:: A House Update & A Giveaway Winner! ::

A fair bit has been going on in our little cottage since I last time talked about it. The last time I posted photos of our house it was when I was on a huge cleaning mission in an attempt to make this house feel a little prettier. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the colour scheme the previous owners used on our house. The outside colours are a yellow-cream, dark red, and dark green. This is a lovely heritage colour scheme when done properly, but it hasn't worked so well on our house. On the inside we had a lovely mish-mash of colours - yellow, red, blue, dark teal, brown - so pretty!

In the last six months we've slowly made some changes around here - one of those being new paint inside! We've also finished grassing our backyard, our new roof is almost complete, and our bathroom renovation starts in a few weeks! Exciting times in the Lavender household! I suppose it will come as no surprise that the colour we chose for our interior is green. I'm kind of predictable. But, it's a lovely grey-based green and is actually the same colour my parents have in their house. Their house has been that colour since before they bought it back in 1993 and the colour hasn't dated yet which is a great sign that it is a perfect for colour for houses as old as ours (95 years old!).

See the lovely red trims? (The walls in the before photo were actually a yellow-cream colour)

The house feels so much bigger now - cleaner too! I can't wait to show you bathroom before and afters in a few months.

I also have a giveaway winner to announce - congratulations to the lovely Felicia!

PS. The colours we used were Pale Vellum (the green) and Clotted Cream (the trims/doors).

:: Autumn 'Spring' Clean - Week Three - Main Bedroom ::

So ladies (and gentlemen?), I bring you the Week Three edition of the Autumn 'Spring' Clean. While I was cleaning/sorting our bedroom I realised it looks a lot like student accommodation in there. We have our clothes on metal racks and shelves as our only wardrobe is an antique and modern coat hangers are too wide for it (so now the wardrobe houses our shoes).

When we first moved in we decided not to hang any photos/prints on the wall because we intended to paint. And here we are, a few years later and still no paint on the walls! As a result, we only have a few photos around the house on hooks that were already there (and we even removed a bunch of hooks!). The result? Some very bare walls that are very noticeable in photos!

:: Main Bedroom - Before ::

We borrowed Mr LG's brother's amazing vacuum cleaner and did a huge anti-dust blitz on the room. Who knew under beds were so gross? We even vacuumed the dust/mites out of the mattress!

You can see a green patch - one of our potential colours (but not the winner).

:: Main Bedroom - After ::

See? Bare walls! Oh, and can I draw your attention to the dark teal colour the previous owners painted the top section of the walls and roof? We have ridiculously tall ceilings (12 foot), but when you walk into the main bedroom you feel like ducking a bit because it feels so small. I can't wait to bring some light back into this room one day!

Winter clothes are now washed and in my shelves/rack. I haven't quite given up all my Summer clothes, but it won't be long now!

The Hunger Games and an original Game Boy. Heck yes!

So, there you have it. That's my bedroom. Kind of boring, if I'm being honest. These before and after photos aren't as dramatic as I was hoping, but you wait. Oh, you just wait. Next week is my spare room, and that is a disaster zone.