Design Dilemmas
Episode 8: This week, read on to find out the best way to style a garden room, hallway to kitchen flooring options, crafting storage, sectional garden furniture and should we wrap a worksurface?
I have uncommonly had a week relatively free of dilemmas this week. I’ve been at my desk working as next week, we are going on a four day mini break and I cannot TELL you how much I am looking forward to it. This is only the second time ever that I have been on holiday with my husband alone, without children. I know, I know. This year, we will have been married no less than 23 years and our children have hung like albatrosses around our necks every time we have got on a plane. Jokes, jokes, of course. But also, true. When we were younger, we had many friends who would escape off for weekend breaks child free, casting their kids aside on to friends and family. Their children would be MORE than happy to be somewhere else for the weekend whilst their parents lay on sun loungers in Marbella with a jug of Sangria and a nice book.
But not ours. No. Ours were attached to us like limpets. In 2014, Joe was working for BMW and the annual kick off was in Sydney, Australia. I had always turned these things down in the past (they were always with a plus one) due to the limpet issue but decided enough was enough and that I DESERVED a nice ten day break so we recruited our mothers to York in order to watch the kids whilst we lived the lone parent dream. Unfortunately, we hadn’t taken into account the twelve hour time difference - each morning. we were woken by a call at 5am, just as the kids were coming home from school, Ella sobbing into the phone (in fairness to the boys, they were completely unmoved by our absence). Then at 6pm every evening (just as we were about to go out for dinner), we would receive a 6am UK wake up call of hysterical tears. We lasted eight days before it became too much - we made our apologies and jumped on an early plane home. JESUS CHRIST. Anyway, ten years have passed and they are now 22, 20 and 14 - two of them don’t even live at home ffs - so we are grabbing the opportunity to celebrate one of our best friends birthdays and departing for Crete with glass of champagne in hand and not a child in sight. I’ve even booked the Escape Lounge at Manchester Airport. BLISS.
But back to your dilemmas and this week, we are talking about hallway and kitchen floors that are not wood, plus the very best in sectional garden furniture which can be flexible to your space (Summer is coming, I promise). We’re discussing wrapping a worktop which you’re not fond of - can we do it ourselves? The best way to style a garden room (I have lessons learned from this, so read on) and finally how to store away all the craft stuff if you have to keep it in the living space so it still looks smart.
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