Amazing news – I’ve been shortlisted in the Amara Interior Blog Awards!

I really couldn’t believe it when an email dropped into my inbox telling me that I’d been shortlisted in the Amara Interior Blog Awards 2015! Yes, my little thrifty blog has been shortlisted in the DIY & Craft Category and I am chuffed to bits! I know I’ve been sharing lots of interior inspiration and project posts over the past couple of years but didn’t really consider myself to be any kind of specialist on the subject – I’ve just been updating you on what I’ve been doing to my home since we moved here three years ago – but I’m so thrilled that someone nominated me and that Amara have included me in the awards this year. It’s simply amazing news, and I am delighted. The Cheshire Cat has nothing on my grin right now!The voting for the awards opened last week while I was away so this is the first chance I’ve had to share the great news with you and to show you my own profile page on the Amara Interior Blog Awards website. It’s all just so exciting to be included with SO MANY other fantastic interior design blogs – even Kelly Hoppen is a shortlister, just like me!

The competition is really stiff, with 60 other blogs included in my category, so I’m very grateful for all votes for my little blog and I want to ask whether you could help me become a finalist by voting for me here. And please let me know if you do vote by tweeting me @Cassiefairy so that I can say thanks!I’ve had a look back over my recent interior projects since being shortlisted and I thought I would share some of the blog posts today, just in case you need any encouragement to believe that I am an interiors blog, honest! I’m currently spending the summer holidays painting my tiny kitchen and giving it a thrifty DIY makeover with new fabrics, secondhand storage and lots of chalkboard paint, so I’ll be sharing photos of this project soon – watch this space!The first room to have a thrifty makeover was the bedroom. Without a budget for decorating I decided to use a £2 sachet of wallpaper paste to create a feature wall using old books. If you’re interested, I used a Marilyn Monroe biography, a book on growing roses and old sheet music!I’ve always loved mid-century design and the more garish, the better! When I saw the teak doors in our new home I knew that orange would be perfect for the living room. I used £6 rolls of wallpaper from the Next sale for one wall and created cushions to match my retro record boxes by photographing the pattern and printing it onto fabric. I’ve just bought a faded second-hand G-Plan chair that needs a little makeover so I’ll be sure to share this project soon.

The bathroom was a big project for us; it needed a new bath so my husband and I watched some YouTube tutorials before attempting to do the work ourselves. Thankfully, everything went well and we continued the project by using pressure-treated wood that we rescued from a skip to make a bath panel, clad the walls and create a storage unit. I am really excited to let you know that my thrifty bathroom has since been photographed for a feature in Style at Home magazine so I’ll be sure to share this soon!

You can read more about my garden makeover, caravan renovation and DIY projects through my home inspirations page so please have a browse around and let me know if you find any of it helpful.

I hope you can spare a minute to vote for me in the Amara Interior Blog Awards 2015 – it really would be a dream come true to be a finalist! My voting page is here and I am eternally grateful for every single vote, thank you!