Hello sunshine

I may be speaking to soon (it'll probably lash rain the very second I finish this sentence) but I do believe that spring is here, and we may even be getting a peek at summer. Since my back-garden-to-be is currently covered in a load of briars and other types of messy overgrowth, I am at the stage where I can fantasise about how amazing I'll make it look when I get to work on it. As reality isn't an issue just yet, I have been dreaming up all sorts of looks for it. Check out the lovely new outdoor space at Montana in Sandyford, they have lots of outdoor furniture. I love this Sengo range, which was apparently the best selling outdoor furniture range in the Conran Shop last year. You can also get them in orange, yellow and bright blue. Tables start at €199 and chairs cost €129. 

Bloom escapades

I went to Bloom in the Phoenix Park yesterday with my big bro and my nephew, and it was such a lovely way to spend a gloriously sunny bank holiday Monday. I found it really inspirational, and it gave my lots of ideas for my garden, both front and back, that I can try out once I've slashed through the current thicket. These trees were pricey, but once I've finally paid for all of the ever-so-slightly more essential stuff, maybe I can treat myself to one. I think it always looks really homely to have a tree either side of your front door, and this olive tree (top pic), or the kumquat (second pic) would be a gorgeous sight to come home to. The lemon tree (bottom) could really flourish out the back, and would look really dramatic against a black painted wall. But before I do a thing I must consult with my dad, who is an amazing gardener and will be able to help me choose what is suitable for where - and then show me how to not kill everything that I plant! In the end I picked up a beautiful hydrangea for a mere €10 - when we were on our way out at about half past five everyone was selling off their plants and flowers, so we went home with a car full of beautiful blooms.

Bites of the big apple

I'm very excited about my trip to New York for many reasons. One of these reasons is that I'll be picking up my For Like Ever print, which I had sent to my brother's house (it cost $40 less than having it delivered here). I know that they're So Like Everywhere, but I don't care - I've been wanting one for ages. I'm also itching to check out the new Orla Kiely range for Target. I know that OK is also So Like Everywhere, but again I don't care. I can barely contain myself, in fact, as she has such lovely offerings as kitchen hooks and floor cushions. And even magazine files, which may actually satisfy my eternal quest to find something pretty to hold my endless stacks of mags. The only thing I need to think about now is how on earth I'm going to fit any of this into my suitcase. 

Fighting. The. Urge.

Aaaaaaaagh. Want. Must not buy. New print from the Keep Calm Gallery, called Love & Ghosts by Rachel E Foster. A limited edition of 25 for £25 each. Sigh. It would just add to 1) my credit card bill and 2) the other prints in tubes waiting to be framed. I think there's something in my new Martha Stewart Crafts Encyclopedia about DIY framing though, so maybe I'll swot up on that.

Phew

 I had a bit of time to kill in town on Saturday, so I thought I'd take a wander around one of my favourite shops, Potrero Hill in the Westbury Mall, between Grafton Street and Dawson Street. I got a bit of a shock as I walked towards it and saw that the shop was in darkness and there was a note on the window. That tends to mean only one thing these days, but when I actually read the note I was very relieved to see that they have just moved to a different unit, number one, where Meg boutique used to be. It's a pricey wee spot, but for extra-special treats you can't beat it. Last year I had decided that I was going to buy myself the Normann Copenhagen Norm06 lightshade for my bedroom, which had been wincing in the glare of an ugly naked bulb while I made up my mind. I was going to buy it online, and then I figured why on earth would I do that when I could support a lovely local shop, where it didn't cost any more? I got it in PH for €55, which I personally think is not a particularly hefty price tag for a modern design classic. It did, admittedly, take me about two hours to put together, but that makes it an all the more satisfying item to have hanging in my home. Apart from products by NC, they also sell ceramics by Danish designer Anne Black, the most delicious towels and some beautiful stationery by the likes of Snow & Graham - among many other brands and products. This is alongside some very beautiful clothes - think soft, luxurious basics in earthy neutrals - but I have a tendency to ignore clothes these days and zoom in on homewares. 

The sound of manic laughter...

...as I survey the condition of my, eh, new home. It looks neither new nor homely, but technically that, in fact, is what it is.

This is the front room. Those two pole thingies to the left have been there since the builder came to put in the doors. People keep on asking me what they are for and then looking up at the ceiling. I am slightly terrified at the prospect that they might be holding the roof up and so I haven't actually asked. That doesn't stop my nephews from swinging out of them though.

These are the new doors linking the front room and main living room - not the best depiction, admittedly, but the difference that they have made to the space is unbelievable, when they are open the whole area is just so bright and airy. They have changed the nature of the front room though - it's not going to be a suitable telly-watching space, so I think that it'll have a piano at one end and then a desk at the other side, and room to work on sewing projects.

This is where the cylinder used to be. Yes, that's right - in the middle of the living room. 'Nough said.

And this is where the cylinder now is, in a far more sensible position- that nutty little nook to the left of the kitchen - going to block it up with a wall there, to make the kitchen vaguely more practical, and then create access to the cylinder from the living room.

My magnificent new gas boiler, super duper highly efficient apparently. And also kinda huge - there goes another cupboard, doh!!!

What do you meeeeeeean what is this - it's the kitchen, of course!!! Seriously, no I don't really know where everything is going to fit in either. Well, I do, but I don't know how I'm going to fit in once everything else has fit in. There's no room for the washing machine but my genius dad suggested building a small shed for it out the back, so that's the plan.

The living room is not so comfy for vegging out in any more, unfortunately.

My dad came one day and chopped his way through the jungle, I'm just waiting until I get around to ordering a skip to chuck it all in there and set about planning the garden. I'll need a serious fence to cover up my neighbours' yuckky wall on one side and nasty fence on the other side. Ugh. I've been buying plants, I can't wait to get cracking, I don't know how much longer my lovely Hydrangea can hold out. Also - I love that Tiger Lily, but I heard that they kill cats!!! So maybe that one needs a rethink...

You thought the kitchen was amusing? This is the bathroom. Hi-la-ri-ous. It actually looks SMALLER without anything in it - how did they get a bath in there?!!!

This is apparently how radiators are born. I'm fascinated in a nerdy way, the pipes go up the wall downstairs. I'm guessing that this is more obvious to others, I just hadn't given it much thought prior to this.

And in case you were wondering where it had all gotten to, here is the debris from my house - out the front, of course, where else. I'm thinking about creating an art installation, Tracey Emin-style. So save this pic...it could be worth a fortune if I end up winning the Turner prize!!! This is the sight that greets me when I come home every evening - clearly I have been working on my visualisation skills, so - you see insane mound of bathroom sanitaryware and 60s lino, I see pretty front garden bursting with colourful shrubs and flowers; you see bizzarely laid out little room with enormous gas boiler on wall, I see compact kitchen with stainless steel cabinets, concrete worktop, pretty tiled splashback and the aroma of a tasty dinner in the making; you see impossibly small space with missing floorboards and more pipes than you care to count, I see tiled oasis in the style of a boutique hotel in the Mediterranean, etc etc.

Masterchef

I was watching Masterchef last night and was suitably humbled by these so-called 'amateurs' cooking in Michelin star restaurants. As I sat there eating my own effort, the salmon red curry I had lovingly prepared paled ever-so-slightly in comparison to these dainty food sculptures that were being carefully assembly with the dexterity and precision of a heart surgeon. Anyhow, the winner (Matt the IT guy) cooked the winning meal using wild ingredients, like rabbit, spider crabs, sea vegetables (which is a posh and in fairness more appetising euphemism for seaweed) and lavender. Very in keeping with these frugal times - get out there and get foraging!!!...

Foraging might be a bit of a stretch for most of us though - I was impressed, but I won't be out this weekend trawling ditches for random things to put in a stew. So - maybe going down the hearty, rustic route is a more fitting compromise. My brother very kindly got me a subscription to the new Jamie Oliver magazine for Christmas, and I was delighted to come home on Monday and see it waiting for me. It's absolutely chock-a-block with recipes, and he also has this pull-out menu for your two months-type thingy, where he basically highlights how easy peasy it can be to throw together a tasty meal by summing it up in a few lines - accompanied by an enticing photo for added incentive. He mentioned his Ribollita, a Tuscan vegetable soup, which is also in Jamie's Italy, so I rooted it out and cooked it last night. It's inexpensive, low calorie and extremely tasty - give it a go:

Soak about 310g cannellini beans overnight. Cook them for about an hour with a bay leaf, a peeled potato and a squashed tomato. When they're nice and soft, strain them, remove the tomato, bay leaf and potato and keep the cooking water. Put some olive oil in a large pot and cook two celery sticks, two red onions, two carrots and two cloves of garlic (all finely chopped), along with a pinch of ground fennel seeds and a pinch of dried red chilli, auntil they're soft - bout 15 minutes. Pop in a tin of chopped tomatoes and bring it all up to a simmer. Put in your beans, along with some of the water that they were cooked in and bring it back to the boil. Stir in 310g cavolo nero (this is an Italian cabbage, hard to find so I used curly kale instead) and soften two handfuls of bread, torn into chunks, in the bean cooking water, and add as much water as you need to create a nice thick consistency. Cook it for about 30 minutes, then stir in a glug of olive oil and season.

The eyes of a magpie and the wallet of a pauper

Seriously, I think that the gods of tastes and preferences are continuously playing cruel tricks on me - why can I never ever ever go for the cheap option?! Why oh why I am always drawn to lovely lovely things? Things that cost money?! Now - in fairness to me, I have been going for sales stuff lately. I even decided against the fancy column radiators and opted for normal, inexpensive ones (thank god for a sensible plumber is all I have to say). I was in Retrospect at lunchtime and my greedy little eyes were zoning in on their fab lighting - BUT it is all on sale at 10% off. So...well...I could potentially persuade myself into buying something on the basis that technically I'm saving money, blah de blah. Oh dear, I'm beginning to sound like one of those nutty eejits who spends a grand on a handbag and calls it 'an investment'. Anyhow, since I have been chatting to the electrician of late I have been giving thought to lighting. The 1930s Spanish pendant light (€195), above, would be perfect for my hallway; because it's a long and narrow hallway, I am going to keep it as bare as possible, but I don't want it to be completely without personality, so I've been looking for a pendant light that will add interest without looking insanely huge and I think that this is it - detailed and beautiful in an extremely refined and simple way. Then I spotted these Louis Poulsen pendants (€75 each) , below, that would look nothing short of completely perfect hanging over the dining table. Hmmm. It is payday tomorrow...oh listen to the excuses that I'm making to myself!!!

Is anyone else in the mood...

...for a snooze? It must be the pics of these extremely inviting bedrooms by Finnish company Woodnotes that is making me sleepy...mmmmm...zzzzz...

Coppinger Show

Oh I love checking out new places to eat, and having lunch is always an inexpensive way to try somewhere out. I felt justified in treating myself to a nice lunch since we've just wrapped up work on the September/October issue of House and Home. I've been passing a spot on Coppinger Row (just beside the side entrance to the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre) for a little while that has had intriguing-looking work going on in there for a while. When I was in first year in college I worked in Karen Millen and there was a lovely place there called the Blue Room, they did great soup. Anyhow, this restaurant has finally opened; it's apparently owned by the same guys who run the South William bar on South William Street, and they have gone for a similar tactic in coming up with a name - it's called (drumroll) Coppinger Row. And it's pretty cool - I love the interior, and my friend Niamh politely pretended not to be embarrassed while I wandered around taking photos. Unfortunately I took them after drinking a lot of very strong coffee so they're kinda blurry...so I guess you'll just have to go along in person to check it out yourself!

Not that you can really tell from this pic but the ceiling is painted black, and the lighting throughout has a very cool industrial look. Lovely grey walls as well.

ex: ox2.org Now, I really really really want lights like these in the above two pics for task lighting in my kitchen - anyone have any ideas as to where I might get some?...

I fell in love with this cabinet thingy - if I had been concentrating a little harder instead of stuffing my face with food - highly recommend the cod by the way - I might have stopped to asked who is responsible for the design and furnishings - so much for fish being good for your brain, eh!

Oh Ikea, how do I love thee?...

...let me count the ways! How can you not love Ikea? Though we may aspire to grand designs for our home furnishings, fantasy and reality do not always collide in this respect. For those of us who may not have big budgets, but still have an appreciation for aesthetics, Ikea is a keenly-priced style saviour, again and again. The latest, much-anticipated PS range has not failed to live up to expectations. The pieces have a lovely soft Scandi look, and the only thing you'll dislike about it is having to choose between all of the lovely products. I have fallen in love with the Sinka cabinet (solid birch, Stg£189) and the snuggly grey Vadmal throw (pure wool and only Stg£24). And the designs are concentrated on sustainable manufacturing and ethical sourcing. See - what's not to love?!