tropical paradise

With Spring just around the corner and the sun starting to shine a little more every day, filling the house with bright, fresh and fun accessories creates a vibrant and radiant atmosphere. We have spotted quite a few tropical and Caribbean inspired pieces in the shops and we are loving these vibes! Vibrant and bold colours combined with colourful and bright prints are inspiring and add vibrancy to the home! Tropical animals, plants and nature adorn homeware items and add a quirky and interesting feature to any room!  

Cushions and soft furnishings are an instant and easy way to inject some 'on trend'  paradise touches. It's time to put away the cinnamon and winter scents and add some fresh and fruity scented candles for that crisp and clean feeling! If bold colours are a little daunting then introduce some natural textures and materials to create contrast, with some baskets (these also offer additional storage as well) Try mixing and combining different materials for an interesting feel and look. 

We love this trend and think adding a couple of pieces will create a 'truly tropical retreat' as we anxiously await the Summer months! 

Parrot cushion Asda £5 / Coconut and Pineapple scented candle Matalan £4 / 
Orange clock Red candy £25 / Pineapple lamp Oliver bonas £80 / 
Ombre baskets Matalan £35 / Pineapple print Not on the highstreet £7.95 / 
Leaf print cushion Matalan £8 / Bamboo bowl Oliver bonas £14 / Giraffe Habitat £20 

Sarah and Holly

      

let's get organised... in the kitchen

We hope you are enjoying the 'let's get organised' series and today we have some more ideas and hacks for the kitchen! The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home and with this in mind we believe the kitchen is an important room, which should be well organised, clean and tidy. Here are a few ideas to help create an organised space. Clever over the door storage creates more cupboard space and attaching pieces to the wall frees up valuable worktop space, if a kitchen is on the smaller size. Why not try freestanding shelf units or trolleys with wheels, which can be moved around the kitchen and are a great versatile item. If baked goods (home made or shop bought) are consumed and created frequently in your home then opt for a dome cake stand or cake tins, which can display and store tasty treats and once again frees up cupboard space. 

Organised drawers ensure it is easy to find utensils and tools. No one wants to open up a messy drawer with knives and forks mixed up together. There are expandable options to fit different drawer sizes as well as wooden, metal or plastic options. Planing the weeks meals always seems such a chore but a meal planner or a chalkboard hung in the kitchen helps to plan the week ahead and let's everyone know the weeks menu (without the need to ask you!) We have picked out some items we think will help with an organised kitchen and a more organised life as well as a quote to help inspire you! 

"A place for everything, and everything in its place" - Mrs Beeton (The book of household management) 

 Cake tins Lakeland £36.99 / Trolley Ikea £49 / Steel container Ikea £15 / 

Cutlery tray Habitat £10 / Utensil pot Lakeland £15 / Storage jar Habitat £15 / 

Steel rail Ikea £3.50 / Wall basket storage Ikea £22.50 / Chalkboard Ikea £17

Sarah and Holly

      

let's get organised... storage solutions

Today's lets get organised post is about storage solutions. We all start January off with the idea that we want to get the house back into an organised and tidy state. Those cupboards and drawers that have been stuffed to capacity and barely closing for the last year are in desperate need of our attention! There's nothing worse than tipping the whole house upside down in an attempt to find something that we have plonked in the most unlikely of places months ago. So the beginning of the new year is a perfect time to get our homes back on track.

There are lots of ideas for every room, cupboard or drawer. There are practical and simplistic solutions for those items that we just want to be hidden from sight. Or stylish and beautiful ideas that make a nice addition to a room or decor, whilst also serving some functionality at the same time. We usually favour talking about the prettier items for homes, but sometimes we have to accept that looking after our home's is not just about pretty accessories, trends and colours but keeping on top of the basic and everyday tasks.

We have already started to have a January sort out in our own homes. Here are a few ideas that we have picked out that may help. Don't forget to follow our blog (just click the follow button on the right side just scroll down you can't miss it!) so you can keep up to date with all the exciting posts we have planned for this year!

Wall Organiser Dunelm £59.99 / Set of 2 Wire baskets Habitat £45 / Chest Ikea £65 / Set of 3 Wire House Shelves Next £14 / Flower Scarf Organiser Homebase £1.99 / Storage basket Wilkos £1.99 / 4 Drawer Stripe Unit George £18.00

Sarah and Holly

      

dasher, dancer, prancer...

... vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen and not forgetting rudolf! (who else thought of jingle all the way as they read that!

Reindeers we believe are one of the most iconic symbols of Christmas. As children we always looked out of our bedroom windows on Christmas Eve, with the expectation of hopefully getting a glimpse of Father Christmas and his reindeer as they flew through the sky and listening out for the jingle of the sleigh! Now we are older we are glad to say we don't spend our Christmas Eve this way but we still love the idea of the reindeers! 

Sometimes shopping for Christmas decorations can be daunting! The shops are saturated with some many themes and styles (sometimes too much choice can be overwhelming!) and it can be difficult to select multiple items and imagine them all pieced together without it looking like a jumbled up mess or a mix and match! So often it can be easier to choose just one single element and roll with it! Luckily there are lots of different variations of reindeer out there! Realistic and wild, cute and adorable, simple and figurative or as part of a farisle print, it is easy to incorporate these creatures into your Christmas decorating. We think reindeers are a timeless, classic, familiar and simple choice that can be repeated and replicated Christmas after Christmas. The best part we think is that you can build up a vast and varied collection and pick up new pieces each year to add to it, so there is no need to rush out and buy everything you can find in your chosen theme! Collections take years to build up and that's the fun part! Here are few ideas to inspire!

Candle John Lewis £12.00 / Candle holder Ebay £19.99 / Heat changing mug Boots £9.00 / Pom Pom decoration Oliver Bonas £4.00 / Draught excluder M&Co £10.50 / Reindeer names print Not on the high street £9.10 / Metal Reindeer Habitat £45.00

Sarah and Holly

                 

      

magic and sparkle

Soon the boxes of Christmas decorations will be brought down from the loft, the dust will be blown away and the boxes opened to reveal the decorations and accessories of Christmas pasts. But as we search for the boxes in the dark and battle with the spiders, there is no doubt that we will start to worry. Will the tree lights work when we plug them in? What if the baubles are broken or were squashed in storage? So each year we like to add or update our existing decorations and incorporate some new pieces to keep Christmas fun and exciting as well as replacing any old or broken items. This will not be difficult as we have spotted so many amazing pieces on the highstreet. 

A new pack of baubles is an inexpensive way to change the colour scheme of the tree and are available in some many different shapes and colours. You could also check out our John Lewis post if you fancy something a little more special and individual! Twinkly wreaths, festive copper star lamps as well as plaques and signs with wonderful festive quotes, work well hung over door handles or swapped with a canvas or picture (no need to put any extra nails in the walls!) Snow globes look great added to shelves or fireplaces alongside current decor. Battery powdered fairy lights (available everywhere!) or garlands draped over mirrors can be easily added for some extra sparkle to a room. Lets not forget tea light holders and candles. These always add some extra Christmas spirit as they flicker away and be sure to pick up some seasonal and festive scented ones too!

Christmas decorating is our favourite so why not go wild, be creative and use Christmas as an excuse to add some magic and sparkle to your home! We have picked out a few examples below to help inspire you! (colour scheme was genuinely unintentional!) 

Noel sign Wilkos £1.50 / Metal star garland Next £10 / Snow globe Next £14 / 
Reindeer tea light holder Habitat £35 / Star lamp Ikea £8 / Candle holder Ikea £2.50

Sarah and Holly

                 

      

feathered friends

Its another animal inspired blog post this week (these are our favourite to write). So, this week's post is a homage to owl inspired homeware, as it seems to have a strong presence on the high street and online. With the winter months finally here and woodland/nature inspired trends influencing homeware, these feathered friends are a prefect addition to a room. Animal inspired pieces seem to stand the test of time and it seems owls are no exception. 

They really do seem to be available in all forms. From lighting, to textiles, to ceramics, it seems you can add owls in to any room in a home. They add a sense of character and personality (and we just love them). We personally love the cute, stylised and illustrative interpretations of these woodland creatures. 

Here are a few of our favourite items. 
We had a hoot picking them out... (we had to..)

Duvet set Debenhams £36-£60 / Soap Dispenser BHS £10 / Cushion Debenhams £ 17.60 / Chalk board Tesco £14.99 / Copper wire owl Habitat £12 / Lamp Dunelm £19.99 / Tea towel John Lewis £12

  Sarah and Holly

                                 

      

easy like a sunday morning

The clocks go back tomorrow and we all get an extra hour in bed! (wahoo!) So we think it is vital that we make the most of the additional time and create the perfect, relaxing, lazy Sunday morning! In the colder months we find it much easier to stay in our pyjamas and lounge around in bed without feeling guilty or like we should be using our time more productively! Sunday is the one day of the week when we are able to indulge ourselves with a lie in, knowing all the grown up chores and tasks have been done for the week! 

Once we have woken up naturally (no alarms on a Sunday!) it's time to sort out breakfast in bed! A warm bowl of cinnamon and banana porridge and a hot chocolate is the perfect way to start the day in a special mug and bowl! Making the bed inviting and cosy is vital! Plenty of cushions and some blankets on top of the quilt help to ensure there surely could not be any reason why we would want to venture out! Sunday is usually a Netflix binge watching day but only once we have actually decided what to watch that is!

We have selected some items we think help to create the perfect Sunday morning! 

Duvet set Primark £13 / Cushion Tk Maxx £29.99 / Candle The white company £28 /

Throw Tk Maxx £29.99 / Breakfast bowl M&S £4 / Mug Emma Bridgewater £17.95 / 

Tray Habitat £28 

  Sarah and Holly

                                 

      

light up, light up

The darker nights are looming and soon when we get home from work it will be pitch black. The house will feel cold, lifeless and gloomy. It's not Christmas yet (despite the fact it is already everywhere in the shops!) so we don't have the satisfying and fun treat of switching on all the fairy lights just yet! We think lighting helps to create a cosy and warm feeling in the home. Not just the standard floor lamps and table lamps (these are obviously vital) but other fun and interesting pieces, which can be switched on to create an uplifting atmosphere in the evenings. Plus any excuse to add twinkles and sparkles before the festive season is fine by us. 

Decorative light bulbs are an easy way to add a fun feature to an open lampshade and are super on trend! Another affordable item has to these scrabble lights as these are extremely versatile as the set contains 60 interchangeable letter stickers for the 10 light up tiles. These are perfect as the letters can be changed and altered to suit your own personal preference and wording requirements. These would also make a great moving in present or gift. 

These are some other pieces we selected below to add some brightness to your home. 

Tree Next £50 / Scrabble string lights Tesco £19.95 / Decorative light bulb Habitat £10 /
Constellation lamp Asda £15 / Cactus Etsy $125 / And sign Primark £9 / 
Cotton ball string lights The modern life £22.95

  Sarah and Holly

                                 

      

a b c it's as easy as, 1 2 3

A Etsy £33 / B Asda £2.50 / C Not on the high street £22

It seems like everywhere we look there are letters and numbers dominating the shops. 
The most iconic and well know copper Oliver Bonas letters spring to mind? Don't we all have one? Or at least want one. But it seems this trend features heavily throughout home ware items. Maybe its a way of personalising your home? Using your initials as an example in your home creates a special and intimate detail. Your home is a way of show casing yourself and your family and letters and numbers are an easy way to add that detail. Or perhaps it is the familiarity of words and letters which is comforting. 

                               

Oliver Bonas £10

Letters and numbers are also interesting in shape and form and can be introduced 
with other items to create a bold statement. It's not just letters individually. 
Typographic prints can create a strong and adventurous element to your home. 
Abstract and graphic interpretations of letters and text often take on a new form.  Letters which are created into geometric shapes can make exciting pieces of design for your walls.
Take a look at some of our favourite pieces we think would be a great addition
 to any home. 

Yellow poster The modern life £19 / Candle Asda £2 / & Wilkos £5
Love print Etsy from £7.28 / Panda The modern life £20 / Cushion Next £10 
Thanks postcard Paper chase £0.70

  Sarah and Holly

                                 

      

lets talk geometric

One of the easiest and simple ways to change or update a room is to introduce new shapes and patterns. This doesn't have to mean getting the builders in to knock down walls or dramatically changing the layout of your home. The geometric trend can help incorporate big blocks of bright, bold colours with an array and variety of interesting patterns and lines. Energetic angles and graphic forms can be exciting and dramatic when used in the right way. Shape and form can help create new and exciting areas. Colours applied together can create interesting contrasts. 

Strong lines and bold shapes can ignite some life into your home. It adds a modern and clean look and can be easily acheived by purchasing one main, expensive statement item or by using multiple, smaller, subtle pieces throughout the whole house. The choice and budget is yours! Picking items you would not quickly tire of would be an excellent investment for your home. Keep it simple and you can't go wrong! 

We had a lot of fun selecting the items below and we have to admit once you start looking for geometric inspired pieces it is hard to stop! It really is everywhere! The array of colours and shapes are fun and inspiring! Hence the multiple pieces we have selected below!

 (We particularly love the grey and yellow vase!)

Photo frame Primark £3 / Light shade Tomic & Daly £45 / Chair Argos £129.99 / 
Cushion Asda £7 / Rug Habitat £250

Vase House of Fraser £30 / Cushion Debenhams £28 / 
Bowls House of Fraser £18 - £20 / Soap dispenser Asda £5

  Sarah and Holly