3 Ways To Make A Garden Child Friendly

Buying our first home four years ago was a very important milestone in our life. Noah was only a few months old at the time, it felt wonderful to be in the position to give him a proper family home and for it to be an investment for his future too.

As mentioned in previous posts, our house needed a full renovation before we could move into it, but we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Our main goal was to make the house a home. A space that was just ours, one which would be the perfect base to create an endless amount of family memories for years to come. 

By the time we'd accomplished our goal, Noah was a fully-fledged toddler. He was really finding his feet and loved nothing more than being outdoors. With this in mind, the next step was to create an outdoor space that was safe for him to enjoy. Here are 3 ways we created a child-friendly garden:

1. Remove all hazards

I decided to start the post with this suggestion because it was the main issue for us and our garden. When we moved in to our house, the entire front yard was filled with gravel. It didn't look nice, but I presume the previous owners decided to do it because it meant no upkeep from them. It was the first thing to go, not only was in an eyesore but it was also unsafe and the neighbourhood cats all saw it as one huge litter tray too! Gross!

2. Check plants aren't poisonous

Our garden also had numerous plants and foliage which we didn't really want to remove. The plants looked like they'd been around for some time so we didn't like the thought of removing them. They also looked nice and gave the garden a little privacy.

All parents know that toddlers like to explore using their mouths so before we agreed to do anything I did a little research on which plants are toxic and which aren't. I think this is really important to do, even if you don't have children. One of my relatives recently moved into a new house and soon after her dog started to become sick. She was taking him to the vets on a weekly basis but they eventually got to the bottom of it, he'd been eating the fallen leaves of a toxic tree. It cost my relative a couple of hundred pounds to get it removed but her dog is no longer getting sick and the hazard has been removed.

3. Create a safe surface

Kids love to explore and can become quite excited when outdoors which is why it's so important to create an even and safe surface for them to enjoy. An easy and efficient way to do this is to install Artificial Grass. At first, we opted for real grass as that tends to be the norm but we soon regretted it. We could never get it to look nice. We are outside most days so it looked patchy and when it rained it turned into a mud bath! It was a nightmare. We've turned to artificial grass as gives you the look of a real lawn without the high maintenance! The best of both worlds.

Do you have any tips you'd like to share with me?

- This is a PR Collaboration.

Our Plans for 2017

We are coming towards the end of the first month in 2017 and we've already got numerous plans lined up for the year. I like having things to look forward to and plan in advance as it certainly keeps the January blues at bay. I thought that making a note of them all here on the blog would be a great way to visualise everything and will be great to look back at once we've checked each off the list. So here they are, our plans for 2017.

Welcome the new baby. 

The big event of 2017 is coming up for us as we are due baby number two in February! If you follow my blog you will already know this as I often write about my pregnancy journey and I'm constantly talking about her or sharing photo's of my bump. Our daughters arrival is going to totally change our lives and all three of us are so excited and ready to meet her now! Roll on February!

A family holiday abroad.

Call us crazy but we already have a holiday booked for this May. We are off to a family members villa in Marbella and only had to pay for flights and insurance, score! The baby will only be three months at the time so that's a little scary but I'm sure we will be fine. We are also travelling with my partners family so I'm sure we will have lots of help from them. We went abroad to Majorca last year when Noah was only two and a half and he was an absolute dream during our flights and transfers, lets hope the same can be said for next time too. 

Renovate the attic.

I've spoken about this a few times on the blog, about the next phase in our home renovation. This year we plan on building into the attic so that we can have another large bedroom and lots of extra storage. After undergoing a full house renovation two years ago it's a bit daunting starting another project but it needs to be done. We've just started drawing up plans for the room and have been looking into different heating and plumbing services too. The plans are in motion, we just need to arrange a start date now. 

Book a UK break. 

We were lucky to have a couple of holidays and breaks away last year and one of our favourites had to be the trip to Forest Holidays at Sherwood Forest. I think breaks away in the UK are highly underrated and are so much easier for families with young children. We've had such great experiences in the UK lately that I'm already looking to book something for later on in the year. 

What are your plans for 2017?

- This post is a PR collaboration. 

Home Interior Ideas for Autumn

We are well now well into the Autumn. You can see the change in seasons in the colour of the tree's, and feel it in the sharp change in temperature. With the change of season, I want a change in my interiors and decor because I want to add more warmth to our home. This isn't as daunting as it seems, a change in interiors doesn't have to mean a complete overhaul as there are simple things that you can do to make a huge difference to a room.

When we bought our house two years ago I was in control of every little aspect of the renovation, from the colour of the grout of the bathroom tiles through to the colour of the garden fence. I really enjoyed having the freedom do this and although it was a lot of hard work, our home is now exactly how I wanted it to be. Our dining room currently has oak floors and neutral earth tones decor which can be warming but I want to make it more so with richer colour accents.

Repainting the walls

The alcoves in our dining room are currently painted a warm latte-like colour, which I did originally like but now I want to completely repaint them with a richer colour, perhaps maroon or a deep green. I think this would really make the room pop and make it feel warmer in these cooler months.

Upgrading the flooring

We have laminated wood effect flooring which was a great temporary fix but recently we've been looking at investing in Engineered Oak Flooring as it would really complete the room and also add value to our home. I'm also looking into underfloor heating too as our dining room is notorious for being a bit chilly, even in summer.

Revamping the furnishings
We have soft furnishings in most of the rooms in our house, some of which are old and getting a bit tatty. We have a loveseat in our dining room which has seen better days but it's the most comfortable sofa that you'll ever sit on. We don't have the heart to part with it so we are planning to re-upholster it with South West Upholstery.

Adding accent pieces

Another quick and easy way to give a room a little overhaul without spending a small fortune is buy buying accent pieces. Vases, candles, ornaments, rugs, photo frames, canvases and so on. All of these can be picked up for next to nothing at places like Wilko's or B&M Bargains.

- This is a PR collaboration.

Planning our Child's Attic Room

When we bought our house two years ago now we knew it was a work in progress. It's quite a large house for a terrace but it does only have two bedrooms. With that in mind we knew that once we had finished our renovations that another big project would be just around the corner, that being expanding in to the attic.

There are a number of reasons we will be converting the attic, to raise the value of our property being one of them but the main reason is for the space. We need another large bedroom if we want more children, which of course we do.

For some reason I've always imagined two little boys playing together in their attic room, sharing a room and getting up to mischief together. We will have to wait and see if that happens but in the mean time I've decided to put together a little mood board of how I would love to decorate the attic room.

1. StarBright Toddler Bed -
We already have this bed from Worlds Apart but we haven't used it just yet as Noah is still happy in his cot. I fell in love with this the moment I saw it as I love the neutral colours and the gorgeous design. I also adore how it has a little side table and a built in night light too, it's the perfect toddler bed. 

2. VELUX Blinds - 
Attic rooms are always so bright especially if the window is facing the sun like ours will be. We don't want our son (or future children) waking up at the crack of dawn so I'm already planning on investing in some really good blackout blinds from VELUX.

3. Sling Bookcase -
Noah has hundreds of books already at the tender age of two and although we already have quite a few bookcases we always need more. I really like the look of neutral sling bookcases as not only would it be great for extra storage but would also match the colour scheme too.

4. Farmyard Teepee -
I'm head over heels in love with Izabella Peter's creations and this Farmyard Teepee from her range is utterly adorable. I could imagine it being the focal point in the room with two bed's at either side. I'm such a fan of teepee's because they are ideal for imaginative play, story time and spontaneous naps. 

5. Rabbit Night Light -
Mr Rabbit is already a feature in Noah's current bedroom and he's fabulous. He would certainly be making the move into the attic room once it's been completed, it wouldn't be the same without him! . 

How have you decorated your child's room? Did you go for a theme? 

- This is a PR Collaboration. 

5 things you need to know when renovating

If you follow my blog you will already know that Nick and I were fortunate enough to buy our first home recently. After years and years of renting it was such relief to finally be able to get out feet on the property ladder. Renting left such a bitter taste in my mouth as it seemed like we were throwing our money down the drain, where as now we have a mortgage we are paying into something, our future.

Buying our first home was a huge deal but as if that wasn't hard enough the house we fell in love with and decided to buy needed a lot of work. By a lot of work I mean it needed stripping back to bare bricks. It was one long process but now being at the other side of our renovation I decided to share a few things I learned a long the way.

1. Be realistic
If like us you have a big job on your hands make sure you keep in mind not only a reasonable time frame but also a reasonable cost. With realistic plans in mind you won't be disappointed at any stage. 

2. Upcycle Upcyle Upcyle 
With a new house you often want to buy new furniture but don't throw away your old bits and pieces as they can easily be revamped with a lick of paint. Many of the furnishings in our house are family hand me downs or charity shop finds that we have up cycled by simply sanding and repainting white.

3. Don't stress
Our renovation took 5 long months and while the work was being done we lived with relatives. Noah wasn't even one at the time and the whole thing was so stressful. We needed to go and do the work and people had to watch Noah for us, it was a hard time. In hindsight I wish I hadn't of stressed so much, it took time but we go there in the end and the outcome is so worth it.

4. Bargain hunt 
Once we had paid for everything we needed for the renovation there wasn't much money left over to play with. We had to really bargain hunt and got some great deals by doing so, a next to new 4 piece bathroom suite for under £500 for example! 

5. Enlist your family and friends
The people closest to you will probably be over the moon for you when you buy your property and will want to help out where they can. Don't be shy to ask for help! If you have any plumbers, kitchen fitters or electricians in the family get them on board as you will save a small fortune. Our Granddad helped us create a garden space for next to nothing and the video below shares some great tips.

- This is a PR Collaboration

Designing our dream bathroom

We managed to get onto the property ladder last year when we were able to buy our first home. Once we bought the house we spent six whole months renovating it before we could move in. There was so much work that we needed to do as we basically had to scratch from scratch with every room. 

Although the renovation process was hard work, exhausting and expensive work it did have a silver lining and that was being able to design each room ourselves.  

When it came to the bathroom I knew what style and look I wanted to achieve from the get go. I wanted the entire bathroom to be tiled, both floor and walls. I opted for spotlights as I wanted an even distribution of light and find them to feel a little warmer. I also wanted a four piece bathroom, a free standing shower, separate bath, toilet and sink.

The only issue we had when renovating the bathroom was which tiles to go for. There are simply so many to choose from and with them being so expensive we had to get it right. We deliberated for weeks on end before we decided to go for travertine effect tiles because we loved the colour and size. 

A year on and our bathroom is complete but there are still a few tweaks I want to make, such as bathroom furniture and perhaps a few potted plants to really complete the look.

What does your dream bathroom look like? 

Designing your dream kitchen

This year we were lucky enough to be able to escape the renting rut and place our feet firmly on the property ladder by buying our first home. If you are a regular reader of your blog you will know that for the past 9 months we have been renovating the house and it's been such a long and tiring process. We still have the odd jobs to do but we are pretty much at that finish line now and as stressful and tiring as the whole experience has been it's so worth it and we are ever so grateful to be in this position.

One of the huge benefits of buying a house that needs a full renovation is that you can start from scratch and put your stamp on every little detail in the house. My partner let me take charge of decor and design as he admitted he didn't really have a clue (not that I did either) and he fully trusted me with it. 

My favourite room to design was the kitchen. 

When we moved into the house the kitchen was a total nightmare. The red tiles and dated cabinets hadn't been altered since the 1970's and everything was falling to pieces. One of the first jobs we did was to rip the kitchen out and start with a blank canvas.

Once I had that blank canvas the fun really began.

I knew that I wanted a kitchen that had a farmhouse and homely feel to it without it being too old fashioned. I'm a huge fan of cream and wood together so we chose cream shaker style cabinets with a wood effect work surface. I think this combination works the best for the style that I wanted to achieve.

What I really struggled with was deciding which tiles to go for as there were so many options. I liked the rustic looking tile but as so many more people preferred the glossy underground tiles I had to take their opinion on board. I had also noticed how on trend they were so that helped me make the decision too. I'm really glad that we went for them as I think they look perfect in the room and do give it more of a modern edge. We chose a wood effect tile for the floor and I think they finish the kitchen off perfectly.

Of course when all this was completed we then had an empty shell of a kitchen. When designing the kitchen we opted for some of our cabinets to be intergrated so we could have our washing machine and tumble dryer in the heart of the kitchen. We already had our matching kettle and toaster but needed to buy a new microwave as we had broke ours months ago. I don't know how we managed for so long without one as we've found ourselves using it everyday since it arrived.

Now the new kitchen has been fitted, decorated, tiled, floored and filled with our appliances and belongings it's finally completed and it feels fantastic.

- This is a PR collaboration. 

Our home: Home decor haul

With most of the house renovations now out of the way I've finally been able to focus more on home decor. This means one thing... shopping! To be honest I'm not usually a 'shop to you drop' kind of gal but shopping for home decor is the only exception, I love it!

Here are some of the pieces that we have bought recently;

Night light from Rose & Grey. I recently won a £50 voucher to spend at the fabulous Rose & Grey and decided to spend it on Noah. I bought him this super cute night light and a little wooden chair for his bedroom.

Shabby chic inspired vase from Feather & Black. Not sure where this is going to go yet but I adore it.

Scented candle from B&M. I'm a secret candle hoarder and my Mum recently bought me this candle as a little house warming gift. Isn't it lovely?

Vintage look wall clock from Morrisons. I actually bought this a while back but it's only just gone up on the wall so it feels new! I think it suits my kitchen perfectly.

Kitchen sign from B&M. Can you believe this sign was just £1?! Another addition to our kitchen decor. 

This haul is all from B&M and all for under £50. The cushions and lamps have gone up into our bedroom while the rug and laundry basket (temporary toy box) is in our living room. 

As you can tell from by buys I shop everywhere for decor pieces. From bargain stores, to supermarkets and online boutiques. It really pays to shop around for the best price and don't settle for the first thing you set eyes on.

Where are your favourite places to shop for homeware? 

- I was not sent any of these products for review or reimbursed for featuring any stores mentioned. 

Our home: The master bedroom

Our bedroom is one of the rooms in the house that is totally finished now, minus a bit of furniture and decor. It's one of the rooms that I feel we spent ages on as it was the first room we began stripping and a room that we've dipped in and out of as our renovation progressed. 

It was probably one of the easier rooms to renovate too. We of course stripped the dated floral wallpaper and retro green carpet as soon as we bought the house. The room needed new plaster here and there but other than that the walls were fine. The ceiling was then lowered, plastered and spot lights were installed (something that I wasn't really bothered about but Nick prefers spot lights over one main light.) We also had new electrics and central heating installed as that was needed throughout the entire house. The new central heating and electrical rewiring was so expensive and cost almost half of our renovation budget. Which is very daunting when you still have a new bathroom, kitchen and a dozen other things yet to pay for! 

After all the big jobs were completed it was time for the fun part, the decorating. We first painted the ceiling white and it took a few coats as fresh plaster loves to soak up paint. Then we decorated the room with lining paper and painted with a Dulux shade called Mellow Mocha. It's a strange colour because in some light it can appear to have purple hue's and others it's the taupe type shade we were looking for. The light rail, skirting board, door, door frame, window frame, window sill then had a couple of layers of undercoat and gloss. 

With all the messy DIY and decorating jobs out of the way we then had to decide on a carpet. We decided to go for a silver grey (which is bang on trend according to our carpet fitter!) as I thought it would really compliment the colour and decor of the room. 

Here is our bedroom renovation journey from start to finish, enjoy! 

Our home: We have finally moved in!

Wow, what a journey. 

It feels like a lifetime ago that I wrote all about buying our first home back in January. It took 4 months for the sellers to finally agree to terms and for them to sign the contract. It was torturous waiting because it wasn't a case of buy the house and move in the house. No, buying the house was the first step because we knew how much work needed to be done before we could even think about moving in. 

Once we finally signed on the dotted line it was time for the "fun" to begin, the renovating (I would be happy to never hear or say that word ever again!) We were a little naive when it came to the work because we thought we would be in the house within 2 months. We totally underestimated not just how long it would take but the scale of how much work had to be done. It took 5 whole months of renovating, decorating and DIY until we actually moved in. 

So after all these months and all the hard work here we are finally in our new home! All the major jobs are done and dusted but there are still some little jobs that need to be done. We are so close to everything being completed now and it feels so good to be almost at the finish line. 

We haven't fully unpacked yet and haven't dressed the house but we are certainly settled in. We get a lovely vibe from the house and love it here already. It feels incredible to be home owners and now have a place we can call our own. I can see us having many happy times here. 

A renovation clean up

We were fortunate enough to buy our very first home earlier this year. We bought it at a steal of a price because it needed an entire renovation. Fast forward 5 months of blood, sweat and tears we are finally in our house! The work is still ongoing but the house is livable and we are almost finished now. There are only two big jobs left to do and that's the hallway and dining room. Both rooms need new flooring and need to be decorated but these cosmetics we can deal with. Other than that there are a dozen little jobs here and there that still need to be done.

As you can imagine under going a full house renovation the house can get very dirty. Most of the walls in the house had to be knocked back to the brick and had to be replastered. For months we have been battling endless and relentless dust and dirt. The minute I walked into the house I could feel in on my skin and in my hair. There was rubble everywhere, pulled up floorboards, holes in the walls. We've really seen the bones of our old house. 

But the dust and the dirt, it's been a nightmare. No matter how many times I hoovered, mopped and swept up it seemed to just continue to appear, until we received and started using the a Dyson DC59 Animal which has really helped us out. It has been a godsend with it's digital motor, superior suction and with it being cordless! (It had me at cordless!) I found myself spending a lot less time vacuuming as it's such a powerful machine. 

Here are some of my top tips for cleaning up after a renovation-


Wipe down: It's scandalous how much dust is created when renovating. You see it everywhere but what's worse is that there's even more than you can't see and it always seems to come back. My top tip is to keep on top of the cleaning and wipe down with a damp cloth after every job. After each big job I would begin mission wipe down and start by dusting down the ceiling, moving onto the walls and then begin wiping down everything else in the room. I found doing this more and more frequently helped minimise the dust coverage around the house which you will be thankful for later. 

Sweep: Before you vacuum it's very important to sweep first. There's a whole array of different materials that are distributed throughout the house and sweeping is ideal for picking up the bigger bits of debris that you shouldn't try to vac up. Using a broom is also good for brushing dust off hard to reach places such as door frames, skirting boards and picture rails. 

Vac: After the sweeping comes the vacuuming as it picks up all dust that is not just impossible to sweep but to see too. Dust continues to settle days after each renovation job so you do find yourself vacuuming often. Thankfully the Dyson DC59 is a joy to use and maneuver and has saved me a lot of time and effort as it is just so efficient.

Mop: Now it's time to bring out the mop. The debris that cannot be wiped down, swept up or hoovered has got to be mopped. After the mopping I would sigh a breath of relief until it was time to do it all over again!  

I have found myself doing these 4 steps continuously these past 5 months. Sweep, vac, mop, repeat! Have you been doing any renovations lately? Or do you have any cleaning tips you would like to share? 

Our home: Noah's Nursery

We have been renovating our house for the past 5 months and everything is finally coming together. We weren't very sensible when it came to starting the work as instead of starting one room at a time we dived in and started every room, all at once. If I was to do this all over again I would certainly undertake one room at a time. Doing so much at once doesn't get you very far and it can leave you feeling deflated. It's been a long and slow process and I can't even begin to describe how good it feels to be almost at that finish line. 

I thought I would share with you some photo's from the work we have done in Noah's room. To say it's one of the smaller rooms in the house it sure took a lot of work!

We initially stripped all the walls in this room which took a long time to do because the previous owner had used some pretty old school wallpaper paste! We spent a good few days doing that but it was all to no avail. In the end we needed to start from scratch with the walls as they were in such bad condition (got to love old houses for that). That meant we needed to knock off all the plaster which isn't just hard work but dusty work too. Once we had done that we discovered the houses original wooden slats and they all needed to be prised off with a hammer.

Next up the walls needed to be boarded up with plaster board and then plastered. The ceiling was also lowered and painted at the same time and spot lights were installed. With the new walls came new skirting boards and a new door frame too. (All sounds pretty straight forward on paper, it's not when you are doing it.)

We gave the plaster a good few days to dry and while we waited we painted all the woodwork white. Noah's room was one of the rooms which I really struggled to decide what paint colour to choose. Graham and Brown offered to send us some paint and after gratefully accepting and browsing through their website we finally decided on a colour. We chose a gentle shade called Oakville. It's a gorgeous colour which seems to change colour drastically depending on the light and the time of day. In the mornings it looks like a light buttermilk shade but by night it looks more like a warm yellow. You can tell it's a great quality paint because even on plaster (which likes to drink paint) it covered and applied well and easy. We love the colour and it's made Noah's room look and feel very cosy.

Painting the room didn't take long and after the second coat we gave all the woodwork another coat too. The next step was to have the carpet fitted and that's is always the most exciting part because you know your room is almost complete! 

Noah's room is finished when it comes to renovating and decorating but it's not when it comes to dressing it. At the minute it's very minimalist when it comes to decor as all that is in there is his cot, wardrobe and some toys. We need to take his changing unit out of storage, put up his shelves and lots more. Once we are all settled and all the jobs throughout the house have been completed I will then be focusing more on home decor and will be blogging all about it too. 

We love how Noah's room has turned out and he must really love his new room too. After 4 months of exclusively sleeping and napping in bed with me he has moved into his cot, in his new room, in his new house without one single hiccup! Very proud Mummy!

What colour is your little one's nursery? Do you like the colour we chose?