guest blog: latest house purchases

Thanks for all the lovely comments, guys! Who noticed that my last post was in two different shades of grey and that half of it wasn't justified? Or that Biba doesn't use capitals in her headings but I did?! I'm hoping to do better this time...!

So, January is always an expensive month in the HouseEnvy household. I don't know if spending lots of time at home over Christmas makes us keen to crack on with fresh projects or whether all that present shopping in December sets the mood for relaxed spending that is hard to snap out of. Either way, here's what's been draining the resources lately:

1. Victorian ladies' chair. (Sorry, terrible pic that doesn't really capture its curvaceous loveliness!) It's a chair, it fits my bottom beautifully and it's great for reading and tapping away on a laptop due to the very low arms. Did anyone grow up with parents who had their own designated chair that you would have to vacate if they wanted to sit down? Well it was very annoying at the time, but now, well this is most definitely MY chair! The aim is to find Mr HouseEnvy his own more masculine antique chair and to get them upholstered to match, in something a bit fresher (feel free to chip in with suggestions - I'm thinking a mid-toned grey?).

2. Cork on the roll. We have a long, narrow kitchen with a pretty featureless wall on one side, so the plan is to create an oversized cork board that stretches from skirting to ceiling to break it up a bit, thereby clearing all the children's pictures that are smothering the fridge and making more of a feature of them. I got the cork from a place called Charles Cantrill, it's nice and thick (6mm) and delivery was super speedy. Hopefully it will be going up today...

3. Ikea Ribba frame. Am I the last person to buy one of these frames? I bought this to house my lovely Economist advertising poster which is supposed to inspire me to write (yes, I know, the shape of the frame doesn't fit the poster - I bought an A4 one!). It will live on my desk (more on this in my next post I think) next to yet another cork board.

4. Dove with hearts and olive hanger. It was reduced as technically I think it's supposed to be a Christmas decoration, but it looks perfect hanging from my little girl's wardrobe door (also a new purchase. What can I say, she really needed a wardrobe!). It veers slightly towards tweeness for my normal taste, but I have an exemption clause for children's bedrooms and Christmas decorations so it made it through the style filters! It's from a local gift shop, made by Birchcraft.

5. Corner paper punch. OK, so not really a house purchase, and not worthy of a photo, but I love it. It transforms sharp corners on paper and card into gently rounded curves. It's slightly addictive... my free Mibo calendar has received the corner punch treatment for example and looks a lot better for it. Costs maybe £2.50 from any craft store. Oh, and if you are craftily minded, I have really been enjoying Lolly Chops' blog - you might like to take a peek.

Mmm, how are these purchases moving me towards my vision of Rose Uniacke loveliness? Not sure I have the answer to that one :-}

PS I can only apologise for the weird formatting on this post - the more I try, the harder it becomes. Bold text appears out of nowhere, text mysteriously changes font and size, spaces around pics disappear...