Home: Dining

Over the past year I have definitely been experiencing home envy when looking through countless Pinterest and Instagram posts of cosy living rooms and glossy kitchens. As I always need a project on the go I decided that rather than feeling restless (and in lieu of having the opportunity to move) I redesigned our living and dining area to make it a little more modern. I previously featured snippets of this in my post here, but today I wanted to look closer at our dining table as it is (finally!) almost complete.

With a grey, blush pink and white palette in mind I wanted a sleek dining area that was stylish, but comfortable. Having picked out the Bramante extendable grey lacquer table from Made I paired it with two different styles of grey upholstered button chairs that fitted well with our new Chesterfield sofas.

As I was trying to keep to a tight budget it has taken a while for all the pieces to come together as many were purchased from various sale sites such as Achica and Casafina, which have beautiful stock, but long waiting times that can be frustrating. In fact, I am still waiting for our white and grey marble salt and pepper mills (to match the placemats I made using glass mats and vinyl contact paper), which I ordered over 2 months ago!

 

I adore fresh flowers and knew that I wanted a large square vase to be the centrepiece of my table. I always try to buy flowers when we have people over… and often buy them just for myself as they make any space look instantly more welcoming. I ordered this cube vase on Amazon (here) which was amazing value, but in hindsight I do wish I had purchased a slightly smaller one. This arrangement was made using one bunch of pink and 2 bunches of white roses and took me over half an hour to put together… not even mentioning the number of thorns I had to dodge while arranging them into a dome!

The cutlery and glasses are both from Villeroy and Boch, which I love for their amazing quality. We chose the La Divina glassware range (currently on sale here!!) for our wedding list and have received lots of compliments on them, especially the ridiculously large red wine glasses! They can be very dangerous…

To add a little bit of texture I added some grey and cream patterned napkins and ceramic napkin rings to our set. These were both from Zara Home, which also have amazing sales and are perfect for picking up little finishing touches such as unusual door handles or linens. To add a little extra colour I completed our settings with some vintage pink and silver candlestick holders, which I found on Etsy.

I hope you guys enjoy these little home posts as I have really loved seeing inspiration on so many different blogs and wanted to post a little of my own to show that you can get Pinterest worthy living spaces on a budget if you are willing to invest a little time!

 

OOTD: Cobalt and Pearls

Today's post is a little OOTD that I wore to a 30th birthday party a few weeks ago.  

Crop top and skirt: Nicole for Misguided (now on sale!), Pearl 'halo': Zara

I used the Babyliss conical wand to create lots of curls and added a little pearl headpiece that I absolutely adore. It's a little Grecian, a little bling and really unusual.

I know that the crop top trend has been done to infinity, but as long as the sun is shining I will be wearing it to show off the last remnants of my honeymoon tan, which is fading fast.

 I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! xxx

OOTD: Leather Peplum

Although the peplum trend is now somewhat overdone I still have a few pieces that I am very hesitant to move to the back of the wardrobe. For a curvy girl peplums are just so flattering, while they give athletic figures a feminine shape, making them easy to wear and extremely versatile.

I love the leather pleating of this peplum jacket as it creates volume, while accentuating your waist. I paired mine with a midi tube dress from ASOS to play up the proportions.

There are so many ways of wearing peplum, and I can't think of a bigger fan than Miss Kardashian...

Are you a fan of peplum? How do you wear yours? xxx

OOTD: Under the Sea

Oh I do love the Zara sale! A few weeks ago I picked up another of their amazing tulip dresses, this time in the fish print. The aqueous theme somehow seemed appropriate with the sudden downpours of rain as evidenced below...

Dress: Zara (on sale for £17.99), Clutch (shown below): Ted Baker, Shoes: Melissa (£85 here)

 

I may be a little too old to wear jelly shoes, but these were love at first step. Aesthetically they are not my favourite wedges, but they are oh so comfortable as they literally mould to your feet while supporting and cushioning.

Have you ever tried any of Melissa's designs? What do you think of jelly shoes? xxx

Work It Out: Printed Pretty Pleats

Uh oh! I promise this will be the last post featuring a Reiss sale piece, but you all know I can't control myself when it comes to a bargain. So when I saw this Nico pretty midi skirt down from £125 to £37 I couldn't resist. It's 100% silk... it's pleated... it has a graphic mint print and sexy side splits. Need I say more?

Cami: Zara, Jumper: Mango, Skirt: Reiss (here), Shoes: Gucci.

Have you picked up any special pieces in the recent sales? xxx

Work It Out: Blue Leopard

Another day, another purchase in the Reiss sale - this time a pair of royal blue cigarette pants.

 Shirt: Zara, Trousers: Reiss, Shoes: Gucci

The shape of this trouser is a little awkward to wear, but a good pair of heels generally helps. I love the high waisted fit and the vibrant, yet classic deep blue!

OOTD: Peplum Tropics

Printed trousers is a trend that I have admired over the last few months, but have not been brave enough to attempt. Even though I am tall my thighs are definitely an area I struggle with and usually try to conceal by wearing darker colours and skirts or dresses rather than trousers. However, after seeing these trousers on a host of celebs and fashionistas I decided that I would put my insecurities aside and see if I could work the trend for my shape. I chose a large, colourful print and purchased a size up to ensure that the fit would be looser giving the appearance of a 'straight' rather than 'slim' cut.
I also paired the trousers with a plain flared peplum top to balance out the narrow fit.

 Top: Zara (£29.99 here), Trousers: Zara (£39.99 here), Belt: Reiss, Shoes: LA Boutique, Sunglasses: Prada.

Other printed trousers I have had my eye on are:

ASOS Crop Trousers In Floral Print

£40.00

 

Warehouse Eastern Tropic Trouser

£38.00

 

ASOS Skinny Trousers in Floral Print

£35.00

 

Sportmax floral print cigarette trouser

£287

 Are you a fan of printed trousers? What do you think of this tropical version? xxx

OOTD: Marylin

With sunny spells being few and far between I try to make the most of them. Though after visiting the St Tropez Spraycation on Friday night I didn't need any excuses to show off my tan!

 Top: H&M, Skirt: Oasis (on sale for £22 here), Belt: Zara (£17.99 here), Shoes: All Saints, Sunglasses: Prada.

I love wearing white for the summer. Not quite at the level of Kimberly from MIC (if you watch it you will probably have noticed that she wears white/ cream for 90% of the show). White can be a little tricky to wear. Most of the white pieces I own usually require tactical underwear or a slip. What I love about this skirt is the thick fabric, which not only holds the shape well, but also stops it from being see through and makes it gust proof!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Will you be wearing white this summer? xxx

OOTD: Fantasy Peplum

I do love a bit of peplum, so much so that I decided to double up on the trend. I have been eyeing up this Chanel-esque blazer in Zara for quite a while and am surprised by how well the shape fits with one of Zara's classic cream frill waisted tops. 

To toughen the look up and add some contrast I paired the super girlie top with my favourite black disco pants and some patent leather ankle boots.

 Fantasy blazer - Zara (£89.99 here), Peplum top - Zara (£29.99 here), Disco Pants - American Apparel (£70 here), Boots - Dorothy Perkins.

Are you a fan of the peplum shape? What do you wear yours with? I am yet to try it with a pencil skirt, but I am sure a 'work it out' post will follow when I finally do! xxx

OOTD: Symmetric Florals

Zara is pretty amazing this season. I have practically banned myself from going in as I always leave with something. I just can't help myself! Sometimes I can be indecisive, but having eyed this dress (£49.99 here) on the rail on three separate visits I decided that it had to be mine.

Although I absolutely love the pattern and the bright colours of this dress, the cut is not super flattering if you are a little bit top heavy. The deep cut outs can really broaden the shoulders, so you have to be careful with your proportions.

I decided to play up the green accents in the dress, while working the pastels trend with a pair of pistachio heels from Roberto Cavalli (purchased in the US for a ridiculously discounted price).

Please excuse my pale post winter legs!

I have been on the search for the perfect Summer leather jacket for months and this buttery soft All Saints Carmine waterfall jacket (£350 here) is just perfect. With fabric inserts in the sleeves, a fitted cut and unique button detailing there is nothing I don't like about this jacket... except perhaps the price!

Have you picked up any cute pieces in Zara recently? xxx

OOTD: The wedge trainer

After posting a pic of my new purchase on twitter I had lots of lovely responses requesting an outfit of the day post featuring my new shoesies.

 

If you are a regular visitor to this blog you may have noticed that trainers are not exactly a wardrobe staple for me. This may stem back to the fact that I absolutely lived in the trainer/ jeans combo in my teens until I discovered fashion and the fact that actually I could wear anything I wanted, not the same uniform as all my friends. I will be the first to admit that the wedged trainer is a bit of a ridiculous trend, but as soon as I saw the Isabel Marant number I was immediately lusting after them, quite despite myself. So after much umming and indecision I finally decided to purchase the next best thing - meet my new love The Ash Cool Suede Strapped wedge trainers in clay!

Excuse the awkward pose and face in this photo. We were on our way to the cinema and running late so a quick iphone snap on the stairs was all I could coax from the bf (after the dismal attempt below).

I paired my new super comfy trainers with an equally comfy pair of American Apparel disco pants, a vest from Zara and an oversized boyfriend shirt from Topshop.

I got my Ash trainers from Asos for £139 here, but you can also find them on the Ash website here.

Have you given into the wedge trainer trend? What will you be wearing yours with? xxx

OOTN: K Middy

If you can't beat them, join them! That's always my philosophy when visiting the glamorous capital of the north - Liverpool.

So for a bank holiday night out I knew that big hair and heels would be a must! I chose this lace overlay bubble dress from Zara (as worn by Kate Middleton), which I was able to track down, despite it's instant sell out in the UK, while I was shopping in Hong Kong.

The wedges are from All Saints, which I had packed to wear with another dress, but given the freezing weather I had to pair them with black tights and hope that in the dark no one would notice the dreaded open toe shoe/ tights combo. Shhhh... I don't think anyone saw...

The makeup was a fail safe brown smokey eye, lashes and pale lip. To show off the deep v in the back I pulled my hair into a low side ponytail, which was super easy to style and made sure that the volume stayed put all night. 

 

I hope you are all having a fabulous bank holiday weekend! xxx