Singing In The Rain...

I don't know how it happened, I'm not sure when or even why exactly, but somehow it crept up on me and I can deny it no longer. I am officially middle aged. How do I know this? Well during the recent bout of relentless rain my first thought was not, well there go my plans for sitting in London Fields drinking warm white wine out of plastic cups and talking about which party to go to.... no no no, I found myself uttering the immortal words "Well it will be very good for the garden". Dear God save me!

Moving swiftly on. This week has all been about wallpaper, hardly less middle-aged I hear you cry, but not so, my wallpaper inspiration comes from wayyy more cutting edge/ teenage sources.

Stripes - long been a fashion staple but hadn't entered my consciousness for walls, until that is, I found myself wandering round a Jack Wills store in Stratford Upon Avon (so not middle aged!). Entirely unimpressed by the teenage, frat boy clothing (middle aged), I was, however, very impressed by their interiors. An interesting melange of bold colours and styles, modern and vintage (of course) but also pinks next to greens, via blues and purples, stripes next to damasks, with the odd spot in to boot. Somehow it worked, personally I was most taken with the bold coloured striped wallpaper.

This then led me onto stripes more generally, actually it seems, a long time wall classic through the designs of legendary designers such as Sue Timney, love, love, love her simple black and white stripes, bold, classic and contemporary all at once.

I also paid a visit to the uber, uber House Of Hackney, a fantastic new husband and wife interiors design duo. I am not alone in my admiration, they have been all over interiors and main-stream press and rightly so. I visited their brilliant pop up in Dalston a couple of months ago and having decided to plump for their Dalston Rose in my downstairs loo, went to their house/ office/ show-room just off London Fields. A beautiful house, of which the front part acts as a show-room for their designs, the rest is their office and home, taking live-work to the max. All in all very impressive, I was personally most taken with their chosen hue on their exterior render!

I am very excited about the soon to be redecorated WC - floral walls with deep blue wood panelling. It is a tiny room and some schools of thoughts would argue should therefore be kept light and simple to make it seem bigger. I couldn't disagree more. Embrace the smallness, embrace the darkness, and use it's size as an opportunity to make a statement. I predict a dramatic, bold, amusing room which could otherwise be a tiny, nothing space..... we'll see.

Enough of this tittle tattle, back to the important stuff, the tomatoes are doing well, the lettuces at the back thriving, we have 2 little green strawberries and the rhubarb may well need re-housing to a bigger pot... ROCK.... AND.... ROLL!

The Birds And The Bees

The long gap between this post and my last is not entirely due to my slackness, not entirely... it is symptomatic of the length of time it takes to build a garden, however moderately sized, from scratch. Particularly when the building is being done, in the main, by one amateur (occasionally) enthusiast with the odd flurry of help/ hindrance from his better half and her four year old niece.

Still after weeks of proper graft we are moving slowly away from urban wasteland to city retreat, I even saw a real life bee buzzing around today - I kid you not!

As with most things in project squat, our starting point was pretty dire. I don't know how the weeds were managing to grow but they were abundant, what we thought was soil was a combination of razor blades, pegs, hair bobbles, old tiles, bricks and glass - mainly glass. There wasn't a single plant to nurture and the ground was majority poured concrete - if in doubt slap some concrete on it.

We are not there yet but I am in awe and excitement at the progress. We were even able to spend some SERIOUS cash at a garden centre and spend two delightful (for delightful read knackering, no idea how those OAP's do it) days gardening.

Yes we have the floor to lay, yes, yes there is way more planting to be done, of course it still looks like a dumping ground. But in my head I am already out there with my glass of rose in the afternoon sun, the only interruption from my blissful daze, the gentle sway of the grasses and wafts of lavender, with perhaps the odd butterfly fluttering past.

Spring Fever

Spring is well and truly in the air which can only mean one thing, chez squat. Time to tackle the garden. A small attempt was made to tackle the garden last year but somehow in an amongst building a kitchen, bathroom, 3 bedrooms, living room, downstairs loo.... it fell by the way side. Slack!

Such excuses are no longer valid so, it's time to channel our best Percy Thrower and address the wasteland that is our 'garden'. In all honesty I think it has been 1 part lack of time, 3 parts fear that have held us back. Give me a wall to knock down, bathroom to design, builder to manage - pas de problem, give me a daffodil bulb and a bag of soil - stumped. I have been told I bare a passing resemblance to Guardian gardener supremo Alys Fowler, alas I have discovered that titian locks alone do not a gardener make.

In walk wonderful pal Jame to the rescue! James, just so happens to be a landscape architect. In exchange for plying him with booze and the odd Sunday roast we now have a fully fledged garden design. Don't be alarmed, there will be nothing fancy about this garden, our desires are simple, somewhere to sit, maybe throw the odd BBQ for friends, make the most of any sun we do have, somewhere to grow some veg and herbs, and a place to drink a glass of rose on a warm Summer's evening (clearly in my head I in in a garden in Provence not wasteland in Hackney!). The importance of reclamation and a 'lived in' feel remains prominent, James and I are definitely on the same page there.

Big snag with project garden is the necessity for patience, something I have very little of but will require in abundance. Still one step at a time.

Step 1 - The clear out.

Light Up Light Up

I love lights, lights are my thing. It's nothing new, as a child I had those glow in the dark planets on my ceiling, at University parties, whilst my house-mates were busy making the punch I was going from room to room setting the 'lighting concept.' As I got older the planets progressed to lanterns, the ammateur lighting concepts became a professional consideration in my career in events. I truly believe it has the power to set and change a mood. A restaurant can have the finest food in the land but if the their overall hue is a shade too bright, I am interested not. Light a candle, hang a sting of fairy lights, pop a lamp in the corner and for heaven's sakes 'turn the big light off.

It's no surprise that when it came to project squat, the lighting was going to be a big deal. I have scrimped and saved on pretty much every element along the way, but when it came to the lights, I am afraid I just couldn't compromise. I have a fantastic Industrial Czech factory light over the kitchen table, Tom Dixon's in the living room, hector pendants in the hallway and a vintage metal chandelier in the bedroom.

So, it was, when innocently browsing through Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/) I was immediately struck by a truly stunning, bespoke range of lights, vintage inspired, not like anything I had come across and exactly what I had imagined as a feature light for above the stair case. Brilliant!! Ah, one small problem the designer lives in Texas. Hmmmm, well maybe she sells somewhere in the UK..?? Nope. I should have given up there, but oh no, I loved those lights, I wanted those lights, I was going to get me those lights.

So started the most long winded and nerve wracking lighting purchase of my life. We agree the style of light I, I choose my cable colour, bulb tight, metal for the fixtures. We agree a price, a shipment date, I opt for express delivery to be with me before the builders leave in 2 weeks. My fears are raised when the only payment option is over Skype, to the designers teenage daughter! As I hang up the phone I realise, i have just spen hundreds of pounds and there is literally no record of the transaction. Gullable, moi?

The 2 weeks come and go, no lights. I follow up with the seller... she apologises and says she will look into it..a week later still no light, I contact again... no response, a day passes, 2 days, a week. By now the builders have been and gone and I am left with the brutal realisation that I am a fool.

After a month, when all hope is gone, she suddenly returns, with sincere apologies, an explanation of problems in customs and the promise to dispatch a new light immediately. Oh happy day, my faith in human nature returns and my light is on its way. 2 weeks later, nothing. So when all hope is gone, I give up and depart from foreign shores. Of course, the week we arrive in Sri Lanka, the light arrives in England, Heathrow airport to be exact. Stuck in customs and the only way to set it free, a hefty charge! Hell I've paid this much, waited this long, of course I am going to pay up.

A couple of months later, would you adam and eve it, the light is in it's rightful home.. .A satisyingly warm glow which I see first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Was it worth the effort? You know what, I think it was.

The Nylon Curtain

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is the finishing touches that are hard to complete. Give me a few walls to knock down and a new ceiling to put up or a room to paint, 1 weekend - Done. (when I say me, I obviously mean the builders under my management!). Those of you who have followed project squat will know that ALOT has been done in a relatively small time. But, give me a few pictures to hang, some cushions to make and curtain poles to install, 3 months later we're still not much further.

Yes, my 6 day working week leaves little time for the house but I do firmly believe (and regularly remind the boy) that if you really want to do something you will make the time. I think the problem is more that the work is not essential. Having a picture hanging in the hall and nice cushions on the sofa don't dramatically improve the quality of my life... the sense of urgency has gone, I live in fear that it will never come back.

Worry not though progress, slowly, slowly, is being made. We do have some pictures on the walls Try though I might to steer clear of 'the group', I couldn't help myself and there are little ornamental groupings 'spontaneously' popping up all over the shop! We have blinds in the kitchen, and cushions on the window seat and you know what, I take it back, they do improve the quality of my life.

The absolute highlight of this week has been the curtains, the 'junky' chic that has adorned the window since about day 3 has finally been removed and sacrificially burned. In it's place a grand display of Toile De Jouy. It does shrink the room dramatically and will definitely require modern, paired back sofa's and accessories to avoid over 'onate-ness', but right now I am delighted by the general cosiness and actual warmth it brings! Here's to the power of the taditional wadded curtain, I salute you!

Second Time Around

I have long been a fan of the second hand - vintage clothing, recycled paper, eating other people's left-overs, you know... one man's trash and all that. So it was no surprise that I went down the reclamation route with the house. Pretty much every item in this house is a family reject, sourced from Ebay, Preloved, junk shops or an auction (well, except the lights!)

As time has progressed I have begun to wonder why anyone would do it any other way. Why would you buy some flimsy Ikea tat when you could get a beautiful sturdy vintage piece that has stood the test of time. Plus I like that each item brings it's own little history.

Taking this one step further I recently began my first ever restoration project. The item in question a bureau, kindly donated by family. Although I loved the shape, on closer inspection, the wood was, well to be honest a tad cheap looking... handles missing, scratched to death... definitely more shabby than chic.

I am not entirely sure what I am aiming for, possibly distressed, possibly luminous pink gloss, possibly matt black. So far sanding and undercoat is complete. Watch this space.

Happy Birthday To Ya!

Today is an auspicious day, it is the squat's first birthday!

That dark and teary day in 2010 when we got the keys and wondered what the hell we had done seems like a long time ago. It hasn't been easy, as regular readers will be very well aware, there is still a long way to go (carpets and garden seem like a life-time away), but it's been an interesting journey and overall I feel rather proud of what we have achieved.

So in shock departure from my natural negative slant, I thought I would take this chance to focus on the positives with a little look at some before and afters...