Warning: Longest blogpost ever. Read only if you want to kit out your kitchen

I live in a small flat with an even smaller kitchen. It isn't even a kitchen - more of a strip of worktops along one wall of my sitting room. There's exactly one square of worktop space, a small sink and some very nasty black tiles that are impossible to disguise (or replace - because it's a rental). 

These are the kitcheny bits and bobs that I'd buy if I had my own large kitchen. My favourites are the cow glasses, the antique bread tins and the completely impractical (but adorable) eggcup cosies.

PS: After this final 'where to shop' post, I'm reverting back to the old Peaches and Trifles blog styles of customising, reinventing and homes to lust after. 

Remind me of Malted Milk biscuits (£25 for six, Freshly Forked)

Bit salty at £70, but antique white linen (Linenme) doesn't come cheap

Yes please! (Magpie Living, £16 for two)

The Original Home Store

Out of Love (check out the Fresh Juice and Wine versions too)

Bojje

Jessica Hogarth Designs

£24 each! But check out those dimples. (Linda Broomfield). 

The primrose teacup is by Alison Appleton

Doris & Co (£70 - twee little messages printed on the side)

Instead of traditional work units, I'd display my food in clear glass jars on this dresser. I'd also have a larder. It's £925 from the Orchard Furniture company.

Eggy soldiers with hats. £40 for four. Gulp. (Samantha Holmes)

Cake tins: Would rather buy new than find old, vintage tins that might taste of old metal, mould and stale cheese. (The Chic Country Home).

Glasses: Look pretty. But last time I had a set of metal mugs, it tasted like drinking tea over a new filling. Jury's out on these. Good for picnics though - might overpower the taste of warm sandwiches tinged with Tupperware. (Teacosy Home)

Stunningly expensive. Good, robust rope handles. Personalisation element means a good option for a wedding gift. From The Oak and Rope Company. Check out the company's outdoor swings in my previous post. 

The Vintage Tea Cup

Primrose & Plum. Might be a better option to find them second-hand, for a bit more character. Try a Swedish Loppis. 

A touch of Indian raj. Also look reassuringly robust. (Nkuku)

Big, lose-your-nose-in-them French coffee cups. £66.50 for six. Dibor. 

Linda Bloomfield. I'd love the whole dinner service. The shapes look slightly off kilt and they're stained wonderfully pale pastel and creamy shades. £399 for a service.

Brilliantly decadent butter dome. The Rose Shack.

Melody Rose, What would granny say?!

Nom mug. Autumnal Sunday afternoon cuppa-worthy.

Wine glasses, Silver plated. The Orchard

Serving bottles! Novel. (Door 77)

Regal teacups and china. Another gem from The Orchard

Thornback and Peel - like the background of this blog

Gems found abroad

Note to self: Best interiors purchases overseas in the last 2 years:

1. Loppis (or antique/junk furniture warehouses) Malmo, Sweden. Didn't buy anything as it wouldn't fit in my case, but the antique chandeliers topped with tiny, dusty lampshades almost squashed in there.

2. Aromatherapy candles in Bintan in Indonesia.

3. Mosaic tiled mirror in Marrakech, Morocco.

4. Mounted ram's skull, from Rome.

5. Llama wool throw and tiny water jug covered in jade coloured mosaic tiles, from Himalayan Nepal

Seaside bathroom

The bathroom in our flat is enormous. We've filled it with things washed up from St Ives - postcards of the seaside framed in white, an enormous anchor and a mirror made of rough, unsanded driftwood. I stumbled upon these St Ives handpainted tiles and love them. Shame they're £35 EACH!... (Un Peu Loufoque)

Also...

Art Deco pots for holding cotton wool balls, cold cream etc (The Orchard)

Where to buy nick-nacks for: Gardens

Ever since I moved into a teeny, wonky flat above a bacon sandwich shop earlier this year, I've desperately missed my old garden. (On the plus side, we're in the centre of London, but on the downside, we've lost our big patch of gravel).

After persuading Wills for four months to drill an old fishmonger's wooden box onto our window sill, as a makeshift herb garden, I've given up. Our flat is upstairs so anything balanced on the window would likely fall off and concuss someone. 

In homage to the garden I wish I could have, here are some garden beauties I've spotted on my online shopping. (That is, online shopping until my virtual e-basket is full, then Wills forcing me to log out)...

One day: 

The Flower Studio

Cooper Rowe Vintage Living

Posh Garden Furniture

Sorbet Living

Plants Delivered

Plantabox

The Oak and Rope Company

Uber Games

Velvet Ribbon

Barefoot Kitchen

The Gluttonous Gardener, (what a wonderful name for a shop).

Five sweet little cupboards

A selection of pretty and unusual small cabinets, cupboards and 'stuff that holds stuff'.

Idea Home Co. Problem is, the pretty, ditty wallpaper in the background means it would be a shame to put anything inside... One for the hall, perhaps. (Keys, purses, etc).

Ideally, I'd like to cut a great big hole in the top of this sturdy Idea Home Co cabinet, and use it as a ... sink base. Yes, really. There are mini side tables in the same line, that I'd use to stack folded, fresh white towels.

Notonthehighstreet

Love the aged, almost curled wallpaper in the background of these Rose & Grey shelves.

Woods Vintage Home Interiors

Art: the (financial) dilemma

My first ever piece of 'art' was an enormous white canvas with three pale grey pebbles on it. It's from IKEA and I bought it as an excited 16-year-old - excited that IKEA had come to Cardiff because I loved interiors and excited that I owned some art.

Today, on my rare trips to IKEA, I bypass that section. Like they were then, the prints are all mass produced, unimaginative and computer generated. In fact, art is hard to come by at all on a budget. Some great little art boutiques in Angel and Columbia Road, London, but unless you've £1,000+ to invest, not worth a trip. That's why these days, I mostly create my own art, or attempt to. (Check it out here).

But after a browse on Not On The High Street, and these caught my eye:

£270 from Sapele

£450 from Alila

Good, solid, unique picture frames are hard to come by these days too. I've had some made-to-order in St Ives using local whitewashed woods. Habitat isn't a bad option either, if you're after something XXL on a budget. But these are also cute:

Camel & Yack

Moa Designs