Design ideas/tips – Page 15 – Apartment Apothecary

Did you see the picture I posted on Instagram yesterday of my friend’s new bathroom floor? Well, I came home with a case of serious bathroom envy. This is my dream bathroom (with very similar tiles to my friend’s)…

Bathroom storage ideas | Apartment Apothecary

My dream bathroom: beautiful tiles, a window, stand alone tub, light, some vintage touches and I’ve always wanted to have a proper armchair in my bathroom. I want to be able to hang out in there! Image: Lovely Life

Currently, that dream does not exist in my flat. My bathroom is windowless, small, white, functional and very boring. It isn’t worth spending money on so there are definitely NO pretty pictures to show you. However, I do have a good storage idea to show you, which is this…

Add a shelf above your bathroom door for extra storage | Apartment Apothecary

Add a shelf above your bathroom door if you are short on storage.

Our bathroom is very small so I have tried to keep any storage on the walls, instead of down on the floor, which would make it seem even smaller. Living in a flat, I do not have the luxury of an airing cupboard or any built in storage, apart from one cupboard in the hallway. Therefore, things like towels and loo rolls, don’t have anywhere to live. Until now! If you are short on storage, put a shelf up over every door in your house, if you can – they are magical and don’t encroach on your space at all. I have one above the door in our office and our bedroom and they provide invaluable storage. One thing I would say is paint the shelf the same colour as your ceiling, otherwise you will notice it as you walk into the room. Another bit of advice, is have a little stool or chair (I have a cute vintage child’s chair in my bathroom) nearby that you can hop up on to so you can easily access the shelf. Also, don’t fill it with pretty lotions and potions as it will just become a dust trap – I know it looks boring but you barely notice it when you are in the room and we use both towels and loo roll so often that dust doesn’t gather.

I’m going to go back to dreaming now…

Katy x

I’ve got a bit of a thing about tiles. My friend, Agnes, bought me a set of old blue and white tiles from San Telmo market in Buenos Aires (if you are ever lucky enough to go there, you will never want to leave) and I absolutely love them. I never wanted to tile a wall with them, even though they would look gorgeous behind the bathroom or kitchen sink, because if I leave my home I’d have to leave them too, or go to all the effort of re-tiling. Instead, I’ve always used them as coasters either on the dining table for hot pots, or on the coffee table for cups and candles. A friend came over the other day and noticed the tiles and couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of using pretty tiles as coasters herself – she has just finished tiling her bathroom floor with the most beautiful Fired Earth tiles and she has a few left over. So, I thought I’d share a few pics of how I use my tiles just in case you hadn’t thought of using them either. However, I have swapped my lovely Argentinean tiles and a couple of tiles from Morocco, for some cheap tiles from the local tile shop, to show you that inexpensive, new tiles can look nice, too, as I know not everybody has a vintage collection;)

All you need to do is buy some surface protectors and add them to each corner of the tiles. That way they won’t scratch your dining table, coffee table, bedside table, kitchen worktop or sideboard. The surface protector pads only cost a couple of pounds.

Add surface protectors to the bottom of your tiles to use them as coasters.

Dot the tiles around your home and not only do they serve a practical purpose but they also add decorative detail that lifts any surface. I have them on my coffee table for drinks and candles, dining table for hot pots, bedside table for candles and on my dressing table for my hair straighteners (the best use for them!!).

Using tiles as coasters | Apartment Apothecary

I always have a few tiles on my coffee table (my mum’s old school trunk) to protect it from candles and hot drinks. This is the Tangier Blue tile that you can buy here.

BEST use of a tile EVER!

Have a couple of tiles on your dining table for hot pots.

Antic Blanco Delft tile that you can buy here.

Looking to give some inexpensive gifts this Christmas? What about a stack of tile coasters? This stack cost £4 and took about three seconds to add the surface protector pads…

Inexpensive Christmas present | Apartment Apothecary

A stack of tiles would make a lovely, inexpensive Christmas present.

Or, what about these beautiful Mexican tiles from Milagros, which cost 46p or 75p each! What a perfect present instead of another box of boring chocolates…

Katy x

My friend asked me recently to help her out with her young sons’ new bedroom. The newly redecorated guest room – pristine plastered white walls, pale carpet, original Victorian fireplace – will now become the boys’ room and therefore needs an injection of colour and life.

My friend wasn’t sure where to start and she certainly doesn’t want to change or ruin any of the existing decor. She has a very clear sense of style and loves mid-century and Scandinavian decor and really doesn’t want the room to become a cartoon-themed style-less space. However, she obviously wants the boys to be happy.

So, the first thing I suggested was to sit down with the boys and ask them what they loved most in the world. I always start the redecorating process by thinking about a particular piece of furniture, artwork or colour that I feel really passionate about and I often base a scheme around just one particular item. For example, when I began my office makeover I based the colour palette for the room around my favourite Double Merrick print.

The boys’ response boiled down to two things, after a few leading questions. Firstly, they both “love all the animals in the zoo” and when we probed them about colours (they’re obsessed with Lego so we made them identify those colours), they decided they loved “all the colours of the rainbow”. So cute! I pulled together a mood board based on those two themes and tried to include accessories so that the existing decor won’t need to be changed at all. I also didn’t want to include anything that is too gender-specific – personally, I’m not a fan of ‘blue’ boys’ rooms and ‘pink’ girls’ rooms.

Designing a children's room | Apartment Apothecary

1. Ingela Lion print, Hunkydory Homes 2. Zig Zebra cushion, Argos 3. Animal Nesting Dolls, Pippa and Ike Show 4. Rainbow blanket, John Lewis 5. Topsy elephant cushion, Argos 6. Peeta table lamp, Argos

I found some gorgeous accessories in Argos that combine both the boys’ passions, such as the cushions. Other additions like colourful lighting, blankets, prints and toys (I love the super cute animal nesting dolls) can be added to the room relatively cheaply and still fit with the style of the rest of the house as they are all so well designed.

When looking in furniture stores, my friend became adamant that she didn’t want any ‘children’s furniture’ because she wants more longevity and flexibility than that. Therefore, I picked out a few pieces with the help of Argos’s home buying guide that I think are stylish and fit well with her passion for mid-century and Scandinavian furniture (I totally want that wardrobe and set of drawers myself!), yet won’t look out of place in a children’s bedroom. I also added a couple of untreated wooden pieces – the bedside drawers and bench – that could be a really fun project for the kids to decorate with their animal and rainbow colour theme and give them some ownership over the room. The pieces can easily revert to plain, tasteful pieces of storage in the future when the boys are older.

1. Tatsuma chest, Argos 2. Tatsuma wardrobe, Argos 3. Scandinavia bedside chest, Argos 4. Bundzbendix Tower changing table, Skandivis 5. Scandinavia toy box, Argos.

What are you passionate about that you would use as a starting point for redecorating a room? It’s so much easier if you hone in on one particular item or something you really love rather than picking completely random colours and accessories.

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Argos but all the views and opinions are my own.

As lots of you will know, I did a room makeover this summer and turned our guest room into a home office. There are so many room makeovers out there and I always wonder how the rooms work in everyday life, once the photos have been taken and the room begins to be used. So, I thought I would return to my home office today, to tell you about how it is working out and what I have changed.

This is the home office as it was when I finished it in September…

Home office lighting | Apartment Apothecary

DIY home office makeover

Firstly, for those of you who don’t know, I share the office with Jules, my partner. That is the number one thing I would change – I would get rid of him as his side of the desk is horrendously ugly 😉 On the other hand, it’s really nice to have company all day and take little breaks together and we do end up bouncing lots of ideas off each other most days. We’ve even developed a system of communicating, whereby he puts his headphones on all day (he’s a web developer so needs a lot of concentration) and if I really need to ask a question or ask his opinion on something, I put my hand up – it’s quite a hilarious process to witness!

The real problem that we have found with the room is the lighting. Now that the clocks have gone back and the dark days and early evenings are upon us, there just isn’t enough light in the room. I made a decision to place the desks in the middle of the room so that it could be as flexible a surface as possible: I use it for sewing, pattern cutting, taking photographs on etc. Therefore, I didn’t want lamps on the desk because I didn’t want to have to move them every time I need a clear surface, even though I like the way they look. I chose, instead, a hanging pendant with a soft Edison bulb. The problem with that is it doesn’t cast enough light, now that the days are so much shorter. So, the major change I have made is to add a giant anglepoise light from Dwell to my side of the desk so I can craft to my heart’s content with task lighting but it’s lovely and soft light because of the huge shade. It doesn’t take up any room on the desk because it is floor standing and it can be easily adjusted or targeted to whichever part of the desk I need more light.

I’ve added this giant anglepoise lamp from Dwell to provide more light now the Autumn is upon us.

I also like the fact that the lamp is white as it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, even though it’s huge, and it just merges into the white wall.

The huge shade diffuses the light really cleverly, so that it is not like a glaring overhead light, but it provides the brightness I need, especially when I am crafting or sewing.

I’ve had to add a few candles to the desk, too, to make it a bit cosier in the evenings now – I just have to be careful not to fling fabric over them.

Candles are a must at this time of year.

Apart from the lighting (and each other!) the room is working really well. I was very nervous about having a white floor, but it is very easy to clean and doesn’t get anywhere near as dirty as I thought it would. The only other thing we might change in the near future is to repaint the desk to make it glossier, and therefore more resistant to scuffing. Now, to get back to my sewing under my new light.

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Dwell but the opinions and views are my own.

I have spent the last eleven years doing a job that required me to be at my desk by 8.30am at the absolute latest, which often meant I was up at 6am and out of the door by 7am. To me, my bed was for sleeping, not for enjoying, as I just never got the chance. Yes, there were the weekends, but I was so strung out by that point I was never, ever able to sleep-in or relax.

Since leaving my teaching job, I have reclaimed the mornings as my own. I never set an alarm (I can feel the daggers from my ex-collegaues as I type this!) and I spend at least an hour in bed every morning checking social media and browsing other blogs, drinking tea. My bed has become a place to relax for the first time. Therefore, I have made some changes to my bedroom to make it more conducive to relaxation, rather than somewhere I hurriedly put my clothes on, whilst scrabbling in the dark to make sure I can leave the house by 7am and not wake Jules.

First and foremost, I have beautiful new bedlinen from Christy. For anyone, wanting to make one change to their room to help lift it, I would always, always advise a new set of bedlinen. But it has to be good bedlinen; it is one of those things that I would never scrimp on. Pure, crisp cotton, soft pillows and a scrumptious duvet. This new set is called Chantilly; I always go for white bedlinen as it’s fresh and light and you can add colour with a throw and cushions if you want to, so it’s very easy to change your scheme without having to buy more. The delicate embroidery is so pretty, but subtle enough not to alienate Jules. This week I went to bed an hour early to enjoy it (and I may have had an afternoon nap or two!).

I have added this soft, snuggly Oslo blanket, also by Christy. Extra layers, especially at this time of year, add a feeling of cosiness and comfort that make the mornings so much more enjoyable. I also now take this blanket around the house with me when it’s cold – it’s on my lap whilst I work and I have it on the sofa in the evenings. It really is the cosiest blanket I have ever owned. Cushions and the large large square pillows are a must for sitting up in bed, too.

The radio is my new best friend. As soon as I wake I switch it on so I can catch up on the news and I love the dulcet tones of Radio 4 in the morning – yes, I did just say that, I must be 102 years old!

I’ve updated a plain lampshade with a length of lace tape, which took about two minutes but it now looks prettier and ties in perfectly with my new bedlinen. You MUST have a good bedside lamp – there is surely nothing worse than a blaring overhead light.

As you may have seen on this month’s Styling the Seasons post, I started updating my bedroom by styling my bedside table to make it cosier, including a candle and flowers. It is so heavenly lighting that candle in the morning as soon as I wake because it smells delicious and is very calming. Having flowers also makes the space that much more special although sadly the blue of this Hydrangea that has lasted for a month is now starting to fade.

So, those are my reasons for staying in bed, probably longer than I should. If you need me, you know where to find me!

Katy x

Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Christy but the views and opinions are my own.

Bathroom storage

Tile coasters

Accessorising a room: where to begin?

Room makeover update

Reasons to stay in bed