A few of my favorite things: Stevens Happy Accidents.

Hello everyone, I'm Steven from the blog Stevens Happy Accidents (and etsy shop), and I'm so happy to be visiting decor8 whilst Holly is moving, as part of her guest series "a few of my favorite things". I live in a tiny rented house just outside London, I'm close enough to use and abuse everything the big city has to offer, but far enough away to feel like I'm in the countryside. I live here with one husband, one unloving cat, an overly needy dog, and two greedy fish. And here are a few of my favorite things.

(home..) This is the place where I sit and smile, with colour and texture all around me. It's from here where I visit every corner of the world and make my heart go boom boom boom, by seeing whats new on my favorite blogs and places I have to click into every day, be it an amazing new wallpaper or the latest celebrity scandal. It's from here where I pull up a tiny table and get out my sewing machine to create whatever happy accidents happen that day, it's from here I laugh out loud at the silly dancing my David does, it's here where most nights we eat dinner and watch Dynasty (I love Jeff Colby) and it's here where I could and would, given half a chance stay and smile forever.

(vintage pinball..) This corner of my home is where I proudly hang a vintage wooden tabletop game that I rescued from the evil clutches of someone at a car boot sale here in London, and to think I almost walked away from it, because it's now one of my favorite things. It's a fair point to say that one persons trash is another persons treasure, and I love that forever now it will be part of my life, it might hang on many different wall's and be positioned alongside many different things, but it will be seen and loved, never discarded and sold.

(bedroom..) This is my side of the bedroom, the side where i dream a happy adventure, where I bury my head under my brightly coloured pillows and hide, where my dog whines at 3 in the morning to be let out. It's where I refresh and start every day new, it's where I talk too much, and apparently snore too loudly, it's where I look up and plot my world travels. It's where I sleep with my feet out..and never under the duvet. It's my bed, and I love it, and you can't have it. :)

(hi..) This is without doubt, the greatest thing i have ever rescued from a car boot sale, and one of the best things in my home. Please imagine the scene, early morning, coffee in hand, and I suddenly sprint across the field at the sight of these big chunky letters just sitting under a table, I'm screaming on the inside "oh my god oh my god"...... I ask how much for them, expecting to be told a stupid amount, and the man says "£10 mate", "yes please" I scream back at him. Sprint off again to get some money from David, and finally walk away, now out of breath with my best ever find. One day I will attach it to a wall and fit lights on the inside.. but for now, I love my Hi.

(bathroom) My bathroom was already painted these colours when we moved in, and the landlady refuses to let us paint over them, but I have come to like it. Whoever knew aqua blue and lavender would work well together? But mixed in with my own little additions its a room I do love. It is big, it floods with light, and its got in it one of the greatest inventions ever...the bath, where like the pig I am, I wallow, and soak away any cares I might have had. Where I read the trashiest of books, and make the best magazines all soggy and wet. The getting clean part is just an added bonus of this room, my aqua blue and lavender bathroom.

(inspiration) I remember many years ago, on a school trip to the Louvre in Paris, I got told off by a security guard for trying to reach over and touch a painting, I just wanted to feel the texture, feel what the artist felt, and its this tactile nature I have that inspires me to this day. I have come to realise that fabric is my material of choice, I like many different crafts, but give me some fabric and a sewing machine and ill make you something unique. I don't plan my work too much, and call most things I make a happy accident.. and I'm usually happy with my accidents, be it a pillow, a bag or a plush toy and if it sells in my shop its just a bonus, never the aim.

(advice) I used to live with my grandmother, and she would always tell me off for cooking too fast, being impatient, heating things too quickly, and would always say "never let baked beans boil" and I always remember this advice.. and it reflects onto my life daily... because instead of thinking things through, I usually just dive in and try, instead of making plans and following them through, I quickly rush at the last minute, missing a few things on the list along the way. And I suppose it's because I always want my "beans cooked" quickly, when maybe I should just let them simmer.

(images: stevens happy accidents)