Showing posts with label living. Show all posts

LIFESTYLE: MY INTERIOR WISHLIST- PASTELS



I'm really into pastel interiors at the moment, we have a blush theme going on in our living room and I don't see it going anywhere soon! I just love it, it's warm and makes our living room really cosy. We rent so our walls are white so I like to add colour where I can. I really want to get some new bits for our living room so I've put together a little wish list of some of my favourite pieces. I've gone for a colour scheme of grey, white, pale blue and blush pink.  

I've tried to add different textures, I would love a mixture of pink and grey cushions on the sofa. I love this fluffy grey cushion from Next. These suede effect blush curtains are so lovely, they look super expensive and look amazing with this fluffy pink rug!  

How beautiful is this Duck Egg Blue sofa from Zurleys it's from their Scandinavian furniture collection. I just love it!! I love the clean, simple style. I would add loads of cushions to add texture.  
I think the blue and pink look fab together and I love some of the Velvet and fluffy textures look beautiful together. I think some plants and candles would tie everything together for an amazing scandi inspired look. The colour is just gorgeous but it also comes in Grey.  

I think the sofa would love fab next to this velvet pouffe from John Lewis, it comes in loads of colours so perfect for any colour scheme.  

I think this rattan basket  from Amazon is fab for any living room, you can use it to keep your blankets in or even toys if you have a little one like me. Again it adds texture to the room, I think rattan is fab to adds to the Scandinavian inspired living space I'm after.  
  
These Scandinavian side tables are really modern, but the natural wood dipped legs add to the Scandinavian vibe i'm trying to create.  
They also come in Grey. You can use them as a nest of tables or split them up and use them in different areas of the room.  

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INTERIORS: LIVING ROOM MAKEOVER IDEAS

We are hoping to buy our own place in the next few years, at the moment we are renting so I am restricted when it comes to decorating so I tend to buy new accessories to refresh our home.

I'm always looking for ideas and inspiration for our future home and I thought i'd share a few products and ideas I have for our living room. I actually really want to buy a few new bits and pieces for our current living room to brighten the place up a little.

Right now alot of our accessories are black and white as the sofa is black, when we buy our own sofa  I want to go for a grey sofa and will most likely have alot of grey accessories. I think grey is really classy and clean. Right now I plan on buying some grey cushions and maybe a grey rug to incorporate it into our current living room and then we can bring these items with us when we move. By using accessories to add colour to a room it makes it really easy to change a colour theme and is more affordable than replacing all of your furniture.

I'm loving window shutters right now and think they look so clean and stylish, much nicer than fabric blinds. Thomas Sanderson stock window shutters for any window, I think these Bay Window shutters look so nice, I like traditional bay windows and think the shutters make them look gorgeous.

I really want to buy some new furniture and accessories, alot of our furniture is quite cheap, it's pretty much all from Ikea and i'd like to add some new pieces to our living room. This nest of tables would be perfect, they are white with a little wooden top and would look fab in our living room. We have a coffee table right now but I think I'm going to get rid of this to make more room.

I'm on the lookout for some nice new bits like a new lamp and some new cushions and a throw. I want to make our living room look cleaner and more modern. We have a lot of black and white and patterns going on and I think I want the room to look more grown up with crisp clean furniture and accessories.

I'm always looking out for new bits and accessories to refresh my home and always looking for new stylish ways to keep my home looking trendy, clean and new.







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LIFESTYLE: TOP TIPS FOR RENTING



Today's post is all about my top tips for renting. I've been renting for about a year and a half now and have had a few ups and downs along the way. I found blog posts such as this really helpful when we were looking at renting as if was all new to us and we had only ever lived at home with parents. Below are a few of my top tips for renting, if you have any questions and I haven't covered it below then just send me a comment or email and i'm happy to help or check out the HomeLet website for lots of information about renting for tenants and landlords.

ORGANISATION - You need to be organised when renting, from looking at properties to moving in. When looking at properties you need to know how much you are willing to spend and how much you can afford, you need to know what you want, how many bedrooms?  a garden? bath or shower?

Write a list of properties you want to enquire about with estate agent information and numbers and make sure you have all your documents ready to go! We found renting was very speedy you need to get your applications in quickly, they usually need to see your financial documents and get you to fill out forms with your passport details so have everything to hand.

When you actually move in it's good to go into the empty house/ flat etc and take photos of everything. That way you have proof of what was in the house when you moved in and what kind of state it was in. This makes it easier when your trying to get your deposit back when moving out. Also write a list of these things too just incase you loose the photos as a backup. We have a folder where we keep all of the bills, documents and I have kept this list safe in here.


PAYING THE BILLS - As well as your rent, you have other bills to pay like council tax, utility bills like water, gas, electric and internet. I set up a joint account with Clint and we use this to pay all of these bills. We each put money in on payday and this covers all of these bills so we don't have to worry. Try and set up your bills so they come out at around the same time, all of our bills come out on the first of the month which makes it easy to remember. Use comparison websites to get the best deals on your utility bills, don't just stick with what the previous tenant had.

INSURANCE - You should get some kind of content insurance should you have any kind of accident, this covers your stuff as most landlords insurance doesn't cover your things. Also appliances should be checked regularly. Our boiler and gas appliances are checked every year to make sure it's safe.

TENANCY AGREEMENT- Make sure you have an up to date tenancy agreement. If you have been living at the same place for a while or you decided to have a short term tenancy agreement then have a look over this and make sure it's up to date. You may have originally agreed on a 6 month tenancy but now a 12 month tenancy would suit you better, get in touch with your landlord or estate agent about updating the agreement if you feel it's now out of date.


Do you have any tips for renting or are you about to rent for the first time? Use the hashtag #RentingRules and share your top tips for renting! 














* This post is in collaboration with HomeLet

INTERIORS: HOW TO GET YOUR HOME LOOKING SUMMER READY?

Images taken from Pinterest 

With summer fast approaching it's the perfect time to make some changes to your home, freshen it up and get summer ready! Today I thought i'd share a few ways to get your home looking summer ready.

There are lots of affordable ways in which you can get your home looking summer ready. 

Using flowers and plants - adding a pop of colour using plants and flowers is a really easy and affordable way to make your home summery. I always have flowers in the flat. We also have a selection of plants, too add lots of colour to the flat. 

Accessories - Use accessories like candles, cushions and prints to add colour to a room. This is an easy to way to revamp a room without spending lots of money. I'm loving all the botanical prints that are around right now! 

Mirrors -  A big mirror will add more space to a room aswell as lots more light! A bigger and brighter space will instantly look lighter and more summery. 

Open all the windows and doors - I like to let lots of fresh air in and have a good clean this makes a room feel all new and fresh and perfect for the new season. 

Colour - Use colours to create a summery room. We have white walls so I prefer to add colour using accessories and furniture. You could use wallpaper or paint to create a feature wall that screams summer.  


Images taken from Pinterest 

 Images taken from Pinterest 
Images taken from Pinterest 



LIFESTYLE: DINING ROOM INSPIRATION

Today i'm sharing some Dining Room inspiration with you, I actually don't have a Dining Room but when we have a house I really want a Dining Room, at my parents we always use it and have family meals and even last night we went round for dinner and my aunt and cousin came too and it was lovely to sit around the table and eat dinner and chat. My parents dining room is open plan with their kitchen so when we have people round for parties etc the Kitchen/ Dining room is where the party happens.

I've got a couple of inspiration boards to share today both feature items from Fishpools, they have a huge selection of Dining Room products  so lots from Dining Tables and sets and Bar Stools. They also have a range of accessories to kit your new dining room out too.

I've gone for a more traditional dining set above, if you live in a more traditional house or your kitchen/ dining room isn't very modern you may want to go for something like this. I love the Wooden top on the table and think white furniture is great to make a room look clean and bright. The dining table has a cottage feel to it which I love. I think this side table would look fab and i'd add some colour to the room using curtains and textiles. This dining set is gorgeous this would be a great way to add colour to the room during a dinner party.

Below is a more modern style dining table and i've added some more modern accessories. Mirrored furniture always looks more modern to me, and i've picked out a monochrome dining set as again I think this would look more modern. The table and chairs set look really modern and clean, I love them and if I moved into a modern house I'd go for something like this. I would decorate with silver / mirrored furniture and accessories like these tealight holders and this gorgeous mirror.

All these items can be found at Fishpools.co.uk and they have a huge selection of furniture for your whole house not just your dining room.


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INTERIOR: HOMEWEAR WINTER WISHLIST




I'm feeling so festive and Christmassy right now, i've even got Clint to get our Christmas Decorations out of the loft, I think i'm going to put our tree up next week. I don't normally feel festive until December but this year I feel like i've started getting ready for Christmas really early, I think Clint has basically finished his Christmas shopping and i've already been wrapping presents, ITS NOVEMBER!

Anyway, I thought i'd share some really cute festive homewear bits that i've spotted recently, I don't really need anymore Christmas homewear but here's a bit of a wishlist that i've managed to compile.

I love Christmas Bedding! Both of these duvet covers are from Yorkshire Linen, I love the penguin set! I don't have anything like this and I LOVE PENGUINS! I think this is really wintery and sweet, the other set is a more subtle snowflake design, I think red bedding automatically makes you feel wintery and Christmassy. Both of these sets are a Flannelette material which is so soft and cosy, I love having flannelette bedding at Christmas time. I also love throws and blankets, I always have a throw at the end of my bed and I have a few Christmassy ones. I love this Teddy throw in Silver from Yorkshire Linen. It looks so fluffy and I love that it's silver, it would look really festive and would go perfectly with the Penguin bedding that i've picked out.

How cute is this 'Baby it's cold outside' cushion from Asda, I love the gold writing and think it would look great with the Penguin bedding and the silver throw! This polar bear cushion is also from Asda, check out Christmas at Home with Asda here.

I just love Christmas Candles and really want this Neom Candle I spotted it in M&S and made sure that I pointed it out to Clint so I hope I get a nice new Candle for Christmas. I also thought i'd include a couple of Yankee Candles as they have some amazing scents for Christmas including Candy Cane Lane.






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LIFESTYLE: HOUSEWARMING GIFT IDEAS


Recently we've have quite a few friends that have been moving house and having babies and I feel like i've been buying lots of gifts this month. I wasn't sure what to buy our friends who were moving house, so I thought i'd put together a little gift ideas post to help anyone else in a similar situation. Our friends were not moving into their first home, they have lived together for a while so they had most things like appliances etc and I wasn't sure what they needed etc so I thought i'd pick up a few home bits and they loved it. I got a little basket from Primark and filled it with some cute bits like a candle and a sweet little sign for there new home. I forgot to photograph the actual basket but i've put together a few cute bits and pieces here so i'll go through and share some of my ideas. 

A basket - I love this wicker basket, my mom actually got me this for one of my birthdays and she had filled it with beauty bits. It's been used for so many things and now it lives in my towel cupboard. You can get a cheap little basket from most home stores, I recently got one from my local b&m bargains for about £5. You could even use a plastic or wire alternative. 

In my friends basket I got a little blanket from Primark which cost me £3.50, it was a gorgeous bright blue colour and had a nice geometric print on. I think these blankets are so handy, you can chuck it on when you watching a film and it gets cold or they are perfect for a picnic in the summer etc They have so many colours and prints that there's something for everyone. 

Next up everyone loves a candle, this blue one is from Primark and is one of my favourite colours which is why I picked one up. I have quite the collection of candles around our apartment. They are an easy way to make a home feel cosy and you can get some really amazing scents. I would recommend TK Maxx for Candles as you can get some designer brands at great prices and really impress your friends. 

I popped a cute little handwash into the basket too as sometimes it's the little things that count. Our friends new house has THREE bathrooms so they will need to pick up some extra bathroom essentials so little things like handwash and toothbrush holders start to add up when you have three bathrooms to stock up. I love this new scent from Carex, it smells like Lovehearts and smells so good! 

Cookbooks! Our friends have loads of cookbooks but they are a great housewarming gift especially if your friends are keen cooks or have moved into a house with a much bigger kitchen. I love my Deliciously Ella Cookbook and I have a few baking ones too!! 

A cute little art print or quote can be a very loving and thoughtful gift. You can order printable artwork from Etsy and they are really affordable, you can pop it into an ikea frame for a really lovely gift. Primark had some cute hanging plaques and quotes too which are lovely. I love my 'Don't be a prick' print by Ella Masters, it was one of the first home things I bought for our flat. 

I picked up this cute Aloe Vera plant in Tesco the other day, usually I buy people flowers when they move into a new house but a plant is going to last them longer and something like a Cactus or Succulent is easy to keep and you can put it in any room, I love having green plants in the Kitchen. 

Tea Towels! Another random gift but you can get some lovely tea towels right now, Primark always have some really cute afforable ones! My favourite place again is TK Maxx, My popcorn ones are actually Kate Spade and I picked them up last year in TK Maxx and they didn't cost that much. Cath Kidston is another great place for kitchen essentials like oven mitts and aprons.