Fade To Grey

Things have been on the up & up at the old D.I.Y mansion. Ever since our painting blues, we've gotten some help and gotten back on the apartment therapy track.

The help came via the wonderful staff at Eastwood's Paint & Wallpaper. You would never know from its humble exteriors, but a number of London's interior designers swear by this place... and now we do too. Super patient and helpful staff, low prices and everything you need to get you going on the next project, Loves it! After a number of test pots and searching, we finally nailed the right shade of grey 

{it's called Pewter, go figure, if I had actually listened in Art class instead of going around disfiguring people's clay people, I would have learned something}

... and so half our living room now is gorgeous. And while the plastic is on the floor, why not have one of Mayfair's top stylists Shaz Khan step out of the world of A-list clients and photo shoots and give little Ashiberry a much needed trim.

I love my new Pewter walls & I love my new hair.

Amen

xo Ashi

My Favourite Things

Barefoot picnics in the park

My new hand-drawn day-timer

A full egg tray {with free range, happy eggs of course}

Happy Monday

xo Ashi

This Is How It Happened

James Murphy is a perfectionist and thank god for that. 

His dissatisfaction with a malfunctioning keyboard during the opening track Us. Vs Them meant we got to hear it twice!! 

'Why leave you guys with a version we felt shitty about when we can do it again'. 

It's that same perfectionism that makes this band so good live. They are each highly-skilled musicians and when they get together... well... perfection!

Yes, we caught LCD Soundsystem at Brixton Academy and pretty much danced our guts out. Although they are touring their latest gem of an album This Is Happening, they rinsed out the old booty shakers and some surprises from the new album. Surprising because it wasn't the obvious danceable new tracks that they played like One Touch and You Wanted A Hit but the more demure tracks hidden in the depths of the record.

 The show itself had that garage-band, spontaneous feel, that warehouse jam in the Lower East side you happen to stumble upon... and talk about for the rest of your life.

Throw in a sea of white balloons gracefully descending from the sky and you've got the ultimate birthday party. Chucky E. Cheese {Renegade just asked me Who's Chuck E. Cheese... silly Brit} aint got nothing on this party. Pow!

xo Ashi

Chucky Cheese?? Whatever.....  there was nothing cheesy about this band! 

Another Academy Classic!

Renegade

Blue Monday

I know I know, it can't all be hidden fireplaces and lovely furniture. We've hit our very first D.I.Y snag and this one is a bummer. It may appear as if we have lovely new grey walls in the living room, I wish. Our first attempt at painting was not quite Apartment Therapy caliber. 

We thought a soft grey would be a nice backdrop for our My CoCoon Vintage photo shoots. In fact, the colour on the walls looks fabulous on camera. It's just in real life it's a horrible pastel-like {I hate pastels} Robin's egg blue.... In real life where our furniture is in warm shades of cranberry and dark wood. It looks like the backdrop for the Sears family portraits {circa '82}!

The good news is we've only done one wall. 

So here are Ashi & Renegade's tips on painting

Never uses rollers you purchased from the dollar store

Never buy paint from a hole-in the wall, crusty hardware store

Never buy paint from a man who tells you he's colour blind

And never, ever believe for a second it will look better once it dries.

Fortunately we had some wine and the new LCD Soundsystem {we're seeing them tomorrow night!!!} to get us through this one.

xo a very grumpy Ashi

Bits & Bobs

I went up to the guest room/my office today and took all the covers off the pull-out couch, to take to the dry cleaners. I have a feeling we will be having the loveliest array of guests come through town very soon and I want it to feel oh so nice {with mints on the pillows and all}

That particular room is very special to me, as it's there Renegade found the newspaper clipping from my birth date hidden under the terrible green carpet. It's also there that I plan to do all my creative work {writing, My CoCoon Vintage & general day dreaming} and where we will house our nearest and dearest....so it has to feel just right!

Currently there is strange poltergeist-looking streaks on the walls, but I've learned the key to this whole home-building is patience.... And good furniture can make any stripped bare and shabby room shine. Our lovely cranberry, velvet chesterfield and arm chairs were a Gumtree find. In fact we bought them from a very cool girl named Karina who specializes in amazing retro vintage furniture. If you live in London, you should keep an eye on her blog because she has wicked stuff, for a steal and she does vintage yard sales!

Why buy new stuff when there is so much cool retro stuff to be discovered!

As if you're surprised to hear, in our house vintage is the only way.

xo Ashi

The Doors

From cast iron fire places to original hardwood flooring, our D.I.Y home challenge has been full of surprises. This one comes courtesy of Anne. After glancing and tapping a little morse code on our giant, cheap, panel doors, she said "I bet the original doors are under here". Of course all Renegade heard was 'What, I get to tear apart more stuff!?'. Well his chiseling and her instincts paid off. Check out the beautiful wood doors that were hiding under those bland monstrosities. So far, I like what's behind door number one!

xo Ashi

{p.s yes, those are Renegade's silk princess pony pants. what can I say he grew up with sisters}

Trinkets

I managed to stash a few of my favourite trinkets with me in my luggage, on my way over from Canada. I somehow knew it wouldn't be long until I had a lovely mantel to place them on... and oh what a mantel it is! Our cast iron fire place is by far, the loveliest part of our house. The silhouette pictures were a gift from Renegade. He bought them for me from an antique store in Carpinteria. Well, he tried to surprise me with them... 

xo Ashi

This is correct, i 'attempted' to surprise Ashi with these trinkets that she drooled over in her dream shop. I snuck out of the coffee shop we were in so that i could buy them and surprise her when we found the perfect home. To add zest to the surprise i suggested we head to the shop after we were done coffee shopping only to hear "Oh no, someone just bought them". This worked, but it also managed to send Ashiberry into a little fit "Why didn't you buy them for me? You know i wanted them" at which point I thrust the brown paper bag into her hands....

'Surprise'

R

Home Diaries

We've been terribly busy working at making our crack den into home. 

Although... it's not really considered a crack den anymore, thanks to one loving and talented lady...Anne!

That's right, not only is she a domestic diva, she's a genius when it comes to design ideas and little touches that make things 'look fab'! Now that we've got some lovely antiques 

{thanks to Renegade's internet skills and Anne's auction skills!} 

to fill the place, dare I say, it's feeling like home... well almost.

What's next for our D.I.Y diaries, stripping wall paper, painting and exposing some more hidden gems.

xo Ashi & Renegade

Family Tree

Easter, a time for chocolate and over-indulgence. This year saw an indulgence of another kind... Family {and roast potatoes!}

For the first time in too many years my mother, sisters, grandmother, Ashi & respectives {Murray & Tim} were all under the same roof. We got together for an Easter feast prep'd by Murray himself.

Good work on the roasties son! Unfortunately mate, thanks to some sneaky kitchen plate cleaning, I won the game of how many roasties can you stick in your pie-hole.

{Victory witnessed by a horrified Ashi ,who saw me sneaking them whilst I thought no one was looking}

Sunday was a wicked day, nice to hear some funny stories from my Gran, catch up with my family and smash my sister with a big book. {i convinced her it was a physio treatment but really punishment for a childhood of forced cross-dressing}.

Thanks to all, we had a great time!!

Renegade

P.S In case you're wondering who that baby is... it's my niece Daisy.

Good genes, innit?

{loves young Dream}

D.I. Why?

So the secrets out. Through chance we've taken on the ultimate D.I.Y home renovation project. We're talking a three bedroom, two-story Victorian apartment, complete with a crack den kitchen and crusty carpets. Once we got past the stench of the previous tenants and got to work, we realized this baby had some hidden surprises, like an original cast-iron fireplace and amazing hardwood flooring.

We've been wishing for a blank canvas like this for the longest time, but can't help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the task before us. Can we possibly turn this pink and mint painted, peeling wall papered, brown and green carpeted shack into a love cocoon of our very own?

You betcha, but we're gonna need some help. 

So we're reaching for some virtual advice as we try and pull this off. Do we keep the stairs that fabulous vintage cream, or sand them down to the original wood? What colours do we paint this place and most importantly what do you do when Ashi has gone around and pulled all the wall paper off?? We're open to suggestions.

xo Ashi & a very blistered Renegade

{I'm a big believer in fate and good omens. All my doubts about this place quickly disappeared when Renegade presented me with a scrap of newspaper he found buried under the green carpet on the top floor. What' s so special about a yellowed, forgotten chunk of paper featuring some roofing ads... Well the paper is from the exact day and year that I was born. Nice touch!}

Ashi

to build a Home

A little sneak peak at what we've been busy doing this weekend. Can you guess....

Expect the full story tomorrow, all we can say for now is.... 

Good bye 1950s brown carpets and leather upholstered banisters.

Hello! original dark wood floors and secret fireplace.

Let's hope poor Renegade's blistered & bruised hands recover in time to start typing tomorrow.

{Happy Easter Indeed}

xo Renegade & Ashi

Etsy Love

We're so flattered to discover my dear friend {and new mamma}, Katherine Holland, has given My CoCoon Vintage a shout out on Vitamin Daily.

Katherine is part of a street-smart team that dishes the scoop on all things fabulous going on in my home country, Canada!

{I'm blushing}

Thanks Katherine! 

xo Ashi