I was allowed giraffe-print...

We painted our bedroom black and blue/grey, our orange headboard no longer matched. Not that I'm sure it every match anything.

I've been toying with the idea of covering it for a while but really had no idea where to start. My mum offered to help so we set out to go shopping. In the fabric shop I was joking about how I wanted black and silver leopard print but Ben would kill me if I got such a thing.

Now, Ben was supposed to join us in fabric shopping but stayed in bed with a hangover. I briefly ran the giraffe print by him via text message. He reluctantly agreed but still seemed unsure. My animal-print-love was taking over...

While Ben and I cooked curry the following evening for my mum and step-dad, they covered the headboard. So I didn't actually get to do the bit I was looking forward to. However, this means I didn't have the chance to muck it up as no doubt I would've done.

So, tah-dah! The newly-covered headboard actually matches now and I feel a little bit happier with the co-ordination of the bedroom. Ben loves it too, you'll be pleased to know.

The computer room part II

You may remember we recently painted the computer room.

The idea was that it was a blank canvas. Simple and grey (try to edit out the blue carpet, I still hate it.) We were going to cover the walls in awards, posters, geekery and rockness.

We've got our computers in and we've finally got around to getting some gorgeousness on the walls.

We have all these grand plans for displaying my records and we want to fill the walls. We also have our eye on some Star Trek prints from Etsy. (These could potentially be our Valentine's/anniversary present to each other). The question is, do we get Picard, Riker and Data or Kirk and Spock. Decisions!

And here it is now! It looks so much better (and the computers have been set up) but there's still loads to do. My guitar needs somewhere to live, I have loads of records I want on display, I'd like a huge corner desk and perhaps some more seating.

This is a ghost of my rock past. Set lists, signatures, promo CD and vinyl sleeves and so on. To the left of the rock pinboard is the left overs from my Darkling days. I am, and always will be, a Darkness fan. But when I was 15 I was going to every gig of theirs I could get to, getting photos, collecting tickets and meeting amazing people. As a result, I've collected loads of stuff and taken loads of pics. These collages are constant reminders of what an amazing time I had, the people I met and how amazing that music makes me feel.

The wall behind where I'm standing to take this pic is bare and the room looks huge now we've moved some boxes out of it. I sort of want to leave it that way. At least it doesn't echo in there any more!

I can't help but feel that now there's stuff in here the blue carpet works better. It's also the warmest room in the house for some reason!

Buying furniture

Having bigger rooms and, indeed, new rooms. It's about time we bought some more furniture. I have plans for a reading corner in the conservatory. So Ben and I popped to Homebase to procure a bookcase. We found a lovely flatpack one for £50.

We went into the store to have a look around. After much deliberation and purchasing something else on a whim (more about that below) we came away with a bookcase. We put it together last night and it looks great in the conservatory. We just need to unpack our remaining books into it.

The impulse buy

Whilst looking around the furniture section we saw a lovely extending dining table that came with six chairs. It was reduced from £750 to £429 and if we bought it on a Homebase card then we'd get an extra 20% off. Seemed perfect.

Upon saying we wanted to buy it we found out it was no longer available for delivery but they'd check in the warehouse. Table came up as did four chairs. That was all the chairs they had but we were told we might be able to take two display chairs.

Another problem soon arose. There were no legs for the table. They should've been in another box but our Homebase and the one down the road didn't have them. We were a bit baffled by this but we were told it was probably because a table was repaired with those legs sometime in the past.

We were then offered the whole display set with six chairs but the table was quite badly damaged. We told the store manager no and that we'd just take the bookcase.

He then said that if we looked through the catalog he might be able to do us a deal on another table we liked.

Of course, I stopped on the massive, solid oak £750 table with six amazingly shaped chairs. Worth a try.

We eventually got the table, six charcoal fabric chairs and the bookcase for £540 including delivery. Solid oak rather than oak veneer, stunning chairs and a cheaper bookcase. Homebase were very helpful and the manager did us an amazing deal. Can't wait for the table to arrive!

Before and after: Painting - The computer room

All we've managed to paint so far is the computer room and our bedroom. Everything else will have to wait until we've unpacked. I honestly do not believe how much crap I own.

The computer room


This is the second bedroom, used by the previous owners to house their two boys. The paint was scuffed, the electricity sockets broken, chunks taken out of the plaster and drawings on the walls. It needed painting it looked so grubby.

We decided to go for a relatively neutral colour so we could hang all sorts of geeky dren on the walls. The room started off like this. Cream and grubby.

We chose some Dulux One Coat paint as we are lazy. Egyptian Cotton is the colour. Here's our brilliant cutting in....

And the transformation!

I'm so much happier with how it looks now! It's cleaner, we've filled in any holes in the plaster, we've glossed the skirting boards and fixed the broken socket. Computers are in now on a horrible hand-me-down desk. We are hoping to get Unique Woodwork to build us a pretty corner desk with tons of storage and loads of space for all our techy bits.

The next stage is putting all the geeky stuff on the walls. We have our eyes on Kirk and Spock prints on Etsy.

The first electric Rayburn

I thought that once I'd bought my own snazzy cooker I wouldn't be that bothered by all the others out there. Wrong. I'm obsessing again. At least this model is £1000s out of my price range.

The Rayburn Electric

Features

• Touch-sensitive controls and a single ceramic glass cooking surface
• Choice of induction or ceramic hobs with square or dome hinged lids
• With two 2.3kW burners, the induction hobs have excellent response times
• Ceramic hobs use the latest infra-red technology to give rapid heating and cooling
• Two thermostatically controlled ovens give a wide choice of cooking modes
• 43-litre capacity top oven
• Patented ‘Warmfront’ technology
• 3-year parts and 1-year labour warranty
• Standard 910mm x 980mm dimensions
• Available in a variety of colours – Cream, Black, Dark Blue, British racing Green, Pewter and Aqua