The Interior DIYer
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HomeSense Ireland launch at the Blanchardstown Centre

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited along to have a sneak peek at the new HomeSense store in the Blanchardstown Centre ahead of its grand opening today. For those who may not know [I was one of them and asked this very question last night], HomeSense a sister company to TK Maxx and is essentially TK Maxx’s home department, except times a thousand. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived shortly after 19:00 last night, but all I’ll say is I was one of the last to leave when the sneak peek event closed at 21:00. 
I walked around its 2 storeys at least 3 times, touching things and taking pictures and clumsily Instagram story-ing as I went. These are a few pictures of what gave me heart-eye emojis in store last night, but to see a lot more, I’d strongly suggest checking out the #HomeSenseIreland hashtag on Twitter, or go directly to the source and see it for yourself in store as and from today! 

There was so. Much. And so much of it left me feeling like we need to magically have our own home to redecorate as so many of the pieces gave me so many great ideas. The range of styles and design across the store was impressive to say the least.  You could easily shop for every room in your home and it wouldn’t look like you got it all from one store.

It wasn’t until about 45 minutes into my visit last night that I realised I had a gift card to spend in store [I was handed an envelope when I first arrived, and you can blame my parents for raising me the way that they did, but I didn’t rip open the envelope then and there 😅 It was a happy surprise!]. That’s when I went around the shop again and picked up some of the pieces I had been eyeing-up. All of which I’ve already set up around our apartment and I’ll be taking proper pictures of them [once the sun reappears!] and blogging all about them as soon as possible. 

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Faux taxidermy from Felt Fauna by AC

We were to get good weather last Friday, so my brother and I planned to go with Cora to the Bloom in the Park festival. I had never been before this year, so I was curious to see what all the hype was about.   

It did not disappoint and we were surprised by how big the festival was. We had a great time eating too much food and wandering for hours. At one point, we walked into the craft village and that’s when I saw from afar, Ali’s stall. Felt Fauna by AC. When I saw her creatures I immediately headed straight for her stall while making a deeply unflattering sound, in a very Brick Tamland manner. 

Ali’s corner stall was filled with the most adorable and magical little felt creatures. From baboons to lions to tigers and bears, and all were made through needle felting techniques. The detail, realness and comical cuteness Ali put into each piece kept me jumping from one to another. There was no way I was going home without a little felt friend for Cora’s wall, but as I said to Ali, I had to walk around the festival to help me decide which one as they were all way too damn cute.

I came back an hour later, looked around her stall another 4 times, decided on a lovely grey elephant with a gold crown but at the last minute I changed my mind and brought home a cheeky little pink piglet [whose party hat I was able to swap with the elephant’s gold crown]. The little piglet had such a cute expression on their face that I just couldn’t resist. Plus, a little pink face would look so much better against Cora’s Pantone ‘Lunar Rock’ walls [and happily matched our Bill Murray framed print too]. 

I hung up little piglet [name TBC] the next morning and I could not be happier with his / her cheeky little grin smiling down on Cora when she’s in her crib. I mean, look at the little twinkle in their eye. Ali’s attention to detail is insane. She creates so many different types of creatures as well as does custom orders, I doubt this will be the only piece of hers we own. I’m just so glad I didn’t leave Bloom without our new felted friend.

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My five favourite secondhand pieces

For me, there’s something so exciting about finding just the right piece in a secondhand shop vs. looking in a catalogue or branded store. Maybe it’s because you’re finding one-of-a-kind pieces? Or because you have to work so much harder to find something. Or, I find, sometimes secondhand pieces have so much more character. 

There are a handful of secondhand pieces we own that every time I look at I think to myself, I’m so glad I found you // brought you home // loved you like a James Blunt song. So on this lazy and very sunny Friday, I thought I’d share the pieces I’m eternally glad I found …

1. BAR CART, €10 from Debra Ireland charity shop
It wasn’t even for sale the day I went into Debra Ireland charity shop and asked about our bar cart. I love our bar cart. I’m not a particularly outgoing person when it comes to people I don’t know or potentially awkward situations, so asking about buying our bar cart was a big deal at the time. Nowadays I think to myself, what would be worse? Doing something and it being a little awkward for 5 minutes, or not doing that thing and regretting it forever? I’m going for the former more and more these days. If you’d like, you can see my original bar cart blog post here! 
.2. MOZART BUST, €15 from Second Abbey 
He wears a less these days as I find I don’t wear necklaces very often anymore, but my Mozart bust is still one of my favourite pieces in our bedroom. Mozart was also my very first Instagram! If you’d like to see what Mozart looked like before and his little story, check it out here.

3. STOKKE SLEEPI CRIB, €200 on adverts.ie
I know going by the price we paid, it doesn’t seem like we got a good deal. But considering these cribs cost 4-figures brand new, can transform and last for 10+ years and is just straight up a beautiful crib, it was an investment we were happy to make. If you’d like to know more, you can read about our Stokke crib’s longevity here. 

p.s. Cora knows a good deal when she sees it.

4. BEDSIDE TABLES, €16 for the pair on adverts.ie
They were such cheap and rickety bedside tables, but when I took the drawers apart to repaint them, I found they had been put together wrong. A few coats of paint, some faux marble painting on the top and some new handles, I still love our bedside tables. And the paint has held up perfectly even since. You can see their transformation here. 

5. CURIO CABINET, €20 from Mac’s Warehouse 
My curio cabinet was gifted to me by my parents for my 30th birthdayafter they asked and I hinted towards what I’d like. I love my cabinet, but … I’ve never really filled it. Welp + guilt. I’ve tried styling a few things in it, but nothing looks right. I think only a collection of one type of thing will work. I have a healthy collection of feathers and I’d love to display them, but I don’t know how. Tape them up? Put them in little jars? I’m really useless and get stuck with the silliest design problems.