london

Our London Bedroom Tour

Hello everyone, I know I haven’t done a post in absolutely forever but today I wanted to talk about our bedroom. We will be moving in July and I wanted to do a post on our room, how we decorated it and made the space work for us before we move.
So we are currently renting a 4 Bedroom Victorian Terraced House in Greenwich I have been living here for 3 years and Zac moving in with me last year.  Our room is on the top floor, we have the whole floor to our selves as it’s an attic conversion. It is large but it is a bit of an irregular shape and it has sloping ceilings which limits the wall space and head room (but we are both short so its fine for us).

When renting, you are limited with what you can do, so work with what’s there. When I moved, this bedroom was part furnished. It had a large bed with a massive headboard which was taller than the wall which meant the bed was away from the wall and kind of abandoned in the middle of the floor, there was a chest of drawers which matched the bed, a wicker arm chair and a side table. We moved the arm chair into the living room down stairs. I put the chest of doors and side table into one of the other bedrooms but the bed was too big to dismantle so I decided to keep it in the room and make it work.

I took the headboard out of the posts to open it up and turned it round to use the foot board as the headboard; this allowed me to push the bed up against the wall maximizing the floor space. When Zac moving in we needed more storage space. So we looked on Gumtree.com. Gumtree is perfect if you want a furnish a room when your renting as you don’t want to be investing loads of money if you are going to be moving in the near future. There is so much Ikea furniture on Grumtree for under £20 most of it barely used and in perfect condition and its already put together so no flat pack disasters.

So here’s our room.

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The room is light and bright as there are two sky lights in the bedroom and one in the en suite. We chose white bedding as it makes the room seem even brighter and therefore bigger. We also hung an over the door mirror over the door to the en suite to maximize the space. We have gone for mostly dark furniture with a few warm beach wood pieces to tie the sky light frames with the bed we added a light wood washing basket and tv stand to bring it together. We also chose to ascent the room with coppers and metallics to add different textures and sophistication to the room.

We wanted the room to be tidy but livable so we kept a lot of things open like the cube storage in dark wood which we keep in the cubby hole (as we call it) we have filled it with photos, books, our initials and special things. We also keep the products that we use every day out on top of the dresser to make things easier in the mornings.

And this is my desk -I am very proud of it, I love how its all black and this desk lamp with wood and copper details (from George at Asda!) goes so well with everything. Before I put the desk in, this space was unused and it just looked messy but this Ikea Micke Desk fits perfectly between the dresser and the wall giving my enough headroom to sit comfortably and work and it has plenty of storage. I keep my hair dryer, straighteners and curlers in the cupboard on the left, paperwork in the to drawer and stationary in the smaller drawer.

Moving on now to our en suite. It’s neutrally decorated with a cream tiled floor cream walls, glass walk in shower and glass sink. To tie it in with our bedroom with have some black and beach wood ascents and grey towels.

Next to the bathroom in a large build in cupboard. It has a sloping ceiling again but we use it as our wardrobe where we store our hung clothes, shoes and our extra bits and pieces. It’s not that exciting but here you go …

Everything in our room is inexpensive and can easily to taken with us when we move. Like I said before Gumtree is amazing for getting cheap furniture. I picked up this 5 drawer Ikea Kullen chest of drawers for £15, Two 3 drawer Ikea Kullen dressers sold as a pair for £25 and this Ikeas Micke Desk for £10.

ikea gumtree furniture

Primark candles smell so good and are so cheap. I have the Cedarwood & Myrrh glass candle on our bedside as well as in the bathroom. I also have their vanilla defuser in the bathroom, a vanilla column candle in the lantern, a vanilla and coconut jar candle on the side and vanilla tea lights in everything else 🙂 I love to lite candles at night and it keeps the room smelling amazing.  All the other ascents in the room are  from the highstreet, the copper bowl and gold tea light holder is from George Asda and the black wire basket is from H&M.

I hope you enjoyed having a look round our bedroom. If you have an questions or comments leave them bellow. Have a lovely day.

Doggy Date.

So, as some of you may know from my pervious posts. I signed up for borrowmydoggy.com -a networking site that connects dog owners with people who are interested in doggy sitting or dog walking. I’m here to sing its praises. I have met Charlotte through BorrowMyDogg, a lovely lady who lives only 5 mins away who is a dog owner of 5 beautiful dogs of which one is a french bulldog called Billie. We got in touch last week and met up for a dog walk on Saturday in the park. 

Billie is a gorgeous little fawn french bulldog who is such an angel. She came for a doggy sleepover on Saturday afternoon and we looked after her through till Sunday night. She was as good as gold, snuggled up with us on the sofa; so well behaved and just a great doggy companion.

I was a little sceptical about BorrowMyDog, I didn’t know if anyone would get in touch but I am so glad I have met Charlotte, I can give Billie some individual love and attention away from the 4 other dogs which is good for her and just as good for me too. 

We are now the proud weekend owners of Billie the french bulldog. 

Honestly if anyone is looking for a part time doggy, maybe you don’t have the time to commit to a dog of your own or you simply want a doggy companion I would highly recommend BorrowMyDoggy.com.

https://www.borrowmydoggy.com

Outfit bargains.

I can always find a bargain in Outfit. Outfit is a department store that stocks Topshop, Miss Selfridges, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Topman and Burton and conveniently there is one just round the corner from me. I often find that the piece pieces that are often out of stock from the independent websites are still in stock in Outfit stores. Topshop in particular -I find dresses that are out of stock on their website but there in my size in Outfit. 

This makes sales even better, there are always loads of hidden gems that would be out of stock long before they make it to the sale. The other day I popped in for a browse and I came across this gorgeous ace bralet. it was the only one on the shelf in a mix match of random things -it was marked down to £10 from £20 and being the only one and in my size I thought it must have been fate and I couldn’t help but buy it. 

When it came to paying for it, it rang through the till at £3!! That’s £3 marked down from £20. It was my lucky day, I couldn’t believe it, a gorgeous Topshop black eyelash lace, soft, underwire bra just £3. I felt so pleased with myself. 

Outfit is the best store for the most amazing sale stuff. And if a piece from Topshop, Miss Selfridges or Dorothy Perkins is out of stock on their websites, Outfit might just save your day and still have it in your size.

Unpadded bras might not be for everyone but they are so on trend right now, they work perfectly peering through a baggy tshirt or vest and are so cute and super feminine.

Check out my Pintrest board of my favourites.

Rimmel London Nudes.

I am a real fan of Kate Moss’s lip stick collection for Rimmel London. They come in such a great range of colours, they are really long lasting and costing only £4.99 from most dug stores -they are my go to lippy. Kate Moss recently brought out a new Nude Collection and again I was not disappointed.

This new collection features 5 gorgeous lipsticks in a range of beige shades, a clear lip conditioner and 5 nail polishes in an irresistible range of nudes. The collection is so on trend for this season and will see you through the summer and well into autumn/winter. For me it’s their lipsticks again that have caught my eye. I have purchased shades 43 and 48, 43 is a buttery caramel colour, it’s not far off my natural lip colour but just takes away the pink tone so it works really well against my olivey skin. 48 on the other hand is a rich dark beige almost chocolate, which would made a perfect nude against dark skin but for me it works as a chcocolately statement lipstick -I love it because it is still defiantly a beige shade and not a red or plum tone. There is a colour to compliment every skin tone and with its same long lasting finish as in Kate’s previous collections they will last. Perfect against your summery skin.

Borrow My Doggy.

For those of you who know me or have seen my past posts, I absolutely and completely love and adore french bulldogs. I can’t describe to you my complete and utter excitement towards them. I go all goo goo when I see one and hysterical when I cuddle them. I think I have now convinced Zac that he loves them too. Anyway we live in a house share in Greenwich with our amazing friends but its just not practical for us to have a dog at the moment so I continue to look longingly at all the frenchies in the park but then last week I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an Ad for a discount for Borrowmydoggy.com. I had some time to kill so I looked into. It’s a networking site for dog owners looking for people who could look after their dog for an afternoon,  a day or a weekend. Maybe the owner is away or perhaps they feel their dog isn’t getting as much attention as they need. Whatever the circumstance, dog owners can create a doggie profile and borrowers (such as myself) can get in touch and make a furry new friend.

This site it perfect for people such as ourselves who can’t own a dog of our own just yet but would love some cuddle time with someone else’s. The site is fully verified and secure, each profile is checked and legitimate so I just couldn’t wait to sign up. There is a small subscription fee which gives you third party insurance as well as 24 hour Vet line which gives me piece of mind not that anything would ever happen.

I have created a little profile about myself including why I have signed up, a bit about myself and my availability. After this you get to find a doggy. You can scroll through doggy’s profiles that are closest to you, then contact the own to arrange a time to meet. 

Batpig & Me Tumble It

Me being me messaged every french bulldog and pug (because they are also almost as cute) in my local area and sat back and tried to contain my excitement. I received replies from 2 doggies already!! Im going to arrange a meet up with Billie the frenchie this evening. I think it is a really good scheme, it’s safe and secure helping owners who feel their dogs need a little extra TLC and perfect for borrowers who get to give it. Maybe this weekend we’l have a super cute french bulldog to snuggle up with on the sofa. eeeekkk! 🙂 

French bulldog

If you are interest in a part-time furry friend then go check them out https://www.borrowmydoggy.com/

Please leave a comment if you have found a doggy friend on Borrow my Doggy

Tube Strike.

Good morning everyone. If you are in London I hope your commute hasn’t been too disrupted due to the tube strike. This is the second time the union has walked out due to dissatisfaction over the night tube scheme due to commence next month. Drivers are not happy with the working standings of the new service. The chief operating officer Steve Griffiths explains the latest offer is a 2% salary increase to night shift workers, an introductory additional £200 per night and a £500 bonus. But this was rejected. “We are recruiting 500 new members of staff specifically to run the night service… No was is being asked to work extra hours”. So what is the problem?!

Tube drivers require a higher skill level than some other transport services, the working conditions are not ideal and the new night hours should require compensation, according to employees.

Is striking the right thing to do? It’s all well and good suspending the tubes to make a point. It defiantly gets everyone’s attention but with no tubes commutators are forced to find other ways of getting around which puts strain on all the other transport services. Extra buses have been put in place making the roads even more congested while over ground train services struggle with over crowding and engineering problems causing delays and some services to be cancelled.

Myself and I am sure many others have had to set off even earlier than usual and fight over crowded trains. My advice is walk where ever possible today and avoid central stations were possible.

Have a good day everyone.

The Blues kitchen Shoreditch.

Last night Zac and I went to The Blues kitchen in Shoreditch for date night. It’s a gorgeous quirky bar and restaurant that serves American style BBQ and grilled food with live Blues music and a great range of cocktails and drinks. We booked a table for 7:30pm and were met with a bustling atmosphere and lovely people. The food was delicious; we had the Deluxe BBQ Sharer for 2 which came with the best rib of beef I have ever tasted!! The place had such a good vibe – it was decked out in a rustic industrial hipster est style with chesterfield sofas and tiled ceilings. I would highly recommend it to anyone after some good food in Shoreditch.

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The food was a competitive price for the amount you got and for the Shoreditch area. Cocktails cost around £9 each so a little pricey but for a one off occasion it is a lovely place to go. The frozen margaritas were amazing; frozen tequila, raspberry, grapefruit and lime juice -I could have drunk them all night.

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A perfect place to go for meat lovers and cocktail drinkers.

Dress Down Khaki.

Yesterday I had the afternoon off work and my boyfriend’s family where down from Manchester. It was so nice to see them again, we met them for lunch in Kensington after some london site seeing we then got the river boat down the Thames to Cutty Sark for some delicious ice cream from Black Vanilla. It was such a lovely afternoon and the perfect start to the weekend.

I wanted something comfy and casual to wear so I paired a simple khaki cami from Newlook with Black rolled up Topshop Jeans, Asos leather sling back sandals, Newlook sunnies and my Pulsar watch.

dress down khaki

I really love these sunglasses. I picked them up yesterday after my old ones cracked. I never buy expensive sunglasses because I am forever loosing them, sitting on them or dropping and cracking them. These cost £3 in the Newlook sale. They are a simple black frame with black lenses, with a quilted texture on the arms and a grey inner frame. A steel for the price.

Check out the Newlook sale here: http://www.newlook.com/shop/sale/womens-sale_30082?intcam=INT-2015-16-WK16-HOME-ZBck-0027

A link to my post on Black Vanilla  https://katielouisaclarke.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/black-vanilla-2/

Rich and Earthy.

I can’t quite describe my excitement over this seasons colour palette. Earthy tones are sweeping the streets and all the stores are stocking that rusty orange, easy khaki and soft tans to welcome in the autumn season. They are such gorgeous colours- so rich and warm they go perfectly against your summer skin.

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These colours are so easy to wear and look so effortless and chic on any skin tone. I am in love. Remember to also think textures, in these street snaps above we have a satin draping cami dress, suede A line dress and a ribbed bodycon racer back dress. So elegant, simple and bang on trend.

What’s in my handbag.

I try not to carry too much around with me, but like every girl after a busy week I always seam to end up collecting a bundler of useless clutter: screwed up memos, pens, lipsticks and old tickets. Its always good to keep on top of it and have a good clear out when ever you can.
I think the best thing to remember is to pack light -Keep your hand bag organised and tidy. Its always better to have room for the odd extra thing than carry around a full heavy bag every day. In my bag I have my purse, phone, headphones and sunglasses and then purfume, lipstick and nail polish to keep my touched up and fresh. I hardly ever carry around makeup with me- its heavy for one and I don’t feel the urge to keep touching it up, I think I look worse by the end of the day when I’ve piled layer on to layer so I just leave my makeup when I’m out and about.

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Handbag Asos.  £30
Purse new look.   £12.99
Lipstick Revlon in nude.  £7.99
Perfume Miss Dior.   £40
Sunglasses h&m.   £4.99
Nail polish Barry m in matte mocha.   £3.99
Headphones Betron noise cancelling in gold.  £19.99
Phone case Amazon matte burgundy case.   £2.99

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If I had to pick only one item to be in my bag forever it would have to be my headphones, life is always better with some tunes to keep you going.
I hoped this has been helpful and I’d love to hear what your couldn’t live without, handbag essential is? Feel free to leave it in the comments below 🙂
Lots of love x