The speed at which this regular weekly feature comes around is a little bit terrifying for me. I literally feel like I blinked and went from being 12 weeks pregnant and announcing our impending arrival, to suddenly being here – 31 weeks and with birth just around the corner! Anyone else feel their pregnancy going scarily fast?

The last week has been mainly about getting organised. It’s like a switch has been flipped and, as soon as the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine broke up for summer, I went into overdrive to start getting things done.

I (finally) washed the moses basket retrieved from the loft a while ago. It’s now all gleaming and clean, and the white lining is sparkling rather than slightly yellowing. This pleases me – you’ve got to take the small pleasures where you can when wine and your favourite cheese are off the menu.

We also made some proper decisions about the baby’s bedroom. After umming and ahing whether to do a feature wall in wallpaper we’ve opted for a cheaper scenario, with mint coloured paint on that wall and some beautiful wall decals from the Mamas and Papas Patternology range. I can’t wait to get it done and blog about our mint, yellow and grey nursery.

I’ve also nearly finished upcycling my grandmother’s old rocking chair, to give it a new lease of life as my nursing chair. Good old Annie Sloan chalk paint.

I’m well and, apart from feeling a bit uncomfortable at night as I struggle to sleep on my left side (I’ve always been a tummy sleeper!), I have nothing to complain about. The cankles and puffy feet are still here and I’ve just accepted they’re probably not going anywhere until after this baby is born. Hey ho.

The baby continues to wriggle and have regular parties in my belly – I even managed to film a bit of kicking action and share it on Instagram the other day! I do find this part of pregnancy pretty amazing. As much as it freaks the husband out – “It’s like an ALIEN! In your BELLY!” – I think it’s incredible to think there’s a little person in there kicking about, getting hiccups, wriggling and moving.

We’re off on holiday on Saturday for a week in Cornwall and I’m looking forward to some family time and a bit of a rest. Being at home is just a constant reminder of what I need to get done and I’m still juggling lots of work deadlines, which sometimes makes me frustrated I can’t cut myself in two and get double the amount of things finished!

Link Up!

Have you had a good week? Anyone else getting the baby’s room ready? Or perhaps you’re in the hospital bag packing stage? Or still eating biscuits, enjoying the fact you’ve got aaaaages left…

Last week we had a brand new #BlogBumpClub blogger join in – go and say hello to Kelly at Scissor Paper Rock and leave a reassuring comment on her post “27 reasons why I’m too immature to have a baby“!

To link up couldn’t be easier – just leave a link to your latest pregnancy post here and don’t forget to display the badge below on your own blog so other pregnant bloggers can find out about us.

If you want to join in the chat on Twitter then just tweet with the hashtag #BlogBumpClub – and if you tweet me a link to your post I’ll be sure to RT it for you. I’m @mollyjforbes on Twitter.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.mothersalwaysright.com" title="Mother's Always Right"><img src="http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag347/MollyFrog/BumpClubBadge_zpsb6813239.jpg" alt="Mother's Always Right" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The post Blogger Bump Club Week 12 #BlogBumpClub appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

This is the first time in forever we’ve had a room that we can say, hand on heart, is completely “ours”.

Before moving into this house we’d always lived in rented places – a flat, then a cottage, then a little house while we went through the process of buying where we are now. Our rooms were filled with second-hand furniture given to us by kind relatives, because all our money went on saving for a huge mortgage deposit.

Our homes were loved and comfortable but not necessarily entirely of our own choosing. We couldn’t paint the walls or look for beautiful furniture to upcycle, because we didn’t know where we were going to end up and didn’t own the houses we lived in. If we ended up in a tent somewhere, that huge sofa purchase would have seemed like a hasty purchase, you know? 

This May half term that all changed. We’ve only lived in this house since December but we’ve been keen to crack on with a few projects to make the place feel properly ours. Over Easter we did up the hallway, stairs and landing. And over half-term, we set to work on the living room. Here’s the result:

The sideboard is my favourite part of the room. It’s special, not just because it’s an original 1960s Danish teak number (as a fan of mid-century furniture this excites me – don’t judge), but because it used to be my late grandmother’s. Nana had style.

Whenever I look at it I smile. I can clearly picture Nana standing next to it at a typical family buffet, passing pieces of huge cake or scones around and piling more Lancashire lemon fingers onto platters on top of the sideboard. She’d find it funny that her sideboard was now in vogue, with similar models fetching hundreds of pounds at auction. And I hope she’d like that I love it and have displayed it pride of place in my living room.

On top of the shelf we’ve got a giant wooden lightbulb lamp from Urban Outfitters, one of my grandma’s blue glass vases (bought on a holiday to Venice), a piece of pottery from the House of Marbles near where we live in Devon, a retro style vase from a German pottery maker bought from eBay, and a retro style orange phone by Wild and Wolf.

A huge Picasso print bought for me by my parents on my 21st birthday sits above the sideboard. After four years of getting used to it my child has finally stopped pointing out the fact the woman in the painting has her “boobies” on show.

This would be the perfect opportunity to take part in the brilliant “shelfie” competition over at Tots100, where you can win up to £500 in High Street vouchers. It’s a well-known fact that, unlike the “selfie”, it’s impossible to take a “shelfie” showing an unwanted double chin. Plus, you don’t need to bother about holding your stomach in either. I call that a win.

Sadly (cue the violins) I can’t win the competition because I edit the site, but that doesn’t mean I have to miss out on the shelfie craze. So here you go.

Elsewhere in the room, we repainted the dark and dreary beige colour on the fireplace wall in a bright summery yellow. It immediately opened up the room and made it feel much brighter. We call it our Happy Yellow Wall.

The monochrome rug and sofa are both from IKEA and the black and white chevron cushion and mint geometric cushion are from sellers on eBay. The coffee table was a present from the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine’s parents at a vintage market we visited a couple of years ago. I painted it in Annie Sloan, mixing Florence with Pure White to create a bright minty turquoise shade.

Yet again, I’m reminded how much of an impact your surroundings can have on your mood (well, mine at least). I’ve had a pretty crappy day, but I’m happy as I sit on this new comfy sofa, typing on my laptop, with the bright yellow wall and “boobies out” Picasso woman next to me. Never underestimate the power of a cushion, a sideboard and a lick of bright paint.

Don’t forget – you can take part in the Tots100 shelfie competition on your own blog. Hurry though, the closing date is the 6th June!

The post The living room revamp and a sneak at my shelfie appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

I’m going to admit something here: I love a good nosey around other people’s spaces.

It’s true. That picture you put on Instagram? Secretly I’m peaking past the foreground of your photo, trying to work out what design your wallpaper is and if that table is an Annie Sloan upcycle number. Sorry.

I put it largely down to my interiors obsession of late. I say “of late”, I mean “of the past two years”.

Ever since we decided to save up to buy our own place I’ve had big plans. They mainly involve pinning ideas on Pinterest, reading interiors magazines and blogs and deciding which trends I like (chevron – tick) and which will be a passing craze not worth bothering about (clashing florals – bleurgh).

I’m also a fan of thrift. If you can upcycle it, do it, that’s what I say. This is why much of the furniture in my home is re-painted or re-purposed. It’s not just because it’s cheaper this way, but because I genuinely prefer older, unique and original pieces to the mass-produced stuff. (Unless it’s a Scandinavian brand, in which case I am a complete sucker for the new.)

Our kitchen is not the best room in the house. Although it has a lovely large interior window on one wall which lets lots of light in, the view outside the proper window is onto a yard area where our neighbours keep their recycling. Pretty.

The kitchen cabinets could do with being replaced at some point, along with the vinyl floor. But we have plenty of storage (a larder! An actual larder!) and it could be a lot, lot worse.

We have space to keep our upcycled crate shoe rack which cost the princely sum of… zero pounds. This was one of those ideas the (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine wasn’t *totally* on board with when I came up with the suggestion. He’s grown to love it now though. Or, at least, he doesn’t make scathing comments about it any more.

We’re starting to collect a range of retro style items that my husband finds amusing (“You’re not living in the 1950s!”) and I find pretty (“I don’t care – it looks good!”), including this beautiful set of scales from Dot Com Gift Shop, sent to us for review.

I love this type of old-school look in the kitchen and it ties in with some of the retro style furniture and bits and bobs we have dotted around the rest of the house…

FYI – husband’s response to this cool retro style orange phone was not a positive one. “Why can’t we have a cordless phone! It’s not 1972!”.

I think he secretly loves it though.

***
Thank you to Dot Com Gift Shop for sending the kitchen scales featured in this post. 

The post The corners of my kitchen appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

First on the list is a new sofa for the living room. I love the mixture of old and new in a room, with vintage or pre-loved pieces alongside newer furniture. This suits my limited budget too, which is handy. I’ve got my eye on a grey or charcoal sofa to go with a new black and white striped rug, which would look lovely against my grandma’s old Danish teak sideboard. A recent trip to the home department at John Lewis has had me salivating over much of their furniture. The Barbican Sofa in Charcoal is my absolute favourite…

Next up, I’m upcycling a cute wardrobe I discovered by the side of the road. Frog has never had a wardrobe before because the cottage we used to rent had an alcove for clothes in her bedroom. I spent ages searching online and in second hand shops for one. I wanted a hint of retro but the potential to give it a unique look that would suit her vintage-inspired room. I couldn’t find one anywhere, but then discovered this beauty abandoned on the pavement. A knock on a random door later and it was mine.

I recently went on an Annie Sloan workshop (amazing – thoroughly recommend it, even though I was the youngest by a good ten years) and learned some new techniques for how to use chalk paint. While there I bought a pot of Emperor’s Silk to paint the wardrobe. There are also some pretty retro style handles on order to complete the look.

We’re lucky in that our bathroom is pretty big, but it lacks a shower, so that’s a project for the Easter holidays. We’ve also planned to rip up the slightly tatty carpet in the hallway and on the stairs and sand down the floorboards, before putting a runner on the stairs.

Of course all this planning has led me to become a tad interiors obsessed. I’ve been working on the interiors pages for a magazine recently, so I’ve partly managed to blame my obsession on work, but to be honest, I’d be browsing blogs and magazines and websites even if it weren’t for the day job.

One of my favourite interiors blogs is the brilliantly fun Bright Bazaar. Packed full of colour, pattern and bright sparkly things, there’s a definite hint of the Bright Bazaar in our bedroom with the pop of colour from the cushions and throw. The Annie Sloan’s going to make an appearance again as I paint some mini drawers and the frame of a mirror (I think I’m addicted to chalk paint) to add a bit more colour.

Finally, I’m searching for a desk to put in our office space at the back of the house. The (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine has attempted to commandeer the room but I’m biding my time while I find a little desk perfect for a laptop, a framed photo and a vase of daffodils. In the meantime, I’ll let him think it’s going to be his very own computer game den for a bit longer.

Have you got any DIY projects on the go at the moment? Any great sources of inspiration to recommend?

**

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. For more information please see my disclosure page. 

The post On becoming obsessed with interiors appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

Although we loved the village and the cosy cottage we lived in for three years in Berkshire, by the time we left we were ready to move. It had become too small, cramped, the low ceilings a constant source of irritation for my 6’5″ tall husband.

I realise how privileged that makes me sound – we were lucky to have a roof over our heads while others don’t even have that luxury – but still, falling over toys, being cold because there was no central heating, dealing with a recurring rat problem, all these things got me down after a while. Not to mention the fact that the house wasn’t ours, so we never felt able to put down secure roots in the village. I couldn’t imagine my toddler at the local school because I didn’t know where we’d be in the next six months let alone 2 years.

Cut to the summer and we moved to a temporary rented house in a lovely town on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon. The town was great, the house was not. With barely any floor space downstairs, steep steps to get to it (not ideal when you have a hypermobile child who still needs a buggy) and damp, we were relieved it wasn’t a long term home. We took it because it was literally the only house available on a six month lease within budget, in a 20 mile radius. Rentals in Devon are slower than Berkshire – it seems all the nice places are used for holiday lets round here.

Anyway, here we are. In our proper home. I say “proper” because this is the first place we’ve ever lived as a family that we’ve been able to make plans in. The long slog of saving for a mortgage deposit was more than worth the wait. Those endless hours of working and working and working some more paid their way.

It feels impossible to be grumpy in this house, and believe me I’ve tried. Despite a stinking cold and chesty cough, the odd huge tantrum from my threenager and a traumatic incident involving a brown mark on the sofa, I’ve felt genuinely calm and content for the first time in AGES. Even my stern Northern husband has returned from a tough day’s teaching with a big grin on his face. We have space, walls that are our own to do what we like with, plans for the future and inspiration for home projects.

That panicky feeling I used to get when I’d look six months into the future has gone. I regularly find myself smiling for no good reason, which would probably look a little weird to an onlooker.

I won’t waffle any more, I’ll just share some snaps of our new place. They’re all Instagram pics, so apologies if they’re not straight out of the pages of a glossy interiors magazine. In the interests of keeping it real, I’d also like to point your attention to the tin of Asda Smart Price chopped tomatoes on the kitchen work top.

Frog’s room:

We have lots of ideas for Frog’s room, including a proper story corner with a home-made tree shaped bookcase. Pinterest is my best friend at the moment. But, for now, my favourite thing about her room is the fireplace.

She also has a pretty view…

I’m pleased with the upcycle job I did on her shabby chest of drawers too.

Our room is just as airy, but with a calmer feel from the (again, upcycled) furniture. We need a new bed, but that will have to wait for now. If we ever do buy a new bed then the rules around jumping on it will have to change…

My favourite room in the house is the family / dining room. High ceilings, an open plan feel with the interior wall knocked through to the living room and a cosy log burner. I love it.

You can see into the dining room and living room beyond from the kitchen, as it has a big inside window cut into the interior wall. Handy for spying on children while cooking tea…

We haven’t spent much time in the garden due to the weather…

Once the endless rain stops I’m looking forward to getting out there and learning about a bit of gardening. We have a big vegetable patch at the very end of the garden and I’m determined to attempt to grow some veg (“attempt” being the key word here).

I wander around the house and see things I want to do: paint a few walls, bring up the carpet and sand the floorboards in the hallway, put insulation and a carpet in the sunroom to make it a cosier office space, create a reading nook at the top of the stairs… but these are all things that we can take our time over.

We’re going to be here a while. *Happy face*

(By the way, if you’re at all interested in interiors and pretty things, then I’ve got another blog – Play Love Grow – where I’m blogging about upcycle projects, homeware finds and my ongoing love of cushions.)

The post Worth the wait appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

A couple of months ago I invested in a new floor lamp. The day it was delivered, two other lamps in the room promptly broke. With much of our stuff still in storage since our move to South Devon a few months ago, I couldn’t find one of the hundreds of strings of fairy lights I know we own. So, we are currently flitting between hospital-like bright lights and sheer darkness. 

We are hoping against hope to move house very soon. I have everything crossed that it will happen before Christmas (it’s making walking tricky, I can tell you). Every spare second I have seems to be spent scouring Pinterest and the vast hallways of the internet, looking for homey stuff. Lights are top of my list – there’s only so long I can put up with a lack of cosy lighting.

In my quest for attractive lights (and I use the word “quest” in all seriousness – it has become a Very Important mission) I stumbled across these examples of wall lighting that made me go all dreamy. Tragic, I know, but I can’t help myself.

Anglepoise Wall Light, Daffodil, £93.

Hector Bibendum Wall Light and Plug, £129.

Anglepoise Wall Light, Blue, £93.

In my head, I am picturing a white room with bright splashes of colour in the form of these lamps, coupled with throws and cushions and rugs. I am ignoring the inevitable mess from toys, discarded socks (they get everywhere in our house) and half-read newspapers.

Of course, also in my head, the room is also lit by the soft glow of a Christmas tree with gently twinkling (white) fairy lights. Because, in my head, we will be in the new house before Christmas. My head is a very optimistic place at the moment.

What were the first things you bought when you moved into your home?

Disclosure: This is a commissioned post. Please see my disclosure page for more information. 

The post Escaping the darkness appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

My three year old’s bedroom has never had a “theme”. But, as we start to look for somewhere more permanent to live, I’ve become a bit obsessed with planning her new bedroom. And it’s all going to start with this piece of beautiful personalised button art from Ella and Oscar.

Arriving in a lovely plain white chunky frame, the letter “F” is made up of gorgeously bright buttons which look stylish and fun. I love the clean white background against the buttons – and Frog loves that she recognises her favourite letter every day when she wakes up. 

From her baby years right up until this July, Frog’s had the same bedroom in our former rented cottage. We didn’t own the house, so we couldn’t paint the walls or change the carpets. Plus, we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl, so all the soft furnishings were in neutral colours.

We picked candy-coloured soft stripes from Laura Ashley as curtain fabric, and a fluffy Ikea sheepskin rug along with cushions and an upcycled crib to make the room less bland. The rocking horse was rescued from a local tip by my parents, who lovingly made him like new again.

I think she’s outgrown the soft tones and baby look of the room – plus she desperately needs a new bed very soon. I’m not a fan of cheesy themes or cartoon characters on the walls, but I think this button art adds a sense of bright fun without a hint of the tacky.

I can’t wait to see it in Frog’s brand new room once we move (again) – wherever that may be!

***

The art featured in this post can be bought from Ella and Oscar for £29.99. I was given a sample product for the purpose of this review. 

The post A bit of cute – personalised art for Frog’s room appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

Anyway, recently my eye has been drawn to all brands interior. I am lusting (I hate myself for saying I’m lusting over a candle, but it’s true) over cushions and candles, jars and jugs. I can’t help it. It’s the house moving / buying / settling thing.

Like lots of other families, we’re constantly looking for ways to save money. I actually prefer upcycled furniture in the main, so I’m happy to buy second hand and this is a decision I make regardless of money. But when it comes to candles and pretty things, I don’t mind splashing out a bit to finish a room off.

Here are the latest things I’ve been after, depending on my mood.

Every item on this board costs £30 or under. Bargain. And they’ll all add a touch of character to a room, alongside the bits of furniture we already own.

Which is your favourite?

***

As an ambassador for Shopcade, I get reimbursed for sharing the love on this blog. So this is being marked as a commissioned post. 

The post Pretty stuff for our home for under £30 appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

I like nothing more than a pretty cushion and cosy throw, much to the dismay of my textiles-hating husband. The (self-proclaimed) Northern Love Machine is excited by technology and…. yeah, mainly technology.

If he could invest all our cash on a funky home entertainment system he would. In fact, if it was up to him, we’d probably sleep on the bare floor in an empty room, cuddled up to a pair of massive speakers.

Because he has absolutely zero interest in a toothbrush holder made from an empty jamjar and a funky retro-inspired orange phone, I thought I’d share them with you lot. If you are a cushion hater, move along now. There’s nothing to see here…

The post Scenes from home appeared first on Mother's Always Right.

As ever, Shopcade has been useful. If you haven’t come across this site yet do take a look. It’s like a cross between Amazon and Pinterest, in that you can easily browse through pretty much any category of shopping product you want (fashion, interiors, gadgets, books etc), but it’s social, meaning you pick up points as people “follow” the lists of wish items you create, which lead to free stuff. Genius really.

Obviously we don’t want to spend a fortune, so I’m keeping any purchases to around the £15 – £25 mark, unless it’s for something I know we’ll want to have for a while (a new bed, for example). So, here are some of the ways I’m planning to make our rented house a home, without knocking anything down or painting any walls.

Wall stickers and prints are a quick and easy way to add colour to a bland magnolia wall, and they also mean you don’t need to hammer hooks into the wall to hand blackboards or signs.

Accessories like letters, fun noticeboards and clips help add your own unique style to a property that’s been decorated with a faceless tenant in mind. And glassware gives you another opportunity to make the most of the light coming in through windows (it’ll reflect off the glass and make pretty patterns on the walls) to stamp your own taste onto a room without painting it.

It goes without saying, cushions, rugs and throws are another staple of choice when it comes to putting a mark on a house and making it feel like your own.

Have you got any other tips to ahare? Now’s the time to tell me – we haven’t actually moved in yet!

***

Disclosure: As a Shopcade ambassador, I get sent monthly goodies for flying the flag for the site. For more information please see my disclosure page.

The post How to make a rented a house a home appeared first on Mother's Always Right.