Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
I have recently become obsessed with watching Josie - Fashion Mumblr's - moving vlogs which document her and her partners move from London to my dream living location - The Cotswolds!
It that wasn't enough to grab my attention, they have bought the most beautiful old house in what seems like a secluded area with a giant garden. Need I say more?
This inspired me to update my very popular post where I collected photos of my favourite Old Fashioned Cottage Kitchens, to date this has been one of my most popular posts so I guess, everyone has the same taste in cottage kitchens as me. Good taste!
Before i take you through my favourite kitchens currently on pinterest, i thought i would introduce you to another youtuber who i have recently become obsessed with. Jessica Rose Williams is another youtuber who lives in the Peak District in the cutest little cottage house. Take a look at her Minimalist Cottage Home Tour video on youtube, the house is G O A L S.
Moving onto the actual photos which will feed your old fashioned interior shaped hole, as you will be able to see I tend to steer towards more green kitchen cupboards with loads of wood features. Some of my other favourite features to lust over are farm style sinks, open shelving, wooden beams, aga and old fashioned industrial cookers.
It that wasn't enough to grab my attention, they have bought the most beautiful old house in what seems like a secluded area with a giant garden. Need I say more?
This inspired me to update my very popular post where I collected photos of my favourite Old Fashioned Cottage Kitchens, to date this has been one of my most popular posts so I guess, everyone has the same taste in cottage kitchens as me. Good taste!
Before i take you through my favourite kitchens currently on pinterest, i thought i would introduce you to another youtuber who i have recently become obsessed with. Jessica Rose Williams is another youtuber who lives in the Peak District in the cutest little cottage house. Take a look at her Minimalist Cottage Home Tour video on youtube, the house is G O A L S.
Moving onto the actual photos which will feed your old fashioned interior shaped hole, as you will be able to see I tend to steer towards more green kitchen cupboards with loads of wood features. Some of my other favourite features to lust over are farm style sinks, open shelving, wooden beams, aga and old fashioned industrial cookers.
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Hello lovelies! How are you all? Sorry it has been sooooo long, I know I apologise I'm missed you too. The last five months I have been in a total blogger brain freeze and didn't know what I wanted to write about and why I wanted to write. This is a little thing I like to do in my spare time to talk about random things that entertain/excite me and I just didn't have anything that excited me for a while.
I guess you could say I was living my life, one lasagne at a time...
But I woke up this morning in my empty bed which I was star fishing in all night, I turned my tv on to start watching YouTube and I suddenly got this feeling to blog. My style, hobbies and personality have changed a lot recently and I felt like my blog didn't reflect how I was feeling. Now I'll got a little mojo back it is time to get back to the blog and change it up a bit.
I feel different, I think different so lets start again.
Enough of my needless ramblings.. just have a little chat up!
A lot of things have happened in the last five months;
- I've changed job roles at my work and am now the finance assistant which I am very happy with. I loved doing all the finance side of my previous role but I didn't get much time to actually get my teeth into anything so to now spend most of my day on those jobs makes me very happy, if not a little bit of a geek. They annoy the hell out of me but I love working with numbers.
- I have also started a AAT course in bookkeeping and I never thought I would go back into education. The course is completely online so I can work at home or at my desk at work which works for me. I am waiting to book in my first exam so wish me luck!
- Another important note is that I am going to become a auntie next year which I am so excited about. hopefully spending time with the little bean which make Callum broody...
- I also recently got a fringe! I feel like I am 16 all over again but I like it... for the moment. I tend to be quite indecisive with my hair so hopefully I make up my mind soon.
- I finally made it to Brighton for my birthday and I loved everything about it. The shops, the pier, the houses and streets. I would love to go again but with a bigger group of people next time.
- We have finally started finishing off some of the rooms in the house, it only took us 2+ years. Our living room and spare room look completely different and our next step is to get the house ready to host Christmas! We still need to get a dishwasher (for obvious reasons) and buy a bigger table to fit my family around.
- Callum and I have also started saving for a wedding- ish. Its a working progress. We went to the most beautiful wedding this year which I have to say was basically my dream wedding. That made me really want to start doing something to work towards it.
- Callum and I haven't been on a proper holiday since last year so we went for a few days down to the English seaside which was lovely, apart from the fact we stayed in a caravan on the hottest week of the year. You don't know heat until you've walk into a caravan which has been empty all day on the hottest day of the year.
- I am now officially as blind as a bat and need glasses 70% of the time. Do I wear them 70% of the time? depends where I am going.
- Lastly in true blogger fashion I have considerably reduced the size of my wardrobe over the last five months. We finally got our fitted wardrobes installed and I really wanted to use that time to make sure everything in my wardrobe was something I loved. More to come about decluttering I promise.
That's basically everything that's happened in the last five months. I feel like this is the perfect time to get my mojo back into blogging with the autumn coming up. I have already transitioned my wardrobe to my autumn/winter clothing, maybe too early but I really needed my jumpers back in my life!
Lastly have some photos from the last five months and try not to laugh at my poses as a teenager!
Lastly have some photos from the last five months and try not to laugh at my poses as a teenager!
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| Callum and I at our first wedding we attending together! |
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| The only time my fringe ever looked good when I was 16, at my prom in 2010. |
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| A random street in Brighton which was too cute to walk past and not take a photo. |
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| Our current living room. Still very bare but I love how it is turning out. We still need a new dining table and artwork for the walls but it is coming together. Yes I was watching the real house wife's of New York City. |
My favourite cleaning product to date has to be the disinfectant Zoflora. I know the product is huge within the family and home community which I have become a big fan of recently (watching speed cleaning and house tour videos is my new favourite thing) and I couldn't ignore the hype around the product. If this isn't your thing I completely understand, take a look at my other beauty and skincare posts at the top!
To date I have 6 bottles underneath my sink and once that stash starts to decrease I am totally picking up some new scents! I used up 3 scents this week so I definitely make the most of them!
There are so many uses for this disinfectant I have seen over the months and here are 9 of my favourite.
1. Down the sink
I like to pour some of the disinfectant down my sink plugs at the end or beginning of the day. Afterwards the kitchen smells beautiful and every time water goes down the plug the scent will come back and please your nostrils.
2. In a spray bottle mixed with water
This disinfectant you will come mix with water to make your own disinfectant spray which smells amazing. Depending on the size of the bottle your using I tend to normally mix 1 to 2 cap fulls with water to make the spray.
3. Sprayed on fake flowers
This is such a genius idea the person who thought this up needs a medal! Zoflora make a ton of flower related scents so you can spray the disinfectant on to fake flowers to make them smell like real flowers and to keep them bacteria free.
4. In your clothing wash
This tip is based on the Fresh Linen scent of Zoflora which smells like clean clothes and fresh bedding. Pour 1 cap full of the disinfectant in with your detergent and your bedding and towels will be totally clean and smell amazing. I find my clean clothes can sometimes not smell like anything but when I use this I can really smell it through the material. Plus while it is out to dry it fills your rooms with the scent.
5. Wiped over your warm radiators
This is a great one for the cold months! All you need to do is wipe a cloth soaked in the disinfectant over your warm radiators, every time the radiators are on the smell will fill the room. This is perfect in the winter when all the winter scents are available.
6. In a sink full of boiling water
This is a great thing to do before you go to bed so during the night the scent fills the room ready for the morning. The hot water makes the scent more powerful and when you empty the water in the morning it leaves the scent in the drain.
7. In your car
I don't look after my car at all, I'm sorry car for never washing you or emptying you of rubbish but I am getting better! I now have a small spray bottle in my car to spray along my dash board to 1. clean my car of horrible germs and 2. to leave it smelling fresh and inviting. I find my dash board gets very dusty very easily so this is really handy to have.
8. In your washing machine
I have started doing an hot empty wash with a cap full of disinfectant in to clean out the drum and the draw after I have done a few spins. Washing machines can be full of bacteria with all the dirty warm water running through it so running disinfectant through then can be really useful.
9. Wiped over your door handles and entrances
This is a great tip especially if you have a busy house with people coming and going. Door handles are full of bacteria with the amount of times people touch them so wiping them over with scented disinfectant is a must. Also wiping Zoflora over the handles and door frames means every time someone walking into a room they catch a whiff of the amazing smell and it lingers with them.
You arent an adult until you become excited about cleaning products! What is your favourite scent?
Like i mentioned in my previous post Lazy girl guide to cooking, I have learned to cook an array of different meals since moving out and over the last year I have learned some tips and tricks to make my food cook quicker and taste better. The best thing I have done is invested in kitchen appliances! Making a great home cooked meal everyday can be very time consuming and take a lot of energy so at the minute I have two appliances which help me out a lot.
T H E S L O W C O O K E R
Best invention ever made, there I said it.
For someone who gets anxious about cooking various meats, my slow cooker has become my life safer. I always worry that I haven't cooked meat enough or that I'll cook it too much and ruin the taste but with this, I can leave the meat in the cooker all day and know neither will be a problem. I'm still trying different things out in it all the time but my favourite meal to make is a roast with shredded chicken, it is the easiest thing to do and saves you fathing while watching everything else and entertaining the family on a sunday. I mention how to make shredded chicken in my previous post so pop over if you want to try it.
I found out how to make shredded chicken on Pinterest of all places, it seems there is a H U G E cooking community on it! I always thought it was more for clothing and interiors but I was just looking in the wrong place. I look on Pinterest for most of my meal ideas now because there is something for everyone and with slow cookers, you can cook basically anything in them! Chicken, Pork, Lamb, Mince, Lasagna, Pasta, Potatoes, even a deep dish pizza. If you want to see what I have been pinning on Pinterest click on my Slow Cooker Recipes board.
Lastly, the best thing about a slow cooker is you can place all your ingredients in there in the morning, go out all day and when you get home in the evening the food is cooked and ready for you. I know i am going to be using my slow cooker even more in winter because it means I can spend more time during the evening in the bath rather than cooking. goals
T H E S T E A M E R
This is a recent addition to my kitchen collection bur I have fallen in love with it already and use it most days. I bought a 3 tier Russel Hobbs steamer from Argos which aren't too expensive and stack away really easily.
I bought one of these because I was tired of spending all night in the kitchen standing over my hob boiling my veg. I love veg and i like to have it with every meal but boiling it can be a nuisance especially while your in the middle of cooking a roast. My mum suggested I get a steamer and I haven't looked back since.
Like the slow cooker, you can cook most things in the steamer from veg and potatoes to fish and chicken. On a daily basis I throw baby potatoes and veg in with some breaded chicken in the oven and we have a easy, quite healthy meal. One of the reasons I bought the steamer was so I could cook different vegetables more regularly. Callum doesn't like broccoli whereas I love it but i never saw the point in boiling some just for me . With the steamer I can throw some in with some peas and carrots and it is no extra work for me.
Having both of these appliances make cooking a roast dinner for my family a breeze! I have my meat in the slow cooker, my vegetables in the steamer and my roast potatoes in the oven and I still have room on the side (and time to dance around the kitchen to Mamma Mia)
I am planning to write another post about some recipes I have been making lately and both of these tools will feature heavily in it! Hope I haven't made you too hungry reading this!
Back in May I wrote a list of objectives I wanted to achieved over the summer, a little summer to do list and I thought It would be a good idea to look back over the list and see if I actually achieved anything because yes, I'm sorry to say... Summer is over in my eyes. Bring on the blankets, fairy lights and hot chocolates.
#Get a new job
The most important goal of the summer was to get a new job and thankfully I have achieved that. If you haven't read a few of my more personal posts lately you might be questioning this goal but I don't want to bore you with the topic anymore so head over to a previous post to find out all the details. Anywho I am now in a new job, with amazing work friends and a much better work life balance. I really couldn't have found a better place to work at and I am so thankful it all worked out in the end.
#Become more fit
This was always going to be the up in the air idea, would I start working out or would I forget or just not be bothered. Annoyingly right now I am not signed to any gym BUT i do have plans to join one with Callum in October so watch this space!
#Grow my hair
I am proud to say I haven't caved and chopped all my hair off yet, I have even had a trimmed and the dip dye taken higher to balance out the length of my hair. I have even invested in a hair oil so hopefully that will encourage my hair to grow even faster. I am aiming to have my long bum touching hair by the start of next year so wish me luck!
#Finish off the bedrooms
Even though no physical progress has been made in the bedrooms, we do have plans in place. A colleague at work has agreed to make and fit my wardrobes since he is a carpenter which is amazing. Having someone I already know come over to make my wardrobes takes a load off my mind and makes me excited about the process. Once they are in my blogging/beauty room can really take shape. I have already made plans of how I want my space to look so I will definitely make a post about it when it happens.
#Fill up my cooking book with recipes
Do you know where the best place is to get dinner recipes? Pinterest of all places. There is a whole community of food lovers on it who share all their favourite recipes and I get most of my dinner ideas from there. My book is filling up but I definitely have room for more!
#Get the garden started
This ambition was a bit ambitious for myself really... I bought some lovely plants and painted my garden table and chairs to make the place feel homely and then all my plants died in the crazy heatwave we had. I have since replaced the plants and so far they are still alive, just. My plan is to spend more time in the garden now it is cooling down so hopefully by next summer the garden will look like a jungle.
#Visit another country
It's been a long time coming but I am finally going on holiday! After the year I have had this holiday can't come quick enough. Cal and I are going to Majorca at the end of the month and I can't wait to spend a whole week sitting by the pool reading hundreds of books and exploring the island. Hopefully being on holiday will spark some new ideas since there is nothing better than letting your mind run wild with no distractions.
What have you done this summer?
Sticking to a budget can be hard and when your a home owner and have bills to pay for you don't really get a choice. I've been living in my own home now for just over a two years now and I have found some ways that help me to stick to my budget and not go into my overdraft every month.
- Meal Plan
This can be a life safer if you are someone who ends up buying a bunch of food that you don't need. Cal and I like to sit down and plan what we are going to eat for dinner that week for many reasons, one is so we can get what we need on our weekly shop ahead of time and because it gives us something to look forward to.
- Stick to your list
I think it should be a known rule never to go food shopping while you are hungry otherwise I come back with 2 cinnamon swirls, 3 different biscuits and a box of microwave chips so stick to the items on your list. You made a list for a reason so only get the food that you need.
- Choose food with multiple uses
It's easy to buy food because you like it but it worked for one meal and then its done. I like to make meals which I can freeze for another night or pop in the fridge for my lunch tomorrow. It helps me save money and stops me using everything in my freezer in one go.
- Shop Around
Before I moved out I was a self confessed Tesco addict and if I needed anything whether it was food or random bits I would go to Tesco. When we moved out we didn't know how we would find balancing our mortgage, food shopping, petrol and such so we ended up trying the Aldi store which is 10 minutes down the street from our house. We've found we can get a full weekly shop with meat and chicken and the everyday bits for between £20-£30 which is really good considering how much we bring home so we are official Aldi converts now. I love the chicken and meat from Aldi so if you don't already shop there then you should try it once. I know down the line when we start to have a family it will really help with saving our money. Its easy to stick to a shop that you are familiar with but when you can save all this money you have to give it a go.
- Check your online banking daily
It sounds very silly but I am terrible for not checking my online banking for days and it has become Cals job to remind me to pay the bills. By checking it daily you know exactly what bills has already come out and what you still need to pay for, that way if you see something you want for the house you know what money you have left for the month.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Anyone else remember this saying up on every wall in your school?
It does still apply now in every day life so I have implemented it back into my life. When we first moved in we were still learning a rhythm and we ended up not using fresh food which meant it went off and we had to throw it away, which is such a waste. So when we plan our meals for the week now we also check what we still have in the fridge and freezer and what dates they go off. Then we make sure we use the food before the due date so that we don't waste the food anymore.
This doesn't just apply to food as well, we had lots of random house decorative bits which didn't have a home for a while and rather then getting rid of them we have rotated them round the house until we found a room where we liked them. Its so easy to chuck something away because it doesn't suit your theme only to need one a few months later and end up buying it again.
- Never impulse buy for the house
I love buying items for my house like most people and going into Home Sense or Dunelm can be really hurtful for my bank balance, I like to go home shopping with Cal because he does stop me going crazy for stuff that we don't need and don't have room for. Home stuff can be really expensive so I try and really think about what I want for the house and stop myself impulse buying. If I find something that I really like but it is super expensive, I like to sleep on the idea of spending that much money on one item. You can get into the hype of 'I need to buy this now, it won't be here tomorrow if I change my mind' but I have come to believe that if I return to the shop and the item is still there then I was meant to purchase it.
- Treat Yourself
This one may sound strange in this list but when you have been really good for a long period of time you deserve a treat. Me and Cal have the occasional take away when we have cooked dinner for the whole week because it gives me a night off from cooking and its something a bit different. If we don't have a take away we sometimes go out for date night instead and again its just a little treat for our hard work. Just watch they become too much of regular thing!
I recently brought back to life a old set of garden chairs and a garden table which my parents have had for quite a few years. It was unloved and a faded light brown colour which didn't look any good. Annoyingly I didn't take any photos of the table before I started work on it but alas I am not god...
I really wanted a garden table set for my royal wedding party as I knew it was going to be a lovely day and my parents had given us this set all the way back in summer last year so it was about time we got it looking up to scratch.
The set had been sitting in our garden since last summer so you can imagine how horrible it looked and felt so the first step was washing the chairs and getting rid of all the spiders and cobwebs. Not the most glamorous job but I had to make the wood ready for painting.
The second step was painting the set to make it look brand new and Cal and I decided to choose a dark brown colour which would wear well on the wood over time and cover up the light faded colour. The dark colour makes the set look brand new and the paint I used was the Dulux Woodsheen Stain and Vanish in Golden Teak. Because we used a stain and vanish the colour on the table should withstand any weather but we will be smart and house the set in the garage during the winter and when we aren't using it.
To complete the garden set I wanted to buy some bright seat cushions to make the set really stand out in the garden and I was originally looking for bright green cushions and then one day my mum found this crank handle parasol and cushions separately in our local B&M and rang me to tell me she had a surprise.
So herself and my dad came round one Friday with this parasol and cushions and set it all up for me ready for my party the following day and I think it looks banging all together.
This DIY job was incredibly cheap (for me hehe) since the vanish only cost £15.99 from B&M but I have found it cheaper on eBay and a parasol and cushions aren't a necessity for this garden set so the total for this DIY can be £15.99.
For reference the garden parasol was £29.99 and the cushions were £6.99 for a set of two. Trying to find anything you have bought from b&m on their website is a struggle so I have found some similar alternatives.
The total for this DIY project including the gifts from my parents totals at £59.96 which is still cheaper from most good garden tables right now so still a bargain of a DIY, especially when it means you have recycled something that would have just gone in the bin.
This summer I am planning on overhauling my life and basically sorting my shit out. This year has taken me on a roller coaster and it is only the fourth month in so I am expecting big changes this summer and I will make them happen.
# Get a new job
My work life has changed dramatically this year as you all know now and not for the good so my main aim this summer is to get a new job. As much as I love retail I really do think I need a change of environment and surroundings. Something closer to home with less stress would be the ideal situations so fingers cross something that ticks them boxes comes up.
# Become more fit
I don't really care about losing weight and going on a diet, my plan is to tone my body and become more fit in general. Although since moving out my eating has become so much better and I am learning to cook something new everyday, I still have weeks where my eating is terrible especially if I am working long hours. I am planning to join the local gym with Cal in the next month or so which will be really good for me, I used to go gym nearly every day when I first left school as a hobby so I can see myself getting really into it again.
# Grow my hair
I have had short hair since 2015 now and I think it is about time I went the other direction and grew my hair (if I can) I have been trying to grow my hair since I was 16 and it would never grow past my boobs so I ended up giving up and going for the chop. Now I am ready to try again and hopefully grow my hair long and put more bleach in the ends so my dip dye starts higher in my hair. This is how I hope to have my hair soon...
# Finish off the bedrooms
We are nearing a year in our house now and we still haven't finished everything we would like to because we aren't made of money and life gets in the way. We still need to get built in wardrobes in the master bedroom and once that is done we can get rid of all the rails of clothes in my little room and turn it into my blogging/beauty room. Once that is complete I think my blogging game will become stronger and more routined.
# Fill up my cooking book with recipes
Like I said my cooking skills are getting better with every Mary Berry cookbook I read (she is my gal) and everything that I really like to make I write up in my own little cooking diary. It has four different colours on the pages so I can separate my cooking lists, slow cooker recipes, recipes for dinner and baking recipes. I love filling in this book (because I have no life apparently) and get wait for it to be full.
# Get the garden started
My garden is a blank space at the minute and I really want to make the space into something beautiful and relaxing so in the summer I can sit in my quite place and read a book or do some gardening. I plan to dig out all the plants in my front garden and start from scratch and decide what me and cal want to have.
# Visit another country
Lastly I really want to go on a holiday aboard this year and get out of England. I have some ideas in the pipe line with my family to have a big group holiday but if that doesn't work out, Cal and I will definitely go somewhere by ourselves. Maybe a weekend in a city or a week by a pool in a cheap hotel in Spain. My ideal holiday would be Benidorm but no one shares my love of it :(
I love inviting people round to my house and hosting people whether its for a hour or for the night. I don't know where I have got this from but since having my own house I have developed a lot of house pride which I think everyone gets once they own their own place. I use any excuse to make people come round my house now so that I can play host so I thought Id take you through what I like to do before someone comes to stay.
One thing I love doing when someone is coming over to stay is make the bed with a fresh bed sheet, obviously tidy the spare room and then close the curtains and turn on the fairy lights. Whether it is sunny or in the middle of winter I think a dark room with fairy lights look so much more appealing. I want to make the bed look really appealing for the person because I know it isn't always nice to spend a night in someone else's bed.
I have got into the habit of leaving fresh towels folded on the end of the bed in the spare room because even though the people who stay over are mainly family members and properly wouldn't care about using the same towels, it is nice to have a fresh one. I also don't want my guests to have to ask for a towel. I am planning on replacing all of our towels soon so that they all match and match the bedding so it looks more pretty all together, sad I know.
On the night stand beside the spare bed I like to leave everything my guest could possibly need, a tooth brush in case they have forgot theirs, a empty glass and a new bottle of water in case they get thirsty in the night and don't want to go roaming round my house, a pair of fluffy socks which are very important during the winter (we are lucky our whole house is covered in carpet so we don't feel the cold too much (but some people don't like showing their feet which is where the socks come in) and a few hair bands because I know what it is like forgetting a hair band and sweating during the night with your hair stuck to you.
Because I love bath and shower products I have a huge collections that I spread across both bathrooms so when people stay over I like to leave out my mini shower gels and scrubs so that if they have a bath or shower they have something to use. Can you call it a shower if you haven't used a shower gel?! I also like to leave cotton pads out for our female friends to remind them to take their makeup off because I know how much they will regret it in the morning if they forget.
Whenever people are staying over at my house I like to stock up the fridge and cupboards, half of the time I cook a proper meal for my family and friends and the other half we get take away depending on whether I have been to work or not but I find the snacks and drinks are the most important. I know what it is like to get the munchies during the night so I like to have little snacks that people can take up with them to bed in case they do get peckish (we've all been there) and a mixture of drinks so people have a choice. I know alcohol isn't everyone's cup of tea and I am not a big drinker myself but whenever we have friends or family round we always get something to put in the fridge whether it is a bottle of wine or a crate of beer. Even if we don't drink it ourselves it is there in case our friends/family want it. We also have mason jars with little chalk boards on so we can write our guests names on the jars which goes down a treat.
Now I'm not saying I am the most amazing host in the whole entire world and that I do all of this every time someone comes over because I'm human and I work a lot but when I do these things, you can tell people really appreciate it and it gives them a rest from doing it themselves at home.
I know now that it takes a long while to get your home exactly how you want it and since having my own home, I have found that you can have a quite plain boring room but by adding one thing, you can change it into an inviting space that looks like you have spent a lot of time making it feel like a home rather than a house.
One thing that I have recently found to really make a difference is photo frames, they are amazing at making a room feel more homely. We didn't have any photos up for a long time because we have never been big photo people, it was only when someone gave us a photo frame a few weeks ago that we had an excuse to gets some photos developed. I took this opportunity to go crazy with the photos to give us a lot of choice when it came to picking which photo we used and now the photo frames look like they have been their the whole time.
Another item that makes any room but especially bedrooms and living rooms look more cosy are pillows and throws. I love anything that reminds me of a bed so I love throws on the sofas because I can wrap up in them and pretend that I have my sh*t together. I find they really tie a room together and you can either match the theme of the room or completely go against it and make a statement with a bold pattern or colour. My favourite thing to do is changing the colour of pillows and throw during the different seasons because you can get some quality throws and pillow covers in Primark for not that much and then you never have to settle on one theme.
Something I have always been into is candles and my old bedroom at my parents house used to be covered in large candles and now I have my own home they are spread out evenly in the rooms. I find candles make dull shelves and tables look so much more appealing and especially when they are being used they make the space so much more cosy. Even Callum loves a good candle so there is one out there for everyone.
Another thing I have become obsessed with since having my own house is house plants. I can't say I am the best at keeping them alive but I love having them around especially in the bathroom and kitchen. Another thing connected to house plants is flowers which I think makes a room so much more homely and inviting, I wish I had an abundance of flowers in ever room but sadly again they never last long with me but I love them while they are alive.
Something that I know the girls will definitely agree with and the boys may object to is having fairy lights around the house. I love fairy lights and keep a set up all year round wrapped around our spare bed because who doesn't want some fairy lights in the background. At Christmas time as well I am allowed to wrap fairy lights around the banister, tv unit and lamp in the living room and the room is so cosy and lovely I never want to take them down. I know they aren't to everyone cup of tv but they can really complete a room.
Something I like to leave on the living room coffee table is a bowl full of treats whether that is chocolate or sweets whatever we have. I guess you could call me a feeder... I don't like people to go hungry so I always make sure there is something for someone so having a bowl of treats on the table encourages people to relax and take a handful while they kick back. They are also great when you get peckish watching tv and can't be bothered to move!
The last tip I have for this blog post is have big ass mirrors and canvases everywhere possible. I love big wall mirrors that take up the whole space. You don't have to worry about choosing a photo or painting to go on the blank wall and they are great at making the space feel bigger. I love mirrors in hall walls or on the top of stairs because they look great and most important, are great for outfit photos! Canvas are also great if you have one photo you and your partner really like which would look great blown up on a big wall, its choosing the photo that is hard!
One thing that I have recently found to really make a difference is photo frames, they are amazing at making a room feel more homely. We didn't have any photos up for a long time because we have never been big photo people, it was only when someone gave us a photo frame a few weeks ago that we had an excuse to gets some photos developed. I took this opportunity to go crazy with the photos to give us a lot of choice when it came to picking which photo we used and now the photo frames look like they have been their the whole time.
Another item that makes any room but especially bedrooms and living rooms look more cosy are pillows and throws. I love anything that reminds me of a bed so I love throws on the sofas because I can wrap up in them and pretend that I have my sh*t together. I find they really tie a room together and you can either match the theme of the room or completely go against it and make a statement with a bold pattern or colour. My favourite thing to do is changing the colour of pillows and throw during the different seasons because you can get some quality throws and pillow covers in Primark for not that much and then you never have to settle on one theme.
Something I have always been into is candles and my old bedroom at my parents house used to be covered in large candles and now I have my own home they are spread out evenly in the rooms. I find candles make dull shelves and tables look so much more appealing and especially when they are being used they make the space so much more cosy. Even Callum loves a good candle so there is one out there for everyone.
Another thing I have become obsessed with since having my own house is house plants. I can't say I am the best at keeping them alive but I love having them around especially in the bathroom and kitchen. Another thing connected to house plants is flowers which I think makes a room so much more homely and inviting, I wish I had an abundance of flowers in ever room but sadly again they never last long with me but I love them while they are alive.
Something that I know the girls will definitely agree with and the boys may object to is having fairy lights around the house. I love fairy lights and keep a set up all year round wrapped around our spare bed because who doesn't want some fairy lights in the background. At Christmas time as well I am allowed to wrap fairy lights around the banister, tv unit and lamp in the living room and the room is so cosy and lovely I never want to take them down. I know they aren't to everyone cup of tv but they can really complete a room.
Something I like to leave on the living room coffee table is a bowl full of treats whether that is chocolate or sweets whatever we have. I guess you could call me a feeder... I don't like people to go hungry so I always make sure there is something for someone so having a bowl of treats on the table encourages people to relax and take a handful while they kick back. They are also great when you get peckish watching tv and can't be bothered to move!
The last tip I have for this blog post is have big ass mirrors and canvases everywhere possible. I love big wall mirrors that take up the whole space. You don't have to worry about choosing a photo or painting to go on the blank wall and they are great at making the space feel bigger. I love mirrors in hall walls or on the top of stairs because they look great and most important, are great for outfit photos! Canvas are also great if you have one photo you and your partner really like which would look great blown up on a big wall, its choosing the photo that is hard!
What do you have around your house to make it feel more like home? :)
Ever since moving out I feel like I am always on the hunt for items to add to the house. I always used to like looking through the home sections of shops before but now I actually have space to put these bits rather than stuffing them all in my tiny bedroom at my parents house. I like to shop around for home bits because although I like to have pretty items all around the house, its always about a bargain for me! Here is a list of some of my favourite stores to shop home...
Dunelm
Dunelm is just the stuff of dreams isn't it! We have gone a little crazy in Dunelm recently but you can get everything there. We've bought most of our bath room items from Dunelm because they are such a good price and you can find some really nice patterns and styles. There are also so many bed covers and curtains to cause from there is literary something for everyone's taste. Great for : bathroom, kitchen and bedroom
Ikea
How could I not mention the Swedish equivalent to heaven? Again we went crazy over in Ikea buying wardrobes, kitchen tables and chairs and loads of side tables for every room. It really is great for big items which you don't want to spend too much money on especially when you have just moved out. We planned to buy some cheap tables from Ikea and then over time upgrade them like most people do but I ended loving some of the pieces we got so have no plans to upgrade them! You can also get some much kitchen utensils, bath room pieces, basically anything you would need you can find it in Ikea.Great for : bath room, bedroom, kitchen, living room - basically every room in the house!
Primark
Although most Primarks have a small home section they have a great selection of bedding for such good prices, we have a king size bed so buying bedding can be expensive so when we are buying bedding for our bedroom we normally buy from Primark. I recently bought this gorgeous marble style bedding from them for about £20 which is much cheaper than other places for that size.
Great for : bedding
B&M
Although B&M is more of a nic nac shop... I still bloody love it! It is great for cheap decorative pieces round the house like candles and photo frames which I love looking at and there are so many styles of bedding for such good prices. I also love the kitchen section because I got a huge Russell Hobbs pan set for such a good price and we bought our deep fat fryer there for only £20! Its also great for seasonal pieces like Halloween and Christmas, I have bought some Christmas oven mitts from there this week!Great for : bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, hallway and garden & festive decor!!
Tesco
For me Tesco is all about the appliances, cutlery and plants. Although the home section in my local Tesco isn't the biggest I have found quite a few bits in store including 10 house plants which were all between £3-£6 which is a bargain. I can't promise you that all the plants have survived but I do have the cute little plant pots they've left behind to start again! We also bought our square plates and bowls from Tesco which we love as well as a cute little sharing bowl.Great for : kitchen and house plants
Wilkos
This might be the last place you expected me to include but Wilkos has a whole collection of copper kitchen tools which obviously I had to invest in. Although I am not obsessed with copper like some people I still wanted the copper drainer just because it was so pretty! I have also bought some Christmas tea towels and oven mitts because you can never have too many Christmas themed oven mitts.Great for : kitchen
T K Max / Home Sense
How could I not mention one of the best shops for home pieces! I love everything in these stores mainly because they have something for everyone's style, especially when it comes to seasonal pieces! I always get side tracked by the aisle of pans and saucers of all things, even though I am not the best cook I am obsessed with my kitchen and want every size and shape pan and saucer going. Lastly any shop that has a whole aisle of different coloured candles is a winner in my eyes.
Great for : kitchen, living room, all the candles & festive decor!!
Lastly I thought I would give an honorable mention to garden centers because although some of you may not know this but garden centers are great places to get items for your home and most of them have amazing Christmas sections. I live across from one of the best garden centers in my opinion and I have been popping in every week to see if their Christmas section is ready yet. Most of them do amazing home made sauces and jams as well so we always keep our cupboards stocked up in jam and chutney.
I have been super excited to show you all my bathrooms in my new home because I am so in love with them and they finally feel ready to be shown to the world! Call me sad but I love being nosey in peoples bathrooms, more than any other room is the house. I think it is because I spend a lot of time in there either have a overly long bath, getting ready for bed or the day ahead so I spend a lot of time in there.
I have three bathrooms in my house; the downstairs toilet, the main bathroom and the ensuite on the top floor (yes cleaning them all is a long job ...) so we had a lot of space to fill and a lot of products to spread out. We plan to use the ensuite more often when we have our mirror which Cal has recently made screwed into the wall but at the moment we only have a small mirror to use so we tend to mostly get ready in the main bathroom on the second floor.
F i r s t B a t h r o o m
Starting with the downstairs bathroom, we didn't want to over crowd it too much so we currently just have a small wood basket which a friend of mine got us as a moving in gift (it had a hand wash and candle and all cute bits in) to hold our toilet paper which I think looks super cute! We also have a white marble toilet brush holder from Dunelm which we really like against the black flooring. We also have a bottle of Baylis and Harding Pink Processco and Cassis Fragranced hand wash which smells divine! Nationwide sent us a huge hamper for choosing to get our mortgage with them and this was one of the items included which we loved. Cal has made a mirror for every bathroom in the house and the mirror that will be going in this bathroom is a big diamond which will tie the whole room together I think. 
M a i n B a t h r o o m
Since this is our biggest bathroom out of the three and the one we would probably use the most we wanted it to make it feel really cosy and relaxing. On the top shelf we firstly have our tooth brushes and tooth paste in a little candle holder with a C on from my sister many moons ago. I never intended to keep the candle holder as a tooth brush holder but now it would feel wrong having anything else! Next to that we have our Ikea mirror which is bloody brilliant! It doesn't matter which room you put it in or whereabouts in the room you always get brilliant light through it so doing your makeup in it is amazing! Again Cal is planning on making us a mirror that runs the length and width of the wall above the shelf but until they we are using this mirror to get ready in the mornings. Then just next to the mirror we have my Zoella My Eden candle as I love to have candle lit baths and this candle matches the bath really nicely.Down on the floor we have our black marble bin, toilet brush holder and toilet paper holder all from Dunelm again (seriously their home stuff is amazing and their sales are so good, some of the items I mention are full price but most were either on sale or just a really good price anyway!) We also have a white three tier shelving unit which we picked up from The Range in Milton Keynes which is amazing for home buys! This rack was only £15 and it has come in so handy and looks really nice in our simple bathroom. This rack holds all of Cal's products and then I have one on the top floor which holds all mine.
E n s u i t e
I never thought i'd ever say this but I have an ensuite! It is quite strange having one because it is lovely to only have to walk a few steps to go toilet but I don't find myself using it in the night because I am too scared to wake Cal up so I don't actually use it for its purpose. Anyway again this is only a small room so we didn't want to over crowd it so we just have my white three tier shelving unit which this time we found in Dunelm (we really like Dunelm...) which is a perfect match for our unit down stairs. We do have a plan to get a small white draw unit to have in the main bathroom and then to use our white shelves as his and her racks either side of the ensuite sink, cuties I know. We have a cute little rotating mirror from B&M sitting on the sink for now to use to get ready (Cal has made a circle pot hole mirror for this bathroom) and lastly we have our stripe toilet brush holder, tooth brush holder and soap dish all from yes you guessed it Dunelm which I absolutely love. I like that each bathroom has different accessories. Lastly in this room we just have a boring black pedal bin from Dunelm (shut up really?!) I love the skylight in this bathroom it makes the room so light no matter what time of day. I think this sky light compensates for not having a window in our min bathroom. I realise this is quite a long post and not everyone is interested in peoples bathrooms so if you have made it to the end well done! I will leave links to all the items I have talked about in case you want to copy me and have matching bathrooms, let me know if you do! Also please tell me you like looking at peoples bathrooms as much as me so I don't feel so lame! I plan to fill all three bathrooms with big green plants for the corners because I love how colorful but understated green plants look in white bathrooms.
L I N K S
White marble toilet brush holder (similar)Baylis and Harding Processco hand wash
Ikea Mirror
Zoella My Eden candle
Black marble bin
Black marble toilet brush holder
Black marble toilet paper holder
White shelving unit (The Range)
B&M mirror
Stripe toilet brush holder (similar)
Stripe toothbrush holder (similar)
Pedal bin
Since I moved out with my fiance in May I have learned a lot of things about myself, us and the whole process in general. Although I sometimes feel like I am talking about my house non stop on my blog... I'm bringing you another post!
Since this is my first time living away from home I had a lot to learn!
1. I can actually cook, who knew it!
I have never been an fantastic cook at home because I never needed to be, i'll be honest I was a pampered princess and loved it. So since moving out and having to cook for Cal and I, I am actually a pretty good cook! Our favourite is Toad in the hole which isn't very technical but super tasty! I've also recently been making butter and herb new potatoes which taste amazing!!
2. House pride is an actual thing
I used to make fun of my sister who would spend all her spare time cleaning and tidying her house even though no one was coming round. I have got the disease now, especially with my kitchen! It might be because it were we eat and prepare our food, it might also be because my kitchen is at the front of the house so when people walk past they can see through the window. I don't know but the kitchen has to be perfect.
3. You have to compromise when you live with someone
Cal and I are quite lucky that we have the same taste with most things so choosing decor for the house isn't too much of a challenge but I have learned you can't always get what you want. Which is fine because i'm a grown up and I don't have to have my own way... all the time!
4. It is super fun to play house
I don't know about you but I used to play house when I was younger and pretend my barbies were families with a big house and a car and babies and now I don't have to pretend! Apart from the babies I have everything I pretended my barbies had and it is so fun. Inviting our friends round and doing dinner and drinks makes us feel really grown up and cool! And then we have to tidy and clean up and the fun stops!
5. I do actually miss home
I have never been a real home sick person before I loved staying over at new places but since leaving my childhood home permanently I've realised how comfortable I felt there which is something I haven't felt yet here. Whenever I go home and visit my parents I instantly feel relaxed and comfortable as soon as I enter the house and could fall asleep at any moment because i'm so comfy. Hopefully soon my house will feel like that!
I don't consider myself a pro at moving house as I have only moved house once in my life but I thought a lot of people who read my blog will probably be around the same age as me so will probably be in the same situation too (first time buyer) and would appreciate this post. I know for a lot of people moving house is really hard, especially if you already have a house so you have a house full of items to move with you. Being a first time buyer made moving much quicker and easier then for other people as most of the big items we bought once we moved in. I have so much admiration for people who moved from one large house to an even larger house with children!
So here are a few things that I think help making moving house so much easier.
1. Preparation
I am quite an organised person anyway but when we started the process of putting in an offer for our house in January 2017, I started sorting through my wardrobes and draws straight away and I moved in in May! Some might call that eager but it helped out a lot. Knowing that I had sorted and thrown away all the old stuff I didn't need to bring with me beforehand made me feel much better when it was time to move. A week before we moved I boxed up all my bedroom and just kept a few things out that I would have needed over the week and it meant I didn't have to worry about anything. I know some people are very last minute and would pack their belongings the day they moved but I can't do that, it probably would have given me a heart attack when the day came! Preparation is everything!
2. Friends are life savers
Now its your first big house and you want to do everything yourself because your a big girl now... but you need help. Our friends were life savers when we moved because they helped up bring round our sofas in a van we borrowed, they helped build lots of Ikea furniture and they spent quite a few trips driving boxes between our old houses and our new house. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have moved in as quick and it would have cost us money to pay for vans or removal services. They also make moving house even more fun because they lighten your mood when your stressing about your kitchen floor and after everything is in you can all sit in the sun in the garden and have a nice cold beer/cocktail.
3. Plan your work
I am quite lucky in the fact I told my work straight away in January that I would need a week off around these dates to move house and they were very good about that. I know some companies aren't this laid back and wouldn't give people time off work but you might as well ask and shout and scream until they agree! If both Cal and I didn't have the week off after we got the keys the house wouldn't have actually been a home for weeks. Still now nearly a month in the house and we still are adding bits to the house to make it feel more homely.
4. Getting friendly with neighbours
This point is more for new build buyers who have neighbours who will be moving in around the same time as you. We were very lucky in the fact the site that runs our development stagger moving in dates for the buyers so in our little cul-de-sac we were the first to move in on the Friday, then the following Friday another house moved in and so on and so forth. This made moving in so much easier because we had everyone's packing space to pack our cars full of stuff and when everyone came round to see the house they all had somewhere to park their cars. Now I know some places don't do this and everyone moves in on the same day (I can't even imagine...) so if you get the chance I would get friendly with the neighbours so you can find out what time they were planning on bring their vans/cars so you can try to work around each other. The worst thing would be you can't get to your house because three vans from next door are taking up the parking and the road. If our moving in dates weren't staggered I think Cal and I would have moved in the following day to everyone else since we had to the week off just to make life easier to everyone especially us.
5. It won't all come together straight away
When I imagined my moving in day I imagined every room to be perfect and filled with furniture and for it already to look like a home. This didn't happen obviously. We only had two sofas and a TV in the living room, one bed in the second bedroom and every other room was storage. It is impossible for your house to be ready straight away unless you have literally moved everything already from your old house into your new. We spent the first 3 weeks without a TV unit, kitchen table, microwave, coffee table and chest of draws. We still don't have a washing machine, blinds or curtains and wardrobes but new houses are homes in progress. I find its better to wait to buy something then rush our and buy the first thing you see because you spend more than you should on the item and it isn't exactly the one that you wanted.
I will give you a house tour soon once I feel like it is ready and we have all we need. If you have moved house yourself and have any other tips leave a comment below with them. I'd love to know how yours went!
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