The Interior DIYer

Uncategorized

Lately + ‘Less 365’ update

Last week I surrendered. I was in Marks & Spencer, nowhere near the home department, picking up something completely unrelated, when I found myself going up the escalator. I had to see if any Conran cloche‘s survived the sale. And there it was …

… and home it came {on the bus, meaning the most terrifying and awkward journey home}. All 52cm x 24cm of glassy clochy goodness. And if it means anything, this picture does it zero justice. I’m thinking some of the below action needs to be mashed into it {it’s temporarily housing one of our naff vintage vases} … 
Gold spray paint tutorial can be found right on over here. While on the topic of revamping,  I {with the help of parental unit male}, jazzercised our tie backs by replacing our existing ones {which were a bit meh} with some crystal door knobs. Much more lovlier me thinks, and for next to nothing, a smidgen of sophistication was added to our living room.

To balance out my cloche purchase, apartment got attacked over the past week or so thanks to my continued obsession that is Project Less 365. On Saturday I hawk-eyed our book collection and ruthlessly culled the unnecessary novels, all of which will be enjoyed by someone else. 

And our spare bedroom below, which now houses all my Project Less 365 items which are patiently waiting to be re-homed. It’s quite therapeutic the amount of relief you get from this de-cluttering process. We all have way too much shit, and this year {for me}, it’s all about back to basics. You’ve got to be cut-throat otherwise you’ll never get rid of anything. 
xx A

Uncategorized

From Russia with love

Our honeymoon was everything we thought it would be, and more. St. Petersburg gave us perfect autumn weather, ridiculous architecture, incredible colours, amazing night scenes, and a side of culture shock – in the best way possible. Nothing we couldn’t handle.

We went on our honeymoon exactly one week after our wedding, in October of 2012. Having lived in Canada, I’ve sorrily missed proper autumns. Here in Ireland they’re just not the same. We had been told that autumn had passed in St. Petersburg, so we were prepared for grey. But, as we were landing in St. Petersburg, we were elated to see autumn in full swing. I’m so glad that person was wrong.

The Church of Spilled Blood. There almost aren’t any words. 

My fascination with this place goes back about 9 years. My mom gave me an incredible water colour painting of a mysterious Russian building. I treasured it for years. Then, a couple weeks before our wedding, I picked up said painting as I was dusting, and it clicked. It was of the Church on Spilled Blood. We were going to see one of my favourite paintings in real life.

The passing of time in St. Petersburg was very unusual. Shops stayed open until 11pm, and restaurants even later. So when we sat down for dinner at our usual 6pm, we got the distinct feeling this was very early. We took to taking afternoon naps to make the day stretch, and headed out for dinner at around 21:00, one night even sitting down at 23:00. This entirely ruined our body clocks once we got home, but hey, you’re supposed to get off your face on your honeymoon. 

Borscht, white Russians, chicken Kiev and beef stroganoff were on my edible list, and we ate them all. They were all incredible. I was particularly surprised with how much I adored borscht with a massive dollop of dill and sour creme. Oh god, I could go for some right now.

A bit of history – Peter the Great who founded St. Petersburg was always portrayed as a cat in caricatures due to his distinguished moustache. St. Petersburg is chock-a-block of cat statues, memorabilia, and The Hermitage museum {pictured further below} is home to not only the worlds largest collection of art, but stray cats as well. 

The above picture was taken on our last day while on a boat tour. There was a terrible storm the night before, and blew all the autumnal colours away.
The Hermitage museum. Home to almost 3,000,000 pieces of art. We took an overwhelming 4 hour tour, and barely skimmed the top. It blew our wee minds. 

Surreal. If you take the time to familiarize yourself with the language and alphabet beforehand, it is very manageable to get around. Husband and I have a very basic knowledge of Russian, and managed to get from point A to point B. It was really like being in a dream, with the juxtaposition of incredible architecture and interesting levels of health and safety. I would go back in a second. 

And on that note, I wish you all a safe and prosperous weekend! Happy Friday 🙂 xx A

Uncategorized

Out of this world


For husband’s birthday, I surprised him with an astronomical themed overhaul. I’ve never written about it here, but we’re massive nerds when it comes to astronomy {not to be confused with astrology}. We will sit for hours discussing, watching documentaries and debating infinity and beyond. Influenced by our most recent television obsession – the Stargazing Live series, I thought how better to celebrate than a space themed setting.

Above – I gave him the moon, or as best as I could draw it on our chalkboard wall …

Bacon sandwiches for breakfast with some added jazz. p.s. Spot the curious cat.

I should say, of what you see regarding decor, the only things I had to purchase for the day were edible items {that’s how much nerdy stuff we have}. I do find the best themed decor can be found within your own home. You just have to invest in some serious brainstorming, allow yourself to get carried away, and some hardcore rooting around cupboards.

In stead of a traditional iced birthday cake, I fancied up some crater cookies for hubby. This is where I can thank the Pinterest gods. I stumbled upon a painfully simple recipe – cookies and cream oreo bark. With its delightfully grey flecked white chocolate with Oreo chunks, it was a perfect fit and became ‘crater cookies’. Not to mention it took about 10 minutes to make. Sweet.

Leftover surplus of Oreos as well as some chocolate stars adorned the coffee table. I pimped out some vases with Mars and Milky Way bars, and finished it off with some of our Star Wars memorabilia. We went to Tunisia a couple of years ago and traveled to far-away abandoned Star Wars sets. The pink ticket you see framed is what I got for my use of the toilet facilities, which I had to pay for merely because I wasn’t a man.

So there you have it! Husband was very impressed and has stated a number of times that I can’t erase the moon for a good while. I’m okay with that. For now.

Happy Monday folks! I hope the weekend treated you well 🙂 xx A