Category Archives: Home is where the ♥ is
What the Wife Likes: Bedroom Renovations… Part 1
It’s been a while since I got married now and whilst some peoples attention turns to having babies post-wedding… mine turned to the house and holidays. My two loves in life, it took some time for finances to get back on an even keel, but now it’s fairly safe to say I’ve been on a one-woman mission to revamp (actually, just ahem, finish) the house for some months.
We moved into our first home almost four years ago now, – it had been gutted by a developer, painted and carpeted in neutral tones throughout, with a new kitchen and bathroom. Completely live-able, but not my personal taste. It worked for us at the time though as we had other financial pressures and had stretched ourselves to get on the property ladder at all. Little by little we furnished the place and then started to put our personal stamp on the rooms, then it all came to a grinding halt a year later when we got engaged! The majority of the downstairs was done and thats the way it stayed until a few months ago when I decided it was time to finish the house!
Around about the time I got involved with Rock My Wedding we did the spare room, then a few months ago I decided the bedroom needed attention, not to mention the room which had become RMW HQ.
Not so long ago Charlotte shared her own personal sense of style with you all when she gave you a sneak peek into the O’Shea residence.… View the full post.
I Want.
This is currently the most frequently used phrase in my blogger vocabulary.
I Want.
I know I know. Someone has whacked me with the needy greedy stick, pretty darn hard I might add.
And why? because we are re-decorating.
Yup, the O’Shea residence is having a major cosmetic overhaul.
What with Rock My Wedding and my day job I must be absolutely bl*ody mad but when I get an idea in my head it adheres like super glue and there is no stopping me, I may be small but lordy is my nagging mighty . I think Mr O’Shea looks at me all moany and groany and whiney stamping my size 4 feet and wonders what the hell he has got himself into……
As some of you who read my Wherever I Lay My Fancy Hat post some months back will know, as much as I love wedding design I love home interiors in equal measure. Nothing makes me happier than curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea, a chocolate digestive and a copy of Living Etc/Elle Decoration/House Beautiful ……to name but a few.
I want to walk into a room and think “Wow I adore living here” not “It’s ok” or “It will do”.
Of course we don’t have an unlimited money pit ( believe me – far from it) so I am constantly on the hunt for last-a-lifetime investment pieces or little pretty accessories that are reasonable in price but look as near to fabulous as possible.… View the full post.
Gift Lists Galore…
I’ve just been in my kitchen, being a good wifey (as I had the day off) – don’t let me fool you into thinking I’m the little wifey all the time!
Anyway, I was making the dinner (chilli) and baking a lemon loaf cake (once again, this is not the norm in the Norris household) and as I looked around the kitchen I realised what a lot of memories it held. I’m not talking about memories of good times, but physical memories in form of our wedding gifts. In fact they are littered all over the house, each one a reminder of the day we started a new life together and also each and every guest who wanted to commemorate that day.
So I thought I’d take you thought my all time favourite wedding gifts and see if it inspired you to think a little out of the box and add a bit of cool to your wedding list.
Design Devotee
Before Wedding Magazines overtook my magazine life and filled my house there was only one magazine for me, Living Etc. Filled with gorgeous homes from across the globe that embodied my philosophy on life. Being a fan of old houses, and modern design, I like blending. And having read up on all the modern design classics, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to fill my home with the more reasonably priced items.
Although I’m cheating by including the Ghost Chair which I have owned for several years now, it’s a great example of a modern design classic along with the Anglepoise 1227 which now sits on the RMW desk.… View the full post.
Wherever I lay my ( fancy) hat……that’s my home.
Long before I had given weddings a second thought – (long before I had even met James in fact)… I was into interior design.
I bought my first home in 2001, a tiny 1 and a half bedroom terrace with the most tragic decor you could imagine. I’m talking avocado bathroom suite, peach wallpaper throughtout…complete with various floral “boarders” and a scarily unattractive burgundy carpet IN EVERY ROOM.
Beautiful….
Not.
So I got myself a lodger, lived off beans on toast and rich tea biscuits for 12 months, didn’t buy any new clothes ( I know can you believe?!)….and set about re-decorating the whole thing from top to bottom.
Some things I just couldn’t afford ( had to live with the avocado unfortunately) but in general I made it into a simple, stylish and modern home which I sold on a few years later for a worthwhile profit.
The house that James and I live in now was in a similar decorative state. No burgundy carpets I’m pleased to report but a whole heap of half arsed “renovation” work that we had to put right.
Not to mention the fact that on the first viewing we were greeted in the living room by a zebra print sofa, a tiger print chaise lounge and a cow skin rug.
Really.
Was like walking into Joan Collins’ closet.
Circa 1985.
Luckily once the unsuitable furniture and huge flouncy curtains had been removed we were left with an easily modified blank canvas and our old Victorian semi was ready to have the O’Shea seal of style approval stamped all over it.… View the full post.
Remember What It’s All About
Believe me I know from experience that during wedding planning mania it can be so so easy for you and your future husband to get swept away by the sheer madness of it all.
The result can be anything from a few stress related disagreements to almost completely forgetting what the point of it all is in the first place.
Your Big Day should be one of the best days of your life.
And not because you will get to wear the most gorgeous dress you have ever seen or because everything works out “as planned”.
Oh no.
It will be one of the best days of your life because you and your fiance are commiting to spending the rest of your lives together, through bad times, through the good times, in sickness and in health.
Your Wedding will be one of the most sweetest and beautiful memories you ever experience together but it is only one of the millions of special memories you will share throughout the years.
At the end of this month Mr O’Shea and I will have been married for 6 months and let me tell you – they have so far been the best 6 months of my life.
Just today Mr O got up at 5.30am to take me to the airport as he didn’t want me to get a taxi on my own, he then picked me up again at 7.00pm in the pouring rain and because I was so exhausted and starving hungry from a 14 hour day in Belfast went to the local fish and chip shop and proceeded to make me a chip butty…..… View the full post.
P.S I Love You
Last week I received a rather lovely email from Hannah of Coulson Macleod a store that offers “Art with Attitude. Not for Squares”
Hi Charlotte,
Want to let you know about our latest limited edition art collection called
Love. It’s typographic (because that’s what we do!), but this time it’s
printed onto wood and then framed in rough-sawn solid oak. Very vintage.
All handmade with love.
Take a look at http://www.coulsonmacleod.com
Since we launched the collection last Friday a few of our sales have been
for wedding gifts. Hence my email to you.
Hope you like them.
Kind regards
Hannah
Coulson Macleod
Wel Well Well.
They are really rather gorgeous I must say.
Like Hannah said – a magnificent idea for a wedding gift or just as a special Christmas gift to yourself.
And just how very cool would one of these look as decor at your Big Day – imagine the photo opportunities!
And my absolute personal favourite ( and just about to be added to the ever expanding wish list) ….
Beautiful right?
I was thinking of scheduling this post for next week at some point but then realised they are in fact limited edition, only 250 available in each design and then they are ALL gone.
And believe me they are already selling like hot cakes.
Get thee on to the Coulson MacLeod website pronto.
There are lots of contemporary pieces of pretty to inspire and admire.
Charlotte xxx
P.s James I love you…..and ( if possible) I may love you that little bit more if Santa sends one of these beauties down the chimney 
