Monday 30 March 2015

Pinspiration - Fireplace Styling


 The living room in my new flat is a Pinterest addict’s dream. It has stained wooden floors, big white bay windows, high ceilings, original ornate coving and a gorgeous white fireplace. Last week our sofas and side tables finally arrived so the room is feeling a bit more put together and I’m really feeling as though it’s starting to take shape. We’ve stuck to a grey, blue and white colour scheme to keep the room looking clean and simple but homely. As much as I love Scandinavian design I think there’s always the risk that the room will feel a bit cold and clinical so this is something that I’ve been very aware of when I’m been trying to find inspiration on Pinterest(you can see my last living room post here).

Now the fireplace was always a feature I knew I would have fun styling. My dad and boyfriend spent last weekend hanging up a massive mirror. I have a serious thing about mirrors - I think they make a room look so much brighter. I bought a couple of cream hurricane candle holders in the Laura Ashely sale a couple of months ago and I’ve got a few Jo Malone candles waiting to be used from my Estee Lauder days (God I miss that discount). As always, I’ve been using Pinterest for inspiration and I definitely think I need something to vary the height a little bit. I’ve been toying with the idea of a white mantle clock – I’ve seen this one from Matalan. Although I love the cluttered look on Pinterest I don’t think it’s something that would work for me – I like to clean too much – so I’m going to have to play about with the fireplace to get the right balance.


What do you think? Any advice for styling a fireplace?

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Budapest


A couple of weeks ago my boyfriend and I went on a little city break to Budapest. In all honesty Budapest was pretty a random decision, I wanted to go somewhere a bit different and after looking through some travel blogs I seen this review for The Corinthia Hotel in Budapest and basically seen all the heart eye emojis. The hotel was absolutely stunning, such a great central location and great value - you'd pay at least double for a hotel of that standard in most other places in Europe. Arnold Schwarzenegger was staying there the last night we were there too!



Budapest itself is absolutely stunning - it's like something from a Disney film. And SO CHEAP! The first night we walked up to Heroes Square, where we found an ice rink overlooking Vajdahunyad Castle and a market.







Here I am loving life with langos - fried dough, sour cream and cheese. Do I even need to say anything else?





We went on a Hop On Hop Off bus tour, the ticket was valid for 2 days and great value, it was something like £12 each. We did find the times a bit limiting as they stopped about 3pm - we arrived a week before they changed to the summer schedule! Fisherman Bastion was on all of the "must see" guides and I certainly understand why. You can see great views of Pest, the bridges and the parliament building.

The Budapest Parliament building makes the houses of Parliament in London look cheap. No joke. We went on a tour inside which although it was beautiful, was a little disappointing, we waited for an hour and a half because you could only go in as part of a guided tour and then it only lasted half an hour. Definitely worth a visit but check times - I was a bit apprehensive about booking tickets online (the site didn't look the most legitimate) but if I could do it over I would.




I also pre booked a candle lit dinner on the Danube which was fantastic - the food was actually really good and seeing everything lit up at night was stunning. And beer was like £1. 



Moral of the story - visit Budapest.