It's a chilly day in my part of the world. Winter sunlight fights winter winds and the only thing that is warm is the end of my red nose from all the rubbing with a tissue. A bad case of flu needs rest and fluids and cheering up. What does this have to do with the über talented London based photographer Matt Clayton? Nothing much except that his wonderful portfolio is just the tonic I need to make it through the rest of today. Thank you Matt. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go to bed.

When we bought the house 3 years ago, it was a spur of the moment purchase. We really wanted to stay in our neighbourhood and felt that we had grown out of a townhouse. A backyard with a deck sounded divine...until the move in day. Hubby and I shared a beer on that deck and freaked out all over each other about the amount of update this house needed. The floor plan is the typical suburban house with separate kitchen, dining, living and family rooms. Not to mention the most awkward in the world fireplace placement.
With a small budget that had very little room to pay a contractor, hubby had to learn how to do everything himself. And I had to choose all the finishes myself. Thankfully, there is desiretoinspire.net!! Kim and Jo provided a world of inspiration for the regular DIY'er and made my job of choosing tile, paint colours and everything in between infinitely easier.
3 years later the house is freshly renovated from top to bottom. To celebrate all the hard work the house was photographed by a local photographer (Shabana Beg). The photos represent so much hard work, but also personal grown. The house was our labour of love and we are so proud of how it turned out.
P.S. Funny fact, in a few weeks we're moving into a different home and I can't wait to put my design stamp on it!