Feathering Our Nests .... A tale of two Dandelions.

As May arrives on our doorsteps, we the Dandelions thought we would take this chance to introduce ourselves and let you into our homes and lives.

Their are two dandelions who live in The Dandelion House, but The Dandelion House isn't an actual place, its the home in your dreams, the beautiful things we surround ourselves with, the creative imaginings of two ladies who live very different lives.

One of the dandelions lives in the town, and when we say town, we mean right in the heart of the city.  Nichole is the town dandelion, she is the mum who lives with the most creative and imaginative children (chips off the old block) in a little oasis of bohemian charm in north London.

The other dandelion, Janice, escaped the hustle and bustle of London and lives in the countryside. When we say countryside, we mean on a hill, in a village with no shops, no public transport (except the odd bus) and only a village pub with a thatched roof to keep her sane. Four cats are her constant companions rescued from a barn down the lane.

Two very different lifestyles but one great big love of our surroundings. Two Leos, yes, Leos love their home comforts and we prove that wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, you can still have a lovely place to call home.

Nichole and Janice are like two peas in a pod, one is chalk and one is cheese. Like ying and yang, two different viewpoints with one vision for how we like things to look and feel and this week it became the tale of two birds, one a Robin and one a Swan.

While we were busy feathering our nests with new colours and textures, mainly using Annie Sloans amazing chalk paint, the actual birds of nature were doing the same but with twigs, reeds, and anything they could find. Two little Robins making a nest in the window box of Nicholes flat in London and a two magnificent Swans making their floating nest on the Grand Union Canal in Bucks near Janices home.

Meanwhile, back in the Dandelion world we were talking hallways and landings.
Janice was putting colour in and Nichole was taking it out.

Paint colours work differently in different spaces, dependent on light and type of room. Vibrant colours can be too much for a bedroom but a hallway can be just the place to add a splash of colour.

Hallway wall in Barcelona Orange Bedroom Wall in Antoinette pink
both paints made by Annie Sloan

http://www.anniesloan.com/ is where you can find more information on this paint. Mostly it is used to transform furniture but we decided we liked the texture of it on the wall. Dont try to get the perfect finish, think outside the box, its velvety texture looks good when its slightly patchy, it is more akin to the plaster walls of an old house. The extremely matt finish means the colour changes from night to day, depending on the light source. It is vibrant yet not garish, it is bright and also calm.

We like a splash of colour where we can, sometimes though it may be in furnishings and objects. Colour works well as a feature wall rather than a whole room and if you like lots of pictures and cushions and treasures in a tight area then you may want to just keep it simple and go for white and light!

So here we are, wishing you all a very beautiful, creative and happy May!

Love,
J&N xx

If you need me, you know where to find me....x

If this were mine, I'm not sure I'd be anywhere else!

 Sheds.  I just LOVE them.  When I was little I used to spend whole afternoons in our shed, pretending that it was a little hut in the woods, especially on rainy days I'd sit on a chair with the door open and watch the rain fall and listen to the lovely noise it made on the roof.
 I'd spend ages cleaning and tidying it,  once much to my mum's dismay when I proudly informed her that "I've thrown out all those old onions mummy!" when actually I'd just chucked out all her spring daffodil bulbs.

To add to my magical vision of sheds, my uncle and aunt used to have old shed that amongst all manor of wonderful bits and bobs they used to keep there,  they also kept a big Santa's sleigh in the roof that they used to ride out around the streets at christmas!  The rest of the year you could only take a  peek at it through the beams.

I'm on a total shed fixation at the moment because I really need one to store a lot of mosaic materials, tools, kids bikes etc but to me a really good shed is not a new pretty one but an old faded one that smells of sawdust and oil.

 In fact I had so much fun looking at pictures of sheds it was hard for me to choose ones to show here  because I loved so many.  I personally don't have the room in our yard to have something as lovely and big as the one above but like I said,  if I did you'd know where to find me.

So on another note I thought this would also be a good time to tell you that from April onwards, us at The Dandelion House will be checking in EVERY month with a new approach to our blog (which has been a little sporadic to say the least!) We will be using our own photos taken of the things that are happening in our lives and sharing a little more of our inspirations and work...we hope you will enjoy! xx

C'mon and feel the love.... X

xxx

x**Happy Valentines Everybody** x

Outside the box....

Fantastic ideas for alternatives to boring old shelving! x

The creative space...x

I used to have a little studio in a house and go to work in a huge, old workshop space in north London.  These days I work from my dining table,  which is totally ample and fine...but..I was just having a little art space fantasy moment...and frankly YES to ANY of the above! x

The new white....

No longer  associated with rebellious teenage bedrooms, black and Charcoal grey walls have become the option for modern chic.

Front doors, gates, fences, kitchen walls, lounge walls and children's bedrooms are now very much in vogue if you have chosen to add a deep grey paint.

 'Blackboard' walls are great in kids rooms and for the hallway/kitchen for everyone to write lists, thoughts, poems and pictures in lovely chalks that can be changed and added to by everyone who passes by.

Years and years ago when  I first moved to North London, I lived in a shared house that was painted completely grey from top to bottom..mid-grey...this was not nice.  The fact that it was wood chip wallpaper that was painted grey made it even worse and we were not allowed to change it.  So we set about hanging LOTS of things up all over to try and break the dullness,  everything from giant communal paintings, large indian wall hangings, to sheets of smooth tin foil that rattled when you moved past them....Not very elegant but we were young and it was all we had and it made for a good party house!

   The thing is it has to be the right grey in the right places that have some natural light and other colours around to sing out against the flatness of these dark surfaces.....and maybe not in every room and hallway?

I do like this embracing of black and grey and using it to it's true potential.  It adds some depth and almost a kind of texture to a room whilst doing the thing that grey does best,  letting other shades, tones and colours do their thing. x