I love Then and Now clothes. There is so much choice. I'm a black addict and I chose items that I felt would be chic and sleek. I loved the top and trousers particularly.

I would wear this out for a formal lunch with friends or on business.

Spare Bedroom - an interior disaster!

I've been trying to make sense of life after the sudden death of my mum a few weeks back. My priorities and perspectives are changing. I want to improve my life and make it more pleasurable and positive... life is, as they say, for living. I've been living to work, rather than the opposite, as a result our home and garden have been sorely neglected. I want to change this, to make our home the warm centre we come back to. To do this will entail finally doing the decorating we intended to, but haven't managed, since moving here 3 years ago. The previous owners last decorated sometime in the '70's...are you starting to get the picture?

Our home is something of a time capsule at the moment. Let me tell you, for example, about our spare bedroom. It would have been fashionable 40 years ago with its mustard coloured walls, built in midi-bed with storage cupboards under, fitted desk with wood-effect formica top and chocolate brown drawers.The previous owners kindly left us the original brown floral curtains and eye-catching orange swirly pattered carpet (it's really not the best room to have a hangover in, that's for sure). Like I said...it's no oil painting.

It is in dire need of a facelift! I want to create is a dual function bedroom-come-study, that looks beautiful and functions cleverly. A starting point for our aspirations and somewhere I can feel that we really have made a start on moving life forward.  With this in mind, I starting looking for ideas online and I discovered a competition to win a real wood floor at 1926 Trading Co. Ltd's "50 shades of Beige" blogger competition. While I've never really entered competitions before, I decided to give it a go. A beautiful new floor would certainly give us the necessary impetus to make further steps in realising our ideas. My mission was clear.
1. Create a blog page.
2. Describe my 'interior disaster' and hope elicit the sympathy of the judges

3. Worry that I've not done enough to stand a chance, so:
     Write a little poem as back up in case blog is too boring, here goes:

To improve my home is a decision

That so far I have not achieved.

So I've entered my first competition

To win flooring that makes me "weak-kneed".

To enhance my spare bedroom's decor

I decided to start at the floor.

1926 Trading Co.

Is the best place to go

For beautiful wood I'll adore.

I'm tired of formica and swirly old carpet

My spare room is far from first rate.

So I beg you, PLEASE send me a real oak wood floor

And bring it - at last - up to date.

All I can do now is wait and hope...and dream of a beautiful new floor...