Home inspiration ~ grey & white

I love this quote by William Morris & I really wish I could apply it to my home as it's always just so crammed full of, well, just stuff.  I long to have a home where every single thing has a place to live, somewhere to be put away but you know, I have 3 children....and a husband....it just doesn't work!!  But this year I am determined to re-jig my house to make it work much better for everyone - but mainly me, so I don't want to cry in despair every time I look around!

I get severe Instagram & Pinterest envy looking at some of the beautiful homes around & even though for as long as I can remember, I've never liked white in the home as I've found it too cold, at the moment, I'm really loving it, especially when teamed with pale grey.  This sudden love of grey & white has really shocked me as I've always decorated in really warm earthy tones but after seeing some of the photos on t'internet, I've realised that this palette can also look cosy - and that I'm going to be re-decorating a lot this year......

Here's some of my favourite Pinterest looks at the moment.

Offtt, so lovely....

I've definitely decided to do Alfie's bedroom in grey with white & mustard accents but it won't be done until summer as one wall needs replastering.  The girls' bathroom needs updating too so I'm veering towards all white - although they really want godawful sparkly bright fuchsia pink & lime!  Erm, no sorry girls, that's just not going to happen!!

The whole exterior of our house has to be rendered this year in order to have the extension signed off & we've always said it would be white with pale grey cladding & front door so that's a good start!

What do you think of these colours?  Could you live with them or are you more a warm palette person?

What's in my bag?

I love these sort of posts as I'm such a curious nosey mare!  This was the topic today for the Instagram #JanuaryPhotoChallenge but I thought I'd share it on here for those of you not on IG.

A lot of posts like this consist of very neat & tidy bag contents.....well mine today was basically full of crap, crumpled up receipts & fluffy mints included!!

Today, I was using my lovely Nica bag that I bought in John Lewis last November.  When I carry a larger bag like this, I tend to chuck everything into my lift-out organiser from Primark, it's so handy!  In this, I always keep a notepad, pen, tape measure, tissues, paracetamol & mints - standard bag contents really!  My friends take the mickey out of me for carrying a tape measure but I can't tell you the times it's come in handy.  So much so that's it's falling to pieces!

My Cath Kidston pouch contains Kiehl's lip balm, Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, Cath Kidston mini hand cream, plasters, my library card, a perfume sample & 4(why?) lipsticks (Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple, Clinique Chubby Stick mini in Super Strawberry, MAC Brick-O-La & Plumful)  

I've also got a sample pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite that my friend had picked up for me the other day.  My new bar stools & bedside tables are going to get a hit of this!  Oh, and of course my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini), my keys & my purse - which for some reason I forgot to add in the photo.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who has a stack of old receipts & fluffy sweets in their bag!!