katy – Page 99 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 11th February 2014

Valentine heart garland

I’ve always loved Valentine’s day celebrations, especially the card part. I’m making Jules a heart garland this year with a secret message in each heart. I also thought these would make a great decoration for a wedding party – maybe to hang on each chair or cover up a bare wall. I’ve got a big stash of Liberty print wrapping paper, which I have decided to use (don’t you just love this Betsy print?) but you can use any paper you like so it’s a really inexpensive decoration.

You will need:

How to make a valentine heart garland by www.apartmentapothecary.com

Pretty wrapping paper, scissors, heart template (I drew my own – just make sure it is symmetrical) and a sewing machine.

Tutorial:

1. Fold your wrapping paper in half and in half again. Draw round your heart template as many times as possible (depending on how long you want your garland to be). Cut round each heart so you end up with a big pile of them.

2. Pair up your hearts and fold them in half creating a crease down the middle.

3. Unfold them and place the two hearts together (wrong sides together). Sew down the middle of the two hearts following the crease you made earlier. When you get to the bottom of the hearts, pull the cotton through the machine until you create your desired gap between each one on the garland.

4. Now fold the hearts away from each other again so that it becomes 3D.

All done! Hang them from the ceiling, on the back of a chair or across a window.

Happy Valentine’s day lovely people x

katy 9th February 2014

Happy blog birthday!

It’s my first bloggy birthday! Hurrah! I genuinely don’t know where the time has gone, all massive cliches aside, but I have loved every minute.

The fact that I love blogging so much has led to a HUGE decision in the other half of my life. As you may know, I am a secondary school teacher in Tower Hamlets and have been at the same school since 2003. I’m very passionate about education and I could talk for hours about it. I used to love my job. However, the situation has changed very rapidly in the last couple of years; the creativity I was once able to pour into my job is no longer welcomed (I’ll be writing an open letter with more on that but it’s not really for this forum).

So, I have made the difficult decision to walk away from teaching for good. I do feel guilty about this decision as it’s the kids who lose out every time a good teacher walks away but I also need to think about me and what I need from life as we only have one of them. I want to be creative every day. I want to answer to myself and not people I constantly disagree with. I want to feel relaxed sometimes as opposed to stressed out of my mind. I want to meet new people and see new things. I want to do something different rather than follow the same timetable every day for the rest of my life. I don’t want to get on the tube everyday of my life. I just want to find out what happens outside the school gates for the first time in my life. I want to explore.

I have no fixed ideas about what I am going to do next but I’ve got six months to figure it out (if anyone has any ideas, answers on a postcard please!). The ‘not knowing’ is so exciting compared to each day being mapped out for the rest of time. One thing is for sure that I will have more time to spend on developing my blog – more original content, more posts, meeting more exciting people and their beautiful homes.

To celebrate my first birthday I want to do a small round up of the posts I have most enjoyed over the last year…

Bedroom makeover.

How to make vintage placemats by www.apartmentapothecary.com

How to make placemats with vintage wallpaper.

How to mix styles.

Home tour of Double Merrick.

Recycled planters.

Craft room makeover by www.apartmentapothecary.com

My craft room makeover.

Just remember everyone – YOLO (see how down with the kids I am?)!!!

Katy x

P.S. Thank you sooooo much for dropping by this year, your comments, ‘likes’, tweets and photos. If there is anything you would like to see more of or less of please leave a comment below and I’ll try my best!

Featured image was photographed by Katharine Peachey.

katy 4th February 2014

The Folly

The Folly is a luxury holiday home in the Cotswolds that I got to snoop around with film photographer, Katharine Peachey. Originally owned by a member of Cold Play, the house doesn’t have the traditional country decor you might expect.

Two cottages knocked into one, there is a modern extension, which adds space and light. It is set in its own grounds with tennis courts, an annexe and is surrounded by fields of horses. It’s the perfect country home to spend the winter in as you are welcomed by a roaring wood burning stove, open fires and an Aga. There are lots of sumptuous textiles and sofas in the two sitting rooms and the upstairs is warm, cosy and filled with interesting knick-knacks. The attic has been converted into the most wonderful bedroom suite and the bathroom, with its copper freestanding bath, was my favourite room in the whole house.

Katharine took these fabulous shots, which capture the unique interior perfectly. She has recently launched a new website to showcase her portfolio of photography projects and collections. Obviously, the interiors gallery is my favourite but take a look to judge for yourself…

Do pop over to Katharine’s new site to check out more of her work and some of the other houses we have toured together.

Katy x

katy 30th January 2014

Swedish home of Annacate

I’m quite obsessed with Scandinavian design and interiors so Lovely Life blog, with its Swedish home tours, is one of my faves. I came across the home of Annacate recently, who is also a blogger over at Another Side of Life, and I fell in love instantly. The home is quirky, unique and effortlessly stylish. It was the vintage mirror above the kitchen sink that first caught my attention and then I saw the William Morris wallpaper, mid-century chairs and wall to ceiling books and I could not contain my envy any longer.

This home is a wonderful example of creating a personal, beautiful, interesting home within a period building whilst keeping it up to date – all the mod-cons with no sacrifice of the owner’s obvious passion for vintage style.

A few things to copy to make your own period home as beautiful and functional:

1) Create a white backdrop with white walls and floorboards as this instantly creates a fresh, crisp feel in a home on which to layer your furniture, textiles, wallpaper.

2) Use big, bold wallpaper or textiles in parts of the house to complement the age of your home. With a bright white floor, this will never feel too heavy.

3) Offset a brand new kitchen with vintage pieces like the mirror, dining table and chairs.

4) If original tiles have been lost replace with updated geometric patterned ones, reminiscent of Victorian tiles.

5) Replace modern radiators with cast iron ones or good replicas.

6) Use books (or in this home’s case LP’s) to decorate the walls.

7) Don’t scrimp on modern, cheap shelving as this will let down the rest of the room. Invest in vintage shelving like the great mid-century string shelving they have used in this house.

8) Use colours that complement the period of your home. I love the greens, blues and greys in this home, which can be seen in the tiles, wallpaper and paint on the walls and staircase.

9) Keep your vintage or antique furniture in its natural wooden state – don’t paint the death out of everything.

10) Let as much light into the house as possible, even if that means not having curtains or blinds at some of the windows. Allow the windows to show their real beauty, rather than covering them up, if possible.

Sit back and enjoy this beauty of a home…

All photgraphs are from Lovely Life blog – pop over to see more images of the house. To see more of Annacate’s interiors follow her on instagram @annacate.

Katy x

katy 28th January 2014

Liberty print pouffe

I’m lucky enough to have been given both Liberty sewing books as presents; they are full of the most beautiful home projects that are right up my street. I decided to try out the pouffe (or some might call it a footstool or beanbag) pattern to brighten up a corner of my sitting room (plus Jules needs somewhere to put his feet up as I always lie out on the sofa). I decided to buy exactly the same print as used in the book as it fits perfectly with my sofa. I would normally spend hours deciding which Liberty print to use but the styling in the book is so seductive I just went with what they had used.

It’s an easy thing to make in that there are only a few pieces of fabric involved (top, base, side and two handle pieces) but it is one of the trickier pieces of sewing I’ve done as you have to fit a zip in the bottom (you have to make a liner full of the beans that you can take in and out via the zip) and you have to sew the top, which is a circle, to the side piece, which is a rectangle.

However, the final result is very pleasing and would cost a small fortune if you bought it in a shop.

Where to buy what you need for this project:

The Liberty Book of Home Sewing is available from Waterstones for £15.

Pablo Pepper print fine corduroy is available from Sewbox for £14.95 per metre.

Polystyrene beads cost £3.80 from eBay.

I love being able to make things for my home for a fraction of the cost of shop-bought pieces. I’ve saved myself so much money since learning how to sew!

What have you made recently for your home?

Katy x