I’m taking the easy way out today as it’s my first day back at work and I’m still pooped from the hoopla of the past week. So here is another home from my new favourite site, Period Living. Lynda and Peter Thomas bought a Victorian semi-detached house in Essex (a county in the East of England region of the UK) in 2004 and when the one next door went up for sale they snatched it up so they could create one detached home. Apart from the exterior walls, almost everything was redone to make it more of an open concept. I adore all of the vintage furnishings they have amassed and the casual and not-so-country vibe they have created. My favourite touch is the collection of bejewelled chandeliers over the dining table. (Photos by Brent Darby).

Hi everyone! I’m back in business after a short break for my wedding (which was fabulous), and I cannot be happier to be Jeff’s wifey (he’s been calling me that since Sunday) and I am grateful to no longer have list after list of things I need to do for the big day. I had no idea planning a wedding could be so freaking exhausting. Anyway, onto today’s post…

Sometime over the past week or 2 I came across a website from the UK that for the life of me I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it. It’s called Period Living – Britain’s best-selling period homes magazine. Inside are some very inspiring homes that have required ALOT of work to make them the beauties they are today. For instance, the three bedroom cottage of Phil and Philippa Heath that they purchased in 1992, which would have been two homes when it was built around 200 years ago. They did all the work themselves, and it took almost 2 decades. They were very resourceful – existing floorboards were stripped wherever possible, and when the floors weren’t in good enough condition to polish, Philippa painted the stairs; and in the reception rooms, they laid flooring salvaged from a local school that was closing down, where they also picked up some useful furnishings such as the large cupboard in the dining room. It is now a beautiful home for this family of 6. (Photos by Brent Darby)

Quite some time ago I was approached by the folks of the website ucinteriors.com (their German counterpart is solebich.de) if I wanted to be a part of a book they were having published on some of the homes whose photos were submitted to their community. The main idea of the book is to show real homes of real people. They kindly sent me a copy and it arrived just now. I was so excited to see my kitchen on the cover, my living room on one of the cover pages, and then SEVEN whole pages of my home! I am so honoured to be included among so many other quirky and lovely homes and I cannot wait to devour the rest of the book (which I unfortunately cannot read a word but I’m all about photos anyhow 🙂 ). A huge thanks to Claire and Luise!

Before I begin the main topic of this post, I just wanted to thank everyone who has left kind comments on the main blog and on my page regarding my upcoming wedding. The big day is Saturday, and due to the fact that this event is happening on the gorgeous property that is my parent’s backyard, there is ALOT of setting up and that sort of thing that needs to happen in the next couple of days. Because of this I will be taking a bit of a break from the blog starting tomorrow but I’ll be back on Tuesday (Jeff and I aren’t really having a honeymoon on account of the huge addition {=expense} we want to put on our house in the near future but we’ll be going to Prince Edward Island next month to visit Jeff’s family and friends). Jo is AS ALWAYS insisting she publish posts on my behalf because she is a hardass and doesn’t believe in breaks so you all won’t be missing anything. On that note have a great rest of the week and weekend and I’ll see you back here Tuesday!

The other day Rodgrido Martins, an interior designer from São Paulo Brazil, emailed with photos of his pooch for the latest pet post. At the end of his email there was mention of a website called Quarto & Sala. The site is a bit confusing as to what exactly the point is, but it seems like the Brazilian version of The Selby (a popular subject here as a couple weeks ago I blogged about the German version). It features wonderful photography of the homes of seemingly ordinary people who don’t really follow the “rules” of interior design. Which is why I love this site so much. The spaces are quirky and completely lived in, and many are filled with vintage finds. Some photos randomly chosen from the site are below. (Photographed by Gabriel Valdivieso and Maira Acayaba).

We received an email from Susanne Lindgren the other day who wanted to share with us the Stockholm home her and her family had built which happens to be for sale (see listing here). It is ideally Swedish and perfection in every way. It is staged so beautifully I can’t imagine it not being snatched up immediately. The kitchen is incredible – I LOVE the black wall with black uppers. I love the concrete floors on the lower level and the whitewashed timber floors upstairs. I love all the carpets, love the bench in the hallway, and love the overall sparseness. I reeeeeeally wish I could live like that, without so much STUFF everywhere but it seems impossible. (Thank you Susanne!)