fess up friday - swoon worthy

Let's take a trip on this beautiful spring Friday to visit my girl across the Atlantic. Fess Up Friday is featuring Kimberly from Swoon Worthy and I couldn't be more excited. If you don't know Kimberly and her corner of the web, you should. She has a dressing room every girl would love, she is a color queen and she and her man are wrapping up one sexy bathroom reno. And I will continue to twist her arm until she sets up that Etsy shop - the world needs her art for sale. So Kimberly, Fess Up...

First up, I just want to say a very big thank you to Elizabeth for inviting me to take part in this brilliant series. I have long admired her eclectic and colourful style and having a night of getting hammered on G&Ts with her is on my bucket list because wow, that would be a good night.  Girl is seriously hilarious.  Also, her daughter's bedroom is on my list of BEST ORC's EVAH because who doesn't like a deer with flowers coming out of its head? No one. That's who.

A little bit about me... I'm an American ex-pat who's lived in England for nearly 13 years and in fabulous-but-rainy Manchester for the last 5. My accent is a bit all over the place but my style is still seemingly rooted in the US and people will often say it's very different from the norm you see here in the UK.  That's okay with me. One thing you will notice immediately is that I LOVE colour and I'm a magpie when it comes to gold and brass.

My other half and I have spent the last nearly 4 years creating a home we both love with our own two hands on a pretty modest budget.

When people see the pictures I share on my blog, they assume we are nearly done with our home.

And that's when I get to laugh so hard, I have tears steaming down my face. Crying with laughter? Or merely crying? I'll let you decide.

Because I harbour a dark, dirty secret. A secret I'm letting you hair readers into.

Ready? When you walk into our house, THIS is the nightmare you are greeted with.

Killer kitty!!!

No, actually, it's not the cat.  It's the marked up white walls, a stained and worn beige carpet, popcorn ceilings... don't mind all the towels and various bathroom accessories dotted around - we're in the middle of a bathroom remodel which means every room somehow gets to participate in the chaos.  These pictures make it look okay.  It's really really not okay.

Want to use the bathroom? Sure, don't catch anything on that disgusting light switch that controls the light in there though. Oh, it's fine, just make sure you wash your hands before and after.

And on your way out the door, don't mind that weird cut out in the original flooring. We think despite the fact there is nothing beneath the flooring, perhaps it was used to hide drugs. Or bodies. We're not here to judge.

So is the house done? Oh not by a long shot. Does it embarrass me when we have visitors and I have to usher them through our horrible hallway before you get to the good stuff?  Oh yes, it does. Is the hallway in this list of priorities to get done? Well, until we get the other rooms done, it'll probably be the last thing that gets attention.  In the meantime, I'll just have to live with my dirty secret.

Thank you, Elizabeth, for allowing me this deep cleanse of my soul! Can the next deep cleanse include the carpets? ;)