Category: Lifestyle

Interiors, Lifestyle

Transforming Our Living Space With MuralsWallpaper

by At Home With The JohnsonsLeave a Comment on Transforming Our Living Space With MuralsWallpaper

What can a mural do for my space?

Everyone has a wall that they have no idea what to do with, a problematic blank space, a large blank canvas, a wall for which you cannot seem to find a purpose. It’s blankness is an ocean of possibilities but perhaps it seems too daunting to decide what to do with it. A mural feature wall is the perfect way to give any room a wow factor, a great way to introduce a key colour into a neutral space while adding texture and interest to your room.

Look no further than MuralsWallpaper to transform your space with style. MuralsWallpaper offer an incredible selection of murals, patterns and photo wallpapers to suit all ages and styles. Challenging the boundaries of what wallpaper can do by offering pioneering designs, their wallpaper murals are designed to complement any home decor style. We chose this Adhere, concrete effect paper to create a dramatic wall that adds a look of texture and depth against a neutral colour palette. The mural features a faux cement texture effect that will give your wall a rustic yet stylish appearance. This wallpaper offers a subtle and neutral block colour style, which is significantly enhanced by its rough faux cement appearance.

How Do I order mine?

The ordering process could not be more simple! We simply measured our wall and added the measurements into the calculator to create our custom fit mural. The design team make the mural to fit any size or shape of wall. Once you send the requirements to the design team, they send a mock-up of your wall mural before they produce it. The mural arrived quickly and well packaged.

Was it hard to hang?

After some bad experiences in the past, my husband was a bit sceptical about using any kind of wallpaper or mural. After reading about the simplistic process of using a MuralsWallpaper and falling in love with their fabulous designs I set upon my mission to change his mind! Of course, my powers of persuasion worked their magic and he agreed! The Mural arrived promptly and packaged in a nifty tube to keep it safe and pristine. Included in the tube was a fantastic step by step guide which was easy to follow and made hanging the mural an absolute breeze! The whole installation was faultless and we are thrilled with our mural. Here’s how we did it….

How we did it

The first steps we took were in preparation, we ensured the wall was smooth, clean and completely dry. Our wall was imperfect with old plaster, but we took steps to ensure that the wall was filled where needed and smooth from sanding. This handy guide on the MuralsWallpaper website helped us identify how best to prepare our wall surface for the mural. To begin the installation, we rolled out a section of paper and used the handy cutting lines provided to create our first drop. The drops are numbered and roll out staggered in a way that the tops and bottoms of the drops match. We then brushed on ‘paste the wall’ paste ready to apply the first strip. Unlike so many wallpapers, the paper was thick and robust so there was no fear of tearing while fitting. You can be assured that all of MuralsWallpaper murals are created using British paper sourced from FSC regulated forests. They also use water- based links so are environmentally friendly. Every wallpaper is made to order which is great for the environment, keeping waste to an absolute minimum.

We had cables in place to fit wall lights once the wallpaper installation was complete, we made a small slit in the paper to pull these cables through carefully. We repeated the process across the whole wall and could not believe how quickly we finished, the whole wall took less than an hour and a half including a tea break!

The Wall Lights fitted
Adding accessories to the wall
The wall creates a great backdrop for blue accessories

As you can see the mural creates the perfect feature backdrop for our living space. I added hints of blue in my accessories to compliment the colour of the wallpaper. I am thrilled with the finished look and can’t fault our experience with MuralsWallpaper. From the ordering process to the installation, MuralsWallpaper truly have made creating unique and stylish looks super simple and affordable. With a fabulous range of designs from funky florals to textured looks there is something for every space. I hope you love it as much as we do!

This post contains gifted items however all words and opinions are my own.

Chynna x

Lifestyle

On my mind- April 2020

by At Home With The JohnsonsLeave a Comment on On my mind- April 2020

Despite one of my new years resolutions being to write more, lets face it, 2020 hasn’t exactly turned out to be what any of us imagined it would. I have been dodging my laptop in fear of producing content that seems unimportant at such an unprecedented time, when many are going through some of the hardest times of their lives. So I thought the best way to get back into the swing of blogging again is to have an open therapy session with my laptop and of course you lot!

Coronavirus Chat

I am not even going to go in to how hard it is not seeing family, visiting our favourite places and staying home, because it isn’t hard. Hard is loosing people you love to something like this and we have a duty to do as we are bloody told to protect those we love. In a word, the whole situation is horrific, as an emotional person my heart actually hurts for every person who has been affected or lost a loved one. I remember when the death toll first hit 200 cases a day having a total blub, the thought of that many people missing a loved one was just heart-breaking, yet here we are, loosing so many more and although as sad as ever, I feel as if I am growing some kind of thick skin, almost a numbness to the daily figures. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing? I have always been someone who over thinks every situation, struggles with a lack of control and sudden change. I truly feel that out of this god awful situation I am learning to let go, realise that sometimes there are some things that I have no control over and to live in the moment more- as cliché at that sounds.

Money

Ahhhh the world of Instagram, influencers showing their mass online loungewear purchases, posts about online shopping to pass the lockdown time and a steady stream of affiliate links to high end skincare. I am not throwing shade on anyone, after all social media is some peoples only income and people need income more than ever right now. I have recently reached the big 10k followers and with this comes the opportunity to make some pocket money doing something I genuinely enjoy, I do however know that remaining conscious of the current climate will always be my top priority. Fact of the matter is that we are a single earner household and my husband has been furloughed due to the pandemic. There are ALWAYS going to be people worse off, I feel blessed that he has been furloughed and not made redundant, I feel equally blessed that we don’t have the worry of being self employed at this time. We are the lucky ones in this situation, but the cold hard facts still stand, that even with the government support of £2500 (before deductions) a month, it is significantly less than his usual monthly income and we are a family of five who have spent a year forking out every penny of our disposable income on a renovation. In short we are going to struggle over the next few months. We have had to take a Mortgage holiday and we have given ourselves a tight budget of £90 a week for food and spends, with these actions alone we are fortunate that our remaining bills will be paid and food will be on the table, but it goes without saying, there will be NO mass loungewear orders here.

Home Educating The Children

What a learning curve this has been. This is actually the thing I am finding is affecting my mental health most. Isabella is 10 going on 16 and often, my requests for her to get on with school work is met with rolling eyes and hunched shoulders. Sophia needs carrying through every single piece of work with an adult and up until my husband was furloughed, I was tackling this and my 3 year old wild child alone, while he worked from home. I am doing my best, I can promise that, but I can’t help but let feelings of doubt creep in that my best isn’t enough. I don’t think home learning is something we will ever fall in to a nice little routine of. As with every one of these unprecedented situations we are finding ourselves in, I am trying to concentrate on the things that I am grateful for and I am grateful that the children are at home, safe, well and spending quality time with us as a family….. oh and Gin…. big shout out to Gin.

I feel so much better for having a brain dump post and I truly hope that when I touch base again next month, the world is being kinder to everyone. I know there are people who will read this that are in a far worse situation than us and to you I send a huge virtual hug. If anyone ever wants a chat, you know where I am.

Chynna xxx

Lifestyle, Uncategorized

February Favourites

by At Home With The Johnsons1 Comment on February Favourites

Hello Lovely Readers! As part of my 2020 plans, to share more about me and the things I love with you all, I am excited to share with you a line up of things I am loving at the moment. This will range from my beloved Interior’s through to things I tend to blog less about like clothes, make up and family days out. I hope you enjoy!

Interiors

Hulu Soy Wax ~

This month I was kindly sent some candles and wax melts from Hulu Soy Wax to try and I am really impressed so wanted to share them with you all. Hulu pride themselves on being a natural, healthy and more sustainable way to fragrance your home. Every product is handmade using the best quality, 100% soy wax. For the sweet scented lovers, the Rhubarb and vanilla gives a beautifully sweet scent, without being sickly and artificial smelling. The burn on the candles is great, really even and long lasting, a single candle easily fills a room with beautiful scent. I received the Amber Noir scented wax melts, I absolutely love the re-sealable packaging, I found this so handy when it came to storing the melts and again love that all packaging is recyclable and environmentally friendly. The Amber Noir is a stunning fragrance, with a luxurious depth and notes of dark balsamic fruits and sensual exotic forests. The melts are long lasting and the cute heart shape reflects that all of the Hulu products are made with love. Lastly I sampled the Pink Grapefruit and Basil candle, the smell is a deliciously fresh and vibrant scent, I found this candle was very fast to fill the room with scent and I love an uplifting scent like this. From sleek design to a great range of gorgeous scents, Hulu soy wax have made it to my February Favourites list. Check out Hulu website to view the huge range available and keep your eye on their social media here.

George At ASDA Homeware~

If you follow my Instagram you will know that I have a serious obsession with Art Deco interiors, especially fan/shell print. I have recently ordered a couple of bits from Asda Home for our master bedroom and I love them, I ordered a runner and some new bedding and not only were these a total bargain at around £15 each but they are so on trend. My lust list for Asda home is still getting longer and I have asked for some deco fan print mugs for my birthday. Keep it coming ASDA!

Fashion

Print Dresses~

I will keep this section short for now as I am in NO way any kind of fashion expert. I am however and always have loved fashion and have a bit of a clothes obsession. We are trying to get on top of our finances this year after almost completing phase one of the house so I have been on a bit of a spending ban, but I went shopping in town the other day and could not resist this bargain dress from Zara, reduced from £30 down to £10. Anyone who knows me will vouch for the fact that I love a bit of leopard print and I love a floaty midi dress. I love buying pieces that I can dress up or down and that I can wear through the seasons. I dressed this up for an event the other day with tights and boots but am looking forward to wearing it in the spring with trainers for a more casual look.

Beauty

Pixi Glow Tonic~

Really bloody late to this party aren’t I? On the same little shopping trip as the bargain dress, I stumbled into the dregs of the Boots post Christmas sale and found a little Pixi miniature set that included glow tonic. I have wanted to try this for a long time but as someone with temperamental skin, I am always cautious to add new things into my skincare routine especially when they are quite expensive products. I am about a week into trying this out and WOW, I can see where the hype has come from. My skin feels plumper and softer since using it and after my miniature has finished I will be buying the larger bottle and continuing to keep this in my routine. I am surprised how far the product goes, I am only about a quarter of the way through the miniature after a week so although a larger bottle is a bit more pricy at £18, I think it will be value for money.

Primark Double Wear Dupe~

I am an Estee Lauder Double Wear girl through and through, I have tried just about every foundation on the market but I always come back to Double Wear. I have heard lots of good things about the Primark dupe so was eager to try it for myself. I have been using it for around two weeks now and for the money I am really impressed. Is it exactly the same as Double Wear?….. No. The selection of shades in comparison to DW was minimal, I was fortunate to find a pretty good match in the Nude to my usual 2W2 Rattan shade, although I would say the Primark is slightly lacking in yellow pigment, it still works well for me. Consistency wise the Primark is slightly thicker than Double Wear but gives great and perfecting coverage… maybe even more so that DW upon initial application. My only qualm is that it does not stay flawless all day like DW does, by around 4pm I look slightly cakey and need to have a bit of a blot, but all in all I am impressed. Despite it not quite having the same longevity as my favourite foundation I am going to continue to use the Primark dupe during the week and save the Double Wear for special occasions, it offers a huge cost saving at just £5 per bottle I could buy 6 bottles for the price of my usual foundation, so yes for cost saving purposes this is a good dupe and that is why it has made my February favourites…… but please do not expect miracles.

I hope you have enjoyed my first ever favourites list and look forward to sharing more next month.

Chynna x

*This post features products gifted by Hulu however all words, images and opinions are my own.