Exploring The Old Station, Tintern, Wye Valley

We love the Wye Valley and feel very lucky to live close enough to enjoy day trips to this beautiful part of Wales with quaint towns and plenty of countryside to explore. During the summer we wanted to keep our family days out as simple as possible and get outdoors at every opportunity. As my youngest is obsessed with trains we came across The Old Station in Tintern and after a little research we thought it fit the bill for fun train inspired day out. The drive there through the winding roads from Chepstow is really spectacular especially as you pass the impressive Tintern Abbey (highly recommend you visit this Cadw site) along the river Wye which eventually leads you to the Old Victorian Station. We didn't really know what to expect and if there would be enough to do to full up a whole day, we had checked in advance that the narrow gauge train was running which we knew would be a hit with both of the boys. This train is run by volunteers and you can find out ......

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For the love of Modern Period interiors

We are edging closer and closer to putting our house on the market and we cannot wait, our time in our little welsh hobbit house as we refer to it as the ceilings are so low are coming to an end. We are all in need of more space, more light and in Johns case a doorway he doesn't bang his head on everyday. As much as the rustic appeal is to us and it really does, our home is a bit neither here or there in terms of location, only 20mins from the city on the edge of a small town so it doesn't have the slower pace feel as you would find in a more rural location and equally does not have the colour and culture of living within walking distance of the city. We have also found over time our real passion and dream would be to find a small bay fronted Victorian property as we absolutely love the combination of a period property with a fresh and modern look that embraces the original features of that time rather than covers them up. I think the Scandinavian inspiration that has b......

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Letting the light in the right way

Natural light is something we all crave, it's proven that sunshine makes us feel happier so making sure you have good quality windows that allow this light to flow into your home and your life is pretty important and can be something we unintentional overlook, especially during the warmer months when under-par and inefficient windows go more unnoticed than that of the colder months when your trying to keep a draft out. I know personally I am always sold by a property that has stunning windows, in fact I dream of having a home with floor to ceiling windows or a bay fronted Victorian with shutters or a Georgian house with large sash windows. I am all about keeping the character in properties so if the windows need to be replaced it needs to be done with care and attention as not to take the character and charisma away. We recently had to replace a window in the eaves of our bathroom and wow it's made such a difference I can't believe we didn't do it sooner. ......

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Snippets of my mothers home

By the time I turned 4yrs old I had already moved house 6 times as my parents loved buying wrecks and doing them up, selling them and moving on. They believed that property was the way forward in terms of investment and when we eventually settled down when I was 5 when they bought the place I called "home" (which was also a wreck) pretty much mortgage free. Once my brother and I had reached our late teens they decided it was time for another project as our current home was finally finished and boredom had set in so they sold up again while I moved over to the UK in search of my own adventures. More than 10 years on and and many things have changed, my mother now lives in the UK and after retiring 3 years ago has thrown herself into another property challenge which has not fazed her at all even though she is in her late sixties. She bought this beautiful but very tired and neglected Victorian Bay fronted home 2 years ago with major work needing to be done through......

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Bedroom Décor: the bed of your dreams

When it comes to giving your bedroom a makeover, the focal point should be the bed. Not only because your comfort for a good night’s sleep depends on it but also because it is a very versatile piece, open to a wide array of possibilities in terms of design. You can choose the bed of your dreams based on your favourite colour scheme, the style of your overall bedroom, materials you prefer - hardwood or metal - and you can add so many details to it to make it even more stylish and customise it according to your own personality - an extra pillow, a colourful duvet, a patterned blanket, so on and so forth. Choose your style: traditional vs. modern If you like traditional bedrooms, simplicity should be the keyword. Prefer a classic bed frame, with very essential lines and a solid hardwood headboard. The bed itself will be the statement piece of the room, so keep everything else basic, simple and elegant. Add only a couple of sophisticated touches, a small table lamp, a simple round m......

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Let in the light and Pin to win

As you may know we are in the middle of houses at the moment, having sold our old house just before Christmas and we are now renting a little cottage just outside of Cardiff, and are currently on the lookout for our next "home". I am dreamer when it comes to these things, I mean why not aspire to live somewhere inspiring! Perhaps this is because the flat I lived in with a friend in Cape Town had the most amazing view of the mountain and city with a large balcony and windows that would let in the light, and it rarely failed to take my breath away every morning. I am in love with floor to ceiling windows and would love to live in a Victorian bay fronted house or an old warehouse or parisian apartment. I like rooms to have little nooks and crannies but also to be bright and airy and I love the idea of the outside coming in and the warmth of natural light. However I am not a huge fan or early morning sun every morning (anything before 7am is a bit of a no no) so I would hang......

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Dreamy Bedroom

So we are hoping to move in a couple of months, once we have found the right place to move to that is, but my mind is already very much in dream mode, colour schemes and what our new home may look like. One thing for sure is that we are going to get a new bed - the time has come, for a bigger, family sized bed, as our little man loves to lie between us in the morning or when he has had a bad dream during the night. I love so many different looks from Boho chic, French inspired interiors, natural and nomadic to New York loft and city chic. When it comes to the perfect bedroom the bed is my number one priority. It's needs to be big and soft, with a comfortable but firm mattress adorned with lovely throws, blankets and pillows. The headboard is also important as it frames the bed, creates the style and a lot of thought needs to go into choosing which one you want, I love vintage metals ones, as well as the more natural wooden frames, but I think once we know what our new house looks ......

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Instagram weekend roundup

So still alittle upset at not being at London Fashion Week this week due to work/life commitments (first time in a few years that I am not there) I have resorted to quite a lot of baking this weekend, which has now lead me to needing to go on a healthy eating diet this monday! Anyway since John and I both had today free we thought we would make the most of it, since it was dry, although very cold and apparently it's going to be raining for most of the week, we though an ouside adventure of some sort was on the cards. So we decided to take a drive to Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr (birthplace of Julian McDonald and Laura Ashley) and anyone living in Wales/Cardiff should check this place out, as it really is a beautiful setting. The castle houses a very interesting and fun Museum and Art Gallery, as well as a victorian style tea room (welsh cakes and coffee for me). It's also set in a 160 acre parkland with a large lake full of ducks and a sensory garden and best of all it's all......

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