Festive coveting...

These...

These...

These...

If I wasn't already married...

...then I would love to live with these people. They like so many of the same things that I do. I love the framed tea labels, peonies, welsh blankets, vintage caravans, galvanised tubs for planting...

Dressers, tea cups, leather chairs and vintage looking linens...


And I suppose if I was married to those people, I might have lots of lovely things but I guess I wouldn't have this, the loveliest of things...

Coveting....

Found on HomeShoppingSpy - where else!

The person who designed this obviously thinks very much like me! But I think coffee might come first for me. Perhaps I could place it above the aforementioned fireplace. I already have the typewriter (thanks to Aly and Jolly - how are you guys? Long time no see).

The teapot (or is it a coffee pot?) is very similar to one that my mum's Thai friend Pom used to use when we would visit her as children and she would make us delicious (and I thought very exotic) Earl Gray tea from leaves not bags. Her house always smelt delicious. And being from abroad and probably not used to the British weather she had wonderful heated, parquee floors which to a chilly individual like myself were amazing and obviously way ahead of their time compared to normal UK houses.

Coveting...

...union jacks...still. For me, they just don't get old, mainy because I haven't yet got one. But perhaps my desire would be satisfied with one of these:

Or this:


This...


Or even this...

Plus, they are all on sale! It is my birthday in a couple of weeks so if anyone out there (hello family!) who is lacking inspiration about what to buy me you know I would be delighted with the above.

Coveting...

...attractive storage recepticles like these ones on House to Home (and the motivation to use them!). It is a worry as I think I am turning slowly into a 1950s housewife and there is nothing more exciting on my mind than clearing out cupboards but as I said it is a distraction. Do I sound less of a sad case now?

At Uni, when I used to have a lot on my mind, but wasn't getting anything productive done I would spend a good few hours tidying my room. Some might say this is procrastination and they might be right as I am an expert! But I think the processs of decluttering an actual space helped to declutter my mental space or at last gave me something distracting to do so thoughts could simmer until they were ready. There is so much to do at The Money Pit but the things I keep fixating on (apart from the cellar that is STILL leaking - I save that particular worry for early morning anxiety sessions) are sorting out my wardrobe and the pantry cupboard in the kitchen.


I haven't fathomed a good system of 'wardrobe management' yet. Think I just need to chuck stuffs as I can no longer close the door and the back of almost every door upstairs is being used as overflow.

If the kitchen pantry, not only do I want it to be easy to navigate, making it easier to rotate stocks or at the very least give me the option of knowing what we have at a glance, it has got to look nice. Something like this...

So if anyone is at a loss to what to buy me for my forthcoming birthday then pretty storage jars please...

Houses I love....

I am waiting for t'husband which gives me time to look at more house porn! I want this one (from Livingetc) or I just want the owner to give me her stuff for The Money Pit.

I love the pillow (obvs), the button back chair and sofa, the lamps, the clock. Pretty much everything...

Plus she has my dream rug (used as a wall hanging) and I want the industrial light...

The kitchen units, signage and table...

The bathroom slash dressing room. Love that bath and more button backs. She is lucky, lucky, lucky...

And she seems to also be a fan of skulls?! I heart it...

Sigh...

Coveting...

...vintage tourism posters seen here. Although we already have a few...

Coveting...

Steel wash tubs / buckets for planting produce in the yarden. All these found on Junkaholics blog.

I also want everything she wears...

Houses I would swap The Money Pit for...maybe...

Whilst doing some research into units to place the new basin for the downstairs loo atop I visited the Livingetc site. I am not going to go on about how much I love Livingetc but it is plenty. I think I have kept every copy that I have had over the last few years and there a few houses that have stood out as ones that I want to replicate in almost every way. I guess this one, especially the kitchen and living areas and more specifically the fireplaces and the kitchen dresser, cupboards and island is one that stands out to me.

The kitchen and the island...

The pendant lights and chairs...

This dresser...

And this cupboard...

I love the living room and especially the sofa and floor...

I am thinking this fireplace...

Or this one..

for one of the bedrooms...

The only changes I would make are the odd splash of colour with bright rugs or graphic artwork as I think they would really stand out against all the white. And I am not so keen on the bathroom...


I think I prefer ours...

Coveting...

At The Money Pit, we are short of a fair few things but mainly carpets or any other flooring for that matter and also lights. Lots of bare (low energy of course) light bulbs hanging from white wire at our place. I am struggling to find lights, perhaps because I have no money to pay for lights, so am not looking that seriously. But also we have expansive ceilings that are not particularly high so really we need squat wide lights.

Despite those restrictions, I am loving most of these...

Anthropologie via Oh Happy Day

Coveting....

I like the simplicity of this but also the sentiment. I think perhaps it might go well above the fireplace in the bathroom. The colours work well and the fireplace is someone else's cast off after all...

And via the power of Photoshop (please excuse the limited skills) here it is on the wall.


I also like this and want to adopt it as my mantra but calm is not my natural state so there is work to be done there...

Mirror, mirror...

I also saw this which reminded me that I need to collect more mirrors...and vintage fabrics...

At least I have made a start with this one..

Curtain and flag union...

We are seriously lacking in curtains at The Money Pit. We haven't managed to put any up anywhere yet apart from the living room.

Part of the problem is cash, the other is that the top of the windows are so close to the ceiling, often with coving taking up space either side, I have no clue where to attach a curtain pole so that the curtain reaches the top of the window. But this has given me food for thought. I have talked of my love of union jacks on numerous posts so I thought this was wonderful....

Images from Vintage Vacations via TeaForJoy

Event planning....

We are in the process of planning a birthday party for Jason. Now I know it is his birthday and everything but I am getting giddy with party ideas. I would love to have a picnic in the afternoon with rounders and croquet. In my head it is like this...

Or this...

Or a BBQ in the yarden with bunting and other party loveliness like this one...

And a display of these on the table in the kitchen....

But I suspect that rain will ruin the picnic ideas and it will be more likely much alcohol in the confines of the house as we all stare out of the window waiting for the rain to stop. Followed by a midnight dash to the kebab / pizza place to soak up aforementioned alcohol.... sigh!

Coveting...

...graphic prints for the dining room walls. I like these...

And perhaps something by Paul Rand. I saw this on Dooce's Daily style and if I could I would buy everything she recommends in the Daily Style section of her website. And then if she ever came over I could freak her out by welcoming her into a complete replica of her home. Sans the heated baby wipes contraption. Then again, I am sure t'husband would love it...

And this was the original Union Jack piece of wall art I saw that made me want all of these...

It is by Lucinda Chambers via The Rug Company, costs an arm and a leg. The image is from Living etc. Oh me oh my...on my quest to find out Lucinda's name I also happened upon this....

Hubba hubba. It is by Vivienne Westwood so I daren't even dream. Oh the internet, you are bad...