Jackdaw Rooms review

Hi all, I do hope you are well and getting yourself all prepared for Christmas?!! Well that's what we are supposed to do isn't it, buy presents throughout the year and get our Christmas cards in the sale!!! Haha, anyway I thought I would share a gorgeous new shop that I found recently that has in fact not long opened and maybe your Christmas gift buying or receiving prayers could be answered.

At the lovely Curborough Hall Farm countryside centre on the outskirts of Lichfield in Staffordshire there is the Jackdaw Rooms. I found this via word of mouth from a friend who lives locally and heard that it was opening. Specialising in unique one off pieces of up-cycled and vintage furniture and quirky gifts. The owners have renovated the barn space beautifully and the layout is perfect for browsing. I obviously purchased a few items - well it would be rude not to! As well as the loveliness to buy they are also going to be running paint workshops in the new year and I also noticed a few Prosecco/shopping evenings looming which sounds like a winning combination to me!!

I took a few snaps of the stunning interior and some of the items for sale. If you live close by and like to find things a little out of the ordinary then you really should give it a go.

Happy Christmas shopping xx

October Styling the Seasons - Pastel Pumpkins.....

Not only is it October its also nearly the end of October, I mean how did that happen? Now, not being a lover of all thing autumnal as you know, and feeling slightly apprehensive about all things orange and halloweeny I was a little unsure about what my Styling the Seasons post would end up like. I needn't have worried however as I was soon to discover that pumpkins don't only just come in orange they also come in white and duck egg blue!!! Who knew?? So I went on a little adventure this morning to try and find such things and to my dismay this wasn't as easy as I thought. Oh no, a sea of large orange squashes awaited in every place I tried and some of the staff in farm shops and garden centres didn't seem to understand my need for smaller more prettier pastel coloured veg. Luckily however the last farm I tried had a huge variety and I found some lovely blue ones. I didn't get lucky with the white variety and so the only thing to do was to paint it, needs must and all that!!

Anyway, aside from the fact that my post is centred around pumpkins, October is also the birthday month of my first born and so I wanted my scene to be fun and bright. Pastels colours are also what make up our house and my Instagram gallery and I feel like this really goes well. The pretty shades of the faded Hydrangea help with the Autumn feel too and of course it wouldn't be right to not have one of my favourite vintage cups.  

This month's Styling the Seasons has really added a different element to our bedroom, a room that is often forgotten when I am styling so I'm really happy with the results. I will also be able to use the pumpkins to dress the dining table too.

October, you are ok really!! xx

Happy Halloween!! x

Join in with Styling the Seasons and see where your imagination takes you with

@lottsandlots @aptapothecary

September Styling the Seasons - Bringing the outside in.......

I can't believe its nearly a month since my last post when I was moaning about Autumn! Don't worry I have got over that now and I promise I won't moan anymore, I mean I can't stop time. Can I? No? 

Anyway I digress, a couple of weeks ago I finally got my hands on some Eucalyptus, I have been looking for some for ages and as I don't live in a big town or have many florists nearby it wasn't as easy as I thought. I don't think I realised how lovely it was and what a great smell it filled the house with. It gave me an idea for my Styling the Seasons post and what September means to me. As Katy and Charlotte asked for this month to include a vintage item I decided to bring some of my vintage fair finds into the styling too. My house is pretty full of nik-nacs anyway so I knew that wouldn't be a problem, I think I have a problem! 

The colours of the foliage in my enamel jug made me think about my last Vernon Ward picture purchase and I think they go really well together, I have lots of old books that I like to use as props and these 2 were found at an antique market in Barcelona. 

After enjoying having the Eucalyptus in the house it made me think about why I don't bring more of the outside in, after all September has mainly been about keeping the garden going and replanting lots of things to keep it pretty. I love our garden and its a shame to not enjoy the lovely plants out there when the weather isn't playing ball. I decided to dress the dining room table for Sunday lunch using some of my pansies and lavender planted in a vintage tin and bucket. I was really pleased with the results and it made me happy to think that although its officially Autumn  I can still enjoy the garden even when its miserable outside. 

I love #stylingtheseasons and you can join in by styling a part of your home to reflect what that month means to you and tagging @lottsandlots and @aptapothecary 

Happy Autumn xx

August Styling the Seasons - Bring back summer......

  August seems to have gone in the blink of an eye this year and while it isn't my favourite month          ( July is! ) I still have a sense of sadness when it is gone. You see I absolutely love the summer - the sun, the time with the kids, holidays, wearing flip flops and faffing around without a care in the world. Now if you live in England and are reading this you will be thinking, but Katie, August was full of rain this year what are you talking about?? Well I still think of it as Summer and the minute we get into September people start talking about Autumn and god forbid Christmas!!! I'm really not an Autumnal kind of person, I hate Halloween, I loath brown and orange together and as for Christmas - well thats another blog!! Just call me Scrooge.

I apologise for my rant! I will get back to the point of my Styling the Seasons post. I am really pleased with my new little reading corner and I wanted to style it up to make the summer stay a bit longer!! When I purchased my cute little blue churn last weekend I knew this would play a part in my post as the blue is just lovely and reminds me of summer. Putting the blue and white together and bringing in the faded roses in my favourite french jug just made me want to go back on holiday and wear flip flops forever!! Lavender just makes me think of France so when I bought the french enamel bucket yesterday I knew I had to plant some up for the house. After a conversation with someone on Instagram about keeping old catalogues I decided to find out all of my old Cath Kidston ones and they are still lovely even though they are 10 years old, proof that good styling never ages. 

I suppose I'm just in denial and I suppose I will be there for a while. So while I look through all of your lovely pictures of open fires and fallen leaves spare a thought for me sat here dreaming of summer days, probably still wearing my shorts, looking at my faded tan! 

Happy Autumn everyone! x

Don't forget you can join in with #stylingtheseasons on your blog or Instagram with the lovely @lottsandlots and @aptapothecary 

Show us what that month means to you.

Pastel French Chic......

Ok, so if you follow me on Instagram or Pinterest you probably know that I have this thing for France. I have always loved it even before I actually went! Our first trip was to Banon in Provence. This was an amazing area but not to everyones taste as quite isolated, I on the other hand fell in love with all that was around me, the colours, the buildings, the people and I have never lost the appreciation for this wonderful country.

Going to France for a family holiday is great and we have done it quite a few times now, we do try to visit somewhere different each time just so we can get a different perspective on the place and see new things. The decision to visit Perpignan and the surrounding areas was purely down to weather! Being close to the border of Spain we hoped that the sun would be in abundance and we weren't disappointed.

The town we stayed at was Argeles Sur Mer, a beautiful big beach, funfairs and cycle tracks meant that we could explore easily. Whilst the Central Plage was lovely it was a little bit tacky. Not my idea of shabby chic french style - I needed shutters!!!! The village at Argeles was much more like it and not so busy, this is where we spent most evenings and we were lucky enough to find a wonderful restaurant La Gamate. I would highly recommend this for excellent fresh food and great prices. The scallops were divine.

I have to admit most of our days were spent around the pool soaking up the sun but we did a trip to the next town of Collioure, a Catalan port. Oh my goodness it was absolutely amazing. The minute the bus pulled up I was out taking photographs of the beautiful buildings. After a little bit more exploring we discovered the castle, the beach and the prettiest winding streets in all the colours of the rainbow and balconies and shutters to die for!!! I was in French amour. The town was a haunt for painters such as Mattise, Picasso and various others who all used Collioure as a source of inspiration for their paintings, its easy to see why.

My only disappointment of the whole holiday was that I didn't buy anything! Not a single thing, I was desperate for a brocante or flea market but to no avail. It seems I will have to return and ensure this time that our accommodation is better placed for spending money!!

I

Au Revoir 

jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons

The Linen Shed Heaven........

Its lovely to be back and its even nicer to be back to tell you all about the most amazing B&B that we had the pleasure to stay at a couple of weeks ago.

As it was our first wedding anniversary on the 12th July I was intent on finding somewhere by the sea for us to spend a couple of child free days together.  I scoured the internet for boutique hotels and B&Bs to little avail, either full up, way too expensive or just not very nice really. Just when I thought all hope was gone or the Premier Inn was calling my lovely friend messaged me with a link to the Linen Shed.

Her wedding photographer, Emma Case had recently done the photographs for the Linen Shed's new website and boy did she do a good job. emmacasephotography.com Emma equally has a beautiful website and if you are looking for a unique photographer you should look her up.

So.... because my friend knows exactly the kind of style that I like, the minute I opened up The Linen Shed website I knew we had to stay thelinenshed.com - go on open it up and see what I mean!!

I got straight on the phone to the lovely Vickie and with fingers crossed and a slightly increased heart rate I was amazed that they had one room left. WooooHOOOO! The Bird Room is the smallest room but I didn't care, neither did I care that we would have to share their bathroom as the other two rooms have their own bathrooms, I just wanted to go, I mean how often do you use the bathroom really??

The Linen Shed is in the beautiful village of Boughton under Blean near to Faversham, Kent. This was another reason that I knew we should go, I have never been to Kent and I believe you should always visit new places. The fact that Whitstable was on the doorstep with fab beachhuts and antique shops just sealed the deal!

After weeks of waiting the Friday was finally here and without going into details about nasty roadworks, traffic jams and wee stops we finally got there! Vickie and her husband Graham welcomed us like we were old friends with a glass of wine and a seat on their amazing verandah. Oh my goodness I was in actual heaven. The house is just beautiful, my eyes were in overdrive. The garden with its gypsy caravan and gorgeous bits and pieces and the rooms with their genuine shabby chic feel, original features and lots and lots of lovely things made me want to move in there and then.

Vickie had recommended local restaurants which were brilliant, some of the best food ever but we could have quite easily sat on that verandah all night drinking wine and chatting with the other guests. It was so easy to feel at home and Vickie and Graham are to thank for that

Before I forget, the breakfasts were to die for, we had the choice of lots of different options, including local farm shop bacon and sausage, parmesan scrambled eggs, creamed mushrooms, sourdough bread, I could go on but I am really hungry. Dining with vintage crockery and beautiful surroundings is something that everyone should do.

I can honestly say that we have never stayed anywhere as special, not just because Vickie and Graham have clearly put a lot of time and love into their home but because of the warmth shown to us and how helpful they both were for the whole stay. Vickie's style has got her into magazines and home style books and it is easy to see why but the sense of community which they clearly have in the local area means that they are loved by all. We will be back!!!!

I posted lots of photos on my Instagram which don't come close to Emma's but I hope you enjoy them xx

TOTAL HEAVEN X