It All Began With a Scrap of Fun Fur

Hello My Sweet Friends

Hope all is well in your world. Over here in the UK, the weather has been delightfully sunny and I've been making the most of it, grabbing as much time outdoors as I can. There's not been a lot of papercrafting going on but I've not been idle. There is a reason. And it all started with a scrap of fun fur. But first, a little history.

When Nick & I first got together, we weren't adverse to having splashes of colour in our home. Then, many years later, just before the recession kicked in, we decided we'd try and sell our house. We did what all budding sellers did, and redecorated with a neutral palette. The recession, as you may have noticed, has gone on for a tad longer than previous ones. We are still in the same house and well, we haven't put our own mark back into the home.

That is until we walked past our local fabric store and in the bargain bin outside was a bundle of bright pink fun fur. To my surprise, and we're talking jaw to the floor, I joked around and teased Nick that we must have it and instead of telling me to go boil my head, he grabbed it, went into the shop and paid for it.

Next thing I knew, he'd draped it over a recently acquired heirloom. A fusty but very comfortable, rocking chair. It's in need of a reupholster and fresh paint but in the meantime, this is the sight that meets our eyes when we enter the bedroom

And you know what, it's probably not going to stay that way. It's just a bit of kitsch fun. But it's kickstarted something in us. A desire to bring colour back. If I lived on my own, I'd be straight down the DIY store and covering every room in a rainbow of bright paint. But I live with Nick and I know that it's best to make small changes first. I love big dramatic changes, taking impulsive, radical steps. But this would bring on an anxiety attack in my beloved. He copes better if I reign myself in and make a few small changes first. Do this and I know he'll soon catch up with me and there'll be no stopping us.

And so it is that I've been down to the charity shop and come away with some small items to throw paint at and dot around the house.

First up are these candlesticks. This is the before photo.

Brown, drab and in need of Brasso around the rim. Here's the after photo.

And then there was this vase

One pot of textured paint  later...

One vibrant vase!

Okay, on their own they probably don't look much. But I have plans. I see the bigger picture. Piece by piece, I'll add something colourful and inexpensive and before we know it, we'll be rushing out to buy rugs, bedspreads, curtains and yes, LARGE pots of paint to go on the walls. Oh yes, I'm already picturing which are going to be the statement walls.

Watch this space! We'll be going from drab to fab in no time at all.