I moved to Canterbury from Manchester in 2007 and have spent the last 8 years looking for somewhere that felt like home. 3 years ago, Matt and I moved into a lovely bungalow, flanked by retirees, which definitely suits our pace of life! Getting to live with my best friend and business partner is not only convenient but a lot of fun at times.
The property we're in has a summerhouse out back but because we'd spent the last few Summers working solidly we hadn't had the time or inclination to use it for anything other than storage, which was a crying shame! At the start of the Summer we made it our mission to create a relaxing space that we could utilise throughout the warmer months. I wish I'd had the foresight to take "before" pictures, but you'll have to make to with the "after" ones.
We did the whole thing on a budget of around £200, which included a chimenea! Here's what we did...
We invested in a Moroccan style lamp that gives it some much needed atmosphere of an evening!
To match that we bought some Moroccan inspired string lights, decked out the ceiling in purple fabric to hide the rather unattractive roof and popped some ribbon around the beams.We also bought a wall hanging to hide some of the boring white wall.
Halfway there! We were incredibly lucky to find 3 garden chairs and two dining chairs for £30 at a local furniture bric-a-brac store!
Who doesn't want the opportunity for miniature Summer disco's, right? I thought so.
The chimenea was the perfect way to be able to use the space at night too. We just need to remember to light those all important citronella candles!
It's become a perfect space for chilling out and reading a good book.
We've spent the last couple of weeks putting the finishing touches to it in our spare time, including this tassel garland that we made and hung yesterday.
And no summer house is complete without a ukulele and a unicorn!
There are still a few things left to do but otherwise we now have a perfectly serviceable Summer space that will see lots of use throughout the season and beyond. People don't often talk about the downsides to working from home but cabin fever is definitely one of them! We're incredibly grateful to now have a place to chill out and separate work from home. Bring on the sun!
-Sarah.
xxx
