*This post has been written in paid collaboration with Couture Living

As you know I have been working on transforming our box room of doom to make it into a multi-functional work/guest/storage room. I’ve switched the furniture round and sold the daybed, installed some storage cupboards and changed the colour of the woodwork (I still need to do a fair bit like painting the walls – I think I’m going to use Slipper Satin). However, none of these changes made a massive difference to the feel of the room until… I hung new curtains! To say that they have transformed the look and feel of the room is a massive understatement. I’m collaborating with Couture Living, who offer an online made to measure curtain service, to explain why I am a total curtain convert and why I want them in every room in my house.

The first thing I want to say is that I am absolutely delighted with the curtains that I received from Couture Living and can’t recommend their service highly enough. The curtains were very easy to order, they are exquisitely well made and the fabric is beautiful. I chose to have my curtains interlined so that they are gorgeously thick and luxurious feeling. The curtains have three layers: the linen fabric on the front – I chose the Halki Linen, a blackout lining on the back and another layer of fabric in the middle. This not only makes them feel wonderful and drape beautifully but the thickness keeps heat in and cold out. It’s quite amazing the difference a quality pair of curtains can make to the warmth of a room and as we only have a small radiator in our box room these curtains really help to keep it lovely and cosy. I’m now thinking about this pink velvet fabric for a hallway curtain – what do you think?

The thing that always shocks me about hanging curtains compared to minimal blinds is how much bigger they can make a room feel, which is another reason to have them everywhere. It seems strange, I know, that by adding metres of fabric to a room it can appear bigger but it’s true. As long as you hang the curtains high enough and long enough (must be touching the floor in my book) they will give the optical illusion of grand high ceilings, even in a small box room like mine. I am gobsmacked at how much bigger the room now feels compared to the barely visible roller blind we had up in here temporarily.

As I said, the addition of these curtains has totally made this room look and feel ‘finished’. Curtains have the ability of pulling a colour scheme together and unifying a room. They have made my unfinished room feel so warm and inviting in a way that no other piece of furniture or decor could do. If you are struggling with a room not feeling complete think about what you have on your windows as it may be the key piece of the room that’s missing. The other important part of having beautiful, beautiful curtains in a room like this, that has previously been a dumping ground and somewhere that I close the door and ignore most of the time, is that I suddenly have a new found desire to spend time in here. I really think it will help motivate me to use the room properly and it will finally shake its room of shame label!

Choosing, measuring, fitting and hanging curtains can be off putting to some as it can be quite an involved process. However, after using the Couture Living site I can honestly say that it really doesn’t need to scare anyone. The biggest quandary will always be what fabric to choose and after that all the hard work is done for you with this very useful curtain and blind measuring guide and my top tip is this very inexpensive curtain rod that makes hanging curtains so easy.

I’ll be honest and say that I agonised over the the fabric choice and I was very close to choosing this William Morris fabric but actually I am so thrilled with my final choice of Halki Linen so these are my tips for choosing the right fabric for your room:

1. Order samples… always!

2. Pick a colour from your room’s colour scheme either from the walls, carpet, lampshade or art work. Choose a neutral – I was very close to choosing this gorgeous parchment linen, which is slightly lighter in colour than the Halki Linen – if you want the curtains to blend with the rest of the room or an accent colour if you want the curtains to make a statement or even establish the colour scheme for a room.

3. If you choose a pattern think about how they will look closed as well as open.

4. Select the type of fabric very carefully as this will have a big bearing on how your curtains drape and the feel they will give to the room. Cotton and linen will hang well whilst velvet will give a much more opulent feel.

5. If you want to block out light you will need black out lining and if drafts are a concern choose inter lining (so there are three layers of fabric) which gives the curtain a wonderful heaviness and luxurious feel.

So, I’m left wanting curtains in every room and I would absolutely love them in our sitting room bay window but I fear the cost of a curved curtain rod and the fact that there isn’t much space to draw the curtains back onto is an issue. Anyone else successfully hung curtains in a bay in a small room? I’d love to see pics if you have any.

Katy x

*This is a paid collaboration with Snapbook

Discount code for 20% off everything at Snapbook: APARTMENT APOTHECARY

I made a promise to myself a few months ago that I would start the process of filling all of our blank walls to give the house more character and to help it feel more homely. Part of that process has been about printing out precious photographs and getting them well framed to hang on the walls. I have thousands of photos on my phone – as I’m sure so many of us have – but putting them up on the wall is just so lovely. That’s why I am very pleased to collaborate with Snapbook (you can download the app here) as it takes all of the effort out of photo printing as it operates through an app so you can do it all directly through your phone – no need to download, USBs or visiting photo printing shops etc.

I decided to print out some special photographs that were taken by our lovely friend Katharine when she visited us the week after Mimi was born as well as the first photo Jules took immediately after I gave birth and met Mimi for the first time. Mimi just loves looking at ‘real’ photos and the framed ones we have in her room are some of her favourite things to talk about. Snapbook offer various photo print sizes so I chose the 5×7″ and with a large mount and frame they suddenly become proper pieces of wall art with a photo that cost 25p to print! Yes, the mount and frame costs a lot more but compared to a piece of art it’s a much more affordable way to fill your walls. Also, if you are struggling to think of meaningful Christmas presents why not get a lovely photo printed and framed beautifully? I really think that is a present that most people would love.

I also printed a photo that I took for Instagram a long time ago in our old flat. I have always loved it and Snapbook offer a square 8×8″ print option – which is perfect for Instagram pics. Again, by adding a black mount and frame it has become a piece of wall art and it’s so nice to have that memory of our old flat, which represents a completely different phase of our lives, hanging in our new house.

The other option Snapbook offer is having photos printed onto objects, which can make great personalised gifts. One of the things that I have done for Jules the last few years at Christmas is print a collection of family photographs of the year. We don’t buy gifts for each other so this is just a really nice tradition that I have started. This year instead of the prints I have made him a photobook using the Snapbook app. I was worried that this would be a very involved and lengthy process as I have never made one before but I know friends who have done them who have said they have taken forever. However, Snapbook offer an ‘autofill’ option or a ‘customise your own’ option. I chose autofill so I had made an album on my phone of all the pictures that I wanted to include, I selected them and then Snapbook fills up your photobook with the photos – as easy as that! I decided to swap a few around just because some are more special than others and I wanted them to be placed more prominently but it really was very easy. I was able to do the whole thing on my phone whilst sitting on the sofa one evening. The quality of the printing is great ad it’s a really sweet book of memories.

The other thing I have decided to do this Christmas, instead of giving out token gifts that are so often a waste of money, packaging and resources is to include a couple of lovely photo prints into Christmas cards. The photos are special memories that we’ve made with the friend/family this year and I think that’s a much nicer thing to receive than a novelty gift.

I hope this has given you some ideas for getting those photos off your phones! Download the Snapbook app from Apple Store or Google Play and have a go to see how easy it is for yourselves. Get 20% off everything using code: APARTMENT APOTHECARY

Katy x

*This post is written in collaboration with Bemz – use code aptapoth25 for 25% off their entire range until November 25th.

I’ve already told you about Bemz who make covers for IKEA furniture as they gifted me a set of natural linen covers for my IKEA Soderhamn sofas back when we first moved in. The covers have been an absolute triumph not only still looking fresh and beautiful after a year of use but have withstood the bustle of our home and several washes (all of the covers are completely removable and washable at 40 degrees). What I love about my natural linen covers is that they are light, loose and floaty (they are the loose urban fit – you can see them in this post) and therefore perfect for the spring and summer. They have got many years left in them, I hope, but I’ve just removed and washed them all and packed them up in the loft for the winter because, very excitingly, Bemz have invited me to showcase one of their new fabrics on my sofas. I’m also excited to tell you that I can offer you 25% off their entire range until November 25th with code aptapoth25 – you’ve got to be quick!

I have chosen one of their new Designers Guild linens for the sofas in Brera Lino Pewter, which is a lovely soft blue grey that tones with our Light Blue woodwork so well. The Indigo Velvet cushions, another of their new fabrics, is the perfect shade to pull together the colours in my rug and our Railings kitchen at the other end of the room. The old set of natural linen covers pushed the room outwards and made everything feel bigger but these Pewter and Indigo covers do the opposite; they pull the room together and make it feel cosier.

The other big difference is that I have chosen the regular fit cover style and changed the feet from the IKEA steel ones (which I wouldn’t choose to display as they wouldn’t work in this room) to these gorgeous natural wooden ones by Bemz. I chose the simple Kastell tapered tapered wooden furniture legs for the two sofas and then the gorgeous Terence chunky wooden furniture legs for the ottoman. The addition of the warm wood and being able to see more floor space helps to keep the room feeling spacious at the same time as cosy.

What I really like about the Pewter colour is that it’s not too dark so it could also easily transition to Spring with a change up of the cushions. Also, it’s relatively neutral so could work with lots of different colours (I’ve just designed a sitting room room for someone with a very similar colour sofa and Setting Plaster walls and it looks great!). It’s a very adaptable colour. The linen itself is of a beautiful quality as you would expect from Designers Guild. It feels very robust and thicker than my previous covers so the texture feels more winter-like. With the added softness of the velvet cushions the sofas feel very inviting and ready for nights at home. The velvet is also washable, which blows my mind, as the last velvet armchair we had marked so badly that no one other than responsible adults were allowed near it!

I’ve combined these gorgeous vintage Berber cushions with the blues to add some warmth and they work well with the pinks in my rug. The texture of these cushions, made from remnants of Berber rugs, is perfect for this seasonal feel too. I borrowed them from Yonder for this blog post and I am so tempted to buy them as they really are divine and beautifully made.

The room really does feel very different just by changing the sofa covers and cushions – nothing else at all in the room has been changed. It just goes to show that you don’t have to do a full decorating job to give your home a brand new look. I’d love to know which look you prefer…

We’re all ready to settle in for the festive season but I know already I’ll love retrieving my old covers from the loft once the Spring arrives!

Katy x

When we were in the planning stages of our bathroom we were certain that we wanted to knock the loo and bathroom together to make the room a decent size rather than two almost unusable spaces. We managed to come up with a really good design that works brilliantly well (you can read about it here). I was also pretty certain about the finishes that I wanted to use, a lot of which was dictated by a small budget. However, there were lots of very small details that weren’t clear in my mind and so I pored over images of bathrooms to help me answer the questions that I had and that my builder had. It’s these small details that I get lots of messages about and so I thought it would be helpful to take pictures of the bathroom from every single angle and of every detail to help those who are planning their own bathroom project. Also, I will do a list of where I sourced everything from at the bottom of this post.

You’ve probably seen quite a lot of the right side of the bathroom as I love the look of the sink and mirror and the bare wooden door so that’s what I usually photograph. I have had quite a few questions about what happens behind the door when it is closed so here’s a look…

The wall angles in on the right side of the sink so the shelf that was created by boxing in the plumbing gets narrower. I plan to hang some hooks on the tongue and groove on the right of the sink and perhaps some shallow shelves on the right side of the mirror. WE have one wall light above the mirror and three spot lights in this room on a dimmer switch and that is a perfect amount of light.

Working around the room the boiler cupboard is next to the bathroom door (we still need to choose a handle for the door). We have the boiler, a washing machine and shelves for linen and towel storage in that cupboard – it’s great! I will show you inside it in another post. I chose tongue and groove for the door to tie in with the rest of the room. I’ve actually had messages from people who have bought similar 30s houses wanting to know where we’ve put the washing machine as the kitchen space is so small and this was our solution and it works really well. We don’t have a tumble dryer so we either hang clothes to dry on a clothes horse and put it in the spare room or hang it outside. The only issue, therefore, if having the washing machine upstairs is having to take the laundry up and down to the garden to hang it on the line during the summer.

As you can see it is a small room but we have managed to fit the boiler/washing machine cupboard in by choosing a small bath, which is perfect for Mimi and we seldom have baths so its size doesn’t bother us. Luckily the water pressure is really good so the shower over the bath is actually really lovely and I don’t miss having a shower cubicle at all.

This size bath is totally fine for an adult, by the way, if you are considering one and like to have baths on a regular basis. I have definitely indulged in a Friday night bath here with this great bath caddy. Although I will be honest and say it is most regularly used for bath toys rather than wine. We chose a tap that takes up as little space as possible, which also works well when showering standing up as we don’t bash into a protruding tap.

We knew that we were going to use the bath most days with Mimi so we decided to get a folding shower screen as this is best in a small room and with a small person wandering around as it folds up really neatly. I would really recommend one if you lack space.

My builder made the tongue and groove bath panel and things I hadn’t considered like whether I wanted the skirting board to wrap around the room, including the bath panel, stumped me for ages! My builder said he thought it should because I couldn’t decide and I’m glad I listened to him as it makes it feel a lot more part of the room.

The other detail I get asked about is why we have the shower and bath controls at the end of the bath and the very simple reason is that it means you don’t have to stick your arm under the shower head to turn it on so we’re less likely to get wet!

We chose underfloor heating because I hate cold tiled floors and it was a really great decision. The tiles I chose were mega cheap and they are SO easy to keep clean especially with the mid-grey grout. They also feel really nice underfoot. The one thing I really don’t like is the toilet flush, which has to be so big as it serves as the access to the cistern. I’m on the look out for a slightly nicer looking one.

Remember, that not only did we knock down the wall between the loo and bathroom but we replaced two doors with one so we were able to reclaim floor space that was taken up with two doors that angled into the space. You can see photos of what it looked like here.

So that’s about it, I think. As I said, if you do have any questions please give me a shout.

Katy x

Sources:

(I can’t for the life of me remember where we got the bath tap and shower hose but I will ask Jules as maybe he paid for them and get back to you!)

Bath – Victorian Plumbing (we got it for £87 as they always have sales)

Bath caddy – Bathroom Takeway (gifted)

Bath screen – Victoria Plum no longer sell this exact one, I’m afraid.

Woodwork paint Ammonite – Farrow & Ball

Walls paint Brilliant White – not sure which brand as decorator did it

Duravit Basin – Fountain Direct (cheapest I could find it was from this site)

Duravit basin console – Fountain Direct

Basin tap – Mano Mano (gifted)

Loo – Victoria Plum

Wall light above mirror – Original BTC

Heated towel rail – Plumb Nation (gifted)

Underfloor heating – Plumb Nation (gifted)

Wall tiles – Walls and Floors (they are white rather than off white, which is pretty hard to find in matt tiles so I had to go gloss)

Floor tiles – Walls and Floors (much cheaper than the Topps Tiles equivalent because they are thinner but I really don’t think that’s an issue in a residential bathroom)