The Interior DIYer
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Crow-globe

My favourite time of year is here – autumn. There’s a lot about this time of year that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside – weather getting colder, crunchy leaves, scarves, cuddles and hot drinks. Aside from all the above, the next thing I love about autumn is the impending Halloween tinted decorations. 

I gave myself 10 minutes in TK Maxx over the weekend [yes, I actually have to give myself a time limit], and when I got to the top of the escalator, there sat their Halloween section. A plethora of Halloween themed snow-globes obstructed my line of vision. Some were a bit naff [ugly skeletons, bad-weird pumpkins], but then there was this crow snow-globe. Or as I like to [yell while I’m shaking up all the black glitter], CROW-GLOBE. I mean, seriously. Black. Glitter. And this is a legitly solid piece, no flimsy seasonal decoration. And I’ve always wanted a crow as a pet. Is that weird? I just think I’d look so mysterious. 

Crow-globe is a welcome addition to our living room and I should state, he will be present all year round, not just the autumn months. Pro creepy.

Also featured – Bill Murray print
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Teal obsession: I’m cheating on my favourite colour

This isn’t going to seem like a big deal to most of you. I see so many pictures through social media of people’s colourful lives. And I really wish I could be so bold. For me, colours are a big deal. In the past, I’ve tried to introduce many colours into our home. But the truth is, it drove me IN.SANE. I hope that doesn’t sound rude? I’m well able to appreciate when people share they’re colourful homes and if anything, I’m jealous. But I just can’t do it. Call it DOCD – design obsessive compulsive disorder.

But that all changed a couple of weeks ago. It’s really lame, but it started with a hoodie my husband bought in H&M. It was a really dark teal. Oh. It was nice, and that freaked me out. But no, this isn’t a dark berry colour, so just no. But the more I thought about it this new hue, the more I realized it might actually go really well in our home. So I tested it out with an easily disposable item – candles. I headed to my local Tiger store and picked up two teal candles for €1.

They pretty much sealed the deal. Last week while I was doing my lunch time charity shop route I spotted two particularly interesting gems. Both of which were within range of my new colour obsession. First I saw this Achill Pottery bud vase. I’d seen a few of them before in charity shops here and there, but never had I seen one in this colour. The bottom half is pushing it with the brightness factor, but I like the top half so it makes it okay. It’s a rather cute little wobbily vase with different sized holes in it for buds and off-cuts. 

I then spotted this picture frame in the same charity shop. While I know it itself is not teal, the thick wedge of glass on it glints teal whenever I walk past it. I should say this frame was in a very sorry state in the shop. It had a massive old sticker across the glass, rendering it pretty severely gross. But I saw past the ugly. I steeped it in warm soapy water, and laughed a menacing manner at all those who disregarded it. 

CONFESSION: we have no photos in our home. Now that I think of it, ever since I moved out from my parent’s place close to 8 years ago, I haven’t had one photo printed and framed. Not even one from our wedding, which was almost 2 years ago. So I’m hoping that now I have this pretty little number, it might encourage me to get my ass in gear.
xx A
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Ten minute morning tidy

While I’m chasing my field of interiors dreams, I work an office job by day during the week. I wake up early, feed the cats, apply my face, get dressed, make a lunch, but one thing that will always be part of my morning routine before I go to work is that I set aside 10 minutes to tidy our apartment. 

I know a large number of you are currently recoiling at the thought of it and serving up some serious stink-eye. Something along the lines of this comes to mind … 

But today I’m going to convince you that yes, you do have time fo dat. And it will surprisingly make your day so much easier. And here is my one reason to convince you –
  • If you spend 10 minutes tidying your home in the morning, when you get home in the evening, exhausted from work, you will be walking into an already tidy home. More time for dinner, more time shooting the breeze with your spouse, more time chillaxing. The less chaotic your surroundings are, the more calm your mind is and the better quality your home life will be. 

Have I convinced you? Good. Here are my tips for the 3 main areas of your home that you should consider for your ten minute morning tidy … 

BEDROOM

My first real job when I was a teenager was working as a housekeeper in a Travelodge Hotel a stones throw from home. I learned not only how to change and make a bed in under 2 minutes, but the importance of a tidy bed. Your bed is the biggest thing in your room and the first thing you see when you walk into your bedroom. If it’s chaos, your room is chaos. It doesn’t have to be made perfectly, just a couple seconds of effort to straighten your bed sheets.

LIVING ROOM

Our living room is the heart of our home and therefore the quickest to fill with junk. It’s the messiest room so I’ll spend the most time tidying it. Still, I only allow myself 5 minutes, otherwise I’d never leave the house. I start off by putting the living room items back where they should go – tablet goes on our desk, the PS3 remote goes into the PS3 / husband accessories drawer, any notebooks go back onto our shelves etc. Anything that needs to go into the kitchen gets put on the counter and anything that needs to go elsewhere in our home I put in our chuck it bucket. Don’t waste time by running into every room of your house. 

We’re at a good place now as I’ve been avidly downsizing, organizing what we have and working on giving all our stuff its own place. A home for everything and everything has a home. If you need a bit of inspiration to get you started you can check out my 5 decluttering tips or my less 365 mission. 

KITCHEN

There’s nothing I despise more than doing the dishes. We’re not blessed with having a dishwasher in our apartment so we have to clean our dishes old school style. And because of this, there are always dishes haunting our kitchen counters. Let me get one thing straight, I do not clean dishes in the morning [that’s were I say ain’t nobody got time for dat]. I like to think of our kitchen as in a constant state of contained chaos. I stuff things in the recycling where necessary and stack all the dishes in the corner by the sink so they’re not all over the counter, where they patiently wait for my husband to come home and wash them. 

But for those of you who have the luxury of owning a dishwasher? Bend over and I’ll show you where you can put your dishes. You have no excuse.

xx A