The Interior DIYer

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Happy Easter!

Early this morning I pulled out some spring decorations and hid a couple of Easter treats for husband – the Easter bunny didn’t hide eggs in his house when he was growing up, so I’ve been spoiling him every Easter since. I should say, the Easter bunny usually isn’t so classy to leave Ferrero Rocher, it’s a case that our local shops were out of the regular kind, and bunny made do with what was available. 

I dug out one of my favourite charity shop purchases from when husband and I visited Canada in 2007 – a tin in the shape of a picnic basket from Goodwill. It’s seen better days as on the trip back to Ireland the lid got smushed in my luggage. I’ve been meaning for years to tap it back into shape. 
And below – my first ever stuffed animal, Honey Bunny. My dad bought her the day I was born and I’ve had her ever since. No better time of year to take center stage. 

I hope you all have a Happy Easter and an excellent long weekend full of chocolate and crafting. I’ve had my share of chocolate already today and the remainder of the weekend will be a gargantuan test of my incredibly low level of willpower. xx A 

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Kitschen shelves

Last weekend I spent some long overdue focus on our kitchen. I enjoy silly things like fussing over arranging a display, and sadly our kitchen was lacking this attention. Since I have so many little fecky kitchen things I’d love to show off, cheap shelves were purchased, colour was applied {‘winegum’ spray paint from Montana}, father’s skills and drills were summoned, and kitsch was applied to the kitchen. 
This space had hanging storage already, but it was driving me insane as it never looked tidy. You may have noticed, our shelves are placed up against a door. We haven’t opened said door in 4 years, so this is not a concern {it’s just a secondary entrance to our hallway}. 

I’m not finished tweaking and rearranging the shelves just yet, but for the moment I’m very happy with how its turned out. I like the balance of old lady / nerdy stuff / old and new mix that’s going on. I’m contemplating adding either a painting above or below, or some action along the lines of bunting / dangly stuff, but I think I’ll let the shelves settle in first. 
xx A
Top shelf – coral {thrifted}, vintage vase {thrifted},  matroyshka measuring cups {ordered online}, tea cup plates {thrifted}, Star Wars Cookbook {ordered online}, other cookbooks {store bought}. Bottom shelf – Marcel Wanders candle {store bought}, milk pourer kitty {gifted}, teacups and saucers {thrifted}, cheese plate {thrifted}, skull salt and pepper shakers {thrifted}, and weighing scales {inherited}.
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Window woes

If you can see the sun and/or you don’t have to wear three layers of clothes at the moment, count yourself lucky. Here in Ireland we skipped spring and summer, and headed straight into next winter. Grey skies, biblical downpours, freezing temperatures and snow. Thanks to the reminders going around social networking sites, this time last year it was 16 degrees in Dublin. I didn’t even bother opening the blinds last weekend …

They remained closed for two reasons. We’re renters, so there is a limit to what we can do when it comes to fixing minor issues – our dining room juts out from our apartment and consists of three floor-to-ceiling windows. In the summer it’s amazing, but in the winter = ice box. We close the blinds as our first defense against the cold. Our second defense was to hang a curtain rod across where our living room meets our dining room, to close and isolate the dining area at night in the winter months {mad props to handyman father}.

Unfortunately, they only keep out so much. I found a type of blinds over on the VELUX® website that offer the perfect solution – Energy Blinds have a special layer of insulation to keep in the heat and improve the temperature of the room. Absolute perfection. Except there is one massive set back – VELUX blinds can only be applied to their own brand of windows, and our existing windows don’t compete. Massive sad face. But hey, a girl can dream.

I also spotted on the VELUX website something I was pretty surprised to see this side of the Atlantic – insect screens. I’ve been saying for years that I don’t understand why houses over here don’t have them. If any of you have VELUX windows installed in your home, I’m mad jealous. More info of course can be found over on their website – www.veluxshop.ie.

So until the summer time when it’s warm enough to use our dining room again, hubby and I have found dining a la coffee table a completely acceptable alternative. Although I am starting to show my age when I try and stand up after a full meal …

Image 3 cred. 
VELUX were kind enough to sponsor this post about my winter window woes, which I’m pretty excited about. Excited about the sponsor bit – not the cold state of our dining room. In case that needed clarification. All views are my own.