Spooky Pizza Party

I love Halloween and I'm really excited for this years as we will be celebrating it with our friends and their son. The past couple of years Wilf hasn't really gotten into it but we bought him his costume the other day and he did not want to take that thing off. So cute!

Pizza Hut Restaurants sent us Wilf a spooky party kit so we spent Wednesday lunchtime setting about creating our own halloween pizzas. Tom has the week off so was able to join in and I think got into it just as much as Wilf (he actually got a leeetle competitive over decorating his pizza ;)).

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Paris Honeymoon Video

We got back from our honeymoon in Paris last night and after kissing and hugging my little boy just as much as he would let me (and tucking him into bed) I set about making this little video. I didn't take as many photograph's as I usually do when we go anywhere and I think this is because we had done all the touristy bits a few months back when we visited for the first time. It was quite nice to just film bits here and there and just enjoy the rest of our time without trying to capture its beauty.

Hope you like it! x

What are you afraid of?

I guess most of us have something we are scared of to varying degrees. I wouldn't say I had an actual phobia of anything but I certainly have a dislike/tendency to jump onto sofas when a spider scuttles along. I'm also not a fan of flying in the slightest and generally have to spend the whole time holding onto my arm rests convincing myself it's the only way we are staying airborne. I'm actually flying for the first time in about 4 years this friday and with Wilf for the first time so that should be...interesting!

I'd say those were pretty standard fears though, hairy spiders and the fear of falling our the sky whilst being in giant tin in the air. I can't really confess to having any unusual fears, however Tom does have a phobia of Vampires (which makes halloween a bit tricky).

Benenden are conducting a survey to discover what the nation's most unusual fear is, and how it effects us on a day-to-day basis.

They are encouraging people to fill out their survey here (it takes about 30 seconds!). By completing the questions and tweeting the hashtag you will be entered into a raffle to win a £50 John Lewis voucher. You can also earn an additional entry by liking Benenden on Facebook. Just follow the Rafflecopter steps below to enter and remember to use the hashtag #myunusualfear when you tweet!

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In association with Benenden 
Image via Death to Stock Photos

What We're Watching

I'm a bit late with these posts so this one should really be for September. With the nights getting darker and colder I'm sure we will be spending a bunch more time watching box sets!

Some things we have been watching:

The Bridge season two
Tom and I got into the first season a bit late to the game but when we were told about it earlier in the year we pretty much watched it all in a week. I do love me a good scandinavian crime drama and i'm happy to say season two was just good.

Mike Birbiglia
I have this weird thing about watching comedy. Ever since I was little I rarely laugh at things on TV, I can find them funny and think in my head that they are but I never really laugh at something on the telly. It's a bit odd but I remember my brother and I watching something as children and him being like 'why aren't you laughing, it's really funny!' and me being all 'I know! I'm finding it really funny..silently, in my head!'. Anyway as such I kind of avoid watching them because people will think I hate it or something, thankfully Tom understands so we watching this stand up the other night and it was really good. I found it very funny (in my head) and it was very on-topic for us too as it was kinda about marriage. I'd defo recommend it for a friday evening in!

Frances Ha
I'd seen the cover of this film and wanted to watch it for a while as it looked like 'my kinda movie' but  we'd recently seen another film by the same director which bored us to tears so we were wary. Actually it's very beautiful, it's never going to be a film I tell my friends about especially but was worth an evening.

Wilf has been watching:

Brave - It's no Frozen but it's better than Tangled (imo).
Little Princes - He's really into this right now
Tin Tin - I love that he's gotten into these, I used to watch them with my siblings as a child (as well as reading all the books). My parents sent us a lot of them which I know Wilf is going to LOVE when he's older. Same with Asterix, so many afternoon's I spent reading them, good times!

part of an ongoing series with Netflix

Win a Peppa Pig GoGlow and MyFirst ReadyBed

With the clocks going back this weekend (Sunday the 26th folks!) I have a kiddo bedtime themed giveaway for you guys from Worlds Apart. If your kiddo is anything like mine then they maybe into a certain pig named Peppa. Wilf and I actually went to watch the live show at our local theatre The Hippadrome the other day. It's called Peppa Pig's Big Splash btw and I'd totally recommend it, the songs were great and Tom said I've been talking about it more than Wilf ;)

Apparently seven in ten parents make a special effort to walk around their child's bedroom to prove there are no monsters hiding. With three quarters of children getting out of bed to find their folks and seem reassurance from them at night. The surgery went on to find that night-lights are the most reassuring solution to help stop scary shadows. Funny enough Wilf sometimes says he can see a scary fox in his room so I think having a nightlight close to him would help, especially one with a friendly character he already loves.

Worlds Apart are giving away a Peppa Pig GoGlow torch and My First ReadyBed to one lucky winner (or rather their child I guess!). I love the idea of the torch, especially for kids who struggle with bedtime or being in the dark.

To enter just complete the below and good luck!

Entires will be added to the Worlds Apart and Tigerlilly Quinn newsletters of which you can opt out of at anytime.

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Our Week in Pictures

Not sure if it's a week/weekend or what kind of time period in pictures this is if I'm honest. The days are getting a little muddled since the busyness of the wedding, having family down and Tom having some time off. I can tell you now that we are all so tired. Tired and happy but so tired all the same!

My brother's family came to stay for the wedding and then for a few days after as well. Unfortunately we were all a little 'under the weather' and the actual weather was just terrible. Tom bought quite a few umbrellas incase of rain on our big day though so we were well prepared! I'm kinda in love with the colourful stripy one, if it has to rain you might as well have a jolly umbrella to shelter under right?

The day after we got hitched we stayed over in a local hotel called The Avon Gorge (which overlooks the suspension bridge). Tom actually won a stay there months and months ago with his work so it seemed like a good a time as any to use it. We had dinner, drank a bottle of wine and snuggled into bed watching TV while the rain hammered down outside, It was all rather lovely. I was trying to think what it might have felt like if we had not known each other very long before we got married or if we didn't have a child together. I don't know any different of course but it felt sort of perfect to reflect on all our years together already and all the plans we have for our years ahead. I told Tom I want to have another big party to celebrate in five years time, ha! ;)

First married selfie ;)

The rest of the week was spent trying to catch up with the ten billion emails I seemed to have accumulated over the past five days or so as well as lots of coffee. Wilf was poorly so I'd kept him out of nursery and as such I'm trying not to feel overwhelmed with the bright red sign that tells me how many emails I need to reply to *gulp*.

In case you were wondering about any of the clothes in the pictures above

On me:

Stripy Umbrella - Next
My Yellow Raincoat - c/o Joules
Shoes - Orla Kiely for Clarks
Pink Coat - Zara
Yellow dress - Sonnet James
Bag - c/o Nica
Blue Maxi dress - Oliver Bonas (sale)
Yellow Jumper - Primark
Stripy Dress - Vintage gift from Tom

On Wilf:

Boots - c/o Joules
Raincoat - TK Maxx
Green Jumper - c/o COS
Leggings - Zara
Orange Jumper - Mango

(think that cover's everything, shout if you are curious about my families clothes and I'll ask them ;))

We are off on our honeymoon this weekend without our little buddy for the first time ever. I know he will be absolutely fine and am secretly (or not so secretly) looking forward to a few child free days with Tom. Then we can get excited about Halloween!

Wish List

1, Two - Tone fine knit dress 
2, Lynsky Joy boots 
3, Teddy Coat in white
4, Charm Necklace from People Tree (take 10% off everything with code TIGER10)

My style used to be really quite girly, favouring bright, colourful, floral prints and tea dresses as a firm staple in my wardrobe. As I've got older funny enough I've become a bit more braver in mixing up my style a bit. I mean don't get my wrong I still live in dresses and really I'm not sure I'm ever going to be comfortable in jeans (until I find the perfect pair maybe?). I'm also much more in favour of dresses I can feel really comfortable in, so I'm finding myself searching more and more for wardrobe items like loose knit dresses like this one from Esprit in darker shades. 

I love that with neutral shades you can actually dress up without looking too dressed up. I love pairing these quite masculine boots with a simple dress and teddy coat. The People Tree necklace just compliments the whole outfit perfectly. I used to have a similar charm necklace years ago that I lost so I'm really tempted to get this one as I think it will go with so many outfits. 

Halloween ideas - For the Kiddo

1, Oeuf NYC Fox beanie 
2, Mouline Roty Filou the wolf mask
3, OMY Paper costume
4, Super Heroe PJ's
5, Suzette the owl mask

I always wanted to one of those mums who made costumes and was super crafty..maybe I will be one of these days but for now I'm kinda happy to just buy Wilf's outfits!

Out of all of these I think the third is my favourite closely followed by number two.
I actually have a discount code for anyone wanting to purchase last minute halloween items!

TIGERLQ: Save £8* on Kids Fashion, Furniture & Toys

*Minimum purchase £80. Non-cumulative with other current vouchers or promotional offers

What would you pick?
*contains affiliate links

Vegetarian and Vegan food guides - Paris

(I think I ate about two avocados a day when we stayed in Paris!)

vegetarian guide - paris vegetarian guide to paris vegan friendly restaurants paris vegan montmartre vegan in paris
We went to Paris a few months ago and for me it was the first time in the city. I completely and utterly fell in love with the place and I'm so excited to go back with Tom for our honeymoon this weekend!

Whenever we go away I leave the planning to Tom. I think that's why our relationship works well, he's the organiser and I'm more of a 'spur of the moment' type person. Whilst I am usually in charge or booking the travel once we get anywhere Tom will have researched the area for weeks before and checked out the places to explore. I'm fully prepared to admit that our trips away run so smoothly (so far) due to Tom's researched and this really comes into place when it comes to places to eat.

As you are probably aware myself and Wilf are vegetarians (Tom it sort of one by default and will very occasionally eat organic meat when eating out with his family). In the UK it's never really a problem eating out (although some places could have more exciting menu options if I'm honest) but in other countries it can sometimes be tricky picking places to eat. When we took our trip a few months ago I was so grateful that Tom has researched all the great veggie street food in each area so no matter where we were wondering about we always had a near by option to head to.

For my Granny

My lovely granny Dianne Strickland passed away on Friday. I wanted to share some pictures of her in happier times and share with you all what a beauty she was. I didn't grow up very close to my grandparents (on either side), not like some people do when they live in the same town or visit regularly. However I have very fond memories of the times we did spend together and I have a lot of respect and admiration for the lady she was.

My granny favourite thing in the world was to read. She read so many books and remembered all the interesting details in them that she went on lots of mastermind type quizzes on the radio. Her specialities were in literature as well as being a cryptic crossword champion.

Her favourite things were drinking tea, reading books and chatting to her best friend. As there is no social security in South Africa when my granddad lost his job and unable to find another they moved to the UK (where my grandad was from) with the last pennies they had. I find it amazing they were able to move and find work across the world when there was no Internet and at the risk of being homeless any day! Her and her best friend Paula would write to each other constantly and missed each other terribly. I always remember hearing her talk about their friendship, it's so sad they had to be separated.

I remember how astonished my granny was that in the UK you are allowed a state pension and to live in a home provided by the council. Despite not living in the most exciting of locations she was happy in her home reading her books and making endless pots of tea. When I was a child she would make the most fantastic cakes and when I stayed for dinner she would aways serve a bread roll with butter on a side plate with our dinner, something that seemed quite fancy to me at the time. My grandad passed away around ten years ago and during the last two weeks of her life she mentioned him visiting her and sitting on the end of her bed. I like to believe this was a comfort to her.

All these photos are taken in the 50's and 60's in South Africa, isn't the shot of the lion so fantastic?

my mum and auntie as teenagers - I just love this picture!

 My granny on Christmas day in South Africa

I can recognise myself in pictures of my granny, and in my mum and my niece. I think it's best to think of her as the woman she was in these images, a similar age to myself now, and to live my life as happy and fulfilled as I can make it. 

me and you

I don't think it's going to be a huge surprise that my 'Me and You' pictures this month are going to be from our wedding.

I had been focussing a lot on the meaning of marriage, what it meant to me & to us as a couple, how I fitted in to the traditional aspects and which parts I felt comfortable with.

I was never ever the girl that wanted to get married, I never dreamt about it as a child, I never planned my dress, I never drew my signature out with the surname of my crush at the time, it just wasn't something I ever thought I would do. When Tom proposed I of course said yes, it was a wonderful romantic gesture and I knew that if I was ever going to marry anyone it would be him so why not?

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Win two Timorous Beastie cushions worth over £90 each

Tom says I have a cushion addiction and it may be true..OK it is very much true, in fact I often fantasise about having another sofa in our living room just so we can have more cushions for it..

Hammonds Furniture are giving away two Timorous Beastie cushions worth over £90 each to one lucky reader. Hammonds also have a brilliant range of built in wardrobes which is something I've often thought about getting done for our bedroom. Storage is one of our biggest problems and I love the fact they they can be fitted to rooms of any size. When you live in a victorian home or a loft conversion this can be perfect for sloping ceilings!

To enter the comp all you need to do is enter the rafflecopter widget below. This one is super simple as all you need to do is follow Hammonds to enter. You can also tweet and follow me on twitter for extra entries. Good Luck!

All entries with be added to the Hammonds and Tigerlilly Quinn's newsletter of which you can opt out of at anytime.

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When family came to stay

One of the great things about having a wedding was that it meant my family could visit. I haven't seen my big brother and his family in over two years as they live in Orkney and before that they lived in Durham. I used to grumble that the north east might as well be a different country due to it's distance from Bristol until they moved to tiny island off the coast of Scotland!

The worst part is it's actually fairly painless getting to the coast of Scotland but actually getting to the island by air costs hundreds. Therefore we haven't seen each other in actual years, which is even sadder as we have kids only 7 months apart.

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Wedding Video!

This week has flown by and Tom and I seem to be more exhausted than we have been in a very long time. I think we might be on some sort of wedding come down as we recover emotionally from one of the best days of our lives.

Our friend Laurence was filming whilst he and his family (my lovely friend Adele is his wife, blogging husband & wife team!) were attending our wedding. Although I had chatted to Adele previously about how it would be great if he could capture any moments it slipped my mind on the day and I had no idea he was filming! I think because lots of people have nice DSLR's nowadays no one else really noticed either which was fantastic as it felt very natural.

The evening after our wedding Tom and I stayed over in a hotel for a lovely meal and promise of a full nights sleep (and lie in). We were just getting ready for dinner when I got an email to say he had shot and edited a little film for us when they had got home that day. We were totally blown away with it and we both had tears in eyes watching it back. In fact we watched it four times that evening (and many time since, Wilf is now constantly singing the song!).

I feel so ridiculously thankful for the friends we have that made our day what it was. Everyone played a part in putting it all together whether it be making elements like the flowers, serving wine or just entertaining the kids. I'm going to do more posts on the handmade aspects of our day and the incredible people that helped us make it. I feel like it's moments like this where you truly realise what is important in life is the people that you chose to share it with.

So here is the video, I hope you like it! Don't forget to check out Laurence's blog here. 

Winter Luxe Edit

The weather has really taken a turn over the past week (oh rain I did not miss you!) and the days and nights are starting to feel a little chilly. Tom (who is often a little bit of a grinch about things like this) even allowed us to put the heating on ;)

I'm really getting excited thinking about cosy evenings under throws on the sofa and all things warm and comfy. I was really impressed with the new Winter Luxe Edit from John Lewis and have compiled a little wish list of things I want *cough* need for the colder months ahead of us.

Firstly this champagne bucket from Tom Dixon, I'm in love with all things copper at the moment and I can totally imagine this at a dinner or Christmas party! I also probably need something for the amount of champagne we have accumulated from the wedding.

This Twist Floor lamp is perfect, I love the scandinavian design and the nod to the sixties. Also that brassy/copper colour again just feels so Autumnal.

How much does this Helene Berman faux fur spot throw scream snuggly and stylish? Love it!

And lastly this Vitra Eames RAR Rocking Chair. What is there not to love?

What's your favourite item from the range?

This is a collaborative post 

We got married!

handmade wedding, wedding, bristol wedding, swedish hasbeen wedding shoes, fever london bridesmaid dresses, bhldn wedding dress
Hey friends!

Just popping in to say, we did it! We got hitched and it was more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I think it's safe to say we are completely overwhelmed with the love and support of our friends and family. I can't get over just how lucky we are to have such beautiful people in our lives, we truly are blessed to feel so loved.

I'll be back of course with (probably a few lets be honest) posts on our day but I wanted to share these teasers with you now. They were taken by my talented friend Laura who was kind enough to take our photos on the day. As you will discover we have accumulated a whole bunch of creative and wonderful friends who helped us make our day what it was and I can't wait to share these details with you all.

In the photos above:

Bouquets, headband and button holes by my lovely pal Lizzie
Cake toppers (the cutest cake toppers EVER in my opinion) by my clever buddy Little Birdy

Wilf's jacket from from Next his moccasins were a gift from Amy & Ivor. My bridesmaids dresses were from Fever London*, shoes from Next and mine were from Swedish Hasbeens!

These pictures were taken in St Nics market in Bristol and The Greenbank pub in Easton 

H&M - Unicef 2014

h&m for unicef 2014
Just a teeny tiny post to say I cannot WAIT for the 30th when this collaboration between H&M and Unicef goes live. I remember last year when I picked him up this Beetlejuice style outfit, I'm gutted it no longer fits so I'm tempted to even buy different ages in this collection.. I'm so going to get that cape for Wilf!

Halloween Ideas

In collaboration with Sophie Davidson 

Wilf last halloween, just a little bit cute right? I'm gutted it won't fit him this year.

Halloween is the perfect time to try your hand at crafting. It won't come as a huge surprise that Halloween costumes for children can be expensive, ranging upwards of £30 - unfortunately, as kids grow so do their likes and this normally means more money. It’s doubtful they will still fit into their costume from last year, and even if they do would they want to be the same character two years running? So, how can you save money and still ensure your little ones have a great time this Halloween? Make a costume yourself!

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Winter Coat Wish List

1, Iris dress coat in pink/charcoal*
2, Green check faux fur collar coat*
3, Coat with detachable collar (in pink and brown, I have the pink!)
4, Buy orange boucle coat
5, Edie Jacket*
6, Feather light blazer*

It's a little colder and really enjoying wearing my Autumn coat finally! I'm probably going to be excited about it for a week or so more before complaining about the cold and wishing spring and summer back again but hey ;)

Here are some of my favourite coats on the high street right now, which is your favourite?

For the Home - Vintage inspired homeware

fever london, vintage homeware, interior design blog
One of my favourite vintage inspired clothing designers Fever London recently launched their homeware collection* and am head over heels in love with them! Pretty ten minutes after I set eyes on them I was setting up this post to share with you guys.

Here are some of my top picks:

1, Melamine side plate with Andrea Rose
2, Ceramic flower pot
3, Mint candle
4, Melamine side plate with Andrea Dahlia
5, Ceramic bowl with floral embossing
6, Melamine rectangular plate

Now I need more plates and bowls like a whole in the head but I'm kinda thinking about calling all our wedding guests and telling them 'the no gift thing is off! buy us these!' (kidding for those reading this that are attending). They are certainly on my birthday list though ;)

Which are your favourite?

Working Out

I have to admit I'm used to doing some silly stuff for my little blog. In fact I'd say just taking photos and capturing our life and the fun things we do has made me massively less precious about having to look good in photos or portray a certain type of living. 

Which is lucky really as when Argos asked me if I wanted to make a fun work out video I was oh so ready to get my silly on. Thankfully so was my pal Lori (always more fun to be silly with friends!). We spent the morning shopping for work-out outfits with Wilf in tow, he was beyond excited by the bright sparkly things in Claire's Accessories and suggested I buy some pretend glasses, which is ironic really as my actually glasses look very similar! He now uses these as his glasses as his own and oh my gosh he looks so adorable, like the little old man in UP, I'll have to take a picture soon.
Once our outfits were bought we picked up Lori's little boy and headed back to the house. The boys thought we were being completely hilarious and kept dancing around the the music with us, it was a whole bunch of fun. 

The aim of the video (yes there was an actual point) was to highlight that you can actually work-out whilst just using items around the home. For example If you would like to do floorcare work-out exercises yourself but you don't have the right materials you can always go to a store like Argos to find a variety of steam cleaners and hoovers. What's more if you work-out whilst cleaning it's kind of like killing two birds with one stone right? I mean no one really likes doing either but actually I may even be inclined to tidy up a bit more if I can dress up and exercise at the same time. Wilf sure would find it funny!

If you feel inclined why not take a little video of your cleaning work out? I'll be happy to share them all via twitter if you want to join the silliness! 

A limitless closet?

I know I go on about it all the time but I love the transition of the seasons. A friend of mine has moved from the UK to Australia and tells me how much she misses really misses how defined our seasons are. This past week i've been picking out my cosier jumpers, my Autumn coat and even thinking about things like hats and scarfs..OK I'm getting ahead of myself but still!

(dress from People Tree, you can get 10% with code TIGER10)

I'm not sure about you but I definitely have a winter/summer wardrobe. There are pieces that can transition the two (with a bit of layering) but there are pieces that don't fit in summer (big heavy coats and jumpers) and pieces that don't fit in the colder months (goodbye Saltwater sandals for another year). If you live in a home that's lacking in space it can get tricky to have space for all your things and whilst slimming down my wardrobe is an option..it's not really! ;)

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Love Paris

I realised last night that it is just a few weeks until our honeymoon and it then occurred to me that I don't think I ever shared our Paris video here on the blog. We are off to Paris again but this time without Wilf (for the first time ever!). It might seem odd we are going back to the same place we were just a few months back but it will be nice to explore the areas of the city we couldn't with a child in tow. The other reason is that if we went somewhere new we would only spent the whole time saying how much Wilf would have loved it!

Anyway, hope you like this little movie of our time there in the summer. Oh Paris I cannot wait to see you again! 

Our Weekend in Pictures

 (in case you are wondering top - Boden*, jeans - Anthropolgie* Wilf's outfit details below)

It's the last weekend before we get hitched. Full of last minute prep and if I'm honest more than a few tears and tense moments!

On Friday I was feeling very tearful and very much overwhelmed with it all. Thankfully I have good friends who force me to abandon the a million things I had on and go to lunch. As our kids were in nursery it was a real break to just let off some steam and have a good old vent and a giggle!

Feeling much better we decided to make an evening of it back at the house and whilst our kids played and stayed up way past their bedtime and our partners had joined us from work I started to really relax about the whole thing. There's nothing better than having a good time with real friends to remind you that actually being around the people you love it exactly what it's all about, regardless of your Pinterest boards or your idea of the 'perfect' decor.

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Fabulous Fabrics

via here

When it comes to our home I'm almost always changing it up. As much as I love pinning and swooning at monochrome minimalistic interiors for me its always going to be about colour and pattern. 

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Days out with friends

I've never really been a playgroup person and it's something that worried me initially when Wilf was small. I tried a few of them and each time I left feeling just a bit down. There was nothing there for me and I didn't enjoy the small talk but I wondered it should be something I just did for Wilf regardless of how it left me feeling. I soon realised that was silly, I wasn't just the 'bringer of the baby' and those places are partly designed so parents can socialise or get out the house, if it wasn't doing that for me then there were plenty of other opportunities for play that didn't involve church halls and plastic cups of tea.

I discovered that what made both me and Wilf happy was doing the things we both enjoyed. Parks trips (that involve coffee for me) days out at the zoo, play dates with friends and trips to the cafe for pancakes and babyccinos.

I love taking the morning to go somewhere new or just a bit different and there are so many child friendly places in Bristol and the surrounding areas to do so. We love our weekly visit to the zoo gardens, we have a special secret spot we head to with fountains for the kids to splash in and cake and coffee bought on the way from the restaurant.

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Beautiful Bathrooms

I was wondering the other day about where my love for homes and interiors came from. Sometimes I think that the way I put together my house or the interior looks that I can't resist pinning really aren't anything out of the ordinary. Then my friends ask for advice on a colour scheme or mention they love this or that about my furnishings and I remember that it is a passion, just as doing anything creative is a passion for me.

I think it must have stemmed from moving home so much if I'm honest. Sometimes my family would move as often as every 6 months when I was growing up and I remember being so excited to see what out new home would look like, how I would decorate my room and what the bathroom was like. I think bathroom's hold a special place in my heart as coming from a home of 5 children it's one of the only places you can really be alone!

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