I Heart Instagram

L'Homme asks patiently when I'll be going to sleep as the glow from my Iphone lights up our bedroom like a techno candle and with squinting eyes I reply 'in a minute...' and he rolls back over leaving me to get my fix.

You see I have a new addiction and its name is Instagram. In its own words Instagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family but it feels like so much more than that!

Instagram has renewed my observation of the beautiful little things we see everyday, I feel like someone turned the little focus dials in my eyes and I'm constantly on the lookout for photo opportunities.

You take a picture and Instagram lets you shift the focus and try out different filters and it makes even the simplest of pictures look stunning, here are just a few of the snaps I've taken around Liverpool in the past few weeks.

Another reason why Instagram is so brilliant is that you can tell people when you like their pictures and if you decide you want to see more of them all you have to do is follow them. You can see all of their lovely shots in your feed and they can do the same if they like your pictures. I'm following people from all over the world and my followers are growing too, it truly is social media through images not words!How does the saying go again?...

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

Love

Lorraine

Lacroix

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Bonjour,

I really adore my whiter than white house, almost all of the walls are white and even the original wooden floor of my boudoir is painted white but amongst all of that heavenly hue I felt a strong desire to crack open a giant bag of skittles and dance in the colourful rainbow!!

So L'Homme and I got to thinking about our staircase, it's in the hallway right so it's not like you have to look at it all the time and besides a sleek white console table there is no other furniture to match (or potentially clash with) so the stairs we decided, would be our canvas.

This picture was taken on our second viewing before we even bought the house. The textured wallpaper and brown carpet made the pretty Victorian entrance hall feel narrow and dark but we could see the potential and I adored the wooden banister and arched ceiling.

We completely stripped out the hallway and the rest of the house too (which you may see in future posts) but with no carpet, a few rusty staples from previous underlay and a couple of blobs of old paint here and there our stairs were looking slightly forlorn and they were in no way contributing to the stylish aspirations we had for our home.

I spent hours trawling the internet for ideas and came across a couple of contenders on one of my favourite sites for decor porn http://www.housetohome.co.uk/.

This fantastic striped stair carpet was created using IKEA rugs, just genius...

...and we toyed with the idea of having a runner fitted like this one...

But after going to a few carpet shops we just had no luck finding the colours or style that we wanted (I would much rather be in Laura Ashley oohing and aarhing at cushions than looking at giant rolls of carpet) and my enthusiasm was seriously waning.

For a while we did nothing and the stairs sat bare and unloved for a good few months until I saw an advert for a certain collosal paint brand and a pretty pair of legs sashaying up a case of glossy red showstopping stairs and a lightbulb sparked bright in my imagination. We'd been looking in the wrong aisle the whole time, paint was the answer and we snapped up a few tester pots for £1.50 each (much less than the £3000 beige carpet quote!).

Rainbow Stairs

I adore the transformation and the stairs are even a hit with Pierre le Chat!

Rainbow Stairs

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

Love
Lorraine
Lacroix

Please Forgive Me

Dear readers (if there are any left),

I've been neglecting my blog again...I have a lot of excuses for my absence from this interactive world, some are big excuses like the rehaul of my three storey (nearly fabulous) home and others are small (I wanted to watch New Girl or Homeland or I was just feeling too lazy to turn on the laptop). My point is that I'm sorry and am therefore making a Brownie promise to be more dedicated to my expressive alter ego Lorraine Lacroix and to the art of blogging.

So you can expect to see posts galore about fashion, music, art, decor, books and films...afterall these are a few of my very favourite things!

love
Lorraine
Lacroix

Goedemorgen Amsterdam!

L'Homme and I are just back from a short break to the European city of canals and bicycles.

Temperatures were low so wrapping up was essential and I was glad I packed my new Chelsea Boots for all the walking.

We had a quick stroll through Vondelpark to the Van Gogh Museum and saw the Beauty in Abundance exhibition of Parisian prints which I just adored. I will most certainly be getting myself a copy of the new Printmaking In Paris book and possibly even my very own Toulouse-Lautrec print for my humble abode.

We went on a tour of the city http://www.newamsterdamtours.com/, their concept is that basically the tour is free... it means everyone can afford it no matter how small or non-existent their budget is. The guides work on tips only so you just pay what you think it's worth but these guys are really good. Our guide Ged was so knowledgable and a fantastic story teller, by the end of the tour we were happy to part with our Euros.

Coffee at home for me is always a skinny sugar free affair but sneaking into an old bar in Amsterdam it was impossible to resist the pure dark espresso with a dash of cream and a sprinkle of sugar, so bad but so so delicious...

The trip was short but we're looking forward to visiting again some time, with a visit to the Pancake Bakery, hiring a bike and having a beer outside (too cold on our trip) being top of our to-do in Amsterdam list!

Love

Lorraine

Lacroix x

Wonder Woman

The latest addition to my shoe collection is truly wonderful.

Think Marvel comic mania in footwear form, in homage to a wonderful woman...

I've been after these Wonder Woman Converse for a while now and I'm thrilled I finally got my hands on them.

I will be rocking these babies with skinny jeans and a logo tee or perhaps some skin tight leather look leggings would be a bit more super-hero style?

Love
Lorraine
Lacroix
X

It's All About The Eye Candy

Spring gives me a penchant for all things bright and Beautiful and there are so many joyful, saccharine sweet offerings in fashion right now that it would be terribly rude not to jump in the pool of candy.

Louis Vuittons towering ice cream sundaes, pastel skirt suits and delicate Broderie Anglaise detailing is just delicious. Innocent and overtly girly it has me twirling my hair around my fingers...extra sprinkles for me please!

The handbags at Prada also hit the sweet spot in perfect pastel prettiness.

Mulberry rocked (literally) with giant pieces of seaside confectionary and who could resist a pair of tangy stacked wedges for some summer vibrancy.

Don't worry if your budget is more suited to Cadburys than Charbonnel Et Walker because the high street is also a treat right now!

Topshop £48

Topshop £48

Topshop £46

H&M £14.99

 

 

 

 

H&M Blouse £29.99

ASOS Bunting Necklace £10

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASOS Summer Dress £35

Love
Lorraine
Lacroix
x

Joie De Vivre!

Bonjour readers,

Well Christmas came and went in a busy blur of shopping, eating, drinking and good times with family and friends. Now it seems for many of us 2012 is already all about resolutions, diets, gym memberships and finding new, more fulfilling jobs.

The amount of pressure we pile onto ourselves every January is immense and quite frankly ridiculous, we expect to turn our whole lives around in one month and is it any wonder that we're all diving for the chocolate by the 31st (if not earlier).

It seems to me that we need some new resolutions...so instead of ruthlessly forbidding chocolate I will just be treasuring a small piece every now and then after a bad day at work. Instead of joining that expensive gym and pounding out the miles on a soul-less treadmill I will be donning a headscarf and gayly riding a bike through the city park a la Von Trapp family!

Instead of vowing not to drink I'll be savouring one glass of beautiful bordeux instead of guzzling the whole bottle and rather than buying into the latest celebrity fitness plans I might just take the stairs up to the office in the morning.

My point is that life is for living so I won't be piling on the pounds vegging with takeaways, I'll be checking out local free gigs and plays, and trying to inject a little Joie De Vivre!!!

So although it is a little late I wish you Happy New Year x
Smile like these wonderful women and have fun in 2012!
Love
Lorraine
Lacroix