The Interior DIYer
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Industry

Today was spent out and about in search of inspiration. First stop – Industry. I should hang my head in shame as this was the first time I had been. After an eerie amount of conversations this week relating back to Industry, I thought there was no better time than the present. So I went, and I proceeded to touch almost everything in the shop. I was very good and refrained from touching the staff and other customers. 

Porcelain remakes of tin cans and milk cartons add a pristine level of quirk to any kitchen. I especially adore the milk carton in glass, and I couldn’t resist so one came home with me. I actually pinned it ages ago, and now I have it. It reminded me so much of primary school in Canada – my parents would give me a juice box with my lunch every day, but sometimes I’d live on the edge and buy a carton of chocolate milk. Rebel.
Bold over-sized letters? Yes please. I’ve wanted a huge ‘C’ for our apartment for ages as it’s the initial of my maiden name, as well as my new married name. The over-sized ‘B’ will be sneaking into the next issue of House and Home as the lovely couple whose home I styled have one of their own. Very cool.

Some solid Irish graffiti representation through Lauren and Rua’s new book, InsideOut; Street/Art in Ireland. I have their first book so far, and it’s about time I invest in their second. Speaking of graffiti, should you be in Dublin this Saturday, the All City Jam at the Tivoli car park from 10am – 6pm is where I’ll be, creeping on some of my favourite Irish graffiti artists, taking an excessive amount of photos and generally looking very out of place. I’ll blog about it, no doubt.
I found so many swoon worthy pieces in Industry – gold detailed washi tape, rugged tea light holders, black twine, keyboard notepads, old and new and the perfect range of quirky pieces. All of which I want. I actually meant to pick up some of their washi tape, so it’s just the perfect excuse to go back really.  

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Work space reveal

Before now, we didn’t have a work space in our apartment. We would sit in front of the TV with searing laptops on our laps and hazily go back and forth between staring at the TV and the occasional burst of work on the laptop. Enough was enough and I felt we needed a work space area in our living room. No more TV distractions. A place to sit and pound on the keyboard. So one lazy Sunday we traveled to IKEA where I scoped out options, measured, made decisions, stuffed my face with Swedish delights, swore at flatpacks, assembled, tweaked, designed, snapped branches, and finally, sat down. And here is what I ended up with … 

Our very own mini office nook! What was in this space beforehand was a tall shelving unit holding our vast DVD and game collection. This corner got a lot of neglect, but it was a great spot to add a little work space. It’s more so perfect because it is easily hidden behind our living room door which is always kept open {as seen on the right}, so you don’t see the work space until you walk right into the room. 

Thanks to my inspiration pictures, there were some basics / key pieces I had in mind for our desk to make it feel more encouraging to sit at …


1 – I added a bulletin board to give height to the desk space as well as somewhere to pin {the real meaning of pin my friends} my favourite stuff up. I decorated the bulletin board itself by spray painting thumb tacks / push pins and adding them as a decorative border as well as painting the wood trim in a deep charcoal colour.  2 – One of our wedding invitations gets pride of place. 3 – Our new lamp, especially thrifted for the new nook. 4 – My new business cards {that I still can’t hand out in a professional manner. So much cringe}. 5 – My fool-proof quick and cheap revamp – an empty hot chocolate tin covered in electrical tape. 6 – I added a stack of my favourite books and magazines. Some are for visual purposes only {that top one is a catalogue and is going on 3 years old, but I love the colours on it}, along with some of my favourite magazines. Along with a desert rose I picked up on our Tunisian travels. 7 – My framed QR code cross stitch, perfect for any desk. 8 – Stay strong as one of my favourite pillow sets, picked up from TK Maxx. 9 – I went with the ALEX desk from IKEA. It was the perfect size for the limited amount of space we had in our living room, and I mean really, do I have to state the obvious? It’s called ALEX. Plus it was on sale for €79. Hells yes. 

I’m pleased as punch with our mini office nook and I feel like such a grown up sitting at it. All we need now is to frame both our college degrees and hang them above the bulletin board. Too legit to quit.

xx A
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Lately + ‘Less 365’ update

Last week I surrendered. I was in Marks & Spencer, nowhere near the home department, picking up something completely unrelated, when I found myself going up the escalator. I had to see if any Conran cloche‘s survived the sale. And there it was …

… and home it came {on the bus, meaning the most terrifying and awkward journey home}. All 52cm x 24cm of glassy clochy goodness. And if it means anything, this picture does it zero justice. I’m thinking some of the below action needs to be mashed into it {it’s temporarily housing one of our naff vintage vases} … 
Gold spray paint tutorial can be found right on over here. While on the topic of revamping,  I {with the help of parental unit male}, jazzercised our tie backs by replacing our existing ones {which were a bit meh} with some crystal door knobs. Much more lovlier me thinks, and for next to nothing, a smidgen of sophistication was added to our living room.

To balance out my cloche purchase, apartment got attacked over the past week or so thanks to my continued obsession that is Project Less 365. On Saturday I hawk-eyed our book collection and ruthlessly culled the unnecessary novels, all of which will be enjoyed by someone else. 

And our spare bedroom below, which now houses all my Project Less 365 items which are patiently waiting to be re-homed. It’s quite therapeutic the amount of relief you get from this de-cluttering process. We all have way too much shit, and this year {for me}, it’s all about back to basics. You’ve got to be cut-throat otherwise you’ll never get rid of anything. 
xx A