Some of us have a starting point which is rather grand

Buckingham Palace

and some start with a house that’s small but very pretty indeed (we stumbled across this house in a small village on the tiny Greek island of Sifnos)

tiny but gorgeous

while some may have something in need of serious attention

ramshackle shed

and some are just in a seemingly perfect setting

Little Venice in Mykonos

although possibly the vast majority of us settle for a quite ordinary type of house or apartment.

What most of us have in common is the desire to turn our house into a home.  Whether you have a mansion, a 3-bed semi, a one-bed flat or even a shed (hopefully slightly more robust than the one above!), your ideas will be different from someone else’s – and that’s what is so great about the process.  It’s creative and personal!  In your own home you can surround yourself with the things you love.

So, here are some of my ideas for helping to make a house a home:

cupcake clock

Clocks for the kitchen, personalised or humorous – or just because it’s always wine o’ clock somewhere in the world

it's wine o' clock clock

Or maybe a heart-shaped personalised chalkboard.  Pretty and practical, a convenient place for reminders and shopping lists.  These come with a little basket on the front to hold the chalk and a cloth wipe.

personalised heart shaped chalkboard

Or a little plaque for your little house:

love lives in little houses hanging plaque

Somewhere for the kids to proudly hang their artwork

personalised mini masterpiece art hanger

And something to  make you smile

cake is not just for breakfast hanging plaque

Pop over to www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk if you’re interested in buying or just finding out more about any of the above (houses not included) – or maybe something similar. 

They’re all hand painted to order, so you can request colours to fit in with your own home.

Where did all that sunshine go?  Yesterday, the whole day seemed so sunny and springlike and I optimistically thought we might be treated to a few gorgeous days.  Obviously not to be - the sky is back to its miserable dull grey and the temperature’s definitely dipped a little.

However, it’s felt a bit like spring in the studio today!

In between the Valentine’s messages on hearts, hanging plaques and chalkboards

message on a chalkboard

there’s been a springlike feel with these clocks and plaques

spring like feeling

pretty pink butterflies, cute cupcakes, magical fairies and brightly coloured campervans have all helped brighten my mood if not the sky outside!

painted cupcake

For more of what’s going on in other people’s creative spaces, visit http://www.kootoyoo.com/2011/02/my-creative-space-3.html

fairy clock nearly finished

One of the things I love so much about what I do is being able tailor make plaques and other things to customer’s requests.

 It might be as simple as changing a backgound colour on a clock to match a customer’s kitchen, like this cupcake clock with a mint green background and personalised wording:

cupcake clock with mint green background

Or maybe designing a plaque for a specific purpose – like this plaque with cake and jam, which will hang proudly on a brand new walk-in larder:

Maria's larder - enter nirvana

Or maybe adding a name to something:

personalised egg money box

 Personalisation and customisation sometimes makes such a difference to the customer and I just love that I’m able to do it.

If you’re looking for a gift that’s a little bit different or special in some way, do feel free to have a browse around my online shop: www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk