  And thats what I think of when decorating.

My home is, to me, more than a thing, it is a feeling, that feeling you get when you step through the door, a calm, familiar, comfortable, welcoming feeling.  The feeling I get in the midst of Spring when bursts of beauty start to form from the cold that was, and the newness of hope envelopes the world.  Where everything else doesn't matter.  

Where is your favourite place to be?

That spring feeling is what I get when I'm by the coast.  I'm not sure whether its because my heritage is that of the islands, but I love being by the beach.  Walks in the brisk wind on a beach in Anglesea, North Wales.  The serenity of a secluded Barbadian beach, the shimmer of the sea at Coogee in Sydney or the vast open silver sands of St Jean Du Monts France or Bournemouth England.  The hills and serenity of Cornwall, the spice that is Miami Beach, the simpleness that is Trelawny Beach Jamaica and the sand dunes of Camber Sands East Sussex.  Wherever I am, watching the waves whilst sitting on the sand, breathing in the fresh air.  It feels like Spring.  The refreshment of old with sprouts of brand new with every wave that engulfs the coast.

Stick to your guns

For the past 10 years, my interiors palettes have been layers of whites, with my large and busy family, many have thought that I'm bonkers.  However, each time I have switched things up and added some colour here and there, I've not been happy long term.  I've had a grape coloured carpet, amethyst walls, green walls, blue walls and patterned wallpaper. I always get bored and change the colour.  It started with one white room in layers of shades of white.  It worked so well for me, and, everything could be thrown into the washing machine at a high heat with bleach and be back to sparkling.  It was pretty without being overly feminine and oh so fresh!  So thats it.  I'm a lover of white interiors.  Let my backgrounds softly shimmer in the background whilst we, the homes inhabitants and guests radiate in the foreground in all our marvellous colour.  Sounds almost poetic doesn't it.
Now I know white scares people and we are a real working family.  Full on with stuff.  I love the white interior but I AM NOT A MINIMALIST.  I like tidy but the reality is that we all have stuff.  However, if it is all blending into the background, you don't notice just how much 'stuff' there is.  It's all an illusion  ðŸ”®

Know your home

My front living room faces North, and the back dining room and kitchen South.  When the wall comes down in the middle I imagine it to be like an epiphany, bright light and the sounds of angels in chorus around...

Natural light is what gives me life.  And throughout the day I am fortunate enough to get quite a lot of it.  From there I will focus on softening the edges. 
My home is a period property, a 100 year old terraced cottage built for the use of local railway workers.  I looked up the census for 1901 and found that there were 5 people living here, a Husband and Wife their 2 children and a lodger.  The house worked hard, and I wanted to honour it by beautifying it but keeping to its simple beginnings.

Summing up your style through pictures

When searching through Pinterest at room styles and decor I realised all my favourites where those from Hampton, Shaker and Scandinavian schools of thought.  Luxurious Hamptons, with rich materials and quiet detailing.  Neat Shaker, with storage ideas, honest materials and a nod to the simple life.  Bright but cosy Scandinavian, with pretty lighting and furry throws.  Have a look at my Pinterest board for what inspires me.

My challenge now is to put these elements together and how.
Warm, light wood flooring, bright white walls and woodwork with soft lighting.  Layers of textures with the linen curtains I already own, linen, silk and velvet throw cushions.  Knitted and fur throws and a great big rug. I am keeping my current furniture and will be adding kubu wicker baskets that I have in different rooms in the house.  I am hoping that a certain wonderfully talented friend and landscape architect to the discerning home owner will gift me a lovely olive tree to bring a little outside in. Mentioning no names (Tim Rees of treesassociates) 😉...  Clever, tidy and discreet placement of the everyday items we use is a must; with the finale being the pieces I choose for the walls, selected art and of course pics of my gorgeous family, my greatest work of art!

Follow along on my journey to see how I fair in the rush to be ready for Christmas!!!


Tomboy -x-



Only Boys and Tomboys are a family of 6, 4 boys aged 22, 14, 7 and 4, Mum and Dad.  5 of us are living in a 3 bed terraced railway cottage in London with a cat, a bearded dragon, a fish and two shrimp

We share fashion, food, holidays, home decor, what we read and how we live.  All of it through blogs, vlogs and instapics.  We each have social media platforms covering many a topic with followers on each.

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