Home Decor Your Style

home decor, star wars

You can choose your home decor to fit with current trends on your likes, loves, experiences and personal style. I know which I prefer. We’re part-way into a home decor/makeover project and these points are things that we are considering for our own design.

Wall Hangings

Wall hangings can be a great way to personalise your home. Family photos will always look good, and if you put them in matching frames to suit the room they will look even better. Where the idea of framing photos originates from is quite fascinating and you can read all about it right now if you want to. 

They do not need to be photos of your current family. Pictures of parents and grandparents can look really good and can be conversation starters when new people visit.

You could also hang some artwork you or a family member has completed, or some you have bought.  Art can say a lot about a person’s likes and dislikes, and this is a great way to help personalise your home. Be it something from a gallery or a charity shop, it really is a case of whatever floats your boat.

Home Decor Colours

Forget the latest trends in colours. The ones for your home should be your favourites, not someone else’s. You have to remember that it is you and your family that are living there. If the latest trend for deep reds and purples does not suit your rooms, then don’t even consider them. The way you combine your colours is as unique as you, so never be afraid to have blues and greens together, for instance, if that is your choice. I’m more a darker grey, white, cream and copper girl. This appeals to my sense of drama!

Show Where You Have Been

If you have a few souvenirs from places you have travelled to don’t hide them away. In fact, do the opposite and perhaps have a travel cabinet that shows everyone the different countries or counties you have enjoyed. Adding a few postcards and photos are a good way of showcasing your memories, and are another great way to break the ice with new visitors. We’re not big travellers personally, being staycation fans however that works too.

Hobbies

Incorporate your hobbies as part of your decor! As regular readers will know, it’s all about geekery in the Cawood house. We’re big Dungeons and Dragons fans, with a smattering of Warhammer and so elves, goblins, dwarves and more are very much a part of our dining room/gaming room design. We’re looking to do even more on this theme over the coming months.

In Summary

At the end of the day, your home is what you make of it and the way you do that should be totally up to you. If you want an orc in your kitchen and a unicorn in the bathroom, go for it!

 

Cheap Kitchens VS Affordable Kitchens

kitchen, cheap kitchens

I’ve written a lot about interiors recently as we are making changes to our home. Here’s a question for you, “can you get away with installing cheap kitchens in your home without having to pay through the nose down the road”? Yes, you can! When I say cheap kitchens I mean high-quality kitchens that comes with all the fixtures and fittings and yet are affordable. These are the type of kitchens you might find at Kitchen Warehouse.

When Cheap Kitchens Go Bad

The type of cheap kitchen that you won’t find at a reputable kitchen store is the type of kitchen that Roy and I had in our first home. It was a rental that we took on quickly as the house we were moving into fell through and we were packed up and ready to go. We should have been tipped off by the fact that the wallpaper border in the living room was sellotaped on, or the fact that there was no heating or gas installed, but hey, we were young, in love and absolutely blinkered. The kitchen though, that was something else.

When I refer to this kind of cheap kitchen I mean poorly fitted doors, very shallow cupboards, one door hung upside down, cheap hinges and a poor arrangement which meant the kitchen offered no decent storage and workspace was limited. On the upside, it was laid out in such a way that you could wash your hands in the sink and warm your bottom by the grill at the same time…..

Curiously I’ve seen this property recently (on Rightmove) and it has been completely renovated. No sellotape on the walls, radiators have been installed and there is a decent kitchen. Even from the pictures, you can tell the difference. The quality, the layout, the practical aspects. I was quite put out at first. I know that the person who owns it now wouldn’t have paid a fortune on the new kitchen which just goes to show the difference between cheap kitchens and cheap kitchen that are of a high quality.

Affordable Kitchens and What They Offer

There are certain things that I require from a new kitchen:

  • It won’t break my budget
  • I have choices so that I may customise the layout of my kitchen how I want it to be
  • The kitchen comes from a reputable company
  • There is scope for some design elements (kitchens don’t need to be ugly and boring)
  • Plenty of storage (clever storage is always a pro-point)
  • Enough worktop space

What about you? What are your kitchen must-haves? Clearly these days you don’t need to throw ridiculous amounts of money at a new kitchen in order to receive something that works for you, your lifestyle, your space and your family, so even with a budget in mind, what would you like to see in your kitchen?

Written in collaboration with Kitchen Warehouse