Its where the magic happens...

...quite literally magic did have to occur in this small makeover. Looking back on pictures of when we first came to look at the house it was so tired, neglected and dirty. Since, it has had a brush down, a dust off and a touch of style added to it.

It is nowhere near finished yet as there are worse rooms in the house that need some real work first but for now... I LOVE IT!!

Then.

Now.

We went with grey and yellow as I love the colours together. It's a clean, sleek look and isn't to feminine, as I doubt my other half would appreciate that.

Most of what you can see was done on a budget, the most expensive items being the cushions.
All three of the cushions were from Dunelm Mill and each averaged at about £18.
At the time we had just bought all the huge things like a fridge, cooker, sofa and a washing machine so our funds were pretty low so I decided that bedside tables were not an option. Instead I spotted some collapsable boxes in Matalan (£9). The yellow and white chevron boxes are stacked on top of grey boxes... they make perfect and affordable bedside tables.
My favourite part of the bedroom is the three pictures above the bed, they were inspired by items I had seen on Etsy, I managed to make them myself for a fraction of the price. The love hearts contain maps of the three cities we have lived in and together. The three photo frames were from Tesco in the sale. I used coloured paper from Paperchase for the background and bought a GB road map to make the hearts. I made a cardboard love heart stencil to create three identical shapes. I stuck it all together and there you have it, Etsy inspired love heart maps.

Chrome Lamps - (George at Asda £7)

Bedside boxes - (Matalan £9)

Cushions - (Dunelm £18)

Bedding - (Beddeck £35)

Grey throw - (George at Asda £25)

Chevron photo frame - (Dunelm sale £3)

White candle holder - (Dunelm sale £2.50)

Three grey/white frames - (Tesco sale £3)

♥

The best things in life are free.

If like me your new to blogging then it can be quite difficult getting yourself off the ground without spending a tonne of money on stuff that is good enough to make its cheeky little way onto your page. Admittedly, I am a shopaholic therefore my endless relms of lipstick and smelly candles could always make a feature! But, not only is blogging for bigging up that one foundation that is a life saver, it's also to share opinions on new things in the market. How do you get your hands on new things without dollar? I hear you ask. Well... over the past month I have picked up a few freebies that I simply had to share with you.

Magazines

I'll admit it, the only reason I bought Company this month is for Zoella's first ever cover! I am in love with her youtube channel and passed numerous hours at uni watching her hauls and beauty tips curled up in my duvet, instead of writing a dissertation! However, magazines can be a great way to test out little samples of new products. Company (April, 2014; £2.60) does not disappoint, A free mascara (company lashes) & a sample of Rimmel London BB cream Matte in Light, happy days.

On top of this I also bought my usual monthly read, Glamour (April, 2014; £2.00). As well as being Britain's No.1 women's magazine it is also Britain's No.1 generous magazine. with 25% of H&M voucher, Smashbox camera ready CC cream in light/medium and testers of Issey Miyake L'eau D'issey. 

Magazines can be a great way to get free samples and the competitions inside (if you can be bothered) are well worth a try.

Happy blogging xxx

River Island haul.

Shoes - £25

Dainty daisy bracelets - £3 each

Daisy earrings - £2

Cross earrings - £3

Midi rings - £3

So the weather can be pretty up and down this time of year in the UK which makes it hard to know what shoes are really suitable. I decided that maybe it was time to start putting boots away and then realized that this only left me with trainers! I guess this time last year I was still a student which meant heels at night and comfy high tops during the day. Being almost 22 it is time to adultify my wardrobe, a little. I decided to take a trip to River Island as I still had a voucher lurking in my purse from Christmas. I like River Island shoes as they are quite quirky and there is a lot of styles to suit different people. The new spring collection has introduced lots of moccasin and loafer style shoes. I love the patent black ones but there were also lovely pastel colours, which will definitely be on my wish list as spring draws in. The loafers I went for are the black metal snake front pointed loafers which I absolutely LOVE, they can be dressed up or down and will also be ideal for work and many interviews I have lined up over the coming month!

The shoe section is also very close to the accessories section and I just couldn't resist! I was on a budget as my purse was rather empty except the £40 voucher. River Island introduced a cheaper costume jewelry section around a year ago for the everyday little things that can sometimes make an outfit. There were so many gorgeous dainty things that I knew I wouldn't be leaving on the shelf! The daisy bracelets I think will look cute in spring, as I only have tiny wrists they are perfect. The midi rings are also great for those with small hands as they too are very petite and don't cover the finger like many costume rings do. The cross earrings are a replacement for a similar pair of earrings I lost from Urban Outfitters and all were bought at a bargain price. If you are on a budget this month but fancy a nice little treat then the River Island accessories are worth a visit.

xxx

Bargain of the month goes too...

This is well and truly my buy of the month!!!

£16.99 reduced from £67.

I occasionally nip into TK Maxx, or TJ Maxx if your from the US, not looking for anything in particular just hoping that I'll come out with a bargain. I tend to trawl through the younger sections and have no luck, but on the off chance a few weeks ago I took a detour home and ended up in TK Maxx car park!!! Oh dear! I spent a good half hour rooting and headed to the fitting rooms with a handful of items. After getting ridiculously flustered trying a gazillion things on and nothing fitting right (one of those days) I eventually came to this top, which, without looking at the label, I had just picked up as I loved the colour. When I took it off the hanger I noticed how soft it felt, which for some odd reason made me look at the label... French Connection. Now I'm not the biggest fan but I always love their summer collection. I tried it on and loved everything about it straight away!

Its going to be great in the summer with a bikini underneath, just showing through the Aztec cut out front. It is fairly cropped and baggy fitting so in summer I would probably style it with high wasted scruffy look denim shorts. But I couldn't wait for summer so today I have styled it with simple black leggings and a small white vest underneath, otherwise there would be serious boobage on show, tousled curly hair and of course my gorgeous wanderlust necklace!

Get rooting, there is serious bargains to be had!