The Interior DIYer
Artwork

Agatha at Mendl’s by Rachel Corcoran from April & the Bear

When I was planning how to change our spare bedroom into a nursery, for the longest time I wanted to design Cora’s room with a Grand Budapest Hotel theme. I had chosen beautiful donut themed artwork, found handmade GBH room keys on Etsy, and even dreamed about Grand Budapest Hotel Pink walls, complete with paneling. The more I got into it, the more I realised it was a theme I should really only try when we have a home of our own because a lot of my ideas were not realistic as a renter. 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and Siobhan from April and the Bear shared a new print they had in stock by Irish illustrator Rachel Corcoran of her Agatha at Mendl’s illustration and I immediately wanted it. I had just treated myself to their letter board so I was like, woah hold on just wait a minute before you buy something else, so I was waiting for a nondescript thing to happen so I could treat myself to some Agatha [am I the only one that does that? Waits for some kind of justification before buying something? Because I know it’s crazy, but I do it]. 

A week or so later I actually ended up winning a voucher from April and the Bear for sharing photos of our new letter board on Instagram (!!!), so I had thee perfect excuse to go back and get my hands on Agatha. Cora and I made our way to Cows Lane and we picked up the last print in stock [I’m sure they have loads still so don’t worry]. When we got home, I realised we don’t have any picture frames big enough for her, so I put Agatha on Cora’s top shelf out of harms [tiny, sticky fingered] reach. 

Rachel’s illustration perfectly captures Wes Anderson’s innocent whimsy. It is so beautiful and perfectly captures the movie. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of its sweet details. Rachel also has two Gilmore Girl’s illustrations as well as a healthy choice of frightening female prints featuring the likes of Wednesday Addams, Lydia Deetz, Ripley from the Alien movies and Winifred Sanderson. All of which I now need and to further instill my it’s Halloween all year theme. 

Thank you again again again Siobhan for the voucher and for stocking such dangerously beautiful things in your store, and to Rachel for your mad skills. You have both stemmed my need for a GBH theme. Temporarily 😉

Also featured – cardboard monogram – faux taxidermy – swan mobile
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My HomeSense Ireland launch haul

This morning we had good light and I had a few minutes to myself so I took pictures of my HomeSense haul I picked up on Wednesday night.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, I didn’t realise I got a gift card to spend in store at the launch until almost an hour into my visit. It was a happy surprise and because I’d already been around the shop twice, I had a few [massive understatement] pieces in mind that I wouldn’t have had a problem bringing home. And here they are …

[Above photo] DECORATIVE MAGNIFYING GLASS, €9.99 AT HOMESENSE
I’ve always wanted a magnifying glass for our coffee table, but it was one of those things I never ended up actually getting. I saw this one at the launch on Wednesday and it was the first thing in my trolley. The first of many. 

ROSE GOLD BOTTLE HOLDER, €8.99 AT HOMESENSE
HomeSense have an actual rose gold section in the kitchen area. I saw this wine bottle holder and picked it up because Robert and I spend a lot of time at home, so if we do have a glass of something, this will make us feel fancier. Even if we’re in our PJ’s on the couch watching Better Call Saul. 

[That bottle of wine is a screw cap. I put the cork on the table in an attempt to look sophisticated. Full disclosure].

WINTER GREEN THROW PILLOW WITH POM POMS, €16.99 AT HOMESENSE
Of HomeSense’s pillow aisles [yes, aisles as in plural], I kept going back to this dark green pillow. It’s my favourite deep green [just like our footstool] and in the softest fabric. I wasn’t sure about the bright green pom poms, but there are tiny hints of bright green in our living room [like on one of my iBride trays], so I went for it and I’m surprised with how much I like such a bright colour on our couch.

BLACK VANILLA VEGETABLE WAX CANDLE, €8.99 AT HOMESENSE
There’s a black candle section in HomeSense. I stood there for about 10 minutes looking at all the black candles and eventually decided on this black vanilla candle. It smells like heaven. I’m a sucker for a pretty candle.  

I got 2 more pieces in my HomeSense haul; something for Robert ahead of Father’s Day and something for my mom, but didn’t want to share them in case they see them here. 

Thank you again to the lovely Kate and Kayla and HomeSense for the invitation to the launch and for the generous gift card! It worked. I’ll be back.  

DISCLOSURE – while this blog post is not sponsored, I did receive a gift card to the amount of €50 free of charge to spend at the HomeSense launch. As always, all words and opinions are my own. I only work with companies I like and of course, think that you will too. Thank you for supporting the companies that support The Interior DIYer.

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HomeSense Ireland launch at the Blanchardstown Centre

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited along to have a sneak peek at the new HomeSense store in the Blanchardstown Centre ahead of its grand opening today. For those who may not know [I was one of them and asked this very question last night], HomeSense a sister company to TK Maxx and is essentially TK Maxx’s home department, except times a thousand. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived shortly after 19:00 last night, but all I’ll say is I was one of the last to leave when the sneak peek event closed at 21:00. 
I walked around its 2 storeys at least 3 times, touching things and taking pictures and clumsily Instagram story-ing as I went. These are a few pictures of what gave me heart-eye emojis in store last night, but to see a lot more, I’d strongly suggest checking out the #HomeSenseIreland hashtag on Twitter, or go directly to the source and see it for yourself in store as and from today! 

There was so. Much. And so much of it left me feeling like we need to magically have our own home to redecorate as so many of the pieces gave me so many great ideas. The range of styles and design across the store was impressive to say the least.  You could easily shop for every room in your home and it wouldn’t look like you got it all from one store.

It wasn’t until about 45 minutes into my visit last night that I realised I had a gift card to spend in store [I was handed an envelope when I first arrived, and you can blame my parents for raising me the way that they did, but I didn’t rip open the envelope then and there 😅 It was a happy surprise!]. That’s when I went around the shop again and picked up some of the pieces I had been eyeing-up. All of which I’ve already set up around our apartment and I’ll be taking proper pictures of them [once the sun reappears!] and blogging all about them as soon as possible.