Category: Haus Dashwood

  • Creating a Luxurious Bedroom Space

    Creating a Luxurious Bedroom Space

    Creating a tranquil and relaxing space to sleep in your home is vital for a great night’s sleep and so a luxurious bedroom space was top of the list when I started redecorating my home. It’s something that’s been on my mind since I started postgraduate study – rest is so important. Without it you’re useless the next day, and it has a knock on effect too.

    This was my bed and nightstand after I’d cleared and cleaned it. It was full of cuddle toys, glasses that had been there for weeks, random rubbish that I’d dumped out of my pockets… you know, the usual stuff that gathers on your nightstand from where you undress at night. I didn’t even want to post a picture on the internet of how bad it was.

    So after giving my bedroom and good tidy up and clean, I started to work on creating a space I really enjoyed being in rather than one I just headed to at night by default. The bed frame and nightstand are from Ikea and have been moving from house to house with me for years. I love them because they’re beautifully designed and have a neutral colour that fits in with almost any colour that a landlord decides to paint their house!

    Bring in some Greenery

    Over the past year I’ve been really enjoying having houseplants. To be honest, it’s getting a touch out of control now. This beautiful Monstera is possibly my favourite plant and so I relocated it from my study to my bedroom. I wondered at first if it would be out of proportion and huge, but actually it’s architectural and sculptural qualities really work well with the rest of the textures that I planned on bringing in. It’s a gorgeous white, textured pot from Ikea that it’s in.

    Get a Carafe

    It doesn’t even have to be expensive – this carafe costs just a few pounds from Ikea. Just something that you can keep on your nightstand that is beautiful to look at. If things are nice you’ll use them more – and keeping hydrated is almost as important as getting restful sleep.

    I also popped a beautiful Moroccan style lantern on the nightstand with a set of fairy lights in it. Sometimes you want a bit of warm lighting in the bedroom that isn’t a bright overhead light, and this is a nice way to achieve that. I have seen many people opt for neon light fixtures from companies like Neon Mama to add a beautiful touch to their rooms! It looks really pretty and if you are into something similar, you might want to research more about it and incorporate it into your home.

    Pick Beautiful Textures

    If you want something to be luxurious, then it really needs to feel luxurious as well as looking luxurious. Textured duvet covers and pillowcases create a sumptuous feeling. On that note – I always fine that white bedding feels more luxurious than anything else – even if it’s not expensive. It’s worth spending a little more money on your duvet cover and pillowcases because they will be next to your skin when you sleep. And generally the better quality sets do stand up a bit better to washing.

    Add More Layers and Textures!

    It’s winter here which means it’s pretty chilly in this old Victorian townhouse! So I threw a few blankets on top of the duvet to keep the warmth in (and to keep my cat off the nice duvet). These blankets are both from Ikea. I’m like a magpie when it comes to throws and blankets, I just don’t think you can ever have enough! It’s so easy to change up the look of a whole room just by using a few blankets or quilts. You can also look into bedding throws to create a contrasting look that will complement your bedroom walls. For instance, If you have a beige theme in your bedroom, you can bring in the contrast through brown or orange pillow covers, cushions, and throw duvet.

    Splash Out on Bedding

    The place where you’re really going to feel the difference when it comes to luxury is in your duvet and pillows. If you look after it properly a good quality set of pillows and duvet will last you for years to come so it’s really worth looking for something high quality and in the luxury high end of the market. There are different styles of bedding depending on moods and themes that you can explore to pick one that feels right for your bedroom. You can find Catherine Lansfield bedding here, which comes in a variety of designs and fabrics often designed with a balance between luxury and comfort.

    I’ve always favoured proper feather duvets in the past because I like to be really warm when I sleep even in winter. It’s probably a habit I’ve learned from living in slightly draughty Victorian houses since I was a small child! But I think for this winter I might bite the bullet and splash out on Mulberry Silk-Filled Bedding which really is a true luxury item. Mulberry silk is finer than almost any other kind of silk you can buy, so it really traps the warmth in between the fibres while still being beautifully breathable.

    Finishing Touches for a Luxurious Bedroom

    The only other thing I added was a small carved pot I bought from a supermarket a few years ago. It will now act as the place where I dump everything out of my pockets at night. This way, at least, I can go through it every few weeks when I’m ready, rather than having it sat out, feeling chaotic.

    And that’s it really. That’s how I improved my night’s sleep and in turn lowered my stress and improved the quality of my work. Restful, uninterrupted sleep really is crucial for humans to function well.

  • Glass roofs are a major part of my dream home

    Glass roofs are a major part of my dream home

    When I was growing up I lived in a Victorian gardeners cottage. It was lovely, but the rooms were quite small and dark. I think it’s for this reason that I always remember one of my good friend’s houses. His parents owned a lovely place in town and it had a spectacular kitchen that was half traditional farmhouse style kitchen, and glass room, with gorgeous big windows and glass roofs. In the centre of the room was a huge glass dining table that really finished off the whole interior space and would reflect the clouds as they drifted overhead. Hence, while growing up in my own cottage, I used to crave such a house, at least a room. I really wished that my parents would contact experienced roof replacement service providers and get the ceiling and roof made of glass. Alas, that never happened!

    Perhaps, the reason for not opting for a glass roof was something more complicated than my childhood brain could have fathomed. As an adult, I know now that glass roof repairs are costly and need skilled handymen like the ones at Alpine Roofing (they are known to be a reputed roof repair company in Denver) to finish the job without damaging it. Unfortunately, I never realized this as a kid until now. But this reason is still not enough for mw to stop loving the glass roofs.

    Truth be told, I’ve always been captivated by the beautiful huge glass ceiling at the British Museum in London and the new ceiling at Kings Cross Station. Both are remarkable sculptures that blur the lines between architecture and art. As both an architecture and art lover I can’t complain about this – quite the opposite! I’d love to see more of this kind of thing! The sculptural quality of both of these ceilings really is quite remarkable.

    Glass roofs: Black and white abstract photograph of the glass roof at the British Museum.
    The glass roof at the British Museum.

    Glass Roof Inspiration

    I was browsing Pinterest recently and found myself adding a few glass ceilings to the boards I keep for inspiration about my future home. I’m sure that by the time I have the money to afford to build these places my tastes and style will have changed, but it doesn’t stop me from dreaming about it right now! According to my knowledge, these roofs are not exactly easy to maintain and may require the assistance of an experienced Commercial Roofing company at all times. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful design to marvel at and something that can be done in the future.

    This shot immediately caught my eye. The way the old industrial past of the building is reflected in the dark black beams really stands out. You so often expect glass roofs to be surrounded by white beams, but this one really breaks the mould. The whole look reminds me of the old factories where I grew up. The greenery around the edge of the glass softens the effect though, and the raw-looking lightbulbs give it true style and make it extremely current.

    Here they are again, those clean black industrial lines supporting a beautiful glass ceiling. I love the way that the look of this room is ultra-modern, but that modernity is set against the brick side wall of what looks like a Victorian house. Pairing it with farmhouse-style furniture makes it even more eclectic and is exactly the kind of thing I love.

    Even though they both have big glass panels in the ceiling and heavy black beams to frame the glass, these two instances are very different. Both of these rooms, albeit in quite different ways, represent the architectural past of the buildings. However, when the glass roof needs to drain towards a wall, a structural gutter built with the aid of specialists from a business like MasterShield in Atlanta (https://www.mastershieldatl.com/) may be highly beneficial. All in one, the structural gutter supports the weight of the glass unit, links the glass roof to the wall structure, and offers a high-volume water drainage system.

    In contrast to the two above is this one – another gorgeous example featuring thick black beams. I love the way that minimalism is starting to develop now. There’s more to minimalism than just pure white rooms sparsely decorated with white furniture. The glossy black finishes here reflect the white surfaces and the dark black beams above them. I’d really love to live here. Even if it does remind me slightly of the black ash laminate furniture I had in my bedroom as a teenager! Maybe that’s why I love it? Who knows! Either way, one day I’ll own an old industrial building that I can bring back to life in this way.

  • Tidying up the Sewing Room

    Tidying up the Sewing Room

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    So the sewing/hobby room is the last room in our house that really needs tackling. Over a year since we moved in, so this one is now becoming a priority. It’s pretty much unusable at the moment because of all the crap everywhere.

    These wide, three tier drawers were £20 in Wilkinsons, so I’ve now got one to organise fabric and sewing notions. The top draw is going to have all my quilting fabric in, which is currently living at my Dads. Must go and retrieve that sometime soon.

    The second draw has dressmaking and general sewing tools in.

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    These green baskets are also from Wilkinsons. £2 for three. Perfect width for patterns. (I have a bit of a pattern habit. I like looking at them to see how they made certain parts of a garment.)

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    The Ikea trolly that we brought a while ago is still doing good service. It had some different trays in the top that didn’t really fit, but the Wilkinsons trays fit perfectly in here. Now that I’ve emptied some of it out into the drawer unit, this is going to get more of the trays.

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    So I find it really handy to separate projects into their own trays and boxes. And I tend to keep a box of random tools in the top of this trolley too so that they’re easy to find whatever I’m working on.

    The ‘paper’ looking white bag is also from Ikea, but I don’t think they make them anymore. They were a set of really cute bags that came in all sizes from small to GIANT and I use them to store individual projects in. It means I can keep all the fabric, pattern, and specific notions together for a single project nice and easily.

  • Storing and organizing seeds for the garden

    Storing and organizing seeds for the garden

    My name’s Charlotte… I’m a beginner gardener… and I have a seed habit.

    I’m not afraid to admit it. I can’t help it. I go to garden centres and everything looks so good. And then I log onto the heirloom seed sellers websites and I can’t help myself. Suddenly I’m coming home from the garden centre with a bag stuffed with seeds, or I’ve got packages arriving in the mail.

    I’ll be honest, it was starting to get a bit out of control.

    I had to get things organised. I didn’t know what I’d planted, what I’d run out of, what I had left to plant, when I should plant it, or even what I owned. I went online and I ordered a load of gripseal bags, some silica gel sachets, and some wage slip envelopes.

    Each seed pack gets popped into it’s own bag as soon as I buy it. Then it gets stored in the alphabetical section of my organiser (unless it’s for planting this year – in which case it gets put in one of the 1-12 monthly sections). The monthly sections are really good – it means that something like Pak Choi I can sow and then just move back into the next section to be used again next month.

    When the seed packs are opened I put a sachet of silica gel in with them – or when I collect seed from something that I’ve grown (in the wage envelopes).

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    Oh, and they get a little front sheet with instructions for planting on them. The new and improved versions have a QR code on the front too, so that I can just snap the packet with my phone when I’m in the garden and bring up the appropriate page on my wiki for that plant.

    My next step is laser cut plant markers with the same QR code on. (Nerd.)

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  • The Tomato Problem

    The Tomato Problem

    So I’m sitting down already and trying to get a handle on what seeds I need to order for next year – and what wood I need to buy to build some projects over the winter.

    Basically I’m trying to make out garden as intensive as possible for a small space. I’m interested in what I can achieve with container gardening (everything must be removable because it’s a rental property).

    Instead of buying grow bags each year I’m going to start recycling my compost through a wormery, which provides the problem of containers to grow tomatoes in (because I’m hopefully no longer just going to be buying grow bags). I had looked at buying cheap long tom pots, but they don’t look very nice for your back garden. So I’m considering making wooden boxes about the size of a grow bag instead.

    Traditional wisdom says that you can grow two or three tomato plants in a grow bag. I’m wondering about intensively planting my tomatoes to take advantage of the sunny courtyard that we have.

    So this is how our courtyard garden has developed this year:

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    And a better look at the tomatoes against the wall:

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    I mean it’s fine. We’ve got 14 tomato plants growing in that section around the brick wall and the shed wall. I’ll be honest, I got bored of splitting the grow bags (plus I think Adam was getting fed up with going to Homebase and lugging them back indoors) so the ones against the shed just have three plants to a flat grow bag. I suspect they won’t do as well (not only because I planted them out late).

    It’s the wasted space that bothers me really. Here:

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    Elsewhere in the garden I have smaller bush type tomato plants that never really grow more than 3ft hight. It strikes me that as long as the plants all had enough room for roots you could grow the bush tomatoes in the spaces between the cordon tomatoes where the bottom leaves have been removed. Like this:

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    If I built five grow-boxes that were deep enough to contain the roots for four plants, I could lay them out like this:

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    And that would mean I could fit potentially 24 plants into the same space that I currently have just 14 in. That’s a 70% increase in yield for that space. And we really like tomatoes.

     

  • Viola Syrup

    Viola Syrup

    5g of viola petals (10g before separating from green stems)

    1 cup boiling water

    1 cup sugar

     

    Put petals in bowl. Cover with boiling water. Leave to steep for several hours or overnight. Strain liquid. Place bowl of liquid over saucepan of boiling water. Add sugar. Stir until dissolved. Bottle.

    Makes 1.5 cups (Approx 370ml).

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  • Lemon Salt

    Lemon Salt

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    Last one for today, I think.

    180ml jar.

    Maldon sea salt – enough to almost fill jar.

    Zest of two lemons. Peeled with a zester. Or grated, I guess.

    Put salt and lemon zest onto tray lined with greaseproof paper.

    Rub the zest into the salt with your fingertips, lightly. Just enough to release the oils and mix well.

    Put into oven at about 75 degrees C.

    Check after 15 minutes to see if the zest has dehydrated. Mine took about 30 minutes.

    Rub through salt and zest with your fingers to break up any lumps. Try to keep the flakes of salt reasonably intact.

    Pour into sterilised jar.

    Use on grilled vegetables.

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  • Lemon Vodka

    Lemon Vodka

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    500 ml vodka.

    3 lemons into 8ths.

    1L jar.

    Dark place, keep turning every few days.

    Might become limoncello.

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  • Salt Preserved Limes

    Salt Preserved Limes

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    These are just like the salt preserved lemons, but in a smaller jar.

    Apparently they discolour round the edges when you preserve them in salt.

    I don’t even know if this is the right way to preserve limes.

    I seem to remember that Nigella Lawson freezes them first to help them break down in the salt and juice, but her book is like, 100 miles away and I couldn’t find the recipe online.

    Oh well. 😉

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  • Salt Preserved Lemons

    Salt Preserved Lemons

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    So, lemons were on offer at Tesco.

    This is a large 1L jar.

    I stuck two tablespoons of salt in the bottom of the jar.

    Then I cut up a load of lemons into quarters – take the little nasty end bits off where they were connected to the tree.

    Toss them in salt.

    Stick them into the jar. Add more salt between each layer.

    Press them down. Add more lemons and salt.

    Add some peppercorns. Usually I add a bay leaf too, but I didn’t have any.

    Top up to the height of the lemons with lemon juice from a bottle or other lemons.

    Put somewhere cool. Turn over a couple of times every few days to make sure the salt and juice makes its way around all the lemon bits.

    In a month, there will be preserved lemons.

    You use them by cutting away the flesh and then rinsing under cold water.

    Omnomnomnomnom.

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