Join The Room Debate!

After a couple of weeks The Room Debate is back with a rustic kitchen up for discussion today!

Everyone’s welcome to join in – simply take a good look at the photo below and leave a comment with your answers to these two questions:

One thing I like most about this room is…

One thing I like least about this room is…

{Heather Hobhouse via House to Home}

There are some things I really love about this room and others that niggle me. What do you think? Which elements are to your taste?

Have a lovely weekend!

Print any photo as a polaroid: free template!

When my brother Joe came up with this simple method for turning some favourite digital snaps into perfect Polaroids for the backdrop of our Showcase stand, I knew you’d love to get your hands on the template. So, I’ve invited him to do his first guest post here and share the DIY – over to you bro!

Hi, Joe here!

If you love Polaroid format pictures as much as I do, you’ve generally got two options: buy a bargain Polaroid camera then shed tears over the cost of the film, or shell out almost as much on send-away Instagram printing.

Now, I print my DSLR photographs for the princely sum of 10p each at my local Asda, so the above options just didn’t add up for me. So instead, I decided to have a go at designing a Photoshop template that meant I could print any digital photo I liked as a Polaroid – and it worked!

Turn any digital photo into a Polaroid print

Your photos as jpegs

Photoshop (or if you want almost the same thing for free, I recommend GNU GIMP)

 

1. Download my free Polaroid template PNG image and open in Photoshop or GIMP

2. Drag in your photograph as a layer* and re-order the layers so your photo is behind the Polaroid template

3. Select your photograph layer and use the re-size and move tools so that the desired section of the image appears in the square portion of the Polaroid template. It’s likely that your photo will be huge compared to the template, but just shrink it down to size**

4. Save or export image as a JPEG

5. Put the pictures on a memory stick and take to your local photo processing place or use your home printer

6. Use a guillotine or craft knife to trim the bottom white portion from the photo, leaving a thicker border at the base than the sides

*Need help with layers? Watch this YouTube video for Photoshop or this one for GIMP.

**The template size is 12×8 inches which will automatically be scaled down to 6×4″ by the photo processor but allows the file to be a higher resolution to start with. If you chose to print it in a different ratio, the Polaroid image will no longer be square.

I really hope you like it – I’ll be on hand in the comments section to answer any questions!

- Joe

{Photographs, tutorial and template © Decorator’s Notebook}

House tour: light and airy French apartment (with just a little colour)

Do you remember a while ago I posted some gorgeous details from Le Dans La? Recently photographer Melanie Rodriguez did a photo shoot there and the resulting pictures give a wonderful insight into how Aurelie’s home looks as a whole.

The windows in this place are amazing. It looks like it might be a converted factory or something. Yet another home to get me dreaming of loft living!

The more I see it, the more I like this dusky pink wall colour. Not something I thought I would say in my adult life. It looks rather like Calamine by Farrow & Ball. One of my personal favourite paint names… every time I think about it I can smell that smell!

Very pleasant use of dark grey in this home, don’t you think… and there’s something really quite cool about the group of paper lampshades hanging from the wooden beamed ceiling too. A touch of fun, but  in a grown-up way. The children’s bedrooms are really very grown-up too. A little too much perhaps?

{Home of Aurelie Lecuyer by Melanie Rodriguez for The Socialite Family}

What a beauty. This home is just the right blend of calming and interesting for me. For more inspiration from Aurelie’s home have a look at her blog, Le Dans La.

//

Ne’er cast a clout ’til may be out

This was my first Saturday since I finished my mentoring that I’ve actually been able to relax and have some time to myself. I was determined to be as lazy as possible, so I got up decadently late then cooked a scrummy brunch in my pjs.

I went for a walk in Crystal Palace Park (which is right opposite my flat so took no effort whatsoever) to enjoy the lovely sunshine. The may has finally blossomed so I cast my jacket and socks. It felt good!

{all Decorator’s Notebook}

After a couple of hours exposing my ghostly skin to the sun, I headed homeward to search for a new WordPress theme for my blog – I can’t believe how hard it is to find one I like! I am looking for a clean, simple design with a traditional one column layout, a proper sidebar and room for a header image at the top. Not hard you’d think, but lots of the ones available now seem to look more like website than blogs with a static front page of thumbnails which click to open individual posts rather than a scrolling format.

Should I be considering them? Do you mind blogs with a fixed front page like that or do you still prefer more traditional blog designs?

I’d love to know what you’ve done if you use WordPress.com too…

House Tour: relaxed loft living in Philadelphia

I’m not really into fashion blogs, especially ones attached to commercial brands, but despite being both of those things there’s something lovely about The Free People. The mix of fashion and beauty mixed with horoscopes and expert hula-hooping tips is kind of offbeat and charming… in a too-cool-for-school American way.

Anyway, the owner of this welcoming loft apartment is the company’s graphic designer. I’ve always fancied a warehouse home one day (I love the high wooden ceilings and exposed brick) and this mix-and-matchy decorating style is perfect for the space.

I’m not sure I would’ve been clever enough to add deep red furniture to a room with so much brick, but actually I think it works beautifully, creating a comfortable and ever so slightly seedy vibe. In a bohemian French way I mean.

You might expect an apartment like this to have a pokey internal bathroom built into a corner somewhere but this bright white bathroom is a most pleasant surprise.

{all Brigette for The Free People blog}

There are a few more snaps of this apartment over on The Free People blog – I recommend you have a browse of their other posts and see what you think. Although you might want to wait until Coachella’s over. Yaaaawn.

//

Do whatever it takes…

{Masayoshi Sukita}

Beg. Borrow. Steal. Join.

Whatever it takes, you have to get yourself a ticket to David Bowie Is at the V&A.

Obviously, I was always going to love it, but I loved it even more than that!

My blogging view (out with the old, in with the new)

Times are changing. My flat is getting a new owner. I hope she will like it here but it will be hard to say goodbye to this little place of mine. I always sit and write my blog in the same spot on the sofa and this is what I see. I will miss this view. It always looks so pretty in the early evening light.

{all Decorator’s Notebook}

These dried hydrangeas (liberated from the council flats around the corner) mixed with eucalyptus and pussy willow have served me well all winter. But the daffodils are finally blooming now and it’s time to embrace freshness and newness again. Even when there is brightness on the horizon, leaving the safe and familiar things can still be hard to do.

Just realised how badly the first photo is on the piss. Must get over my annoyance at putting up my tripod :-)

15-minute make: magnetic storage tins

I’ve posted before about my tendency to buy foods just because I like the packaging. My kitchen cupboards are full of decanted jam, biscuits and spices – some labelled, others not. Sometimes fun / disastrous at mealtimes!

This (slightly belated) 15-minute make will require you to shop around for pretty tins and find another home for the contents… that’s the hardest part over and done with. The rest of this DIY couldn’t be easier! My local Turkish supermarket is a goldmine of nice packaging, or scout car boot sales for vintage alternatives.

Magnetic Storage Tins

Selection of square or rectangular tins

Magnets

Super glue / glue gun

1) Empty, rinse and dry the tins.

2) Glue a magnet onto the back of each tin. Use two magnets if you plan to store something heavy. Leave to dry.

3) That’s it!

{A Pretty Cool Life}

These tins are really handy on the fridge or invest a mere £11 in a magnetic knife strip from IKEA and you can stick them anywhere. I like the idea of a whole row above my desk for pens and paperclips or inside the door of my DIY cupboard for nails and screws.

My perfect hallway (just add dog)

I found this gorgeously grey country style hallway on Pinterest a while ago, but didn’t share it because I struggled to find the original source. I’ve now tracked it down (I should’ve guessed really – it’s the wonderful Ben Kendrick and Brent Darby for Country Living) so can post it last and we can all drool over it together.

{Brent Darby for Country Living}

I love it all – the contrast of the soft grey and red brick, the rough linen bench cushion, the touches of seagrass and rattan. It will be many moons before I have any hope of having my dream country home (although I’m happy to report I’m one baby step closer) but when I do, I would love to welcome my visitors into a hallway like this. All that’s missing is a dog!

52 Forms of Funghi (aka: a year of knitted mushrooms)

There’s only one thing I like more than a good photo project. And that’s a knitted photo project! Fibre artist Leigh Martin from Oklahoma is on a mission to yarn bomb trees with knitted mushrooms. One species every week for a year. Brilliant right!?

{Bromeleighad via The Jealous Curator}

I’m definitely going to be following the progress of this mycological adventure …and if you’re wondering (as I was) how on earth such an idea comes about, read Leigh’s mission statement for a full explanation.