H&M Living Room Homeware - Favourite Picks

Photoframe - £7.99  //  Copper Tealight Holder - £1.50 // Felt Storage Basket £9.99 // Moss Knit Blanket - £49.99 // Moss Knit Cushion Cover - £14.99 // Satin Cushion Cover - £7.99 // Metal Wire Basket - £7.99 //  Cotton Cushion Cover - £2.49 // Porcelain Dog - £7.99 // Lantern - £4.99 // Baby Blue Weave Blanket - £24.99 

The H&M home collection has always been a big part of my home decor. It's super stylish and cheap enough to pick bits up each season to replace anything that's looking a little tired. They also have the most perfect little storage jars and trinkets that fill my dresser. 

 

Next - Animal Cushion Collection

Jack Russell with Ears - £14 // Sad Cow - £14 // Pug Cushion - £10 // Pug Draft Excluder - £16 // Ram - £14 // Sleeping Dogs - £10 //  Sleeping Fox - £10 // Sleeping Cats - £10 // Scotty Dog - £10 // 

The Animal Collection from Next has really stole my heart so I had to give it a post all of its own. My favorite is the Jack Russell cushion with actual fluffy ears - my love for Oscar doggle has made me need this cushion in my life and it's definitely going to be part of his owners birthday presents later this month.

Lodge Weekend in Englands Little Bit of Paradise

We've booked lodge weekends through hoseasons for quite a few years for us and friends but this year as we're not going abroad we thought we'd have a little staycation and book a long weekend. We booked our little trip away at 'Kingsford Lodges' in Somerset. It's in a little town called Longdown that really is in the middle of nowhere - the entire site is owned by a lovely family. We were greeted by a lady called Debbie who was ever so welcoming. There's a private fishing lake on site to keep the men happy and each of the lodges comes equipped by a very large hot tub. It's the kind of quiet that you forget even exists all you can hear are the birds and the sheep in the next field. Theres not much around for quite a while which is just what we were after. We came prepared with wine, cider & portable BBQ's ready for all four days. There's free wifi throughout the site too so you can stay in touch with the outside world if you really want too. We took a trip to Torquay one day too but I'll save that little towns delights for another post. I'd love any lodge recommendations if you've been to any perfect bits of the UK. The only necessity is that it has a hot tub - absolute bliss. A donkey is a really lovely bonus too. 

Chevron Phone Cover £1.95

I tend to break phone cases on a regular basis - I also tend to change my mind about them every 2 months or so. Because of this I just pick up cheap phone cases that satisfy my moods. I learnt the hard way after falling out of love with a £25 Cath Kidston number but not having the heart to remove it because it just cost so much money. My current love is this little chevron number. It's a little similar to the £30 Kate Spade version - the Kate Spade version is obviously beautiful but this one is a fraction of the price. There's lots of versions on eBay for just a few pound listings like this one here, or here. I picked mine up from this listing from a fab UK seller for just £1.95.

Moleskin - The diary that always pulls you back.

I bought my first moleskin diary quite a few years ago and since then I've dabbled in different sizes, colours and other brands. I'm super fickle when it comes to diaries if I buy 18 month editions I've usually changed it up in 9 and if I buy a year I've switched to a mid year diary within 6 months. If I'm honest I'm yet to find the diary that does everything - in my head I know exactly how I would want my diary to be but I can't find someone who makes it. Maybe I'll just make it myself some time ... however in 2013 I made my way through just one diary for the entire year and that was the black large moleskin. 

Moleskin is the brand that comes the closest to what I do dream of for many reasons. I love the matching elastic that holds it together, the pouch at the back for storing vouchers and bills. The week to a page and simple layout. The crazy amount of extra info at the front including stuff on time zones, currencies and measurements. A 6 month page to view at the front for jotting down birthdays and big events that you can quickly glance over. Overall it has everything you would want in a diary. I dabbled in a pocket edition for the first few months of this year - it didn't go well. If you're a woman with lots of personal info you need to jot down stick with the large edition (a little longer than A5 but just as wide.) If you use one diary for work and personal life I'd recommend the extra large edition. They come in a variety of colours and styles here. 

Moleskin also produce a wedding journal that looks perfect if you're planning your big day. A baby journal if you're expecting. I always pick mine up from John Lewis and they range from about £14 - £18 and are well worth the pennies. 

Upcycled Washing Machine Drum - Fire Pit Project

We've wanted a fire pit since last summer but all the ones we loved were £100 plus. Once we buy a house in a few years we envisage a built in BBQ and fire pit made from brick and reclaimed wood. So even though this is our eventual plan and dream  we will more than likely be renting for a good few years more so wanted something cheap and effective. A washing machine drum is perfect as a fire pit - it's already the correct material and built on a base that would rotate it in the machine. The only thing we had to do was remove all the plastic inside it and it was good to go. We searched for local sellers on freeads and picked this up for just £12. It's by no means a great piece of design for your garden but it is so effective and is the kind of thing you won't need to lug on when you move as it is so cheap.

To use we filled the bottom with a little sand and then just topped up with left over hot charcoals from the BBQ and large pieces of wood to keep it burning all night long. If you're looking for a fire pit but don't want to spend that kind of money then this is the perfect alternative.

If anyone has created any other garden BBQ/ Chimena/ Firepit upcycling idea's please share it's one of my most searched for topics!

Sherbet Crush - Tesco SS14 - Favourite Picks

Dip Dye Side Plates - £12.50  // Ice Cream Cone Pack - £10  // Wooden Stripe Tray - £15  // Spearmint Lantern - £8  // Lemon & Vanilla Glaze Candle - £6  // Cadillac Photo Cushion - £8  // Mint Diamond Cushion - £10  // Aqua Glass Bottle - £4 // Pastel Green Roaster - £6.50  // Dip Wood Placemats - £15  // Dip Wood Salad Bowl - £20 

I really loved all of Tesco's SS14 home collections this season - they've launched in a much more stylish way than I think most people imagined. I'll be featuring a couple of my favourite collections from their range but this one is easily my top pick. Sherbet crush is full of half dipped kitchen wares which I adore alongside lots of very cute soft furnishings for your lounge or bedroom. My favourite items are the pastel wood dipped products as I think they'd just look perfect in so many neutral kitchens.