The House Diaries

#34: An emotional weekend, house makeover, the paint colours I used, and my favourite movies when life feels blue and you want to cry to silly love movies.

Sunday blues? Yep, R-E-A-L. Very real. This weekend has been full of emotions. As many of you know, I’m going through something incredibly difficult at the moment. I’ve written before about grief and trauma, and I know these topics aren’t always easy to read, but I also think it’s important to talk about sadness openly. Life isn’t always light and easy, and I don’t want to pretend it is.

Sometimes it feels like everything comes at once. There’s the big, hard thing that’s weighing on your heart - and then suddenly your phone breaks, your car runs out of oil, it starts to rain halfway through a dog walk and you didn’t bring a jacket, and Instagram decides to block your reel from being seen in the US. None of these things are huge on their own, but when you’re already carrying a lot, even the small things can feel like too much.

This week in particular has been hard. Just when I started to feel a little more like myself, something would knock me back. There have been some bright moments, but also many quiet ones - letting the emotions out, crying, feeling it all.

To keep myself grounded, I’ve been reaching for the things that bring me joy, and one of those things is DIY. There’s something so deeply comforting about working with my hands, creating something tangible, and watching my design slowly come to life. It might sound silly, but sanding, scraping, and painting is its own kind of therapy.

The house, in many ways, has been reflecting how I feel. Even when the sun is shining, she’s been flaking - quite literally - shedding her sorrow in strips of old paint. So, I decided to give her a bit of a glow-up. A fresh start!

So I began repainting the exterior. It’s a big job, and I’ve only managed three of the eleven walls with windows, but someone from the village has kindly lent me a cherry picker, which will help so much. It feels good to begin giving the house some love again.

For anyone curious, here are the colours I used — one of my favourite combinations:

Exterior façade: Oranged Coloured White (an archived Farrow & Ball shade — soft, warm, and uplifting, like butter and sunshine had a baby)
Windows: Olive (another archived F&B tone — grounding and calm)

And because emotions have been high and energy has been low, I’ve found comfort in something else too: romcoms. I love watching films that lift the spirit and make me cry in that safe, familiar way — like a little emotional release wrapped in popcorn and nostalgia.

So here’s a list of some of my all-time favourites. Each one brings a different kind of joy, and I’ve added a few notes in case you need help choosing what to watch next:

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• Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
  A chaotic fashion fever dream with glue guns, post-it notes, and unexpected emotional depth. Weirdly healing.
  

• 10 Things I Hate About You
  Peak 90s angst meets Shakespeare. Heath Ledger’s bleacher scene = modern art.
  

• Never Been Kissed
  Drew Barrymore as a tragic undercover journalist in low-rise jeans. You’ll cringe and cry - sometimes at the same time.
  

• Drive Me Crazy
  Teen heartthrobs, slow dances, and the world’s most unrealistic makeover arc. Still perfect.

• Bridesmaids
  Explosive diarrhoea in a bridal shop, but make it tender and existential. Surprisingly relatable if you’re also unravelling!

• 27 Dresses
  Always a bridesmaid, never the main character — until she is. Pile of pastel tulle included.
  

• Easy A
  A literary scandal in high school with a dash of The Scarlet Letter, and Emma Stone being iconic. Warning: may inspire monologues.

• Mean Girls
  Iconic! Because sometimes you need to laugh at teenagers being savages while whispering “fetch” under your breath.

• While You Were Sleeping
  Sandra Bullock falls in love with a man in a coma. Somehow sweet, not creepy.

• Splash
  A man falls in love with a mermaid and it totally works. Daryl Hannah swims like a goddess. Logic takes a backseat.

• Pretty Woman
  Shopping montages and Julia Roberts’ smile. A classic glow-up tale!

• Bride Wars
  Two besties fight over a wedding date and behave terribly. Soothingly dramatic.

• Sister Act 2
  Not strictly a romcom, but it is joyful. Whoopi, gospel choirs, Lauryn Hill - pure soul food for the heart.

If you’ve got any go-to comfort films you love, I’d love to hear them. Big hugs to anyone going through a rough time. You’re not alone. And sometimes, watching something a little silly and sweet can help more than you’d expect.

LOVE YOU THE MOST <3