interiors Archives - Page 3 of 8 - The Only Girl in the House

Jess April, 2017

What to Expect from The Only Girl in the House | Mission Statement

When I hit the very scary “publish” button for the first time two and a half years ago, I had the intention of bringing stylish family interiors to the masses. But I found bringing my interiors day job into my hobby of writing like latching on a creative leech to the heart of my ju-ju – it sucked the life out of my writing. In addition, I was about to drop our boy number 5 into the world so my brain was addled with all the new amazing baby garb that had been invented/re-invented since 2008; we were living in a rather uninspiring, dark rented house – so taking swoonworthy interiors shots was like trying to catch the slippery soap in a lukewarm bath (impossible) and I found it piss easy to bemoan life with a brood of boys to anyone that would listen, whilst struggling for my next interiors post subject matter. Something had to change – and it did.

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Jess January, 2017

Going Green | House Plants for a Family Home

It was only last week, after about 53 minutes of finally moving back into our newly extended/renovated family home, that Mr Only Girl turned to me and whimpered, “I just wasn’t expecting it to be quite so black and white!”. I’m not sure quite what he expected, given that we’ve both been privy to our joint Pinterest “house renovation” board for well over a year, jointly selected a white kitchen, black flooring, white bathroom, black bathroom furniture and a charcoal sofa. Said Pinterest board provides endless scrolling fun of Scandi-inspired interiors, awash with white walls, black accents and the odd smattering of birch ply – so his insistence that this was all “a bit of surprise” was met by “I just don’t think you’ve been paying attention!”. That said, as I wandered from room to room I noticed there was an element missing – something that my Scandinavian muses hadn’t overlooked but was such an integral part to their home design, it was like a camouflaged, subliminal message from the super stylish sanctum: House plants.

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Jess October, 2016

Getting Cosy | Matalan Sheepskin

It’s come to that time of year when Mr Only Girl and I start to wrangle over the thermostat as my inner hibernator craves to whack up that central heating and surround myself with cosiness. Heading into autumn harks the beginning of log fired evenings, lighting spice-scented candles by the dozen, throwing on my much-loved grey cashmere hoodie and convincing the kids it’s bedtime a little bit early, just because it’s dark! Nothing screams cosy more than natural sheepskin rugs – nature’s answer to a warm hug, so when I found this double Sheepskin ready for Autumn, I did an inner-jig at all the styling possibilities.

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Jess September, 2016

Extension Update | Hexagon Tile Trend

We’re getting to that dizzying point in our mammoth extension build where the fun starts – I get to pick out the finishing touches. No longer am I being bugged by builders about supporting walls, first fix plumbing and suspended floor options – instead, I’m losing hours to Pinterest to ensure bathrooms, kitchens, bedrooms and even windows hit the interior’s nail on the head.

As a mum to so many boys, one of the only places I find solace, peace and privacy is the bathroom. Need a 10 minute re-group after a fraught dinner time or a 5 minute breather from a relentlessly tantrumming toddler? Excuse yourself and leg-it to the bathroom, lock that door and soak up the calm. (I generally ensure there’s another adult in charge prior to the above!) With this in mind, my sanctuary needs to be a space I retreat to without the thought of “Eugh, I hate those tiles!” – nothing’s worse than trying to regain your inner buddha whilst being distracted by a regrettable interiors decision made in

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Jess August, 2016

Monochrome Rug | My Rugstore Review

Anyone that’s been following along on my instagram would’ve undoubtedly heard me referring to our never-ending building works and the elusive extension – which, of course, will offer the answers to all our spacial problems, child tantrums and teenage angst – right?! Well, maybe not the latter two, but we’re certainly hoping the first issue might be solved. But me, being me, the moment the architect had made his first visit I already had a dozen Pinterest boards dedicated to the cause – bathroom taps, kids rooms and rugs – all with a common theme, black and white. I’ve often mused about the wonders of a monochrome house; when there’s enough chaos under one roof with 5 boys, two adults and two dogs – adding colour to the mix would be like raving it up in a life-size bag of skittles while everyone gets high on candy-floss.

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