Ways to stay warm in winter

*This post contains affiliate links  We’ve all heard about the rising cost of living, and energy bills, in particular, going up and up. But staying warm in winter is still necessary for our comfort and wellbeing, as we can’t simply sit in the cold to save money. However, there are plenty of ways to keep warm without turning the thermostat up. And getting that cosy feeling, whether you’re at home or away, is one of the simple joys of these cooler seasons. So, here are some handy tips to help you snuggle up and stay warm in winter. Layer up the bed As we spend a good portion of our lives in bed (if we’re lucky), let’s start with how to keep warm at night. And there’s more to keeping warm in bed than popping on the highest tog duvet. Layering up bed clothes gives you more control over your warmth than just one single duvet. You can add a layer or two of warmth as the temperature drops and easily remove it once you’ve warmed up. So, having a handy mix of a light duvet and a few soft b......

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10 Styling Tips to Make a Metal Bed Feel Cosier

*This post contains affiliate links Metal beds are modern and sleek, but they can also feel cold and metallic so here are some tips to make your bedroom space and bed softer and warmer and can be applied to any kind of bed. If you have a metal bed, chances are you love it but want to make it a little bit cosier, and this article will help you do just that with ten styling tips. Let’s jump right in! 1. Hang fairy lights above your bed Fairy lights are beautiful because they mimic the stars at night, so hanging them above your bed will create a real sense of wonder and warmth. If you don’t want to be dazzled by them, try hanging the fairy lights behind coloured netting or a bedsheet suspended from the ceiling.   2. Wrap the top of the headboard/footboard in Tulle If your metal bed has an ornamental headboard or footboard, wrap the top section in netting to cover up most of the metal you touch and soften the look of your bed. The type of netting you need is voile or tulle, see-through......

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Love Scotland? How to bring a Scottish feel into your home

*This post contains affiliate links  I love Scotland, I've been lucky enough to have lived in Edinburgh for over a year and as well as work on the West Coast of Scotland for a summer, near the Isle of Skye. It is a place I love visiting with my kids, we enjoyed a wonderful family break to Edinburgh and have a trip lined up to the Highlands later this year. I love to incorporate my favourite places into my home so that even when I am not travelling I can feel a sense of wanderlust.  Descending from the Highlands, tartan is a sure-fire way to incorporate Scottish roots into your interior design. The optime of warmth and comfort, what better place to use this iconic pattern than in your bedroom or living room, and here are some ways to achieve this with style and sophistication. What is tartan ? First, let’s explore the origins of the fabric. Tartan is a uniquely patterned cloth consisting of intricate and intersecting lines in multiple colours, that create different sized and co......

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5 Ways to get your home ready for winter

*Contains Affiliate links If you haven't already heard the news that the UK is apparently going to have the coldest Winter for 30yrs this year! Yes, apparently we are going to be hit with another Beast from the East around January time according to a long-range weather forecast. While we can't really depend on such long-term predictions and if you live in the UK you will know that the weather changes pretty much on the hour but regardless our winters do seem to be getting colder year on year and now is the time to start getting your home ready for the deep freeze. Getting your home ready is all about putting preventatives in place so that you save money, not spend it and you don't have to be a DIY guru either, just some elbow grease and common sense is key when it comes to home maintenance. Here is a list of essentials you really need to find time before the winter season starts. 1. Clear your gutters and drains - not the most exciting or favourite of chores to......

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Recreating that hotel feel at home

I don't think it's hard to dispute that once you become parents a relaxing break away every now and then is very much welcomed. To stay in a hotel where you don't have to worry about making the bed and a lie-in on a comfortable king-sized bed is a given. Of course due to time and expense it's not something many of us can afford to do as much as we would like which got me thinking why not inject a little bit of that luxurious feeling into your home and create a bedroom that is a haven for calm and relaxation? I thought I would share easy, simple and cost-efficient ways to bring that luxury feel into your home when you don't have a massive budget. Here are my top 5 1. Declutter - edit your living, bedroom and bathroom spaces and by streamlining and making full use of any storage space you have will instantly make you feel more relaxed and make the room look more spacious. Go with a white or a more neutral palette to create a crisp luxurious feel that you g......

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Love travel and have a spare room. Tips on hosting guests

I n recent years there has been a big shift in tourism trends being adopted by homes to create an authentic experience of combining the convenience of a hotel with home decor and living like a local. It seems the more we travel the more we want to incorporate new trends into our home lives as well as getting a more culturally authentic experience. We have adopted this into the way we make our travel arrangements having stayed in Airbnb apartments, hotel apartments and serviced apartments which have given us a great base to explore the local area as well as being self catering which is our preferred way to travel with kids. This recent trend has led to the serviced apartment sector  as well private room rentals becoming increasingly popular and, as a result, increasingly competitive. Previously guests were simply looking for a comfortable, welcoming experience around them and surrounding them but now they are also looking for a space that is going to add to their overall ......

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Frugi Organic Bedding - Review

We love to support ethical and organic brands and products and are trying to bring more of that into our lives and home so when Frugi , a well known children's brand we love got in touch and asked us to try out their new organic bedding for kids we jumped at the chance. The main thing I wanted to test was comfortability because if the kids are not comfortable they are not going to sleep and as any parent will know a good night sleep is essential for your sanity.  Occasionally I do find organic products to be a little itchy or not as soft but this is not the case with these beautifully made duvet and pillow set and both the kids love the colourful designs which add a real sense of fun to their bedrooms. We picked the campervan and the fish design which are both unisex. They both have a printed design on one side and stars on the other and just like their kids clothing you can't fault the quality, the cotton is thick but breathable and even though perhaps in r......

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Moving on up - From cot to bed

It feels like I blinked and my youngest has gone from a newborn to a toddler in no time and is learning things at such a fast pace. He watches his older brother like a hawk and is so eager to get involved and keep up with him.  Every morning he climbs over me as we co-sleep most nights and the first thing he does is go to his brothers room to see if he is awake and tries to climb into his bed, which doesn't always go down well with my eldest. As soon as Baby G is up he is going a hundred miles an hour and I think things have happened quicker the second time around such as walking, using cutlery and his communication skills because he has an older sibling to look up too. Even though like I said we co-sleep nearly every night and my youngest is yet to actually spend any time over night in his own bedroom we feel thats it's not going to be that much longer that he will be ready to go from the travel cot that is right next to our bed to his own toddler bed so w......

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Kids Bedroom essentials

So in the last post I spoke about stylish kids and toddler beds as well as a few cute and quirky accessories and thought I would share even more cool and colourful bedroom essentials for turning your child's space into a fun and interactive area. In my search for something a little different to hang on Mr A's wall I came across Urbanara which do a collection of wool felted animal heads such as the Elephant above as well as lions, giraffes and countryside animals such as foxes and rabbits and it offers a real 3D wall art affect that is perfect for a kids bedroom. There is no reason why a child's bedroom cannot be a place of wonder and somewhere that sparks one's imagination and transports them off to magical worlds. I remember spending hours in my room dreaming up all sorts of adventures which at times with the influx of technology today seems somewhat lost but can easily be brought back by using soft fabrics, bright colours and incorporating good design into th......

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