One of my favourite things to do is going out to bars, cafes and restaurants as much for the lovely coffees, cakes, wine and food as for the inspiration and ideas for our home…here are some of the cafes and restaurants that I love to go to; they may also be sources of inspiration for you and if you are passing, somewhere lovely to go…

Primrose Bakery

I would love my kitchen to look just like this..gorgeous pastels…pinks, mint green, primrose yellow, retro furniture, eclectic vintage cake stands filled with beautifully decorated cakes, biscuits and pastries, nostalgic bits and pieces and seasonal flowers…our kitchen larder was inspired by Primrose bakery…mint green and filled with vintage crockery!

For extra inspiration I love to look through The Primrose Bakery Book…lovely pictures of their cafes and delicious recipes…I think my family would definitely recommend the Gingerbread Men recipe…this year for Valentine’s day I filled a Le Parfait jar with Gingerbread heart biscuits for my husband…as he frequently asks me when I might be baking some more…great for dunking in tea!

I know I have a very finite amount of time that I have a say over my sons bedrooms but for the time being they seem happy for me to decorate their rooms…so I better make the most of it!

I always loved the Cath Kidston Cowboy wallpaper which was the inspiration for my eldest son’s bedroom…

Ikea has been a great source of furniture for both my sons rooms which I have mixed up with some vintage furniture, knitted blankets and various Cath Kidston prints.

My youngest son’s room is basically a variation on a theme! I painted an old pine wardrobe in Annie Sloan chalk paint…

My eldest son has been requested some more ‘grown up’ updates to his room…so watch this space!!

When we first moved we had a UPVC front door, carpeted hallway, chipped terracotta tiles and a constantly cluttered porch with shoes, coats and bags so every time I got home I was met with clutter; not a great greeting for us as a family or guests! So we set about changing this…

We replaced the carpet, which used to be constantly muddy with two young boys running through the house, with wooden flooring. We painted the bottom half of the walls in Dulux Chic Shadow as the previous white walls were always scuffed and dirty…now it’s so much better! I then painted the gold overmantle mirror in a soft grey Autentico chalk paint which was very easy to paint onto the mirror; definitely would recommend it! I then bought the console table from Ebay and of course the mustard telephone which always gets a mention when anyone walks into the house (Wild and Wolf 746 1960s corded telephone in English Mustard).

The set of 3  white flying swallow wall decorations are from Sass and Belle (lovely website!).

The first change to the porch was the front door…we replaced the UPVC front door with a contemporary oak door (External Linear Oak door from Howdens Joinery co.) We then continued the herringbone style of flooring with the Augustus Bluestone Tumbled tiles from Topps Tiles. The walls are painted in Farrow and Ball Blackened. The coats are now organised thanks to the Carson chrome coat rack from Graham and Green and the hats, scarves and gloves are tucked into the Fortnum and Mason hamper which I bought from a little antique shop but eBay has plenty to choose from. The shoes are in the little wicker baskets which we bought years ago but Garden Trading company and the Cotswold Company do some great shoe storage and benches. Now I feel much better walking into the house…all sorted!