Exciting news - Kind Designs is taking to the open road! Fingerplates are going on tour! Actually we're appearing at the famous Totnes Christmas markets, hoping to share the fingerplate love with a whole new audience!

We would be thrilled to see new faces. Please come and join us on Tuesdays 6, 13 and 20 December from 5.30pm. We have a place on the Market Square in Totnes, so please come and visit us and say 'hello'!

We're sharing a stall with the Barnfield Workshop, which sells handcrafted slate and wood items - imagine how your house could look at Christmas, with new slate placemats, coasters, and a sparkling fingerplate or two! Go on, give your house a gift too!

We're planning on making the stall look and feel as festive as possible - think fairy lights, candles and perhaps the aroma of mulled wine!

Any tips on keeping warm behind a stall in the depths of winter would be appreciated!

Hopefully see you there!

Kitchen update: the slate floor is slowly going down - actually it's only 1 tile at the moment, but I'm hopeful more will follow! The thing is that we're doing it all ourselves, and work, family life, responsibilities and general routine get in the way of the pursuit of our gorgeous home! But we'll be out there tonight grafting - once I've published this of course!

Feeling festive!

I have come over all festive in the last few days, thanks to the first frosty morning of winter, and am thinking about decorations and how to turn our partly-finished house into a seasonal delight of sparkle and cosiness!

I am quite a traditionalist in terms of Christmas decorations, and wheel out the same old baubles in red, gold, silver and white. Add in touches of greenery, a vast amount of glitter, and I'm a happy Christmas bunny! I do treat 'the house' to a new adornment every year, building up memories - son number 1 already remembers where we were when we bought the sleigh, train or star. His memory puts mine to shame! Now, what was I talking about?!....

And I've just thought of another way to bring a touch of festive glamour to our home without the tree branches groaning from the weight and sinking slowly to the floor - glancing at the Kind Designs glossy vibrant red fingerplate, it seemed exactly the right shade of red to match Santa's suit! Add a sandblasted starburst and the whole door becomes a cheerful 'ho ho ho' all of its own!

Or plump (Father Christmas style!) for a mirrored beauty, where the bevelled edge will sparkle against a backdrop of candlelight and twinkling fairy lights.

Kitchen progress: Ceiling painted and sockets fitted (brushed chrome in case you're wondering!). Two authentic Art Deco globe lights will be hanging over the island (when the island is built, that is). Are we getting there?

My first foray into the world of blogs!

Dipping my toes into the new (for me!) world of blogging, launching my new business, and undertaking a house renovation - all five weeks before Christmas! Sheer madness! Will my sanity still be intact for the festive season?
Let me introduce myself - I'm a wife, mother, daughter, part-time worker, PTFA volunteer, founder of Kind Designs, avid auction bargain hunter and lover of all things 'housey'! I am a bit of a magpie and am drawn to sparkle, vintage, quirky and eye-catching.
However all the chaos, drama and general excitement that is generated from all the above roles is offset by the fact that I'm lucky enough to live in beautiful Devon. The coastline, quaint villages and individual towns ensure that there is an escape route from the hustle and bustle.

I am hoping to give you insights into the delights of Devon life in future blogs, as well as regular news, gossip and pitfalls from setting up Kind Designs (in a recession! What was I thinking?!).
Add in a major obsession with summer fetes and Christmas fayres, searching markets for the perfect vintage poster for our new kitchen (only the exact shade of duck egg will do!), canoe trips up the estuary, and will the Aga be fitted in time to cook Christmas lunch (the clock is ticking!) - I have a lot to share!
Wish me luck!