If the lampshade fits...

...then stand back and admire.I decided to name this blog post after one of my favourite Interboogle blogs by the fabulous and lovely Raina because the Random lampshade sure does fit perfectly in our stairwell.

My planks of wood were delivered (it's handy having a sister-in-law whose boyfriend owns a lumber yard) and I cut them to fit across the gap, fitted them into place and spent most of last Sunday painting the stairwell with Dulux Absolute White. Then came the long awaited moment of fitting the new lampshade. It was a bit tricky because the whole thing has to be fitted in one piece but (with a little help from David who held the shade out of the way) I eventually managed to do it and what a difference it makes. It has transformed what has always been a boring, tall and dead space into something rather special. The gap between the shade and the walls is only about 8cm either side so it creates the most amazing shadows all over the walls. It does actually look much bigger in real life. I couldn't be happier...

Stairway to hell...

...Well it's nearly the weekend! YAY! The weather is absolutely gorgeous here at the moment and is supposed to be great all weekend, what will you be up to!?? I will be up a ladder trying to finish the painting of the stairwell and the landing. I've started already after borrowing a set of ladders and let's just say that it was somewhat more dis-coloured than I thought!

I was looking through pics today that I have taken of our flat over the (nearly nine) years that we have lived here and even though I remember it being vile when I look at the pics again it all comes flooding back just how bad it was! Below is the hallway and the landing which makes me shudder! Getting all that thick anaglypta wallpaper off was horrendous, quite how I managed to get it all off in the very high stairwell is beyond me. Oh and that carpet, it still gives me nightmares!! Enjoy...

Below are the three stages of when we had the stairs clad with wood by a local carpenter which was about five years ago now and they still look great. This was after we had taken a wall down which was directly in front of the stairs which had an angle on them so they were patched up at the bottom to straighten them out. It took me forever and a day to stain them...

And finally the stairwell as it is today, half painted and I cannot wait to get it finished. I think the last time I painted it was about seven years ago! So far I have been using the ladders and balancing on one of the ledges but it's impossible to reach eveywhere so I have some scaffolding planks arriving tomorrow.

Why the sudden rush to get it done you may ask?? Well because I have a certain Moooi Random lampshade sat on my dining room table! I went to London last Saturday (after going to a two day 50th Birthday party and getting to bed at 5am on Saturday morning!) to meet up with some great forum friends and my friend Helen had picked up the said lampshade for me and had offered for me to stay at her uber gorgeous house which is to die for! After three days of drinking and partying the thought of getting an 80cm round lampshade across London and all the way to South Wales was filling me with utter dread! After realising I was going to miss my train and a few hairy moments I eventually got it back home and very gorgoeus it's looking too.

Have a great weekend all...

Round and round...

I have been painting the spiral staircase which leads up to the loft....OMG it takes forever and it will need 2 coats! Eventually it will be ripped out and replaced with another one but for now we will have to make do with a paint job ( I don't like it and it has seen better days, it actually isn't made that well). The grey paint matches the flooring I'm having very well.

Colour confidence...

.....apparently it's this years BIG colour trend. So there, you have been told! I do find it slightly annoying when we are dictated to as to what colour we MUST have to be "fashionable"! Have you got "Mimosa" in your home yet? If not then why not? You must have it...NOW! Oh whatever! Saturday morning rant is now over.....deep breath.....

Gorgeous green?...

I'm not sure why but I have a real thing for rich greens at the moment!?? I've never been a great lover, infact I was more of a great hater! I remember when David and I first got together that his hallway was painted the exact same green as in the kitchen pic above and I loathed it with a vengance, it wasn't long before I painted over the whole lot with white....it took about 5 coats of good paint to cover it!! Anyway I keep eyeing up the wall where the hob is in our kitchen thinking it would look great with the new white handle-less look of the units when they are done. Will I...won't I??....you will just have to wait and see but knowing me I will wait until David is away for the night and just do it!!!

Pics via Flickr , Primed for Design and Flickr

For the love of grey...

This is exactly what I am thinking of doing on my stairs, painting the wall and banisters ( ours are metal ) in a dark grey....loving it !!! Frontstudio

I'm stairing...

I was so excited when I came across this photo on The Style files !! What a fantastic and simple idea...I love it !!! Oh when will Pantone paint be available in the UK??? I need it now !!!...