by Helen | Jul 9, 2026 | Lifestyle
Have to admit, until fairly recently, we’d never heard of the butter crock. We just did what I suppose most people do – keep the butter in fridge, where it’s always too hard and cold. Or, leave it out in a butter dish and return to a swimming pool of buttery oil in warmer weather. It never seemed too much of a problem, as I didn’t know there was a solution. I didn’t even know there was a problem, especially as I’m not a huge butter fan, so had never really questioned our storage of it. Until I chanced upon a butter crock on Instagram, and our buttery lives changed forever.
Since finding out about these ceramic pots, I now realise that probably everyone else has always known about them. But in case, like us, you haven’t, here’s the lowdown on butter crocks and why you definitely need one in your life…
Butter crocks are appreciated for their ability to keep butter soft and spreadable without refrigeration, as well as their undoubted aesthetic appeal, and their connection to traditional food preservation methods. And, do you know what? They really DO work! I ordered one – obviously – but was very sceptical. I mean, summer heat in Andalucia and you expect to keep butter out of the fridge and it doesn’t melt?
In the cooler months, this is the perfect receptacle for butter. It keeps it cold, but spreadable. No more tearing bread. The butter is smooth, but still with substance – perfect buttering conditions. We’ve had to adapt a little in summer months, as temperatures rise into the forties. Leaving the crock out on the kitchen work surface in the height of summer is no longer the best idea, as the butter definitely does become much, much softer. So, we keep it in a cool cupboard and problem solved. It is important to remember to change the water regularly – every two, certainly three, days – and to always hand wash the whole thing before re-filling.
It’s easy-peasy to refill, too – the crock (or at least ours) seems to take just under a normal sized pack of butter, so we use what’s left over first. It’s best to let the butter soften at room temperature first (don’t melt it), then press it firmly into the bell-shaped lid to remove air pockets. Finally, level off the top with a knife or spatula for a clean seal.
The one we bought is a BAIFULAI French butter crock, which we found on Amazon.es. Our butter crock is a retro style, in white ceramic, with a lovely faux bone handled butter knife. Not at all expensive, but it definitely looks like a kitchen item with a little bit of history. There’s something rather satisfying about using a butter crock. It feels like one of those old-fashioned kitchen ideas that quietly solves a modern problem without any fuss. Ours now lives permanently on the worktop for most of the year, and it’s become one of those small everyday things that makes breakfast just that little bit nicer. Sometimes the simplest inventions really are the best.
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by Helen | Jul 7, 2026 | Lifestyle
If you’ve been wondering why the renovation updates suddenly stopped, you’re certainly not alone. When we bought our Andalusian townhouse, I had every intention of documenting the journey as it happened. I imagined regular posts showing each stage of the transformation, sharing the discoveries, the challenges and, hopefully, the successes along the way. Eighteen months of dust, discoveries and bringing an Andalucian townhouse back to life
Then reality arrived.
As anyone who has taken on an old property will know, renovating a house is a full-time occupation in itself. Add in learning new skills, dealing with unexpected surprises (and there have been plenty!), sourcing materials, managing tradespeople, navigating Spanish bureaucracy and somehow fitting normal life around it all, and something had to give. Unfortunately, it was the blog.
Over the last eighteen months we’ve spent far more time covered in dust than we care to now think about. When we haven’t been working on the house, we have been plugged into laptops, focusing on our client website design work. Most days have ended with just enough energy to admire what we’d managed to achieve, either renovation or design wise, before collapsing into bed, ready to start again the next morning. The good news is that while the blog has been quiet, the renovation certainly hasn’t.
We’ve made enormous progress. Some projects have gone exactly to plan, others have taught us lessons we’d rather not have learned, and there have been moments of sheer delight alongside the occasional “What on earth have we done?” experience that anyone restoring an old house will probably recognise.
Looking back, perhaps there’s a silver lining. Instead of isolated updates, I can now tell the story properly—with the benefit of hindsight. I can share not only what we did, but what worked, what didn’t, what we’d do differently, and the many unexpected discoveries that only reveal themselves over time. So over the coming weeks and months I’ll be catching up. I’ll take you through the renovation room by room and project by project, sharing plenty of photographs, practical tips, costs where they’re useful, and the little moments that have made this adventure so memorable.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to visit the blog and ask how the house is progressing. Your encouragement has meant a great deal. The renovation story isn’t over—far from it. In many ways, it’s only just beginning, and I’m looking forward to bringing you along for the next chapter.
by Helen | Jul 3, 2026 | Lifestyle
Now that the dust is settling – quite literally – on our renovation project, I’ve started to reflect on the mad journey we have been on since July 2024, when we finally left Istria. In fact before then, because the journey started for real, when we finished the renovation of the Istrian house and put it back on the market, selling this time, to the first couple who viewed it. We’d been tinkering around the edges with this house and despite many viewings and lots of love for it, it just wasn’t selling, so we had to take some big, decisive action. We knew that if we were to ever sell out home in Istria, we had overcome some hurdles because of its location – it was in a very small village, at the top of a valley, and lacked easy amenities. So, we took the bull by the horns, and invested money into the demolition of a second small house we owned at the rear, creating the space to create a Mediterranean style walled garden, on different levels, covered in white stones, filled with greenery and with access from the living room. And, bingo – it sold.
So, the first why. Why Andalucia as our next step?
We did our homework this time. We looked at lots of parts of Spain, but kept coming back to Andalucia. It’s a region we have visited before and there was an element of romanticism about it, with all of whitewashed villages, mountains, sparkling Mediterranean coastline and sandy beaches (there are no sandy beaches in Istria…). We searched online for properties and made spreadsheet after spreadsheet, listing each one and which of criteria each one hit. We had a big criteria list, and this did help us to narrow down properties, eventually. However small, or strange, your requirements are, add them to your list – they are important. These, from memory, were what we wanted the most, not necessarily in order of importance:
- a view;
- a large village/small town, and ideally a pueblo blanco;
- easy access to larger towns/cities
- close enough to the coast that we could there easily, but far enough away to not be living at the coast, and its associated costs – so about 30-40 minutes away;
- proximity to a social life – bars, restaurants, local shops – not necessarily large shops, as we could drive to those;
- proximity to an airport, ideally no more than 2 hours away – and we were realistic about this because Andalucia is a huge region and we knew that we were looking at Malaga as probably the main airport;
- ideally a townhouse, not needing a full renovation – hmmmm…
After seven years in Istria, we knew also what we didn’t want :
- an isolated location – not because we ever felt lonely or actually isolated, because we are very self-sufficient, but because we wanted to reduce the amount of time we had to spend in the car;
- a village with just locals – which initially is very exciting because you have to pitch in, but ultimately it can become quite limiting, especially if your neighbours rarely leave the village and once the interest in you as the “newcomers” wears off and they realise that you are actually never really going to become a “local”, it all becomes a bit difficult;
- a location that had no amenities to speak of – no shops, no bars, no restaurants – in walking distance;
- a location that had admittedly lovely summers, but in absolute contrast, long, cold, wet, dismal winters;
- somewhere that effectively shut down over winter;
- somewhere that was difficult for visitors to get to, especially out of season.
So, as I say, we did our homework, and all paths were leading to beautiful Andalucia – it was just a question of working out where, as the region does stretch from Murcia in the east to Cadiz in the west. As in, the whole stretch of southern Spain. We had intended to fly out and do a trip for a couple of weeks before we sold up in Istria, but time constraints and obligations didn’t allow this to happen, so our first recce was when we actually landed in Spain, off the ferry in Barcelona from Genoa, and drove south.
No idea at all where we might end up, just a handful of houses we’d seen online that we wanted to view. So, we made the most of the freedom we had, and took a couple of weeks driving down through Spain, revisiting places we hadn’t been to for years, discovering new ones and generally feeling like we were actually on holiday. Yes, it’s true – living abroad doesn’t equal one long holiday, especially when you have to work and are renovating and well, just, living a normal life. So, this did feel like a break – and we made the most of it, because we knew what potentially lay ahead…
by Helen | Mar 12, 2026 | Interiors
There weren’t many original pieces of furniture left in our house when we bought it. Plenty of 1980s stuff, mind you, that the previous owner obviously no longer wanted, and couldn’t be bothered to get rid of. No, we weren’t lucky enough to be purchasing one of those old townhouses, still packed with elegant old furniture, ripe for restoration. Instead we inherited largely a pile of junk – apart from this beauty. We’re not sure why this was left, but it wasn’t going anywhere, and our builders were under strict instructions to keep it safe throughout the renovation works.
It’s been a godsend of a storage space, since all of our belongings came out of storage, as we’ve been able to pack lots inside. But we knew we wanted to spruce it up, because the wood, as beautiful as it is, was just too dark for us. The house is now very light and bright, and we definitely wanted to take this piece of furniture a whole lot lighter – not white, but something that would complement the white walls and ceiling of the bedroom. I’d bought a chalkpaint called Frappe for a mirror, and really liked the creaminess of the colour – light, but warm. So, it was decided that this was the colour. And, what a result. A beautiful new wardrobe, which looks a whole lot better.
The difference a second coat started to make.
I love results like this. Transforming something for very little expenditure and ending up with something very beautiful. For the price of two pots of chalk paint, we now have a huge wardrobe/cupboard, with hanging space, shelving and internal drawers. It’s very, very nice not to have spend sometimes!
by Helen | Dec 5, 2025 | Interiors
Lighting – and pendants – have been a big consideration in the renovation of our house. Initially, we’d thought that we’d go down the route of Moroccan/Moorish style pendants, but to get what we wanted, for all of the rooms, would have cost a small fortune. So, we decided to have coloured glass pendants in only some of the rooms. And then, as the house went white, we changed our minds again, and veered towards all white. It just meant sourcing white pendants that we liked, would suit the style of the house and didn’t blow the budget. In Istria, we had two IKEA Maskros pendants – the ones that look like dandelion heads – which we loved, and so I was sad to discover that they had been discontinued, as we did consider these again.
Because IKEA prices are reasonable, we decided to have a good look at their pendants again, given we’d been so happy with the ones above, and that’s when we started to seriously consider the Krusning pendants. I’d previously liked them in-store, but because we weren’t considering paper shades, had not really taken much notice of them, but when I checked online, the prices did pique my interest. As we needed about fourteen of them, the prices were very appealing and so a couple were bought initially, just to see what they were like. And they were gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Although the first one was a bit tricky – each pendant has about fifteen sheets of quick thick waxed paper, which you need to assemble, one on top of the other, then fan out into a kind of star shape, then scrunch up the edges. It felt a bit weird to be scrunching and crunching up the layers, but you soon get used to it, as the shades take shape. The beauty of constructing the shades in this way, is that they all look slightly different. Despite being made of paper, they are sturdy and robust, and have enough weight to them, to make them just sway gently in the breeze. A couple of ours are positioned near ceiling fans, and even these are OK. The one thing to remember about these Krusning shades, is that the cord set, to attach it, is sold separately – so don’t forget to pick these up, too.
The result? Very personalised lights which produce a very soft, diffused light, creating a very cosy ambience. We liked these so much as central ceiling pendants, we purchased the smaller versions for the lighting at the side of each bed. These lights are on dimmer switches, and so the effect is even more magical, as you can adjust the intensity. I’d really recommend these shades if you’re budget conscious but want something quite unique and elegant.
This is not a sponsored post. We paid for all of the products. We are just sharing and recommending products we like and rate.
by Helen | Dec 4, 2025 | Interiors
Not that long ago, if you told me we’d own a chaise longue, I’d have thought you were mad. Not only would we not really have had the space – or the kind of house – for such an item of furniture, people like us just don’t own things like chaise longues! Well, by a twist of fate, we do now…
When our furniture was in storage in Manilva, we got to know the guys who owned the units well, as we visited quite frequently. They often had furniture which people had left in storage as they no longer wanted/needed it and we’d be shown bits and pieces to see if we’d be interested. And this chaise longue did catch our attention. The fabric was pretty awful – a bit chintzy, with a shiny pale blue background and embellished with gold swirls. But the shape of it was lovely, and it was very sturdy. It felt like a really well made piece of furniture, with an old fashioned sprung seat, which felt as if it was stuffed with horsehair. The legs were super cute too – small, but beautifully carved, with little swivel castors. We knew it had potential but would need recovering – so we agreed a price and put it into storage with all of the rest of our belongings.
We had a good idea where this sofa would go, and luckily, we were right, as it’s now in place, on the first floor landing. But, we never did get it recovered. Instead, we decided that we’d use Fabricoat fabric paint on it, as we’d been very impressed with this product. This time, we opted for beautiful chocolate brown – applying the paint was really just like applying melted chocolate. The coverage this time was absolutely excellent, because the fabric wasn’t overly soft – it was also very taught, so application was incredibly easy and if I am remembering correctly, it only needed two coats. Overall, we’re delighted with the new look of this really elegant chaise longue, which now looks as good as new. At a fraction of the price we’d have paid for the recovering option.
The embossed pattern has taken the colour well, but you can still see it, and this adds texture to what might be otherwise a very flat colour, so it’s worked out well. It still looks very elegant, and the carved legs are more prominent because they are no longer competing with the blingtastic fabric. Now that it’s “dressed” with a couple of cushions and a throw, it’s taken on a lovely new look, and is very much at home in its new space. And, yes, we do now feel very comfortable being the owners of a super gorgeous chocolate brown chaise longue…
by Helen | Dec 3, 2025 | Interiors
Although we have a lot of space in our renovated house, one thing we are short on, is actual storage space. Apart from what is now a rather lovely pantry – another thing ticked off the wishlist – there is no original storage, and so we have had to be creative with shelving and cupboards. We sold the furniture we could not easily disassemble and then reassemble, when we sold our house in Istria, so we’ve had to buy quite a lot of storage. We’re lucky that we have a large roof terrace, where boxes and crates still sit, waiting to be unpacked and dealt with.
One thing we really need storage for is bedding. I don’t know how other people deal with their bedding situation but we seem to be forever in a bit of a pickle with duvet covers, sheets and pillow cases. We always think we have the bedding to fit perfectly, but because we have no system, it all gets mixed up and what I thought fitted a particular bed/duvet etc, often doesn’t and it drives me insane. So, we’re working on getting it all sorted and knowing what goes where and with what. And whatever no longer fits, will go into the painting/dust sheet box. We’re planning on floor to ceiling shelving in the little recess that has been created in the passageway to the main bathroom, and once these are up, and long drapes fitted, we’ll be good to go in terms of bedding/towel storage.
Another item on our long list of “things we’d love to have in the house”, included some kind of chair/seating arrangement, under the window in our bedroom. We’re working hard to make this a really comfy, relaxing room, that is a bit of a haven. The en-suite has been created and our beautiful black sanitary-ware installed, and because it’s recessed slightly, as well as the double doors into this room, we’ve also added a long stretch of duck egg blue velvet curtains across the wall, softening the entrance, and therefore softening the feel of the room.
But I’ll come back to the curtains and the bedroom, because they are not what this about. No, this about finding that perfect something for underneath the window. Out of which we have the most gorgeous view, over the terracotta roof tiles of the houses opposite and away to the mountains to the east, towards Malaga. The view changes throughout the day, and as we’re discovering, across the seasons, and this little space is the perfect place to just sit, and take it all in. So, instead of being perched on a random spare chair, I wanted something beautiful, which would add to the bedroom, not be a spare part. A lot of online searching led me to this beauty – a slightly off-white, soft boucle bench, with big thick, chunky legs, and which is the exact size for under the window. And when I say exact, it couldn’t have been any more perfect. Snug. Perfect. But best of all, it also has a hinged seat with quite a good sized bit of storage – meaning that the bedding for this room can be stored in the bench. So no confusion going forward!
This was such a find on amazon.es – and therefore presumably available on amazon.co.uk, and comes in three colours – white, khaki and green. It’s super soft and beautiful to the touch, as well as being very robust and comfortable. We didn’t want to have a window seat built as I’m not really a fan of these, so this is absolutely ideal, as it can be moved if we fancy it somewhere else. Enjoying the view has just become a whole lot nicer. With the bonus of a view with storage…
by Helen | Nov 27, 2025 | Lifestyle
As winter takes hold, this is a super delicious winter warmer – Fresh Pea & Mint Pesto with Butter Beans & Roasted Tomatoes. And, as far as I can tell, it’s vegetarian and suitable vegans if the Greek yogurt is omitted and maybe an alternative used – although I do stand to be corrected on the vegan front.
what you need :
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Butter Beans (2 cans)
- Frozen Peas (about 300g)
- Fresh Mint
- Fresh Basil
- Garlic
- Spring Onions
- Cashew Nuts & Pine Nuts
- Lemon Juice
- Olive Oil
- Seasoning : Chilli Flakes, Salt & Pepper
what you need to do :
- Roast tomatoes with olive oil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper
- Soak the nuts in boiling water and leave until ready to add to blender
- Sauté the white of the spring onions with the garlic for 3-4 minutes
- Strain, rinse & add the butter beans and a smallish quantity of water and then crumble in a veggie stock cube
- While this is simmering, add the peas, mint, basil, nuts (strain water before adding), lemon juice, 2-3 tbsp of olive oil, a splash of water and salt & pepper to a blender & whizz. Add more water if consistency is too thick.
- Add to butter beans and simmer for about 15 mins
- To serve, scatter the chopped green parts of spring onions (tiny pieces so texture isn’t too rough – our slices could have been smaller), roasted tomatoes and seeds of your choice – we used nigella seeds & these gave it a bit of an oniony kick
- A dollop of Greek yoghurt & pitta bread, to mop it up, finished this off
It sounds a bit faffy but it’s honestly not – just do it in three parts : tomatoes, then butter beans, then minty pea pesto. It is absolutely delicious! The minty pesto is also a fantastic base sauce and I’m thinking next time, served over charred chicken breast or salmon. Seriously make this if you like fresh & healthy & tasty. It’s a winner.
by Helen | Nov 26, 2025 | Lifestyle
Over the years we’ve been finding that, especially over the summer, our use of plastic water bottles increases significantly. We always recycle plastics, but we were creating our own small mountain of bottles and often our plastics bin (which was only collected every two months) would be full to the brim and we’d end up taking excess plastic to the municipal waste. We’ve used filter jugs in the past, which have helped – but when family and friends came over to visit, these jugs just weren’t enough, and the plastic waste increased. One thing that we did find very effective – although only when it was only the two of us – was a Black and Blum water bottle with activated (specifically Binchotan) charcoal filters, which purified tap water by absorbing contaminants and releasing minerals, and resulting in cleaner, better tasting, water. The charcoal was replaced every couple of months, and the carafe style bottle was a good size to keep in the fridge door, keeping it cool. To make sure we always had purified water, we’d decant the water from the carafe into another jug, making sure the Black & Blum bottle was always full.
However, this still wasn’t ideal as often we would forget to re-fill and so plastic bottles were usually still bought as a back up, meaning we weren’t really tackling the problem. Our tap water in Istria wasn’t great and even though we had a filter fitted on the tap, we rarely drank water this way.
Now that we have moved to Andalucia, we have decided once and for all, to resolve this issue. Summers will be hotter than in Istria, and we want to ensure that both us and our visitors, have a regular supply of good drinking water but without the plastic waste. We know we won’t be able to eliminate it all, but we’re definitely going to reduce it, now that we have bought a wonderful Ecofiltro Water Filter – the self proclaimed 100% biodegradable sustainable water solution…
Not only do these look quite beautiful – and come in four colours (pink, mustard, white and matte black) – they also come in two sizes, 5 litres and 20 litres. We did a bit of working out, and quickly realised that if we bit the bullet and bought the more expensive 20 litre option, it would still have paid for itself in less than three months, if we looked at the amount of bottled water we get through. We opted for the white unit, and also bought the wooden stand – an expensive purchase, but one that is already, two months later, paying dividends.
The filter unit, which sits inside the white chamber, looks like a big terracotta plant pot. This is constructed from a composite material comprising three natural elements: clay, sawdust, and colloidal silver. The pot is filled with tap water, and slowly it starts to seep through the walls of the pot, into the chamber – initially, the filtration process is quite slow due to the pores of the ceramic material opening, and this does result in a clay-like taste in the water. It is recommended that this initial water is discarded – we filled it three times, before the clay taste really dissipated and now, the water tastes great. We do drink a lot of water, and we do keep it topped up – but if we’ve been away for a few days, we will empty it (great for watering plants), just so that we can fill with fresh water. As it’s getting warmer, too, we’re finding that adding ice, makes a difference.
So, would we recommend an Ecofiltro unit?
Yes, without hesitation – and, we are NOT being paid or sponsored to write this post or recommend this product. A 5 litre unit would certainly be more than enough for a couple and at €144 is a whole lot more affordable, especially if you forgo the stand (which retails at €26 for the 5 litre model). But, living where we are now, and with hopefully lots of summer visitors, we decided that the 20 litre option, with stand, was better for us. It was a bit painful hitting the “pay” button, but it’s done now, and we’ve bought no bottled water since our kitchen was fitted and we could fill from the tap. We don’t anticipate buying bottled water going forward, so for us, it was ultimately a good decision. It’s definitely a style statement, too, with its slightly off white colour and pale wood stand. It’s a very simple design, so although it is quite large, it doesn’t look bulky and over-bearing. The initial taste of clay has indeed worn off, and the water does have a very different taste – cleaner and fresher, would be how I would describe it. It is recommended that the filter unit (which should always be kept wet to maintain its effectiveness) be replaced every two years – and when you do replace, as long as it’s not damaged, you have yourself a plant pot.
by Helen | Nov 25, 2025 | Lifestyle
I’ve followed Zoco Home on Instagram for a while now, always drooling over their Andalucian/Ibizan/Mallorcan inspired furnishings and accessories. I’ve never really clocked where they are physically, until recently, and realised that they have two stores, very close to us – one just outside Marbella and one just outside Mijas. On a recent trip to Mijas Pueblo, we felt we were too close by, to not visit. And wow, it didn’t disappoint. A bit like Habitat, but with that Mediterranean sunshine feel.
The showroom is large and spacious and beautifully arranged, with home zones so you can get a real feel for bedroom or living room or bathroom inspiration. I honestly could have spent a small fortune, but as we were mid renovation, and therefore mid huge spending on essentials, like building work, I had to rein myself in. I felt proud that I only left with a lovely Meraki after-sun lotion, rather than the huge cream linen L-shaped sofa, I had my eye on.
Everything is truly exquisite. The colour palette throughout is earthy and muted, with lots of linen and rattan and concrete. There’s nothing bling or overly bright. Everything feels calm and just being in the showroom, feels relaxing. There’s no apparent pressure to buy. Sales assistants are there if you need them, but they just left us, after acknowledging us, to take photos, and ooh and aah over everything. The store also has a small cafe/restaurant, which seemed to be very well used, not only by shoppers, but also office workers and builders. If we’d had a bit more time, I think we’d have tried it out, as the food we spotted on tables looked very “Zoco Home”, and definitely not your fast food caff variety.
Maybe one day we’ll have a house where we furnish it from Zoco, but in the meantime, here’s what caught our eyes…
