So that’s July nearly done then! How is the summer going by so quickly? So far, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag here. We had scorching temperatures last week (it hit over 30 degrees Celsius here in Manchester which never ever happens) but this week, the temperatures have dropped so back to jeans and long sleeved tops – until the sun comes out and the temps soar again. That’s the thing about summer in the UK – you can never truly pack away your winter wardrobe because the odd jumper and pair of boots feels welcome on the odd cooler day when it’s rainy and miserable. And then it’s back to shorts and tank tops a few hours later when the sun decides to come out. I swear I feel like a much sweatier, less glamorous version of Beyoncé some days with all the outfit changes.

The good thing is that we’ve had more use of our little back patio and in the warmest of the evenings, sitting and sipping a cheeky cocktail under the canopy of little fairy lights and watching the stars has made me love our makeover even more. (Speaking of which, I shared a couple of my favourite signature cocktails in a post this month for Oak Furnitureland which you can see below!)

I’ve been faffing around a little with the deck closest to the house as well. Nothing major, mind you, but enough to make me feel like it’s getting a little bit of attention. (I created this little vertical garden and blogged about it on AO Life so you can see that below too.)

The kitchen planning isn’t going quite as I’d envisioned but then building work rarely does. I really struggled to find an installer for the acrylic worktops I chose and when I finally found someone to do the work at a decent price, he came one day and then, much to my frustration and a week wasted in delays, went AWOL. So we’re now looking at just biting the bullet and doing them ourselves. Doing work on a house is always a learning curve so Wayne might as well add one more bow to his string of DIY talents, right?

And then I found out the tiler that was arranged won’t be able to make it until the middle of September at the earliest. I doubt I can wait that long (I’m terribly impatient) and so again, we’re looking at doing it ourselves.

Here I had thought we’d be ‘treating ourselves’ by getting people in to do the work this time around and in the end, it’s simply easier and less hassle to DIY. So we’re going to do one run of worktops this weekend and hopefully I can share all that next week with you. Fingers crossed it’s a success!

I did, however, get these adorable gold magnetic photo frames from Red Candy recently and I’m a little in love. In explanation of the images, my friend Carole was featured on Instagram last year and they gifted her a #petsofinstagram calendar which she in turn, gave to me, knowing I’d love it. And of course I do. Every day it’s a different adorable little furry creature and I can’t bare to throw away the pages of my favourites so at the moment, other people’s pets are gracing my fridge. I know it’s a bit odd. So eventually I’ll fill the frames with my own furry gang (which would really make more sense, right?) but I thought I’d share anyway because they are just so bloody adorable I can’t stand it.

In the meantime, as I always do on these posts, I wanted to thank the sites that featured me over the last month so a huge thanks to these guys for the support:

As you may already know, I took part in a podcast interview over on Little Yellow Couch. It was just such good fun so do have a listen if you haven’t had the opportunity yet. They recently did an interview with Dabito (his style is just immense) and I decided immediately that I wanted him to be my new BFF.

I was also featured on Good Housekeeping’s website where they picked my brains on all kinds of interesting stuff. Have a look at their whole series on various UK bloggers for more inspiration too.

And finally, Pillar Box Blue included my wallpaper chest of drawers in her roundup of fab things to do with wallpaper. I adore her bin makeover so go have a look if you have leftover wallpaper that you have no idea what to do with.

As per usual, I’ve been chatting about interiors for various websites over the past month or so and so I’m rounding them up once again in list format to make it easier for you to have a look when you get some time this weekend and fancy a bit of light reading! Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone to read ALL of these but if something catches your eye, then I’d love for you to have a little look. Each link opens in a new window so you can just click the ones you like the look of and go back to it later!

Inspiration

Super Simple Summer Cocktail Recipes (Oak Furnitureland)

DIY Vertical Garden (AO Life)

Get the Look: Glam Boho Brights Garden Patio (featuring a giveaway!) (Oak Furnitureland)

How to Bring Summer Into Your Kitchen (AO Life)

She Sheds: A Room of One’s Own (AO Life)

Advice

6 Ways to Spruce Up Your Summer Garden (Avant Homes)

How to Make the Most of Natural Light in Your Home (Oak Furnitureland)

How to Create a Beautiful Bedroom in 6 Steps (Quercus Living)

The Best Tiles for Outside Areas (Tile Mountain)

The Best Glass Mosaic Iridescent Tiles (Tile Mountain)

Trends

Get the Look: Modern Boho (My Two Designers)

Black is the New Black in Garden Design (Oak Furnitureland)

10 New Ways to Lay Wall and Floor Tiles (Tile Mountain)

So that’s my roundup for July! Wish us luck on tackling the worktop install this weekend!  Also, stay tuned for next month as I’ll be sharing a really pretty summer table setting, how to get a good night’s rest in the heat of summer, my predictions for 2017 interior trends and of course, the progress of our kitchen makeover! Plus, next week I’ll be sharing my favourites on Instagram using the #fearlesshome hashtag so be sure to share your pics with us for a chance to be featured.

How was your July? Have you had bad luck with builders as well? It seems to be a running theme with pretty much everyone I know!

Trends image Jennifer Harrison-Ciacchi via The Glitter Guide. All others my own.