katy – Page 33 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 25th July 2016

Making a more flexible work space

Our home office was one of my favourite room makeover projects and we have both enjoyed using this space so much over the last couple of years. When we converted this space from a guest room it was essential as we both began working from home but soon Jules will be taking office space elsewhere and we will have a new baby so the office has got to go! Gah! I’m pretty sad about saying goodbye to this room as it has been a place I can do all the things I love, which make up the majority of my work, however, life moves on and when you are squished into a flat in central London there isn’t much space to play with. But above all else I could not be more excited about turning this room into a nursery, something I’ve been dreaming of for the last four years whilst we’ve been trying for a baby. We also want to put a daybed into this room, as we’re aware the baby won’t sleep in here for quite a while, so that both my mum and Jules’s mum can come and stay, which is something we lost with our guest room.

Scandi style work space | DIY home office | Apartment Apothecary

I’m pretty sure I will be fine living without a home office as I’m very organised so as long as we have enough storage space I will be able to cope and at the end of the day having the second bedroom in a two bed flat as an office is a massive luxury, no longer a necessity. However, the one thing I am worried about is that I currently do a massive amount of work on my desktop computer and I have no laptop. Without a dedicated desk space it will be a priority to swap my desktop for a laptop, which is something I have wanted to do for a while anyway. Therefore, I have been scouring the best laptop deals as we won’t have much cash to splash (turns out babies are pretty expensive!).

Once I have a laptop I will be able to work with so much more flexibility, which is something I miss only having a desktop. I’m predicting lots of working from bed or the sofa 😉 However, I will miss our lovely big desk.

I haven’t decided what to do with this room yet; I’m a bit too superstitious to start planning a nursery until later on in the pregnancy so I’m just thinking about the very practical stuff right now.

I know that I will be able to continue with my passions of crafting and sewing despite not having this dedicated space; I will just have to be much tidier about it if I am doing it elsewhere in the flat because, let’s face it, my office is pretty regularly a complete tip.

Have you got any tips for working from home without an office of your own?

Katy x

*All images by Katharine Peachey (this room has been photographed a lot and this is my favourite set of photos by far).

**This post was written in collaboration with DELL.

katy 21st July 2016

A cooking challenge with Robert Welch

When I decluttered my kitchen the first thing I got rid of were the duplicates (why did I have three colanders, two tin openers and four different graters?), ALL the mugs, useless gadgets (they are the worst!) and my blunt knives. Having now lived with less than half the kitchen stuff I had before I realise just how important it is to have quality over quantity and this rule applies to kitchen knives more than anything. Therefore, I was thrilled to help Robert Welch celebrate the millionth sale of their iconic Signature knife range and try out their wondrous knife block at home.

I joined the Robert Welch team last week to do a bit of cooking led by chef Georgina Davies where we got to try out the knives for ourselves. Georgina showed us how to make a delicious summer salad of fennel, radish, fig and noodle with salsa verde dressing – yum.

We were then challenged to recreate the salad at our own cooking stations. No pressure then!

A good tip that Georgina shared with us is to use lemon juice to keep salad vegetables fresh and to stop them going brown. The last time I worked with Robert Welch I learnt the BEST way to cut up a lemon so that you’ll never need a lemon squeezer again – another thing you can chuck out of your kitchen cupboard.

Robert Welch knives | Apartment Apothecary

1. Cut the right ‘cheek’ off the lemon. 2. Cut the left cheek off the lemon. 3. Place the lemon on its cut side and remove another cheek. 4. Take the last cheek from the there side of the lemon so that you are left with five perfectly squeezable pieces of lemon. Honestly, you need to try this technique, it works so well.

Once we had sliced all our vegetables with ridiculous ease (good knives make cooking so much more pleasurable and so much quicker) we made a delicious salsa verde dressing. I’m always a bit lazy with dressings and end up just sloshing on balsamic vinegar and olive oil so this was a great reminder to make a bit more effort as it makes such a difference.

The Signature Cook’s Knife is perfect for chopping herbs as it enables a brilliant rocking motion.

Combining different herbs works so well for a salsa verde dressing. Rolling the herbs up and then cutting them up roughly before using the rocking motion to chop them more finely.

Adding garlic to the salsa verde was a delicious addition. Another trick I learnt was to cut up a clove of garlic roughly and then sprinkle with flakes of salt and use the back of the knife to crush the garlic. The garlic crusher can go too!

The brilliant thing about the knife block is the inbuilt knife sharpener. We were advised by the Robert Welch team to sharpen the knives little and often so after every use sweeping it through the sharpener a couple of times. Because it is on my worktop and so easily accessible this is no longer a chore.

Signature knife block (see the end of this post for a chance to win your own)

Another quick trick that Georgina taught us on the day is to use the serrated Signature Utility Knife from the knife block for cutting tomatoes and onions, which makes it so much easier. I think this is one of my favourite knives from the set.

So, here is the finished salad…

Georgina then decided which one looked best (it wasn’t mine but it tasted delish!).

Six amazingly sharp knives that can change the whole cooking experience saving time and make chopping a pleasure rather than a chore: the perfect addition to my kitchen. If you would like to win your own, enter to WIN here. Good luck!

Katy x

*This post was written in collaboration with Robert Welch.

katy 16th July 2016

Finding inspiration from holiday homes

I often get asked where I find interiors inspiration and there is a great source that I always forget to mention, which is holiday homes. I’m pretty sure I have said this before but accommodation is always one of my top priorities when planning a holiday because interiors is what I love. Being in a lovely cottage, a beautiful hotel or a rustic villa makes my time away so much more special than staying somewhere generic. I love exploring a new interior and dreaming up ways I can recreate the look at home – I find it really inspiring.

This summer we have had a lovely break in Norfolk with friends but I don’t think we will manage to get away just the two of us so I am having to make do with swooning over the most beautiful holiday house that I have found on Unique Home Stays +44 (0) 1637 881183 and I also recently saw it on Helen’s beautiful Instagram after her recent stay. So much inspiration to be taken from this fresh, simple, natural interior of this gorgeous Cornish coastal home, Delphin…

White clapperboard coastal houses are my absolute favourite, reminding me of little New England towns that I would like to visit one day. I love the light and space of this home: filled with white walls and limed floors with more than a touch of Scandi design. Look at that view!

The clever use of natural materials for the dining chairs, kitchen stools, shelves and jute mats bring a bit of warmth to the white interior and help to bring the beautiful outdoors in.Wouldn’t you love waking up to this kitchen on holiday?

The design of the house makes the most of the gorgeous natural light; everything being focused around the picture windows and nothing blocking the view. A few home comforts for chillier days make this the perfect all year round home.

A touch of blue in the bedroom reflects the colour of the sea and you can enjoy the views from all rooms, including the lovely outdoor space.

Isn’t it dreamy? I’m pretty sure I would return from here and have to recreate the exact look in my own home!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone. We are on major wedding prep here – wish us luck!

Katy x

*All images with kind permission of Unique Home Stays +44 (0) 1637 881183

katy 13th July 2016

Top 10 storage tips

I know it’s only been a few months since I declared my decluttering mission to be over but I have to admit that I *may* be back on it. The problem we have is that our lovely home office, filled to the brim with craft materials, stationery, books and props has got to go – I know, I know! We will need to convert the room to a nursery in a few months time because even though we will have the baby in our room for the first few months we have nowhere else in our flat to store baby stuff and we want a guest bed back in that room so that family can come and stay (to help!). At the end of the day, my office has been a luxury and I will definitely be able to cope without it.

However, I don’t want to get rid of all my office ‘stuff’ so I am starting to think about different storage methods as well as traps I shouldn’t fall into. Here are my top tips…

1) Don’t store things under furniture

I’m always at risk of stuffing everything I own under my bed but if at all possible try your best not to do this. If you have a bed, sofa or cupboard that is raised off the floor on legs you should always try not to store things underneath them as this will block out light and instead of light from your windows being able to travel freely around a room it will be adsorbed by all the nasty clutter.

2) Make good use of doors

The back of a door in a room or the inside of a cupboard door is invaluable space to store things. Make as much use of them as possible. I have a set of hooks on the back of every door in our flat and because we always have the doors open you can’t even see what is stored on them. We also have a shoe organiser on the back of our hallway cupboard, our ironing board on the inside of another hallway storage cupboard door and every single kitchen cupboard has storage for pan lids, cleaning materials, foil and cling film or food. This hanging organiser would be perfect for some of my craft materials and could hang on the back of a door and will keep everything organised and easily accessible.

Top 10 storage tips | Apartment Apothecary

Hanging organiser from Clas Ohlson

3) Store smaller items in boxes/baskets on shelves

I have so many little bits and bobs in my office and the best way of storing those is in boxes or baskets that I can neatly store on shelving. I always add tags or labels so that I know exactly what is in each box, which makes it easier to grab stuff when I need it.

Wooden boxes and wire baskets from Clas Ohlson

4) Store similar things together

I think this is really helpful rule and easy enough to follow. Don’t create storage boxes full of random bits and bobs that you’ve just thrown together; plan what needs to be stored and group things together in a thoughtful way. This will enable you to access your stuff much more easily.

5) Transparent storage boxes

There are always going to be a few things (ok, maybe more than a few) that you want to keep but you don’t need regular access to. I like to store these things in transparent storage boxes that go in our large hallway cupboard. Being transparent means I can glance at them and know what is in each one and that way I don’t forget about things.

Storage boxes from Clas Ohlson

6) High shelves

I love a high shelf (I’ve written about them before here) and we have them above most doors in our flat. They don’t encroach on the space, they can provide a large amount of storage in otherwise wasted space and they are so easy to put up and cheap.

7) Baskets

I LOVE a basket or ten and they are perfect for every room, every landing, passageway or corner that I can get them into to help collect those extra things that need a home – blankets, magazines, shoes, slippers, bags.

Bamboo baskets and black baskets from Clas Ohlson

8) Organise your drawers

Inserts to help make the most of the storage space in drawers are a godsend and make a massive difference.

Drawers inserts from Clas Ohlson

9) Vacuum pack clothes and linens

There will definitely be a bit of vacuum packing going on around here as I need to make space in wardrobes so out of season clothes and spare bedlinen/duvets will need to make way. The added bonus of vacuum storage bags is that they keep clothes and linens protected from dust, damp and moths.

Vacuum storage bag from Clas Ohlson

10) Use wall space

It’s all about using wall space rather than floor space. The more floor space you can free up the bigger and more spacious your home will feel. Don’t go overboard but do take a good look around and see if there are walls that could be working harder for you.

Storage hook from Clas Ohlson

I hope some of these tips may help you if you’re struggling with space. I’ll let you know how I get on when I start the job in a couple of months.

Katy x

*This post was written in collaboration with my blog sponsor for this month Clas Ohlson

katy 9th July 2016

Wedding inspiration

My little sister is getting married in a couple of weeks – yay! There has been lots of chat in the weeks and months leading up to the big day about how to make their ‘field’ venue look nice on a small budget so here is a little inspiration, all of which are really simple ideas that you could use for alfresco dining this summer or a wedding of your own…

Foraged foliage. Left: Lobster & Swan styled by Hannah Bullivant Right: The Merrythought

Simple place setting. Image via Wedding Sparrow

Foliage tails on balloons and ribbons hung on trees. Left image: Apartment 34 Right image: 100 Layer Cake

Dinner candles in glass bottles. Image via Rock My Wedding

Do you have any good ideas that don’t take too long to create and cost nearly nothing?

Katy x