More is More using Less.

We have to admit to a love of colours. Our house is full of them. We definitely do not subscribe to a less is more approach when it comes to decorating our house. We are firm believers in that vibrant colours enhance mood and create a happy and relaxed atmosphere in the home.

We are also in love with fabrics. It is thankfully easy to incorporate our desires into a sustainable lifestyle. Almost all of our furniture is either built by us or picked up second hand. We made these book shelves using locally sourced timber. In the middle is an old cupboard from a church in England, once used to store the communion wine. It smelt strongly of wine for years, maybe the vicar was quite fond of it.

The oak table and chairs were bought second hand and came originally from a priest’s house. We added some planks of ash to the top for a very durable finish.

Our large seating area is a combination of a second hand corner sofa-bed and a section built into a recess in the wall. It is very cosy and we have decorated it with second hand and vintage fabrics.

In our conservatory we have a mix of old furniture that has been given to us for free from friends. For a tutorial on how to make the large cushion covers, please click HERE.

The trunk in the middle is an antique and we wrote about restoring it in this post.

Salvaging old furniture, small decorative items and fabrics is a lot of fun and you end up with a very personal space, while keeping things out of landfill.

Even if you are not in favour of our colourful whimsical style, you can easily adopt anything you find to fit your personal preference.

We are quite allergic to Gnomes generally, but this one is a very old favorite.

In our bathroom we have used a lot of broken tiles for a durable, waterproof finish. We got all of them in a skip behind a local tile shop. The owners were happy for us to take them away as they pay by weight to put them into landfill.