The Candy Files

The highs and lows of a hopeless housewife. This week ...

House Candy = Watering Cans.

It started with Friday cocktails at The Botanist...

And ended with Sunday surprises from The Bloke...

… My love for watering cans just grows and grows. (This lily planter is £10 from Tesco)

With Mother's Day looming you too could sprinkle some appreciation with these colourful cuties, just £8 from www.ikea.com. 

 Add a bunch of daffs and a handwritten luggage label. Aaahhhh

(Call me old fashioned but you could even water your plants with them)

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Fine & Candy = Monogrammed Cushions

Imagine the joy when I was showed to my room at super swish Rudding Park to find they had embroidered my husband's initials on the scatter cushions!

For the "I'm so special" factor (particularly if your initials are RP) I would highly recommend a visit. 

Not so special? Create your own boudoir style with a great choice of lettered cushions newly in stock at www.matalan.co.uk 

There's also the opportunity to mark out His 'n' Hers territory with this £10 beauty at www.marksandspencer.com

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Candy Pandy = Mud

It's called a doormat boys. Use it.

£35 from www.notonthehighstreet.com

A not-so-shabby Mother's Day

Look, just be warned that if you leave a small piece of furniture near me in my current mood, I am likely to give it a chalk paint transformation. The fact is, I have a new skill and I am not afraid to use it.

Yesterday I learnt the art of chalk painting at an afternoon up-cycling workshop in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Not only was it a fun way to spend quality girl-time with my mum, sister and niece, but it opened my eyes to endless pieces of undiscovered house candy lying about the place, just waiting for a face lift.

Chalk painting is surprisingly easy and unbelievably clever. And it's not all about Shabby Chic either. The tarnished look is a style preference you can learn to apply with as much or as little emphasis as the mood takes you. A bright and modern transformation is also entirely possible thanks to a huge choice of colours and finishes available from manufacturers such as Autentico - the brand used and stocked by our expert tutors at gorgeous Just So Interiors.

Hate the vintage vibe? No problem. You can just as easily apply the techniques to a modern ikea sideboard as you can to a dusty old antique find. 

In just four hours, our little party of novice furniture painters produced a pair of chic side tables, a sleek set of drawers, a colourful kitchen display cabinet, a modern side table and a french inspired plant stand. 

The paint dries in super quick time and requires just two coats for most jobs. We mastered a range of finishing options such as distressing before eagerly progressing onto the final stage of waxing. Then ta-da our masterpieces were ready to take home and admire - the perfect souvenir of our day.  

We even had time to stop for tea and delicious homemade scones.

 

The workshops run on selected Saturdays throughout the year and cost just £30 per person. Click here for available dates and vouchers: www.justsointeriors.co.uk

The beautiful, historic spa town of Harrogate is just the perfect destination for mother and daughter treats. Make a day of it and take in the famous Betty's tea rooms for a Mother's Day gift that she will remember long after the Daffodils have wilted. www.bettys.co.uk

Mid-Week Candy Craving

The mornings are brighter, the evenings are longer and I'm craving British Summer Time like a hungry sparrow.

Luckily, there's just enough time before the clocks change for me to get my hands on some new wall candy.

Since I introduced colour into my all-white life there's no stopping me, but these £30 Pantry clocks by Newgate pose me a problem. You see, I kind of want them all...

 Flamingo pink would liven up my utility...

A lime green time machine says hello hallway...

And this little boy blue could help lazy little lads get to school on time.

The traditionalist in me is struggling to veer far from the station clock style

so maybe an updated 50s Electric in shiny fire engine red would sound the

siren? This 37cm version is a steal at £65 

To ponder my choice from a full range of bright and beautiful Newgate clocks I will be heading over to www.thebridgeinteriors.com where their Yorkshire prices alone are enough to send my heart a-ticking.