Settling into our new home!

Hi there,

I hope you are all enjoying the summer so far. Even though it seems to have disappeared on us! Really hoping for some more sunny days to arrive to enjoy with the kids while they are off school.

Well, our latest news is that we have very much settled into our new home. I can’t tell you how happy I am to come home to this house each day. I love the road and pulling into the drive. It’s a cul-de-sac so there’s no traffic coming past and so far the neighbours have been lovely, dropping by with a bottle of wine or a moving in card. I’ve also had lots of lovely messages from you on here too which I am very grateful for.

There is a lot for us to do, this house is very much a long-term project. It’s very much liveable as it is but it’s not our end goal. We want to extend and knock through the kitchen and living area, would love to build out over the garage and even go into the roof. This will all take time and money though so it’s a long way off. In the meantime, it’s down to us to give it a makeover.

My first project has been to freshen up the kitchen which has been fun so far. I’ve been painting tiles and walls and have started on the drawers and cabinets. I’m doing it as cheaply as possible as we will be ripping it all out at some point so no need to waste money now. The one thing we will spend a little on is replacing the counter tops but that shouldn’t be too expensive as we have a really great handy man who is up to the job.

I am using ‘French Chic’ paint for the cupboards and drawers which requires little prep, it’s from the ‘Lazy range’ and it’s called ‘Spitfire’. However, I am told I will probably have to varnish them too to seal them as it’s in the kitchen. I ordered gold bar cabinet handles online, £25 for 15! Bargain. They may not last that well but again I’m not prepared to pay £15 per handle when it will eventually all go.

As you can see the before and afters are already showing a vast improvement. We had to replace the oven straight away as it didn’t work well at all. I had to try and stick down the clock button to make it work but it kept popping back out and so took forever to cook our first dinner as it kept turning off!

The garden is just lovely, it’s full of flowers including a lot of roses!! So many roses. We moved in as they were all blooming too which was just incredible. Lots of them are out the front and I stupidly didn’t get many pictures in all the craziness of moving in.

We have had a massive laurel taken out at the back of the garden as it was taking over and starting to suffocate everything else. It’s left us a large area at the back to turn into something. I’m not sure what yet. Perhaps a pizza oven station, or just space for the kids. You may have seen on my ‘Instastories’ that they have started on making over the shed to turn it into a ‘clubhouse’.

All will happen over time so I’ll make sure to share what we do with it over the months and years. I have had so many great ideas and tips sent to me on my Instagram on all of these things which has been so helpful, so thank you!

Next makeover will be Ivy’s bedroom so she and Tilda can finally have their own rooms. They are in together in what will eventually just be Tilda’s room and she is desperate to have it all to herself. They were in bunk beds before but we turned them into two singles which means they keep each other awake much longer which isn’t ideal. Ivy likes to wind her up by stretching her leg out of bed and putting her foot on Tilda’s!! Which is followed by shouts of ‘MUMMMMMMMYYYYY SHEEEES ANNOYYYIING MEEEEEE!’ So, the sooner we get them into their own rooms the better.

I’ll make sure to share the full makeovers here, I am currently testing out paint in our room too. I have changed my mind on going for greys already and I’m leaning towards a sage green. So, watch this space.

Diamonique

I have mentioned before that our presenter team have been working with our stylist Stine and our jewellery department to be able to help style our on-air wardrobe outfits with a selection from Diamonique. Each month we are loaned a selection that suits our own personal style. This month’s selection has been one of my favourites. I have loved the bangles and bracelets the most, so much in fact I have been wearing them all at once!

Here are the pieces that you may have spotted me wearing on air.

My favourite of them all the Panther Bangle by Tova.

Friendship style Bee bracelet.

Herringbone bracelet.

Ring – Star Cut Swiss set eternity ring.

Hoop earrings.

Whilst we are talking about Diamonique I wanted to say how much I loved getting to work with Alison O’Reilly again. As you will probably know she has been on a very tough road fighting a type of blood cancer. She has talked very openly about her journey online and it was wonderful to see her looking so strong with that twinkle still in her eye. She is a true inspiration and I am so pleased she is back in the studio bringing us her incredible expertise.

Coming up – Today’s Special Value from Margaret Dabbs

We have a lovely offer coming up from Margaret Dabbs which includes Supersizes of Firming Leg Serum 600ml, foot saviour Cracked Heel Treatment 140ml and the moisturising Intensive Hand Serum 150ml.

The hand serum is one of my favourites. Instantly you can see your hands drink this up, it’s not just a moisturiser, it’s a treatment to help improve the appearance of wrinkles, elasticity and firmness.

The firming leg serum is like putting on a fine veil of elastane to help smooth the look of your skin and help to brighten and refresh.

The cracked heel treatment is a Godsend for sandal season. It can be used daily to help soften that hard and cracked skin on the back of your feet but I take it to the front too for any other dry areas.

This offer launches on Tuesday 3rd August at 9pm and all day on Wednesday.

That’s it from me today, Tilda and Ivy both have friends coming to play for the day, so it’s bound to be complete chaos!! Wish me luck.

Lots of love

Katy x

PS. As always you can find me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.