Interiors – Page 22 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 22nd February 2016

Spring/Summer styling with B&Q

Massive DIY shed and stylish homewares shouldn’t really be found together in the same sentence, should they? However, one of the things I love most about styling for different brands is being able to pluck products from store shelves you might have walked by otherwise and making them shine.

B&Q have just launched their new SS/16 décor collection as part of their ‘Let’s Decorate’ campaign. I go to B&Q ALL the time as it is just a few minutes from our house and as you know I am a DIY enthusiast. I have to admit, however, that I am usually more focused on buying screws, wood and plants (it is great for plants) than making a foray into the homewares section. So, when they got in touch to ask me to style some products from their new homewares collection I was intrigued. When I had a look online I was pleasantly surprised and when I saw them in real life I was delighted! Inexpensive, on-trend and extremely high quality.

Therefore, I am very pleased to be able to show you three different looks from three of the new collections…

Summer Daze

The Summer Daze collection is inspired by Scandinavian style with soft greys, pastels and geometric designs. I immediately honed in on the ceramics collection and I nearly fell off my chair when I realised how little they cost (these bottles!) – and they are so lovely. I teamed these with a taller ceramic bottle and candle filled pot. I then chose some Scandi-style wallpaper from the collection to offset the whites and styled them up on my String shelves. I love this soft, calm look.

Arlo Charcoal Trees with Birds Wallpaper

SS/16 styling with B&Q | Summer Daze collection | Ceramics | Scandi style | Apartment Apothecary

White Textured Ceramic Bottles, Set of 3

White Matt Dash Ceramic Bottle (at back)

Pin Prick Unscented Wax Filled Pot on right

Meadow

The Meadow collection captures the essence of Spring by bringing the outdoors in. Inspired by the name of the collection I wanted to gather lots of bottles filled with pretty flowers that can make a beautiful table decoration. I also chose a mauve cushion, which is a colour that always makes me think of Spring flowers.

Meadow collection

Woven Mauve Cushion

Clear Cork and Glass Decorative bottle

Kasbah

The third look is called Kasbah, which is a nomadic-inspired collection, featuring lots of textured cushions and patterned throws perfect for layering and adding an eclectic feel to your home. I am currently waiting for my new sofa and it is running very late (grrr!) so we have been sitting on the floor a lot recently! Therefore, floor seating seemed like the obvious way to style these gorgeous textiles (I’ve also got my eye on this amazing pouf). The rug is wonderful quality and could fit with any type of interior style and I love the way it picks out the black from the patterned cushions. The coral highlights of the throw and cushion (online they are described as red but with the white flecks they are definitely more coral) set off the look perfectly. I just added mint tea…

Georgette Beige Rug layered on top of Colours Lollie Brown Rug

Chevron Black and Cream Cushion and Woven Textured Red Cushion

Diamond Weave Black and Cream Cushion

Red Herringbone Twill Throw

Which is your favourite of the three looks?

I hope this has given you a bit of inspiration for any changes you might want to make to your home as we head towards the brighter, warmer days of Spring and Summer. You can find more from all four collections over on my ‘SS/16 Styling with B&Q’ Pinterest board here.

Katy x

*This post was written in collaboration with B&Q

katy 18th February 2016

DIY leather kitchen door handles

I’m pretty sure this is the BEST thing I have ever made. I’m super proud of these handles because they look good, they are inexpensive, they are very useful AND they are made from bookmarks, yes bookmarks!

I’ve hated the handles on my kitchen cabinets since I moved in six years ago (you can see them here) but because they are so long I didn’t know what to do about the fact that they would leave two holes – how would I fill one of them in? Well, turns out that the hole is much smaller than I thought it would be and a squeeze of sealant later and you really can’t see it – hurrah! So that left me with a better problem of what handles to replace them with. I sold the old solid steel handles on eBay for £40 and I started looking around and realised that nice handles are pretty expensive. I decided to challenge myself to make myself new door handles for less than I sold the old ones for.

The wonderful Katharine Peachey bought some rather lovely leather handles for her kitchen that I instantly fell in love with – total swoonage!

DIY leather kitchen door handle tutorial | Home of Katharine Peachey | Photo by katharinepeachey.co.uk | Apartment Apothecary

Katharine’s kitchen, photographed by her.

I had a look online and each handle cost between £10 and £20 and I have 18 cupboard doors – you do the maths (ok, I will, a set would cost me between £180 and £360 – wowzers). So I started searching for leather online instead and hatched a plan to make my own.

You will need

Leather – I bought these pre-cut bookmarks from The Identity Store £16.50 for a pack of 10. You can oil or stain them if you like.

Cup square bolts – I bought these from B&Q £3.57 for 10

Sharpened screwdriver – I used a 6mm one as it has to be the same width as the square bolt (the little square on the back of the round head of the bolt). To sharpen it I used a diamond stone. Alternatively you can use a chisel.

Hammer

Hacksaw

Pen

Tape measure

Leather wax or even shoe polish (I already had some)

Optional – Stanley knife blades or a sharp craft knife (I already had this but you can also use sand paper for this

Offcut of wood to work on

TOTAL for 20 handles: £40.14 (14p over budget!)

Step by step

To make 8.5cm long handles.

1. Wax or ‘feed’ the leather strips so that they don’t crack.

2. Measure and mark 5cm from the tip of the rounded edge.

3. Score this mark with a craft knife – I used a stanley knife blade as that was all that I had. Note the plaster on my thumb by the end of the tutorial 😉

4. Use the knife/blade to shave off the bulk of the leather from the suede side. You don’t have to do this but it helps the handle lie as flat as possible on the door.

5. Mark the three points where the bolt will pass through the handle. To make a 8.5cm long handle from a 22cm long piece of leather your three marks will be 165mm, 175mm and 275mm from the straight top edge.

6. Sharpen the 6mm screwdriver on a diamond stone or whet stone and place the leather on a wooden offcut. Cut out a 6mm square with your mark in the middle of the square. Use the hammer to force the screwdriver through the leather.

7. Use the hacksaw to cut the bolt to the right length to go through your kitchen cabinet door (or wardrobe/drawers) making sure that there is enough length to screw on a washer and the nut.

8. Fold the leather over so that the scored mark is at the top and the curved end folds over the back and all three holes line up.I didn’t want my handles to be folded in half as I wanted a smooth top edge instead of raw leather.

9. Screw the bolt through all three holes.

10. Pass the bolt through the door and use a spanner or socket set to screw on the washer and nut as tightly as possible so that the handle can’t spin.

And there you have my new DIY leather door handles and a glimpse of my ‘new’ kitchen. Over time the handles should age and take on a lovely patina to the leather.

They work really well as they are large enough to get your fingers through the loop or you can pull the whole thing to open the cupboards.

Love them! What do you think?

Katy x

katy 16th February 2016

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth

A while ago I decided to join the craze for grey and painted my hallway in Little Greene’s French Grey Mid. The only problem was that it was brown in my flat – massive error. I just wish I had had the insight of journalist and blogger Kate Watson-Smyth at the time and her brilliant new book, Shades of Grey.

I’m thrilled to be the second stop on Kate’s book blog tour because I fell in love with her style and AH-MAZING home a while ago so I knew her book would be filled with brilliant advice, inspiring images and Kate’s witty writing style is the cherry on the top. I particularly enjoyed the practical advice in the book, which makes it a really useful design resource: which shade to choose, advice on paint finishes, what works well with grey.

Here are a few of my favourite interiors and pieces of advice from the book to give you a quick sneak peek…

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth | Interior design advice | How to use grey paint in your home | Book review by Apartment Apothecary

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small p.42

I have always wanted to find a pale neutral grey like the colour in the bedroom above. There is in depth advice in the book about specific paint colours, which is always useful.

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small p.106

Kate advises using a very dark grey, similar to the image above, to give small objects or pieces of art great impact – isn’t that bedroom beautiful?

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small p.96

There are also ideas in the book for different ways to use grey, whether it be painting kitchen cabinets or pieces of furniture. I love the kitchen above and the way grey has been used to give greater impact to the shelving.

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small p.160

My current favourite combination of dusky pink and grey works perfectly in the bedroom above. I really like the idea of painting half the wall, too.

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small p.46

Kate also explores how grey can be use in modern settings as well as more traditional rural settings like the dining hall above.

Shades of Grey by Kate Watson-Smyth, published by Ryland Peters & Small, all photography © Ryland Peters & Small

As the grey bandwagon looks set to continue rolling for a long while if you would like to use it in your home, this is the book for you.

Katy x

katy 10th February 2016

Studio living

Nearly ten years ago the first property I bought was a 33 m2 studio flat in Borough, just down the road from where I am now. I thought it was the BEST THING EVER and there wasn’t a day that I didn’t love living there. I never felt cramped, claustrophobic or penned in and the only reason I left that flat was to move in with a boyfriend (he definitely made me feel penned in so that didn’t last long).

I learnt a lot about staying organised and living without ALL the stuff from that studio; it felt so simple and carefree living in such a small space and everyone who visited me there would wax lyrical about how great it was. Anyhoo, why am I telling you this? Well, one of very good friends is moving next week to a studio flat about a four minute walk from my flat (yay!) after I found it for her on RightMove – finally, my guilty pleasure of snooping in other people’s homes online has paid off! We visited the flat together and we both loved it and she decided on the spot that it was right for her and didn’t bother seeing anything else.

My friend has since asked for advice on living in such small space so I thought it might be helpful to share some of that here as I’m sure we are not the only ones who live in small flats.

Love the area

I think it’s really important that you choose an area that you love if you are moving into a small flat. You need to feel that you can get out and about easily so that you don;t feel hemmed in. Knowing that there is a great bar, restaurant or park on your doorstep makes studio living so much more bearable.

Declutter

You must get bored of me harking on about decluttering but I really do believe it has the power to change the way you live. When you live in a small space the last thing you want is to be surrounded by stuff and have to sacrifice an important piece of furniture such as a dining table because you have too many clothes/books/crap to fit in.

Studio apartment | Home of Emmy Lundström | Ennui blog

You need to be able to fully function in a small flat. For example, get rid of clutter if it means you can fit in a good sized dining table. Image via the gorgeous Ennui blog featuring the home of photographer Emmy Lundström.

Use wall space

Don’t underestimate the amount of storage space you can achieve by using the walls. Whether it be high shelves, wall cupboards, picture ledges, shelving or hooks there is always a way to use the walls without encroaching on the space too much.

Keep floor clear

Keeping the floor clear of anything other than furniture and the odd basket is something I have always strived to do and it makes a huge difference to how spacious a flat feels. Piles of stuff precariously balanced around the place is a big no, no.

Create zones

Try really hard to make it very clear what each part of the flat is for, which will help you keep organised and keep the whole place from becoming one big mess.

Working happens at the desk, sleeping happens in the bed, relaxing/reading/TV watching happens in the seating area. Keep everything separate so that it doesn’t become a confused space with everything everywhere. Image via Stadshem.

Love the way this bedroom has been divided off from the rest of the living space – those windows are genius. Image via Ennui.

Outdoor space

If you can find somewhere with outdoor space you need to grab it and make the most if it! Have the windows and door open every day (weather allowing) and make sure to actually use the space in a productive way so that it feels like an extension of your flat; it will make a huge difference to the feel of the place.

Alaska building Bermondsey | Converted factory | Apartment Apothecary

This is the studio flat my friend is moving to. It is a converted factory with its own terrace – look at those windows!

Don’t scrimp on style

The worst mistake you can make when moving into a small place is to think that there is no point putting any effort in to the way it looks. Taking care and paying attention to the colour scheme, adding character and injecting your personality into the space will make it feel so much more special and you will want to spend time there.

Beautiful and stylish work area. Image via Stadshem.

Establish tidying routines

When I lived in my studio flat I decided to have a sofa bed with a fully sprung mattress. I had to be very disciplined to put the bed away every morning so that the living area was a useable space when I got home from work. Very quickly it became a deeply engrained routine, as did putting away all my clothes every night and cleaning everything away after dinner. These small actions made the space functional at all times.

Making the bed every day is very important if you have no other rooms to escape to. Image via Ennui.

Have you ever lived in a studio flat or bedsit and got any good tips?

Katy x

katy 8th February 2016

Spring clean in style

As we creep into Spring and say goodbye to Winter, although I’m not sure that we’ve had much of a winter in London as I have only felt the cold about three times, my mind turns to refreshing the house and new beginnings. At exactly this time last year I decided to completely empty my bedroom, rip up the carpet, paint the floor, paint the wardrobes and make everything feel lighter and brighter. This year I’ve taken it one step further and done the same to the kitchen and sitting room. I suppose it must be an instinctive thing to want to sort, clean and breathe life back into your surroundings after the dark and cold days of Autumn and Winter. Also, I find it’s a good way of re-centring myself if worried or upset about something.

Spring cleaning essentials | Household cleaning materials | Apartment Apothecary

Kitchen is nearly complete – just a bit of grouting to do hence the blue decorators tape. Our metro tiles are from Tile Giant, dish brush from Darley Avenue, stoneware drainer, enamel soap dish and pan brush from Labour and Wait, washing up liquid dispenser from my shop.

Obviously there won’t be a room makeover to do every Spring so instead I will get my “I need everything sorted and feeling like new” vibe from a good spring clean. I LOVE the feeling after I’ve cleaned a room from top to toe, I mean I REALLY love the feeling. However, I’m not massively keen on the process but I have found taking a bit of pride in the cleaning materials themselves helps with that.

Chores that I like to do to prepare for the lighter, warmer days are: clean out kitchen cupboards, defrost freezer, dust bookshelves – like actually take everything off and dust every last book, clean ceiling lights and the tops of doors, sort out stuff under the bed and clean under there (that’s a good one), clean the top of the kitchen wall cupboards (truly gross!). What do you do?

From left: Vintage basket from La Petite Brocante, brushes from Darley Avenue, string bag, floor cloth and dust pan from Labour and Wait, garden scissors from Tea and Kate, candles from The London Honey Company.

If you want to invest in some cleaning materials because you’re as weird as I am and like everything to be aesthetically pleasing, you can also find a good selection to buy directly through my blog…

Happy Spring cleaning!

Katy x