Our Home At Christmas

If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that as soon as December hit, I started decorating my house for Christmas. I would've done it sooner if I could, but I don't think my husband would've been impressed! The trees went up on December 1st, and I've been adding other little finishing touches in the week since. So, this is what my house looks like this Christmas.

Motorola MBP49 Baby Monitor Review

Making the big baby purchases can be a daunting experience. You want to make sure you're getting the best for your baby, without completely blowing the bank. I already had an idea in my head of which brands I wanted to opt for when it came to most things, but the baby monitor was a tricky one. I thought the one my sister had was a really good choice, and I knew it came recommended, but when I browsed the internet I discovered it had been discontinued, so it was either completely out of stock or the websites that still had some were charging the earth for it! Whilst scrolling through the products in one of the Mothercare baby events, I spotted the Motorola MBP49 Monitor at half price (£99.99 - it's now £199.99 but may go in the sale again!) and decided to add it to my basket. The blurb looked impressive, and with it usually being so expensive, I thought it had to be good. Oliver's been in his own room for four months now, so how have I been getting on with it?

Life Update - Meet Oliver

Well it's been a long old time since I've sat at my computer to write something for you goes...it feels kind of odd to be back but I've been itching to do this for a while, so I thought I'd just bite the bullet and do it. As you can probably tell, my life has change a lot since my last post, so here goes...

My Tips For Decluttering

In the last twelve months my husband & I have moved house, and had the arrival of a new addition to our family to prepare for, so we've had our fair share of big house clearouts to do! Having lived in our previous property for over five years, these were never a regular thing for us, and we soon came to pay for it when moving day approached! I'm now a firm believer that we should be doing this on a much more regular basis, just to keep on top of things and ensure we don't end up with just so much unwanted clutter again! I've actually come to enjoy a good clearout - it's quite a therapeutic experience, and seeing just how much more space you have in your home afterwards is great. Here are my top tips that I've learned to do when approaching decluttering your home.

My Favourite Ways To Pass Time Without Technology

I'll admit, one of my favourite ways ever to spend my spare time is having a good old YouTube marathon, but I've become a firm believer that we should be spending less time with our gadgets, and more time doing the simpler things that we used to do, especially in the late evenings, as too much time on our phones etc before bed can disrupt our sleep. Here are my favourite things to do when I need some time away from technology.

My Dream Office Space

My desk space has been exactly the same since my husband & I moved in together almost six years ago. The only thing that's changed is the desks location after we moved house last year. I've been thinking for quite a while that it's time for a bit of a refresh, so I've been researching new decor ideas to made it look a bit more clean and crisp, and just generally more aesthetically pleasing! As I'll be going on maternity leave in a few weeks, who knows if this dream will become a reality any time soon, but I've picked a few more budget friendly options just in case!

Festive Homeware Haul

I really don't know what's more fun at Christmas time. Shopping fot gifts or shopping for bits and bobs for the home. Either way, I love shopping this time of year! Whilst we were all good on the tree decorations from this year, I wanted to pick up a few extra pieces, so that it wasn't just one corner of our living room that had a bit of festive sparkle! If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen these purchases before, but I wanted to share them with the rest of you too.

My Favourite Festive Scent

Don't get me wrong, I love to burn candles all year round, but it's the winter scents I love the best. I'm a real big fan of those warmer, spicy and foodie scents that seem to be everywhere this time of year. My absolute favourite has to be, without a doubt, the Christmas Memories candle by Yankee Candle. I spotted this on a recent shopping trip with my friend Alison and instantly started blabbing on about how amazing it was and how she had to buy one for herself. She did, and to my surprise & delight she picked one up for me as an early Christmas present too (thank you so much!).

Home Decor Wishlist

Gold Spot Plate / Wall Plaque / Cat Cushion / Hanging Heart Frames / Plant Pot / Lamp 

Gold Spot Candle / Ceramic Box

Next Home Haul

It's been over eight months since my husband and I tied the knot, and a couple of weeks ago we finally got around to using the Next vouchers that some of our lovely guests got us as gifts. It was quite difficult trying to decide what we wanted to get. We are currently living in a rented property, so we can't go and fully redecorate the place, and a lot of the things we did want we already had! But I did manage to spot a few gems in Next Home to give the place a more personal touch.

Space NK Winter Candles

If you read my winter sales haul at the weekend, you'll know I made a sneaky little purchase in Space NK. One of the things I picked up was their winter candle trio, which I thought was a steal at just £17.50. Candles (well, any product actually!) from Space NK can be a little on the pricey side, but I've always wanted to buy one. Whilst these may not be full size, they are ideal for trying them out and finding a favourite to possibly purchase in the future.

Festive Home Pieces

I love decorating the house for Christmas, and seeing everything so festive and sparkly! I think if I wasn't living in a rented property I'd probably go all out, perhaps a little OTT with the Christmas gear. Here I've picked out a few homes pieces just to add a bit of a Christmassy feel, without going overboard.

My New Beauty Setup

I'm so excited to be sharing this post with you. For such a long time, my makeup was all stored in my old Glossyboxes, all stacked on top of each other, so if I wanted something from one of the bottom boxes it was a pain to get to. This resulted in me using the same old products over and over again and not really getting the full use out of my collection. Hopefully now my new set up will encourage me to be a little more experimental with different products in my collection. I was also having a massive overflow situation, with not enough boxes to store everything, so it was time to do something about it! I've been imagining what this set up would look like for a long time and, whilst there are a couple of little tweaks I'd still like to make, I'm very happy with how it's turned out.

Next Home Wishlist

For some of our wedding gifts, we were very kindly given quite a lot of Next vouchers. Unfortunately, as we rent our house, we are not allowed to do a great deal in terms of redecorating, but I do like buying little bits & pieces to make the place look more homely. I've recently been having a little browse on their website & Polyvore, and found a few pieces I'd like to spend our vouchers on.