Quotes to live by for your home

True story. 

I spent about 4 hours in one day looking for the perfect wall art for our bedroom. It had to be something that suits us both as a couple, something that suited the colours of our room and most importantly the words had to mean something when I looked at it a whole year down the line, I tend to lose interest in things after a few months.

I ended up finding nothing. Then I realised. You can totally make your own quotes, get them printed on Photobox, and buy a cheap or second hand frame to hang it. 

It's a fraction of the cost for something that's perfect for you, and essentially hand made. 

Here's one I made earlier (above). I'm still playing around with quotes, photos and colours before I print and hang something though. It's so much fun and I'm learning a lot about photoshop & design.

Mountains & Anthropologie

I'm fresh home from a French Alpine retreat with work (which I'll share stories and photos on soon enough) and thought I'd post a holiday / festival-vibe outfit I didn't take off the whole time I was travelling. 

Enter my new beautiful Anthropologie kimono. In late 20s heat, this baby kept me as cool as a cucumber and prevented my milky white skin from burning like a prune. Do you like it?

We stayed in the most stunning chalet (more info and stunning photos from Neil to come, I promise) right on the border of the Swiss and French Alps in a village called Morillon. It was a transformational week for me. Unplugging, relaxing with cool people and exploring the mountains with a bit of adventure (and fondue) thrown in. 

Come Friday I'll be back in the Alps again - this time Bavaria. Stick around until early July and I'll be gate crashing your newsfeed with interior updates, outfits and holiday stories, no doubt. 

Outfit: Kimono c/o

Anthropologie

, Clutch c/o

Anthropologie

, Jeans c/o

George

 Credits: Photos by

Neil William Shaw

(also does weddings, hey) 

Curl up, it's 4 sleeps until Christmas!

Can you believe Christmas day is almost upon us?

I've spent the weekend wrapping presents listening to cheesy Christmas tunes and drinking red wine way too early in the day. Feeling very festive indeed :)

Our front room looks a bit like Santa's grotto at the mo; we've gone all out on decorations, logs in the fireplace, bauble filled vases, the lot. It's looking really special, so I decided to keep the rest of my place looking less festive but still cosy with splashes of bright colours here and there so as not to take away from the christmas-chic room.

I thought I'd share our new bedding from Argos' range with you. I try to freshen up the look of our room quite regularly by changing the cushions, blankets and duvet covers, and over the past few weeks I just haven't been able to get enough of the colour mustard, so when I saw these cushions and knew they had to be mine.

Argos wouldn't usually be the first place I look for cosy bits and bobs but they've recently collaborated with Habitat and have the NICEST range of bedding available. Have a little look here. I think these cushions will look fab from Winter to Spring, and I paired them with some simple crisp grey sheets so the colour pops. 

What do you think? :)

They were bargains too! £12 each for the floral cushions £4.99 for the poppy red cushion, £7 for the Habitat geometric pillowcase and just £10.99 for the grey double duvet set crazy good value.

Getting Christmassy with Home Sense, Brighton

You might have remembered me inviting you all for an evening of interior chats, mince pies and all things Home Sense in Brighton at the beginning of December, oui? Well, the evening went wonderfully :) I thought I'd share some photos with you all (this time by me, my photographer wasn't on hand that evening haha)

Get ready for serious levels of Christmas cosiness and snaps of some of my favourite picks in the Brighton store at the moment. There was bucks fizz a'flowing, mouth tingling canapés and cheese and a heap of inspiration to get everyone thinking about gift ideas and tarting up your home on the big day.

With only 7 or 8 shopping days left until Christmas, if you're still on the market for unique gift ideas I'd really encourage you to pop in and take a nosy around. I just bought a beautiful lamp for my nan for Christmas there (lucky she doesn't read my blog!) and knew it was for her within 10 mins of being in the store!

Happy shopping you lovely people. Oh and if you do pop in to the Home Sense store, look out for the pretty Hang a Bauble campaign they're initiating to help the Surrey charity Action for Children.

Customers are invited to pop in store, buy a bauble for £1 on which they can write a festive wish or happy childhood Christmas memory and add it to the hundreds of baubles that line the till-side walls :) what a wonderful initiative for charity eh? 

7 things I'd buy for my living room if money was no object!

We can all dream about what we'd buy if we won the lotto right? In fact, I think it's healthy to create an online wish list of things you'd pounce for if cash was at your disposal. It makes you really think what exactly you'd like in your home, and whether it's even worth picking up lots of cheap items rather than saving for bigger items you'll love for years instead. 

I thought I'd share what's on my wish list at the mo. Some financially achievable, some seriously not.

1. Harrods Birdie Blossom cushion £395 each

Just ignore the price tag for now, and look at how rich and beautiful the hand printed silk, piped cushion is. I love the colours, the splash of yellow and autumnal reds and think it would go beautifully on our Chesterfield sofa in our living room. Sigh, if only I had £400 knocking around...

2. Winston Aniline Ash Leather sofa, and matching pouffe! 

I love deep mahogany brown leather sofas. There's something so cosy, wintery and traditional about them that make them instantly give an expensive feel to a room. Furniture Choice stock a pretty nice range with small wheels that I think would look so cute as a mismatched sofa beside our Chesterfield. If only we had the extra space!

3. Wood burning stove for a country-chic open fire - without the mess.

We currently have a decorative fireplace with bare brick at the back and resting inside are some logs just waiting for a wood burner to be installed to fire up the chimney. Our next big purchase on the house will be something like this Ashdown wood burning suite from Next. It's long been Neil & I's dream to have an open fire and we can't wait to eventually get one built in come winter 2016.

4. Candlesticks galore from John Lewis, £15 each

Okay this doesn't break the bank if you buy just one, but I'd plan to buy a whole group of different sized candles with different coloured candlesticks and place them all together decoratively on the hearth. I have an obsession with copper at the moment, since buying a round copper mirror from Oliver Bonas, these would match beautifully :)

 5. Bronte herringbone and tartan blankets

 If money was no object my home would be filled to the brim with thick woollen blankets in all different patterns and colours. I lust after Bronte's old english classic collections. The patterns, wools, and colour combos on offer tick so many boxes, it's just the biggest tease that they're about £75+ a pop. Please Santa, can you bring me my very own x 10?

6. Wicker basket storage, Marks & Spencer, £39.50 for a pack of 3 

Well, when I own so many Bronte blankets one day, I'm going to need some top notch wicker storage baskets to house them! I'm addicted to wicker. These baskets from M&S look like they're fantastic quality, and really not a bad price if you think about the cost-per-use ;) washing, products, towels, bed sheets, blankets, wicker baskets are so handy to have lying around and I love their countryesque traditional feel. 

7. Rose Gold Candleabra from Zara Home

I speak for every woman that has ever stepped into Zara Home and smelled the sweet aromas of their wide range of infusers when saying, Zara Home is the epitomises dreamy home ware. If I was minted, I would deck my whole home in all things Zara, like this luxurious rose gold candle holder which would make a wonderful centrepiece to any table this Christmas.

I best start saving for the January sales eh?!

Spotlight on... LOAF.COM & a cosy cushion giveaway (worth £45!)

Last time I shared the wonderful Folds story, and chatted to founder Emma Gurner all about her interior loves, which inspired me to so much. Next up is a company that's a prime spot for quirky home accessories as well as solid, reasonably priced furniture. Introducing Loaf, the place where all your interior wants are fulfilled.

3 pack of churnie vases, £45 I am so excited to share the fabulous Loaf.com and with that it's inventor, the lovely Charlie Marshall :) I came across the site on my homeware hunts a long while ago now, and continue to visit and be inspired by their pastel furnishings, textured rugs and beautiful, period fabric sofas made for ample loafing. 

The attention to detail in all of their offerings online are next to none. The Loafers handpick only the finest craftsmen to make beautiful, long-lasting furniture that they'd be proud of to have in their homes and I love that stories of every one of their makers is feature on site so you can hear exactly how your bouncy mattress has been made and who by. This kinda stuff fascinates me. 

Margot bed frame, £745

With Christmas fast approaching, I can't recommend taking a peek at Loaf's site enough if you're lacking gift ideas. If you can get someone's interior taste right, they can make a very sentimental touch depending on what kind of thing you go for. 

Some personal favourites I'm looking at for family and friends are Loaf's crisp bed linen, their magical mirrors, gorgeous brass vintage lamps to adorn desks, and aztec-inspired cushions and pouffes for creating ultimate snugsville.

Read on for an epic cushion giveaway from Loaf!

They have it all. It's just insanely difficult not to see something you want for yourself and spend all your budget on that ;)

I'm delighted to introduce Loaf's founder and inventor, interior genius Charlie Marshall, who was happy to answer a few of my burning questions. It's an inspiring story the way Loaf came together, and I think you'll come away wanting his house... it sounds like the dream :)

Charlie Marshall, founder of

Loaf.com

Hey Charlie, tell us a little bit more about you, what you do at Loaf and your passion for all 

things interior

I’ve always been passionate about design and all of my family is obsessed as well. I grew up on building sites developing one property before we moved on to the next. You’d find me with a copy of the builders’ favourite News of the World tucked under my arm and my top drink was builder’s tea and two sugars as a kid!

I’m focusing on creating the magic of the business working closely with our in-house designers to create pieces that are unique, look great and aren’t going to blow the bank for our customers.

I travel a fair amount and interiors inspiration comes from all over. It can be anything from an antique French bed at a Parisian flea market or a cool, retro sofa in a Berlin hotel room.

How did you come to opening up your own online store?

Frustration really! Having lost a whole Saturday trying to buy a bed, I decided to make the shopping experience as hassle free, affordable and as speedy as possible. So two years, 187 mattress factories and some seriously comfy beds later,

Loaf

was born. The idea is that we’ve done all of the testing so that the customer doesn’t have to.

We’re now a one-stop shop for the whole home and excitingly we’re planning our first retail destinations called ‘Loaf Shacks’.

Tell us a little bit about your home, what's your most loved interior possession?

My wife and I have a big living, kitchen, dining and playroom rolled into one. The ground floor space is on one level and forms a ‘U’ shape around the house. It’s perfect for the kids to whizz around on their trikes. The rooms have high-ceilings, light wooden Dinesen floors for a clean Scandi look, neutral mid-century furniture, pops of colour with quirky ethnic pieces, a colourful striped ‘Finca’ rug and a giant magnetic blackboard. My favourite design is our Crumpet sofa just because it’s so

darn comfy! I ordered it in a large so that me, my wife, and our two kids can all loaf about on there together.

What are your best tips for decorating a home?

Keep the basics clean and simple. At home we’ve gone for a palette of off-whites, which is livened up with pops of colour including statement furniture pieces and vibrant textiles. A geometric patterned or textured piece is a great way to easily update a scheme. Is the lighting right? Opt for a warm glow rather than stark white light. Side or floor lamps give a nice cosy feel.

What's your favourite home look for winter?

Winter is the time to hunker down and cosy up. At home we add really soft woollen blankets to the end of the bed and throw them over sofas for an inviting, layered look. I love a brightly patterned rug in front of the fireplace adding warmth and some contrast to a room. Oh and a log fire!

Before you buy your Christmas tree, read this.

It's exactly a month until Christmas! Well, even closer when this post goes live. Who's excited?

Me!

If you're not feelin' the Christmas vibes yet, I suggest you get yourself into a Tiger store near you ASAP. I dunno what it is about that shop but as soon as the festivities line the aisles, I become a sucker for anything seasonal buying Santa pegs, christmas tree socks and tinsel. Last weekend an impromptu visit to Tiger, snapping up every santa glittery thing in sight cued a wee crafty Christmas evening at my place later that eve, glass of rioja and some Christmas Lindt choccies in hand.

I made some pom poms from tissue paper, ready for hanging with invisible thread (once it's December mind, when it's officially ok to do anything decorative) and I also spent the eve creating a pinterest board of Christmas ideas to get in the festive spirit. It was so much fun. Start one too, start one too!

Anyway, it's usually around this time in November that the family debate between 'real tree or fake tree?' starts, and we begin to buy all the little trinkets to make the house and Christmas tree look extra special. I thought I'd share some things that I'm excited to hang on my tree this year, and add to my house to spread Christmas cheer.

If you're looking for cute decoration ideas, you've come to the right place ;)

First up are the fab baubles from the Bluebird Tea Company. In all different shapes and sizes, they're jam packed with Christmas tea blends all ready for the cold winter eves ahead. 

As a BIG tea lover, I think these are the cutest idea EVER. They'd make such a thoughtful  present to take along for the host of your upcoming Christmas soirées, and what's even better *take a deep breath it's just too good to be true* when you brew the tea inside, it glitters. No kidding. I have yet to try it, but rest assured I will tweet and take pictures of every second it's brewing! 

Did you see my recent instagram post armed with presents as far as the eye can see? Well here are some sneak peeks inside a few of those, courtesy of my friends at Edited in Brighton (more about this AMAZING brand coming in a post very soon).

Christmas really had come early that evening! Check out these fantastic bright silver reflector baubles in all different colours from Edited's Christmas collection. They are the glittery pop every tree needs to look extra special this Christmas, and I think they'll spin real nice once hung on the branches, catching the light.

Can you tell I can't wait to get decorating?!

In fact if you're on the market for quirky decs to jazz up your tree, Edited have an unmissable selection in stock... Look, it's a Christmassy sausage dog :)

They also have a really out-there FAB selection of neon baubles, that look really cute all piled up in my glass vase ready to jazz up the decorative fireplace or kitchen counter. I want to add battery-powered fairy lights inside for extra wow, but love how it looks as it is. Such a cool focal point to the room during the festive season, and a great idea for when you have baubles left over or fancy a different colour scheme in different parts of the house.

Another Fifi finest - has anyone ever thought to put cute gift tags as paper decorations on a tree? - thank me and my bright ideas later. Ha. These quirky little gift tags from Edited are too nice to write all over. I want to keep them for myself, so I've decided to hang several on the top branches to give a my tree a 'handmade' feel :)

But wait, before you go off and splash cash on the most wonderful time of the year, just look at how adorable the sausage dog gift tag is when not used as a Christmas tree decoration! I'm in awe.

*squeals with excitement*

It's the little things. I love Edited.