Not A Frumpy Mum

The Love For A Navy Kitchen

The Love For A Navy Kitchen

If you’d have told me a few years ago I would be installing a blue (not just blue, but a dark blue) kitchen in my house I would never have believed you.  In the 16 years we have been home owners we have always played it safe with decor, especially with such an expensive thing as a kitchen.  We had oak in our last house and opted for a country cottage cream, with oak worktops, when we moved into our current home. It wasn’t that I didn’t like a bit of colour, I had often been drawn to the pale…

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The Forever Home: Extension News 3 {Three Months In}

The Forever Home: Extension News 3 {Three Months In}

The original plan was to blog more regularly about the extension but a delay with the steelwork meant there was quite a delay in any building work happening on the house.  The builders focused on the garden and creating our sunken seating area but I soon realised isn’t too much to say about a great big muddy hole. We’ve been out of the house for the past four weeks, the long awaited steelwork went in the week after we left and since then the house has really come on. The exterior walls were completed, the existing back walls to the…

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The Forever Home: Extension News 2 {The Final Design}

The Forever Home: Extension News 2 {The Final Design}

We are six weeks into the extension and a lot is going on outside to build the framework of the new part of the house but it probably isn’t too exciting to anyone apart from us.  Instead of more pictures of bricks, I’m going to share our designers images of what the end product will look like. We have always dreamt of the large kitchen/dining/family space and I still can’t quite believe we are only a couple of months away from it being a reality.  When we first started talking about the design it was really important that it was…

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How to Save Money with Your AGA this Spring

How to Save Money with Your AGA this Spring

It’s been a long, hard winter and so now spring is dropping a few hints, you’re probably thinking of ways in which you can claw back some of the money you spent on heating and cooking in the last few months. Of course, buying your heating oil from companies such as Emo Oil is a good start, but you can carry on saving even after your tank has been filled up. Try some of these tips – your bank balance will appreciate it! Aim for the right temperature The integral thermometer on the AGA is notoriously off kilter, so just…

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Is Your Home Winter Ready?

Is Your Home Winter Ready?

With summer rapidly disappearing, thoughts turn to the colder months ahead, and to ensuring our homes are ready for whatever winter decides to throw at us this year.  We usually all start with the same steps.  Tidying away the patio furniture and barbecue, having a last weed of the beds and getting ready for the leaves that will start falling from the trees over the coming weeks all spring to mind. This year we will also be thinking about the heating system.  Last year our heater decided to pack up the week before Christmas and we had three days with…

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