Time for a coffee break! A collection of vintage and retro coffee and teapots now in store

I have been doing some treasure hunting for my little Etsy business lately and have gathered a wonderful collection of coffeepots and teapots on the way. Some didn't even make it to the shop and got snapped up by friends already! Here's the beauties that are now available and ready to go to a good home. They're all in superb condition, clean and sound. If you buy any of them I'll of course make sure they are securely packaged so they'll arrive safely at your door, wherever in the world you live.  Thanks for looking! Nx

J & G Meakin Studio England coffeepot Buy here

J & G Meakin Studio England coffeepot Buy here

Japanese inspired teapot Buy here

Retro coffeepot Buy here

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Wardrobe makeover by Nina's Apartment in Annie Sloan Aubusson and Duck egg blue chalk paint

I am proud to finally present to you the result of my £20 wardrobe makeover! Got it months ago from Banchory's Box Room (great for finding old furniture) and I eventually painted it and did it up. I love the combination of the blue and the brass hinges. It is now baby's first antique piece - holding all its baby grows, cute little cardigans and mini socks.

I painted the inside of the wardrobe in Annie Sloan's duck egg blue chalk paint and the outside in her Aubusson blue shade (with a layer of duck egg blue underneath which shines through after I lightly sanded through the corners and edges). I also stuck some blue-green retro fabric against the inside back panel of the wardrobe. My sister, who has been helping me finish the nursery over the past few days, put in an extra shelf (which she made out of our old bed slats!) and we got some useful storage boxes for underneath. She also saved me some money by suggesting using an old broom stick as a clothes rail and painting it in the same colour as the wardobe. Neat!

I'm very pleased with the result - hope baby likes it too when I show it its room for the first time next month ;-)

The broom stick clothes rail and bed slat shelf!

My hard working sister 'handy An' - :-)

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Treasure hunting at lunchtime: one enamel teapot and two vintage spice jars

People kept on telling me about this place but I never got around to visit... The Box Room in Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Yesterday lunchtime I finally had time to pop down and have a look. My oh my, what a great spot for treasure hunting! Hidden away on a small industrial estate and packed full of second-hand furniture and just...well, stuff. Chairs, tables, cupboards, bed frames, mirrors and lots of cups, vases, decorative things and of course your fair share of hideous kitsch-y pictures. Cheap too, that was the best bit! £10 for a chair, £20 for a table. Not all great pieces, but there are some real gems with potential. I feel I should really keep this little secret to myself and not shout it from the roof tops but most of you live far enough away not to all of a sudden raid the place, haha ;-)

I will definitely be checking here for furniture once I'm ready for my next DIY project, but yesterday I was a good girl and only came home with one lovely blue enamel teapot and two cute mustard yellow spice jars... Had to be strict! "No, Nina, you can't have that chair - you gotta finish your other one first!!" Can't wait to go back though, they told me they get new stuff everyday...

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How to turn a dead corner into a cozy seating area

The 'dungeon'...or our 'non-room'.

We have a room in our house that used to be the kitchen before an extension was put on by the previous owners, after which the old kitchen area became a redundant bit of the house. More like a through-way with two doors coming off it. It's become part of the hallway, dark, undefined, a bit strange really. We have always struggled with this room and even named it 'the dungeon' for a long time because of its darkness. Painting it white made a big difference (it used to be orange!), as did the photographs we have hanging on the walls, which give it a bit of a 'gallery' feel. But we still only used the room to walk through to the 'new' kitchen, didn't give a purpose.

The bench sits where the brown cupboard used to be (see above)

And then I had this idea last weekend and created a cozy seating area, so it would be a place where we would like to hang out before, during or after cooking dinner. A place a bit more comfy than sitting at the dining table.

I found a redundant coffee table upstairs, which I thought would make an excellent low bench - and it did. I covered it with one of my Moroccan throws and some cushions (and my newly found vintage crochet blanket from the charity shop!) and I think it works quite well. It's low, but that's OK. What do you think?

I have sat here every night since I created the space earlier this week. It's a great, cozy place to sit with the laptop while keeping an eye on the dinner at the same time. And the cats love it too.

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Today's Charity shop finds: two crochet blankets and a soap dish

I can't help myself. Every time I am in town I HAVE to go into a charity shop - cause you never know what you may find. If I am in a certain part of town I pop into a row of at least five of them. Today I was lucky and found two lovely crochet blankets, hand-made by an old lady who apparently supplies them to the store year-round! (Knitting non-stop, maybe I can put in requests!)

I also found a nice old ceramic soap dish in green. (Oh yes, and a cardigan and top, but I won't bore you with that ;-).

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