Portmerion

I was recently asked by LOOK to submit my favourite place in the UK to their map of 'hidden gems', which showcases some of the most stunning places in the country. Without doubt, one of my favourite favourite places in the UK is Portmerion so it’s no surprise that I submitted Portmerion to the map. I've been a few times now and it never fails to impress me with its beauty. Tom and I have even said if we were ever to get married it would be a pretty beautiful location for a wedding.

It's such an odd feeling to get off the train in north Wales and suddenly feel like you are in (albeit a rather wetter) version of Italy. As someone who loves architecture and bright colours I feel very at home in the village. Not to mention how brilliant it would be as a back drop for photos!

I've only ever been for a day trip but you can actually stay over in one of the cottages or hotels, there are also a good variety of places to eat. Portmerion also hosts Festival number 6 in early September which looks like such a brilliant family friendly event, I hope we get to take Wilf someday. Tom and I visited years ago on a trip to see my parents (who live in west Wales) and I snapped these pics on my phone, writing this post has reminded me how much I want to return and now I know a little more about photography take some photos that really show how stunning a setting it is.

I think what I love about the UK is you really can live here for years and still manage to happen upon a secret spot or 'hidden gem' you had no idea about. I had never visited Dorset for example until I met Tom and likewise he had barely seen much of Wales. There are still so many places I would love to visit, although I do consider myself very lucky to live in the west country. 

I really loved reading about some of the other areas via the interactive map, there are so many spots right on our doorstep we have yet to visit which is quite exciting! Here's to a spring and summer exploring more of our beautiful country!

In association with LOOK

Our weekend in pictures

We spent our weekend in Bridport in Dorset which is Tom's hometown. We often say how lucky we are that Tom grew up somewhere so picturesque for us to visit, it has that lovely village-y feel to it whilst having lovely cafes, vintage shopping AND the seaside just down the road. Kind of perfect really, I've grown up in a variety of cities, towns and villages and I have to say I am a city person for sure but it's great to escape to the countryside once in a while.

Very image heavy post so click before to read on! (it will be worth it promise!)

SOLVING A READER’S CHALLENGE; THE ISSUE WITH LIGHTING A DARK ROOM

A little while back I did a call out on my social media channels to find a reader that was facing a challenge with an area of their home that they didn't quite know what to do with as part of my campaign with HomeSense and Huffington Post. 

I heard back from Sophia, a single mum who was having trouble knowing what to do with her living space. With the only access to direct sunlight through the adjoining kitchen she wanted to know what she could do to brighten up the area without a major overhaul.

We talked about the colour palette that would work best and were drawn to bright pinks, golds and turquoises to complement the other features in the room. I'm thankful we had quite similar taste which made the task a lot more fun!

“Choosing bright colours are a great way to add light to a room but make sure you don't go overboard with the amount - stick to two or three at most.”

We chose open shelves to display some of Sophia's beautiful items and to draw the eye upwards when entering the room. There was a great selection of unique cabinets and shelves so we were really spoilt for choice. I love that they had a real shabby chic feel to them and, with only one of every item, they felt very unique. 

By choosing a colour scheme we were able to match items, like the table cloth, to the throws and cushions which created a clear theme to room. We used gold frames to create a feature wall of a few of her favourite images.

“Using mix match frames and hanging them at different levels gives a room a dramatic looking focal point that brings new life to the selected area of the room.”

We also moved the futon to face the feature wall and covered it in turquoise throws; this gave it a really cosy homely feel to it. A great find was also a large circular mirror that was placed to reflect the natural light coming in from the kitchen and bounce it into the living space.

“Mirrors are such a great way to add light to a room and make the space seem bigger.”

I loved the selection at the store, the gold was perfect for the colours we were after and the circular shape meant the room didn't look to angular. I was so impressed with what we were able to find within our budget and really loved working with one of my reader's and HomeSense in this way!

Don't forget you can find me on Pinterest for beautiful home inspiration!

Next week, I'll be spending an afternoon at my local HomeSense store in Bristol, so pop on over to my HomeSense Inspiration Day on Monday 28^th April! I'd love to meet you!

Linking up again with the lovely Love Chic Living #loveyourhome linky 

Shaking the sillies out & some things about being two

Wilf is now a little over two years old, well two years and four months to be exact. I stopped counting in months pretty much since he turned one as saying things like 15 or 20 months just got me confused and sounds a bit too much like maths. So it goes one year, a year and a half, two and now two and a bit.

Being two and being Wilf is pretty fun. This boy has the best sense of humour, he will throw a look just at the right moment or make observations on just how silly his folks really are (like when I got my coat caught on my dress) *sigh* 'oh mummy, why are you pretending to be a super hero?' *raises eyebrow and shrugs his shoulders*.

He is kind and mischievous and fickle and clever and oh so cute and adorable. He will run into my legs and burry his face in my skirt and tell me 'you are the best mummy in the whole wide world'. He will also have a complete meltdown at the end of the road when I was unable to change the colour of the car we passed that was just 'too blue'.

He is confident but wary of strangers and will tell any dog that passes him on the street that it is bad 'you bad dog!'. He will spend days refusing to eat anything but pasta and he will demand to wear his red wellies and socks even when it is boiling outside.

Pretending we are a menagerie of animals is one of the only ways I can make him hurry up on the way to nursery. You will often see me hopping passed the coffee shop and galloping passed the greengrocers in the early morning. Wilf is a child that is at home in a cafe, he knows where the counter is and will march up and demand 'babyccino please!' 'and a biscuit too?'. He loves listening to stories and will recount to the most amazing detail what happened in his bedtime tale, we are currently reading Babar fyi.

Every morning he will shout from his bedroom that the sun is up and will come running round the corner and into our bed with owley and panda tucked under each arm. Ready for a day of adventures!

When I found out I was having a boy I felt a little stumped, what did I know about boys? What do boys do? What do they like? The truth is I am girly girl. I was the little girl that loved dolls, and flowers and fairy dresses. Wilf likes cars and football and I struggled with thinking I should try and like these things too. I don't, I hate playing cars, but that's OK. Wilf also likes baking and 'crafting' and painting and singing (although lately I'm not allowed to sing, Wilf say's it's a 'bad noise'). He loves cuddles and stories and so many many other wonderful things we can both enjoy.

So it's OK that playing cars and kicking a ball can be something he can enjoy with Tom (so so thankful!). Being a mama to this boy is the most wonderful experience. At the end of the day if we are stuck for something to do we can still go to the park and take selfless and shake the sillies out*

*yes that is a Yo Gabba Gabba refrence

I use *RedLab to edit all my photographs