Have a Nosey

Hi, hope everyone’s having a good weekend! A few posts back I included some pics of my house in showing bits and bobs I’d recently picked up charity shopping. A few of you commented how you like to have a nose around peoples houses and I most definitely do too, so I thought I’d show a few pics of different rooms in my house over the next few weeks. This week the living room.

I love old houses with lots of original features but as a first time buyer I couldn't afford one of those and so chose to get on the property ladder through a shared ownership scheme, where I own half of my house and I rent the other half from the Housing Association. I can then buy further percentages of the property from them as and when. My house is a 2 bed roomed end of terrace and is on a new estate that has 3 ornamental lakes, a park, doctors and little row of shops. Despite liking old houses new estates are definitely more convenient. 

Here's Lily watching the birds outside. Excuse my ancient TV. I really hate spending money on electronics so as long as this one works it will be staying! The curtains are Laura Ashley and in the corner of the pic you can see my coffee table; an old trunk with the name 'C.Ling' on the top, £5 from the local carboot.

 My fireplace was a moving in present from my Nan & Grandad and is from eBay. When I fall in love with something I don't even think about measuring it and neither does my mum. When my cousin went to pick the fireplace up it wouldn't fit in the car and after dismantling it and dropping it off to me I realised that the fire was meant to fit into an old fireplace and not to sit flush against a new wall. Well that wasn't going stop me. My poor step dad had to attach it to the wall and then build an MSF 'box' around it to hide the fact it didn't really fit. The wooden mantle piece was originally painted in a horrible dark varnish so my Dad painted it a nice fresh white for me.

The 'Keep Calm and Carry on' picture was £10 from Wilkinsons and the mirror around £25 from Matalan. You can't really see in the picture but the mirror's frame is beautiful and has antique style detailing around it. The vintage brass ducks were £25 from a Recycling Shop in Stratford.

These knitted cakes sit on my mantle piece and were made by my mum. The vintage cake stand was from a vintage shop in Brick Lane and was only £8, which I thought was cheap for London prices.

My TV unit was from Ikea years ago and I rescued it from our garage when I moved into my new house.On the shelves I have all sorts of bits and bobs; A plastic vintage terrier dog bought from The Northampton Vintage and Homemade Fair for £3, a quartz Buddha given to me by my Dad, some vintage cake stands I picked up from carboot sales, some decorative hearts, a metal Scottie dog with angel wings brought back from America for me by my Nan and a vintage saucer that my Mum decorated with the words 'Dolly Bird'.

When I bought my sofa I wanted something new but something that had a retro feel to it so I went for this purple leather one. The Scottie cushions were from Matalan and the little 50s table you can see at the side of the sofa was a present from my mum from a local Recycling Shop. The bookcases were purpose built by my step dad and then painted to match the walls. They're so useful for storage and display.

The bookcases house Cd's, DVDs, books, vintage annuals, china and all sorts. The large Russian Doll was given to me by my Mum, the tiny salt and pepper pot owls were 50p from my local Recycling centre and the china vintage dog was £2 from a charity shop. The tins were all from carboot sales and were 50p to £1 and the vintage pin up lady was from a street market in Newcastle under Lyme when I was a student at Keele. She was £8 and is one of my favourite pieces.

 A few of my vintage annuals held up by art deco Scottie book marks bought from a carboot sale for £4.

The art deco jugs and sugar bowls were all from the local recycling centre and the honey pot was given to me by my Nan as I've always loved it. The jug with pens in was bought from an ancient petrol station that used to have bits and bobs for sale before it closed a few years back. The blue floral tin was £1 from a carboot and the rose tin was £6 from an antique market while at uni. The dog is an old money box that I found at my Great Granddad's house recently. He used to put 50p per week in each grandchild's moneybox and I was devastated when he swapped them for tacky new ones a few years back. I thought he must have thrown the old ones out but I found them under dressing table when sorting through stuff at his house late last year.

 The chair and cover was from Ikea and the knitted blanket was £1 from the local carboot.

This little family sit on my living room windowsill. My Mum bought them for me from a carboot and after a really good clean with a toothbrush they came up lovely.

My 1950s cocktail cabinet is one of my absolute favourite things and was my graduation present from my Mum and Step dad. It was around £150 from eBay and we drove all the way to Port Sunlight to collect it. It's full of vintage glasses, jugs and kitsch straws and umbrellas. It lights up when it's opened up and has a mirrored inside with its original lemon squeezer and olive sticks. The ice bucket and 50s shot glasses were a couple of pounds each from a carboot. The 'Summit' salt, pepper and mustard pots were £2 for all of them from a carboot.

The 50s display cabinet was £10 from the local Recycling Shop and is full of vintage chin and teapots, all charity shop or carboot finds. The pretty sewing basket was from the Boots sale and is sat on a 50s sewing box that has legs and was handmade by a man for his wife. It was under £10 from a Myton Hospice charity shop. The teapots on top of the cabinet are (left to right); Arthur Woods £6 from Stratford Recycling Shop, £3 from a charity shop, Sadler teapot from my Great Granddad's house, red tin teapot £1 from a carboot. One of the tin teapots in the display cabinet has the fab makers name of 'Victory Ware'. The union jack oil canvas was done by my mum and has a nice textured effect to it.

This week the house is full off flowers. The carnations were a belated birthday present from a friend and they're sat in my favourite 50s glass measuring jug. I bought a Tete et Tete for my mum and myself this week and planted mine in a blue and white vintage bowl I picked up from a charity shop for £1. It has a lovely windmill and birds scene.

Hope you enjoyed yourittle tour xxx