Blog-crushes

Every so often I stumble upon a new blog (new to me rather than new to the blogosphere) which so hooks me, that I become a little obsessed and stalkerish about it.

The first one that I found, and which opened up the whole world of blogging to me (I know, I'm a little behind the times!) was Cherry Menlove. I found I couldn't get enough of it, and had to read all of Cherry's back posts. I have found her blog inspirational, as unlike many, often US-based, home & interiors style blogs, she doesn't have an unlimited budget. Everything she and her husband does to their home, is done on a tight budget, using what they already have and mixing Ikea basics with junk-shop finds etc. Cherry is also totally self-taught in everything from sewing to cooking, which is pretty amazing considering that she now runs a baking school from her home and has had a book published which includes recipes and craft how-to's. Her photography is beautiful too. How she accomplishes what she does as well as look after her 3 year old twins, I'll never know. I love her writing style, which reminds me a little of Nigella - that cosy way of writing, as if she is sitting next to you having a chat. She is very honest, and seems to hold very little about her life and family back (something which she has been criticised about), which is so very refreshing. I have been inspired by a lot of what Cherry has done to her home, and her love of all things white.





My open kitchen shelves - inspired by Cherry's here!

  I found Cherry a year or two ago, but in the last week have found two more which I know I am going to get totally hooked on! The first one is Young House Love. I have only just to started to delve into their back posts, but what I have seen so far is amazing. The transformations they have made to their homes is truly astounding. And for every project, they photograph it as they go along and include step-by-step instructions. I'm just in awe of what they accomplish whilst having a 3 year old under their feet too! Again, I love their writing style. What makes this blog is different is that it is a husband and wife team, and they take turns in writing the posts. A feature I have just discovered on their blog is "House Crash", where they give a tour around someone else's house, pointing out great style tips. I'm certain I will be getting lots of home makeover inspiration from John and Sherry.

The final blog that I recently discovered (yesterday in fact!) is Kate's Creative Space. A beautiful looking blog, full of fantastic home-made things for her 3 year old son (checkout this homemade hardware store!!) I am hooked already, especially on the posts about their house makeover. They have recently moved to a crumbling old house and are slowly renovating it. The couple of reveals of rooms they have finished are totally amazing, and I can only drool over the pictures and try and aspire to that perfection! It's great that this is a UK-based blog, which means I can take note of paint colours, suppliers etc. This is one of those blogs where you want to hate the person writing it, as they are just a little bit too perfect in every way, but instead I have really warmed to her. She comes across as being very human and down to earth, yet the stuff she makes is phenomenal! I have been pinning her stuff on pinterest like crazy!


So now I have found some new reasons not to do all the things on my to-do list - instead of cracking on with my own house makeover and renovation, I'll be reading about other people's instead!