When we planned our new kitchen, we knew that it would be a lovely light, bright space. Now that we’re well in to spring and the days are sunnier and longer, we’re really feeling the benefit of this! We knew that we’d have to get some blinds for the windows, and found one for the front one no problem (we just got a cream Venetian one, so it matches the front window in the living room). But the back windows are a little trickier – we used to have a roller blind in the existing window, but fitting something over the new door and window would be tough as there isn’t a lot of space. And I really wanted them to match, so it meant one thing: having a go at making them! 

It needed to be something that wasn’t bulky at the top, and we also wanted to retain as much light as possible so it needed to be fairly thin. Our old roller blind was a blackout blind, and we didn’t really want anything like that this time. I remembered that my parents used to have some net curtains on extendable rods that sat on little hooks, and this seemed like it would be the perfect thing. I had a look online and found these in Homebase (there are various lengths, which is helpful – although we did need to exchange one because the hooks add about half a centimetre in length on to each end, so bear that in mind!).  The blinds for the door and small window either need to be up or down, so I decided that I’d make some ties to tie them up. The larger window is in front of the sink and I like to look out when I’m washing up, so longer ties would be needed on this one. These are roll-up blinds (not roller blinds) so you have to roll them up by hand. Although this sounds a bit faffsome, it isn’t really – they take no time at all to tie up.

Geometric painted roll-up blinds: materials list

Fabric – I used 2 metres of white premium Kona cotton from Plush Addict

Fabric paints – I used 3 colours and got them from my local art shop

A paint brush

Sticky back vinyl – you can pick up a roll of this cheaply in Wilkinsons

A cutting mat and craft knife (or scalpel)

Sharp scissors and a rotary cutter

Bias binding – I used just under 5 metres of 25mm binding, and it was easier to buy pre-bought

Matching thread

An iron

Dowel – for the length of each blind

Step 1

Measure the inside of your window, making sure that you take measurements at the window itself (i.e. not at the wall). Cut your fabric to size, adding on an inch at the top and at the bottom, as well as each side, to allow for hemming. I used my rotary cutter to do this so that it would be neat.

Step 2

Make your stencil out of the vinyl – you can draw the design on the back and then cut it out if you like. I just made some triangle shapes, so it was easy to do freehand.

Step 3

Take your fabric and peel off the backing from one of the stencils, before sticking it on to the fabric where you want the shape to be. You’ll have to check the instructions on your fabric paint, but I needed to paint and then let it dry a little before ironing to fix it.

I decided to use one colour for each of my three stencils, and found that the easiest thing to do was to paint one shape then hang the fabric out on the line to dry, before fixing and then moving on to the next colour. This did involve a lot of running around between inside and outside, but I think that I ended up with neater shapes and well-fixed shapes because of it! I kept the triangles fairly far apart, and I like the simplicity of the design.

Step 4

Once the fabric is painted, you can construct the blinds. Fold and press the side seams to the correct width of your window. Pin in place and stitch along each edge.

Step 5

Next, place your extending rod at the top of the fabric to work out where the top hem needs to be. Fold over enough fabric to allow the rod to pass through freely, and then pin in place. Don’t stitch just yet!

Step 6

Take your bias binding and press it in half. Stitch all the way along to secure it, close to the edge. This will form the ties for the blinds, which need to be measured to check the length. Roll up your blind as if you were going to tie it up and place some of the binding underneath (see below). You need to work out how long each tie needs to be to be able to tie it up comfortably – for me, this worked out as 55cm long for the door and little window, and 125cm long for the large window. Remember that you need to make two ties for each blind! Pin each one where you want it to be, then remove the rod.

Step 7

Stitch along the edge of the hem at the top, securing the ties in place as you go. At this point, you might want to hang the blind to be able to measure where the bottom hem needs to go, before pressing and stitching that in place. Once you’ve done that, put your dowel in the bottom hem and the blinds are ready to hang!

It was really tough to get a decent photo of the blinds – taking photos of a window is difficult! The one above will give you some idea of how much light we have even with the blinds down. You can probably tell that this was taken on a really sunny day! (Sorry about the bin in the photo…). I took a few once it had got dark, so hopefully you’ll get a better idea of what they’re like from these:

This is the blind for the larger window – it’s easy to roll it up to the middle. Not sure if we’ll ever need to roll it right up, which is good because I can’t reach!

These geometric roll-up blinds turned out even better than I thought it would in my head, and it’s brilliant to still have the light during the day without the glare of the sun bouncing off all the glossy units in the kitchen! You could apply the painting and stencilling techniques to any project, as it’s really easy and fun to do. Have you made anything for your house recently?

You may also like…

See more of our kitchen build progress here:

Kitchen progress: part 3

Make your own geometric meal planner:

Geometric meal planner

Put a little geo into your stitching too!

Link stitch geometric hoop

Make an easy painted fabric banner:

Painted fabric banner

Post updated 18th March 2021.

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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543195393{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]I’m going to focus on retro style in this post, and I’ll start with an important part of the living room: a sofa. When it comes to choosing a sofa, I guess I’m quite practical. I would always choose something fairly neutral and classic in style, so that if you want to change the rest of the room at a later date then you can keep the sofa you have. These Mission fabric sofas in Mink would be perfect – easy to accessorise, they will go with anything! They would fit in with so many styles too, particularly with a retro feel.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6873″ alignment=”center” border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543286587{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]

These lovely geometric print cushions would be great on these sofas. I really like the combination of fresh colours that are used here – perfect for spring and summer! You could easily pick out any of these colour and find other accessories to match too.

Geometric prints are still big this year, so why not mix and match your geometrics too?

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

You could always team up these sofas with a feature chair. This teal chair from Next would compliment the choices I have made so far in this post:[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”6881″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543107678{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]But I am in love with this vintage 50s chair – it would add an extra pop of colour and would fit in brilliantly with the retro style! And I think one of those cushions would look great on this chair.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543080083{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]You might already have some chairs that could be revamped or you could look out for some at a vintage fair or car boot sale. Why not give it a go yourself? Match the retro look with some vintage paint! These colours are just beautiful.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543055748{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Don’t be afraid to mix old with new when it comes to retro. Look out for pieces that you can renovate yourself – eBay is always a good source for this! But there are new retro pieces available if you prefer, such as this gorgeous sideboard. Sometimes you hear the word ‘sideboard’ and immediately think about flowery plates and doilies on display in your Granny’s house, but they are such useful pieces of furniture. If you go for something classic in style it will be a piece of furniture that you have forever! Use it for storing things away and for displaying some cool and quirky items, and the style of it can change as your style changes. Fab![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543003077{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]If you’ve seen my post about styling our kitchen then you’ll know that storage is key for me, and it’s no different in our living room. This storage would be perfect – the different sizes and shapes of the shelves are great for storing different things and the style and wood finish would compliment the retro look (from Not On The High Street):

Ladder shelves are big this year too – this one from Garden Trading would be a good investment.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422542897012{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]Another thing that I’d love to do in the living room would be to create a fun feature wall with these lovely glass frames – I like the mix of different sizes here, and it’s good to be able to change the photos or prints when you fancy a change. It’s an easy way to be able to make little changes in your room.

Photos and prints are a great way to add pops of colour. These Jeremy harnell prints are brilliant! The Boom Box and Mix It Up prints are both from John Lewis.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” interval=”3″ images=”6879,6878″ onclick=”link_no” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”large”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422542777785{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”]There’s one more thing to have if you’re going retro – an LP player! We gave our old one (which is not as stylish as this Crosley one from Urban Outfitters) to my Dad and he loves it. A happy home with lots of music is always a good thing, and this is in keeping with the retro style and can be made into a feature. It would look great on that sideboard!

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1422543534649{padding-bottom: 40px !important;}”]I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post! I’m not sure when we’ll get around to doing our living room, but it has been fun to look at the retro trend for 2015. Have you got any DIY projects planned this year?

Please note: This post is written in association with Furniture Choice. All opinions are my own, and I received a Not On The High Street voucher for taking part in the project. Links to products have been provided and each link also provides photo credits.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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So the kitchen project is a really big deal for us – it’s the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken and it’s the first thing we’ve ever done from scratch with a blank canvas. I’ll be honest, it’s pretty scary! The budget wasn’t limitless and you don’t realise how much things are going to cost. This is amplified when you’re buying everything at once too! You want to make the right decisions, you don’t want to waste money, and there are some things that you decide that you really don’t want to compromise on. My friend Donna has a mantra that she lives by, which is ‘save and splurge’. She told me this before we started, and it’s so true! Save on things where you can so that you can splash out on certain things that you really don’t want to compromise on. When it comes to work like this, this is the best piece of advice ever – thank you, Donna!

I love looking through magazines/blogs/Pinterest at home styling and ideas for the home, and I often see things and think that we could make it work in our house too. But every home is different and a lot of things just wouldn’t work in ours. Although I really love having a nosey in people’s houses, one thing that bugs me a little bit about styled interiors photos is that I’m wondering what it looks like behind the camera! Just where do they put all that extra stuff?! I’d love to know! Anyway, we spent a lot of time chatting about what we thought the kitchen should look like. When it came to selecting the kitchen fittings, we discovered that we both found it easier to list what we didn’t like than what we did. Tom doesn’t like Bristol sinks (gutted – I really love them!) and I didn’t want anything too dark or old-fashioned. We had a little look around (and also at our friend’s new kitchen) and decided that we really loved the glossy units, especially the ones with curved corners. They are just so beautiful! We found the one we chose in Howdens, which is a trade-only company (lots of builders have an account there, so ask if you are planning this too).

We had a list of things that we wanted from the new kitchen, which included more storage (see below!), more workspace and more light. Our old kitchen was really dreary at night with its one little light! I also had two things that I really wanted: a range cooker and a dishwasher. Tom wasn’t so fussed about the dishwasher – we put it on the maybe list because if we couldn’t afford both then I would rather have the cooker every time! Howdens have a kitchen designing service, and they did a brilliant job of making the best of the new space. I’ve realised that functionality is a big part of our style – it needs to work for us and we need storage space! We have discovered that generally we have the same style too, although I’m probably a bit more adventurous than Tom when it comes to colour. Our kitchen will reflect that – we’ll have pops of colour but it will be predominantly neutral, but this will make it light and bright. Yay!

It has been weird having to make decisions about fixtures and fittings when we’re not used to thinking about stuff like that. The builders have been asking me things over the last couple of weeks about how we want things to be or look, and I’ve been like ‘Erm…’ – it’s mad really because we’ve had so long to think about it! It’s really fun to be at this point choosing the final things to go in there. Who knew that things like spotlight covers could be so exciting?! I can’t wait to share the finished kitchen with you! Although 5 years seems like a long time to have not done a lot to our house, I am so glad we’ve had that time to live here and find out what works and what doesn’t so that we could plan and think about what we really want to do. A lot of planning went into it, and I’m pretty sure it will be worth it!

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I am SO excited that our latest project is finally happening – it has been well over a year in the making, but this week we are finally starting our kitchen renovation! I can’t believe we are starting really, although having spent most of this weekend packing up our kitchen, I really should by now… 

Let me tell you a bit about how we got started with this project. When we bought our house (which we have now been in for almost 5 years) we had intentions to reconfigure some bits of it, starting with the kitchen. At the end of last year we had our plans drawn up and submitted to the council, and planning was approved early this year. Then it took us ages to find a builder – have you ever tried to find one?! You’d think that it would be relatively straightforward, but no. We were let down by several at the quote stage (never a good sign!) but had been told that getting 3-4 quotes would be a good idea. This is right of course, but it was slightly frustrating to have watched several months pass by waiting to hear back from various people, only to choose the first one! Hindsight is a wonderful thing! But this way we have chosen a builder who we are very happy with, so it was worth it.

We were hoping to start the work over the summer, but by the time we had chosen our builder he was booked up into early autumn. The weather has delayed things slightly, but we are just so happy to be starting! Although we have got planning permission for a two-storey extension, our budget only allows us to do the ground floor at the moment. We currently have a garage at the side of the house, which will be knocked down and rebuilt with sturdier foundations, and then one of the walls in the current kitchen will be knocked through.

Our kitchen renovation: a few ‘before’ photos

I thought I would take some ‘before’ shots to show you – this was the kitchen yesterday as we started to pack things up:

As you can see, we don’t currently have much workspace…or cupboard space – this is it. We’ll be doubling the number of cupboards we have, which will mean no more keeping loads of stuff on the worktops – yay! We were trying to work out how old these units are, and we think they might be the original ones. They are Schreiber units and have obviously lasted a long time, and we think they must be at least 20-25 years old. So they have served the house well! I remember when we moved in we were really hoping that the previous owners would leave the cooker (because we didn’t have any money left to buy one), and thankfully they did! I have often wondered if it would last long, but it has kept going for us. We’ll be very glad to have a new one with a fully-functioning grill though – the one in our previous rented flat didn’t work either, so we haven’t had one for about 8 years!

This is the door to the garage, and it is this wall (the one with the wall units) that will be demolished to make one big kitchen. You may be wondering why we have got our fridge freezer squashed in here – it is because we used to have it in the garage, but one really cold winter it stopped working because it was too cold out there! There is a cupboard behind the fridge freezer, which will be knocked through so that the kitchen can be accessed from the hall as well as the living room.

The garage currently has a downstairs toilet, but as it is generally inhabited by spiders and woodlice we’re getting rid of it (and also because we never really use it, and the space for the kitchen would be more practical really).

So, that’s the ‘before’ tour done! Hopefully I’ll be able to share some progress photos of our kitchen renovation with you soon…please pray/keep your fingers crossed/make a wish (delete as applicable!) for dry weather as we get started and for a smooth build overall. We have 5 weeks before Christmas and hopefully, the garage will be demolished and will be up again and water tight before then…that’s a big ‘hopefully’! I know that for our builders this is a relatively easy job, but for us it’s like our very own Grand Design and we can’t wait

Post updated 17th February 2020.

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Photo credit: glorioustreats.com

Last week, I wrote a post about the variety of online tutorials available on how to make bunting, but for some reason it wouldn’t upload and then it deleted itself! So now I’m going to try to recreate it…I really want to have a go at making some bunting for our garden at some point this year. Hopefully, we’ll actually be able to use our garden this year – last year it rained most of the time!

The first tutorial I found is from Glorious Treats and is an online tutorial for ‘double-sided’ bunting. The instructions are really clear and the step-by-step photos are also really helpful. Another tutorial for a similar style bunting can be found at the Making Spot although this link does take you to a limited view – you have to buy the rest of the tutorial. But I did find this one at Send A Cow which includes a template – looks like it would be fairly easy to follow!

Photo credit: housetohome.co.uk

A slightly simpler tutorial can be found at House to Home – this version is ‘single-sided’ bunting, so there isn’t quite as much sewing! But I don’t think that this alters the effect and it looks just as beautiful.

And if you don’t want to do any sewing, you could always try this tutorial from Doing It In Style – a great idea!

I’m still collecting bits of material to use for my bunting but I think I’ll go with the ‘single-sided’ version. Can’t wait to get started!

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