Home Improvements: Making a House a Home!

Over the last year I have updated our home to make it a little more modern and a lot more reflective of my current tastes. After five years I felt like my living room definitely needed an upgrade!

Here is a little before photo (taken on the night hubby proposed, but it gives a good feel of the room - very brown and a lot of leather).

 And the after...

The first thing I decided to change was the colour scheme and feel of the room. I have become obsessed with grey furnishings and wanted to balance out the muted grey tones with warm blush pinks and a touch of cream.

 

I purchased two Chesterfield sofas in a rich grey and added a little texture and colour contrast with velvet cushions and a grey faux fur throw. I kept the rest of the furnishings, including the side tables and coffee table, in ivory.

I also added an ivory sideboard that worked perfectly with our new Vera Wang photo frame, cacti and the bonbon holders that we had left over from the dessert table at our wedding.

The last part was our dining table and chairs. Both were purchased from Made.com.

I love the lacquer table as it not only looks simple, modern and stylish, but is also extendable and super easy to clean.

For the table settings I used our old plain black glass settings and covered them in marble contact paper to make grey marble placemats and coasters. The napkin and napkin rings were purchased from Zara Home.

Let me know what you guys think! The photos aren't quite Instagram worthy, but I have really enjoyed researching and putting different pieces together!

Snow Stories - OOTD

T'was the week before Christmas,

And all through the land 

Snow was falling, 

And everything came to a stand(still).

I have had a little bit of a love/hate relationship with the snow recently - as pretty as it is I feel it has been somewhat out to get me recently. Not only did I slip and fall flat on my derriere in the middle of a busy street with 15 bags of dry cleaning in tow (ouch!), but yesterday it nullified all our weekend plans. The only thing left to do was surrender...

Belted Wrap Coat - Oasis (also in black, new this week!), Black Leggings - Topshop, Shearling Buckle Booties - New Look, White Faux Fur Hat - Topshop.

For me a coat is always the most important purchase of the winter season. Since most of your clothes will be hidden underneath it has to be a piece that you love and enjoy wearing. When I spotted this beauty in Oasis I had to have it straight away. Warm, comfortable and stylish with its soft folds and a belt to cinch in the waist it fits perfectly with my dark winter wardrobe.

Purple Gina Dress courtesy of Motel, also available in Red, Black with Cream Lace and Blue with Gold Lace.

I love the deep purple colour of this dress and it's delicate lace detailing on the shoulders and sleeves. Perfect with black leggings or tights :).

 Make-up wise I decided to glam it up a little and create a very classic look. For the skin I used NARS sheer glow foundation and Bobbi Brown creamy corrector. To add a little colour to the cheeks Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronze Universel with a little MAC cream blush in Ladyblush. I skipped the powder as I wanted the skin to look clear, but dewy and instead added a little E.L.F. All Over Colour Stick in Persimmon to the tops of the cheekbones. For the eyes I swept MAC's vanilla eyeshadow all over the lid to create a blank canvas and used L'Oreal's Carbon gloss eyeliner and L'ancome Hypnose mascara. For the lips I used MAC's pencil lipliner in Redd. As I loved the colour so much I decided to dab on a little balm at the centre and leave it at that. I was very impressed as it lasted all day, top marks!

How did you spend your snow day my lovelies? We have wimped out and are getting a takeaway... again ;). xxx