Money Supermarket recently set some bloggers a challenge to improve a part of their home with a budget of £50. With money becoming tighter for most, being thrifty with your money is always handy, especially when it comes to home improvements. 

I am the worst when it comes to starting projects and never finishing them. The amount of crafty things I attempt and then realise that I'm rubbish at it is ridiculous so I wanted to do something that meant I could prove to myself and everyone else that I was capable of finishing a project!

We live in a rented property so didn't really want to do anything too invasive to the structure/walls. Our living room is a tiny room that we eat, play and study in so we wanted to make this more liveable. Here are some before pictures:

As you can see, the place is tiny and cramped and doesn't leave much to the imagination. We knew that we wanted to have a proper place for Max's toys to go so we found a toy storage unit in Argos (£20). Whilst all his toys are on show it means that we can keep an eye on how much stuff he has out and also he can help us tidy away at the end of the day.

Our sofa looks a bit worse for wear with dodgy cushions and things strewn all over it so we pulled it apart and evened out the padding in the seats then found some gorgeous duck egg blue cushions (£6) and a chocolate brown throw (£11). I also moved the brown box next to the sofa to use as a storage unit/side table.

I took Max's table and bought some red (his colour choice) spotted material (£3 per metre - 1 metre bought). It's the oilcloth style so it can be wiped down. I stuck it to his table and chairs with spray adhesive (£3) so that they looked a tad more colourful and neater. The plain white looked tired and dirty whereas this makes it fun for him to eat dinner. 

I stuck up some book related postcards I got from work (£2) on the wall near his table so that he can sit on his armchair and read a book. I stuck this on using washi tape (£1), it looks a bit messy so I will probably stick it down in a neater way in the future.

I found a wicker basket in a charity shop (£1.50) which we can put magazines, remotes and anything else in there.

And finally I used an old jam jar, used the washi tape from earlier and some scrap wallpaper to create a pencil pot for Max's pencils. I also bought some carpet gripping tape for the rugs so they would stay still (£1)

I really feel like even though I didn't do anything invasive to the property I did manage to give the room a complete overhaul to make it look nicer and feel more homely for our uses. Max and Scott are chuffed and I'm proud of what I've managed to do in such a small space!

Overall I spent:

£48.50 exactly. Well about £48.41 when I considered that most things were rounded up to the pound from a .99p! It made the maths a lot easier.

Thank you Money Supermarket for hosting this challenge I think we can give thumbs up all round! I definitely now know that I can stretch a budget and finish a project!

This week is a bit of a wish list. Ikea has a sale on at the moment as I love a bit of Swedish flatpack. Who doesn't love spending 6 hours trying to put a bookshelf together before making your own holes and doing a bodge job. Or is that just me? Haha!

This week I'm looking at wallpaper. Whilst I think I will mostly paint the place I still can't help looking at wallpaper and thinking how awesome it can look!

The clock came beautifully packaged in a bright pink mailing bag (not shown as address printed on it) and inside it had brown wrapping and secured with bubble wrap to make sure that the disk isn't damaged at all. Which I was really impressed with as some recent vinyl that I had ordered had come with no protection around it. The box has the company logo and lovely touches such as 'Timeless Memories' and 'If you can read this, either you or the box, are the wrong way up' which makes the gift a bit more personal and shows that the company put loads of effort into each product. 

Opening the box I found the some instructions for care and setup and also the vinyl sleeve of the record so I knew exactly what one I had been given. When you order on the site you get to choose the disk you want whether it's a 10", 12" or 7" single. They sent us Erasure's Ship of Fools. Not a band that is top of my list but the disk is so gorgeous that it looks perfect hung up. 

Picking up the front of the safety packaging (hand wrapped in tissue paper!) the disk is laid out perfectly with the hands of the clock already fixed to it. I've noticed that a lot of companies that sell products like this leave it for you to put together yourself, but this made it feel that little bit more special! And once removed you see that they included a battery for you too. It was a bit tricky to get the battery in as I didn't want to damage it but once in it started working straight away. They test the product for 24 hours before sending it to make sure that it is in full working order. 

My main issue was trying to find the best place to hang it! Eventually I found the perfect place in our living room so it's always on show and we can always be reminded of how much we love vinyl. 

Overall we love this product. There is so much care and love put into each product and you can tell that from the wrapping, to the boxing and the product itself and it's a perfect gift for any music lover or even someone that likes something a bit different. With everything from Meatloaf to Sex Pistols I'm pretty sure that you can find anything that you need on Vinyl Clocks. I've already got my eye on another one for Scott's birthday!

Do you love vinyl? How would you like to display some of yours?

Here's to another week of me wishing what I could dress my imaginary house like. This week I've been lusting over cushions. Pretty strange you might say but I love a great cushion. It gives you a bit of personality to a room and changing them up can really make a room feel so different.

The ones I have picked would be used anywhere from a bedroom to a play room but here's some favourites. 

So there you go. A jam packed cushion spectacular!

These weekly posts come around so quickly! It seems like only yesterday I was telling everyone about my woes of a saggy sofa.

This week however nothing is broken (yay!) so I can pick some things I have been lusting after. With the talk about sofas last week I found myself lusting over the gorgeous designed Eames chair. These beautys can be found everywhere now and I'm still not convinced if they are 100% comfortable or not but they look good and sometimes that's all that matters with making a home look nice!

Charles and Ray Eames were American designers who created modern furniture using moulded plywood and fibreglass in the 1950's. Even to this day their style is iconic and beautiful against a stark background or in a world of clutter. 

I've been browsing Pinterest to see how I could incorporate these chairs into my life as it seems inevitable that I will buy at least one! Here are some of my favourites. 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 

Are you as in love with these chairs as I am? How would you style them up?


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Scott is soon to be a scriptwriting graduate. So naturally we are film and tv geeks and spend most evenings watching something and critiquing it as we go along. 

Naturally Max needed all of these. Who else is there to show the world what taste in films we have haha. There is everything from Goonies to Jaws. Totally pre 90's and totally awesome. 

Let's not forget the Disney films though. With Toy Story and Monsters Inc. being Max's favourites these are constantly being washed and worn again and again. 

Part two of the lovely series where I show you all of Max's favourite clothes (well mine but he wears them...)

This one is focused on some of the lovely stuff he has for spring/summer this year. Last year we were still dressing him in easy clothes as he was always getting food on things and there was still the occasional leaky nappy. This summer he's taller, older and has a cute sense of style where he normally picks out his clothes for the day. 

First up is this gorgeous skull top from Next. I knew I had to have it for Max straight away as it's something different and would look great paired with everything from jeans to chinos to leggings.


Next up is this cute sailor top from Sainsburys. I always find them hit and miss for boy's clothes as some of them can be quite gimmicky whilst others just seem boring. They also don't seem to have a massive selection of boys clothes in general so I love it when I find something new and cute that I can pick up for him. Next to that is a 'Dog's Rule' top that I got from Next. It's just awesome. It doesn't need much explanation. Below that is another top from Next. I always find that their quality is good and doesn't lose shape easy compared to some of the cheaper places. This one is great for summer, maybe at the beach or something to channel his inner pirate. And next to that is a cute aztec style rhino top. It was £2 at Tesco's so will look great with most things but also it doesn't matter too much if it get's ruined.

Finally is this gorgeous Day Of The Dead top. It's from an organic clothing company called Conquer. All the illustrations are done by their artists and then screen printed on. We picked this up for Max at Camp Bestival last summer knowing it would fit him for this one and it's one of my favourites. I can't seem to find kid's clothing on their website but the adult stuff is just as brilliant. 

So a few day's ago our sofa well and truly broke. Not in the way that it snapped in half. More like we could feel like the padding inside was going to wear thin and the other night when sitting on it the spring decided to poke itself in my leg. Luckily it's still under the leather but unless there's a cushion on top of it, it's pretty un-comfy. This got me thinking that when we buy our place I want a nice sofa. Not one that just does the job. But one that I can curl into with a nice book and maybe nap on if I ever get that opportunity!

I've been scouring the internet to see what awesome sofas are out there. Most I've found are really expensive or just look boring. I also wanted something that is practical so I could clean it easily and maybe convert to a sofa bed as we know whatever place we buy won't have tonnes of room. Also I want to have those duvet days where I can just pull out the sofa and have everyone lay on it haha. It also needs to look good. I've seen hundreds of sofa beds that just look boring. Or look uncomfortable to sit on. It also needs to be durable. We have a 2 year old so of course his favourite past time will be jumping off the sofa. I'm pretty picky but I found a few that seem to fit all the right boxes and don't cost the earth.

1 - Who doesn't love a good corner sofa. This one looks like my mum's one which was so good for curling up in the corner surrounded by food and books for hours on end. You can get this as a separate 2 seater sofa bed which is a bonus!
2 - Okay it's the cushions and the footstool that sucked me in because blue and green are my favourite colours and definitely my colour scheme for life. This one isn't a sofa bed but it was too gorgeous to not include.
3 - Another corner sofa. You can tell I miss the room of having something bigger than a 2 seater! Again this one doesn't come with a sofa bed but with the chaise end it means that you can definitely nap on there anyway (depending on how long your legs are)
4 -  Probably the most unpractical for a family with a small child but the cutest sofa I found. This striped one looks as if it stepped out of the pages of Country Living and would look adorable with some pale pink accessories to match. It's also a sofa bed. Yep.
5 - Not a sofa strictly but I think I need this. Just to hide away somewhere in the quietest area to do some reading or cross stitch. It just feels like a giant hug in a chair.

Surprisingly all of these seem to be really affordable and come with the scatter cushions which is a bonus as they can end up really expensive in themselves and hard to match if you have a specific colour scheme in mind! I looked and the closest Roomes store that sell these and unfortunately it's all the way in Essex. I have noticed however that they do sell online and include free delivery which is better than some companies that charge regardless!

Are you as picky as me with sofas? I may be over obsessing but a girl can dream can't she?


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For my second instalment of this fabulous home makeover series I have picked art. You probably thing this is a crazy choice but I honestly love art. There's nothing like an awesome painting or poster to lift the mood of a room and tell everyone about your personality and styles. 

I'm fortunate enough to have over half of the pictures below already but I felt the need to add them in as I love them that much!

Do you like art? Have you got any special pieces in your home?

So within the next couple of years we would love to own our own place and be able to do what we want with it. I'm getting carried away already and am starting a new series called 'There's No Place Like Home' Showing some things that are catching my eye. Today is statement rugs. I love a good rug. It can really change the look and feel of a room. Here are some that have stood out for me recently. 

One problem I find with buying rugs is that they are either really expensive or rubbish quality. The one we have at the moment has only lasted us a matter of months and it already looks sorry for itself. So when I got told that SCS (yep that sofa place) did rugs I took a look!

I could load you down with more rugs than you can lie on but I'll leave it with these lovely ones. All of these can be found at SCS at this link here: http://www.scs.co.uk/category/rugs/ and with delivery within seven days I could change the look of my room every week if I wanted!


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