Bookcase redo - Phase 1

I started the bookcase yesterday as it was beginning to stick out like a sore thumb in all it's orangey pine glory.

 This bookcase has traveled around the houses, from room to room with me over the years and has certainly has its work cut out as I seem to be a bit of a bookaholic and just can't stop myself from buying them. 

Cushion update in the pipeline

Taking all the books from the shelves was a job in itself, but they are all stacked up now hiding behind the sofa. These are just a few of my books, the rest are dotted around throughout the house, just so that I can pretend that I am tidier than I actually am, in a least one room. 

Out of interest I was looking up painted bookcases on the Net yesterday and marvelled that people could perfectly arrange just a few books and other objet d'art on their bookcases with no overflowing mess, just minimalist prettiness, whereas I actually need far more space than I already have and look forward to one day having a room dedicated to my books, not a library as such but definitely somewhere with a comfy chair, a real fire (preferably), nice lighting and books galore.

All stacked up

Empty bookcase

As this bookcase has knotty pine wood and theres a lot of it, especially by the time I would get to the shelves, I decided to undercoat the whole thing in a cheaper paint. Hopefully this will now make my chalk paint go much further.

Undercoating done.

Second furniture project - Done!

Following my previous post I have finally managed to finish the second piece of furniture but it took me slightly longer than I expected. 

I previously worked on this cupboard way back in July 2010 after buying it at auction and was very pleased with it too all stripped and waxed. However times move on and I need to lighten up my living space. So brushes in hand I set about updating it again and with some trepidation it has to be said.

It does look a bit beige in the pictures but the colour is actually called County Grey, an Annie Sloan chalk paint, which I've also added some dark wax to in certain areas. It would look lovely in an off-white room but I'll stick with it for the moment as it is.

It looked especially nice yesterday (Valentines day) when our anniversary came around and I received some flowers.

Oops best ignore the boobies on that card!

Bookcase next!

Bedside cupboard

I went to a neighbours for a coffee recently and was inspired to start having a clear out. 

The first challenge I chose was to tackle the two chest of drawers and wardrobe in my bedroom. Two bags of rubbish and one large charity bag later and it was done. But I also now have a pile of Ebay items to deal with and under the bed to clear out. Having a really high antique bed is lovely, but you can store an awful lot of 'stuff' underneath it!

 One chest of drawers was moved to Emily's bedroom and an additional chest of drawers (really need to stop buying them at auction) was moved from the living room, where it had lived for months after being painted, upstairs to my bedroom. At last the living room is starting to look like a living room and not a furniture depot!

From Emily's room we took out a bedside cabinet that was given to me some time ago to do something with but like everything nothing had been done, it was just plonked in her room for somewhere to place a lamp and very ugly it was too.

Top stripped and first coat of blue/green paint.

Second coat in grey, leaving the shelf and cupboard blue/green.

Waxed, distressed and finished.

I've now moved onto another item and will hopefully have that finished within a few days.

Last nights snow.

It snowed quite heavily for a while last and at bedtime, about 11.30ish, Emily and I went into the garden to try to entice Bertie out for a play but she wouldn't haven't any of it, much preferring to stay in the warm and snuggle up on the sofa underneath a blanket. 

In PJs and dads shoes

Catching snowflakes

Although there is still snow around today it is slowly melting and turning into slush, all ready to freeze overnight to make the roads horrible for an airport run to Gatwick in the morning with my parents, who quite sensibly are off to Portugal for a month.

I've won a prize!

I entered a photo competition recently, not something I would usually do it has to be said, but to my utter astonishment I have won a prize. The theme for the competition was 'Childhood' so I entered the picture of Mia (my nieces daughter) that I took in the summer.

Now it all sounds very exciting and I was excited until I found out that I have won a professional website for a whole year. Hmm feel a bit of a fraud now actually having just got lucky with this shot and what am I going to do with a professional website? Maybe I need to start going out with my camera a bit more often and maybe, just maybe I may get some pictures worth putting on there!.

Finished scarf....

I did actually finish my scarf the day after my previous post about it, but until now have not got around to photographing it.

It's very warm and cosy, which is a definite plus at the moment when it is so bitterly cold outside. The finished scarf measures 7 by 73 inches, plenty long enough to wrap around and snuggle into.

Love it.

On another note I actually plucked up the courage last night and joined Weight Watchers (again) once I realised that I might actually struggle to get into my work trousers! Hopefully by next week I may have dropped a couple of pounds and will have started to feel a bit better about myself, well here's hoping.

Lunch from scratch.

Home made butter, soda bread and soup.

I've been making my own butter on and off for the last year or so, or at least whenever I find double cream reduced in price at the supermarket. Butter has increased to an astronomical price over the last 18 months and making your own is not only easy and a lot cheaper but it also tastes so much nicer than the top brands in the shops, especially if preserved with Maldon sea salt flakes. Unsalted butter needs to be used relatively quickly as it doesn't have the preservative to enable it to be kept, but its great if planning to do any baking.

The leftover butter milk has sometimes gone into scones, but most recently into a fresh loaf of soda bread. So within an hour I can have a whole pat of butter (about 250g) for about a third of the price of a packet in the shops and a fresh loaf.

And what better to go with it but a nice warming bowl of soup. Yesterday it was celery and potato.