Our kitchen progress...

Before: horrible, lack of space, dodgy piping, cheap worktops, handles and doors, old appliances...(the only nice things were the tiles, but we had to get rid of them unfortunately)



and after: lots more storage, more practical, quality wood worktop and nice new fitted appliances.

We are *nearly* finished on our kitchen! This weekend we are tiling the walls and then we will be able to peel off the blue backing plastic. The cupboards aren't actually that nice shade of blue, but high gloss white underneath. We have become quite accustomed to the blue over the past 3 weeks though and think the white will be a shock to us! If only Ikea did blue high gloss cupboard doors, I am sure we would have gone for that. The worktop is looking fab now after being lovingly oiled every week. Once we have tiled, we can get on with the important stuff, like making my Kitchenaid at home in the kitchen and adding pretty tea towels. We are using pale grey tiles and then adding colour in the accessories; a red Kitchenaid, blue and colourful Joseph Joseph worktop saver, red & blue Ching He Huang Typhoon containers, Cath Kidston dotty cereal bowls and a cerise Le Creuset casserole dish.

Kitchen by afeitar on Polyvore.com

I really can't wait to have a proper, fully functioning kitchen. The past few weeks have been easier than previous weeks as we have a fridge and an oven, but we are still lacking quite a lot of simple things like spatulas and tongs and knives! It's been a bit like working in those army field kitchens they test contestants in on Masterchef. When it is all completely finished, I will bake an extra special cake to christen my kitchen! 

Are you a Fearne or a Holly?

Dress - c/o Very
Shoes - Topshop
Necklace - Primark
Belt - Asos
Ring - Accessorize

Since we've been doing the house up, I've had very little opportunity to dress up in a pretty dress and heels. I wear smart dresses everyday for work, but some dresses are just *too* nice to wear for work I always think. Plus I can't wear heels for work as I am on my feet all day, it's just impractical! DIYing has meant that my home uniform has become a scruffy pair of old, torn jeans and an old primark t-shirt. Not exactly classy, but practical all the same when it comes to painting and oiling and general DIYing. Hence why I have had this dress sitting in my old wardrobe for well over a month. 

The folks at Very sent me this dress from the Holly Willoughby collection and at first I was dubious and thought I'd made a bad choice..when I tried it on it felt too long and frumpy looking. But anything can become classy & sophisticated once you pop on your favourite pair of high heels! I love some of the clothes in the Holly Willoughby collection because they're very vintage inspired and remind me of something that Joan in Mad Men would wear. I also like the Fearne Cotton collection though; I'd like to think that my style is a blend of the two of them. I like the classics cuts of Holly's collection, but also like the more eccentric patterns and interesting colours that are in Fearne's collection. Are you a Fearne or a Holly? 

Cut the mustard

Mustard by afeitar 

Dorothy Perkins gold top, £28
Knitted Dalmatian Motif Jumper, £45
Dorothy Perkins circular skirt, £23
Cotton pants, £29
Dorothy Perkins opaque hosiery, £5
ASOS strap shoes, £45
Poetic License lace up shoes, $105
Oasis satchel bag, £22

This post is a small ode to mustard. I love mustard and I am so pleased that it seems to be one of the big colours for this autumn. I especially love the dalmation jumper from topshop in the polyvore set above. How cute is it?! It can be friends with my Hobbs dog jumper. Some people hate yellow, my sister being one of them. I used to hate it but then I bought a yellow cardigan from Topshop in 2006 and have been smitten ever since. Alas that cardigan is no more (I lost it one day walking through Liverpool *sobs*) but I have made up for it by buying everything else in mustard. It HAS to be mustard yellow though, not lemon or normal yellow. Only mustard will do. (The irony of all this is that I actually dislike the taste of mustard unless it is watered down in sauces. Ha!)

What's your favourite colour for this autumn? 

Dog walker

skirt - new look

t-shirt - dorothy perkins

coat - topshop 

This weekend we were dog-sitting Pepe & Nina because my parents had gone away to a wedding. We brought them up to our place and took them for a walk in Sefton Park, Nina loved chasing after all the birds in the fields! There was also some kind of cross-country relay race going on so we had to play dodge the runners & coaches at one point. The race was a junior race and the kids must have been about 13/14 and there were coaches shouting at them 'C'mon, only 2 more in front of you, keep it up! Keep this pace up!' and gosh, it was competitive! I am glad that when I run I only run against myself, to get personal bests, and not to compete against anyone else because I am the least competitive person ever (although I am sure that Scott would say otherwise...) 

I am just taking a quick lunch break from decorating on my day off, we are currently painting our bedroom. It is a lovely shade of mustard yellow with dark & light greys. It's loooovely and I can't wait to finish it and show photos off, but it may be a few more weeks yet. 

Liverpool food & drink festival

Last weekend we went to the Liverpool food & drink festival and sampled some of the best food in the North-West. Lots of my favourite scouse food shops & restaurants were there, including Lunya, The Ship & Mitre, Raggas, The Chocolate Cellar and The Monro. We also sampled some new food from Chilli Banana, a thai restaurant on Lark Lane. We watched Aiden Byrne doing a butchery demonstration & drank cocktails from Santa Chupitos (Jamaican Me Stormy is my favourite: rum, ginger beer & fresh lime juice mmm.) Sadly we couldn't stay much longer as we had joiners in fitting our kitchen, so we took them back some takeaway fish & chips from the James Monro and then marveled at our new kitchen. The festival was really good for £4. I know some people complained about having to pay because other years it has been free, but as someone who has visited the Good Food Show (or Masterchef Live as it is now called) two years in a row, Liverpool Food & Drink festival was definitely value for money. 

Breaking the silence

I haven't blogged for over a month now and I have missed it so so much. However, since becoming a home owner every weekend and evening has been spent doing DIY and other little jobs that need doing. I have spent more money on paint in the last few weeks than I have on clothes in the whole year. We are still living between 2 houses, staying at our house 75% of the time but then spending the rest of the time at my parents when we need clothes cleaning and long baths. Progress has definitely been made though and I have some updates to share with you soon (but I have left my camera and SD at my parents this weekend so you will have to make do with some cliched instagram photos). Meanwhile, here is a round up of what I've been up to the past month:

• Enjoying walks around Sefton Park, which is just a stones throw from our house. 

• Visited Center Parcs with my family, where it rained. A lot. 

• Had a paint trauma in the guest room which involved us peeling back about 27 layers of old paint back to the plaster. 

• Drank the BEST coffee I've ever had in the UK at our new local coffee shop that opened a fortnight ago. 

• Snaffled this blanket from my Nana for our house. Score!

• Enjoyed the Liverpool Food Festival, notably Jamaican Me Stormy cocktails from Santa Chupitos. 

• Got our kitchen fitted, finally! I love it so much. (It is not blue, that is just the protective film. It's really high gloss white underneath.) We will be getting it tiled soon and then it will be completely finished. 

• And last night was spent wallpapering in the dining room. We also painted our blackboard wall this week which is just underneath it. I love the contrast between the wallpaper and the blackboard wall. Cannot wait to get this room finished, we just need new flooring fitted. 

Our aim is to be properly moved in by the end of October, so about 6 more weeks to go. We probably underestimated how much would need doing on the house when we bought it, and there have been many set backs like finding damp patches, water leaks, gas leaks, bubbling & peeling paint and breaking radiators. However, it is so satisfying to see the progress we have made compared to the 'before' photos, and I will be sharing some more updated photos soon. I am also loving living in Liverpool. The location of our house is absolutely perfect. I just can't wait until we can spend less time DIY-ing and more time enjoying the area around us. Hope everyone is well, tell me what you've all been up to the last month!