Home Move Snippets.

This move has pretty much been a year in the making, the house became vacant we made our interest known and that was the start of a long process. We knew it was going to be long for a start the house needed completely renovated which we knew would take time, we also knew that selling our shared ownership property could also take a fair amount of time.

We are now just days away from leaving our first ever home together as a family which is pretty sad but the space just does not work for us anymore.....we need much much more space! We need a garden of our own and the boys need an area that is safe and near loved ones. 

We went to check our how the house was coming along and even though its not finished just yet I already know its going to be beautiful and it already feel like ours. Here are a few snippets of the most finished room which is our beautiful new bathroom. 

I also thought I would update you on a few little homeware bargains, like a beautiful new lamp I managed to pick up second hand for only £7, some new sofa cushions from Asda to spruce up the living  room and some DIY frames for Eli's room made from free printables and wallpaper samples.  

Stay tuned for more house tours and homeware updates.....there will be plenty in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for sticking with me during this period of sparse posting.

LouLou. 

Bathroom Accessories Wish List.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine. 

We move house in just a few days and our new house is only just coming together, the first room to be pretty much finished is the bathroom. It has a beautiful bowl sink on granite worktop dark wood cabinets a large bath with sleek looking white tiles, it has got me thinking how am I going to accessorise such a gorgeous space! 

I have decided to go for a grey and dark wood theme with copper accents and here are just a few products I am lusting after....some of which I might have already purchased. We are going to make do with what what have right away but slowly will replace our old bathroom accessories with some of these new items, the tree shower curtain and copper wire storage basket I have just ordered from H&M to start the theme off. The shower curtain we really needed to get and I fell in love with the landscape image of tree's in the snow it looks so perfect for Autumn/Winter. The wire basket is going to sit next to the sink to store all our most used toiletries, I love the contrast between the dark wood and the shiny copper metal. 

Other lovely items from H&M include this copper tray which again I think would look beautiful with bottles of perfume and candles displayed on top, and also this wooden box will also be handy for extra storage. Speaking of H&M they also do some great patterned towels and bath mats in particular this geo print grey bath mat really caught my eye. 

This stunning mirrored copper and glass trinket box from Oliver Bonas is perfect to house delicate jewellery and I am totally obsessed with terrariums at the moment I think this one from Urban Outfitters would make a lovely unusual feature in a bathroom. 

Lastly a storage solution that is very on trend are these ladder shelves, not only do they not take up much space they are perfect for storing folded towels, this one is from Ikea. Lastly another ikea find a dark wood mirror which has a rather large ledge frame....its always handy to have an extra shelf!

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.  

Our Living Room In Products.

Like I've said previously when you have two energetic toddlers causing all sorts of chaos channelling a sense of calm in your living space is essential. Nothing says serenity like shades of muted green, blue and grey mixed with modern patterns and retro shapes which has become the theme for our downstairs living space. We recently did a huge Ikea haul for the new house picking out several bits of new furniture and many soft furnishing, so I thought I'd share with you in a mood board kind of way how our living space is coming together. Above are all the items we have bought so far, new T.V unit combined with storage was essential and the Ikea Lappland and Drona boxes were just perfect. The Drona boxes are perfect for storing the children's toys out of sight so come night time our house doesn't look like a toyshop. A thick pile fluffy rug in a neutral colour and a large clock is what we also bought from Ikea, the clock is so perfect and I love the roman numerals. I bought a mixture of new cushions from Ikea, Asda and Zulily and I love how all the patterns and colours work together making our very simple Karlstad Ikea sofa look a lot more interesting. Lastly I had on order this beautifully retro green topped side table from Next, again tying in with all the green accents I really love the shape of this table  and its going to look lovely next to our sofa.        

There are still a few things that are on my to buy list which you can see above and I'm sure I will eventually get around to buying these finishing touches once we are moved in. Firstly a second rug for the giving room to protect the wooden floors from toys and the dogs claws, this one from Achica is amazing value for money in fact I think I am going to order it tonight before it sells out! The green herringbone throw is from the National Trusts online shop and will come in handy in the winter to snuggle up on the sofa with. The beautiful arch mirror is massive and is from The Range and so is the retro lamp, In fact The Range do the best selection of mirrors I have ever seen!! I love the retro look telephones and this little reproduction number is from Next....I mean how often do you find a phone that matches your colour scheme so perfectly. Lastly I am loving the copper trend that I have seen in a lot of homeware departments and I think these copper wire storage baskets from H&M would make a great place to store a few of the children's books, newspapers or even letters and post.

So what do you think of my living space mood board scheme?

Thank you for reading!

LouLou.  

Sunday Family Funday! (a little delayed I know!)

Im sorry if my posts seem few and far between right now and I know this post is extremely late but I am only just over one week away from a huge house move and things are tres chaotic right now. Not only am I now doing school runs taking Eli to preschool but every single waking moment is spent organising packing and selling all our worldly belongings. As well as this the boys both had a brief bug which caused almost a week of sleepless nights which hasn't helped matters but we are so close now I am super excited. 

This haphazard posting period will probably last not only up to our move next Sunday but for a few weeks after as well whilst we get settled but I promise you lots of new exciting content once I return full time including decorating, home wear hauls, room tours and not forgetting Eli's 3rd birthday which is not too far away either! So please bare with me, anyone who has done it knows how stressful and chaotic moving house is and that doubles when you also have two children! 

Despite how crazy life is right now we are still trying to get some autumnal walks in to appreciate this beautiful change in season so Sunday we donned our coats took a short stroll to the park and along the river front. The weather is beautiful right now, the perfect mix of autumn chill and late summer sunshine the leaves are changing colour and dropping...its my favourite time of year. Eli enjoyed jumping in the piles of crispy leaves under the trees and collected fallen conkers which we used to help Eli practice his counting skills. Here are a few pictures from our walk:

Thank you for reading. 

LouLou.

Cushions - How To Successfully Clash Prints.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five. 

Replacing your cushions on your sofa is the easiest way to revamp the look of your living room without being too time consuming or expensive. I personally feel that buying a very plain neutral sofa a good investment, not only will it never go out of fashion but it will also go with whatever colours of patterns you decide to accessorise it with. When we moved into our first home we chose to buy the Ikea Karlstad stofa in Lindo Beige which turned our to be the best decision we ever made. The sofa covers are very easy to wash which is ideal when you have children, the fabric is hard wearing and its simple modern design looks great with a ton of patterned cushions. 

I like to update my cushions quite regularly and their have been several that have caught my eye recently. Now my living room even though mainly neutral is accessorised with muted grey, green and blue colours I love how calming and relaxing those colours are which is definitely needed in a chaotic house with two toddlers! I love the idea of having lots of different clashing patterned cushions whilst still coordinating in colours I think this looks really effective on a very plain sofa like ours, so I decided to buy one of each of the cushions above. I really like how even though they are all very different patterns because they are all tones of green and grey with hints of monochrome they coordinate really nicely. 

How do you feel about clashing patterns? 

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.

Candles Fit For Autumn.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven.

Diptyque Feu De Bois - A luxurious treat im not sure I could ever bring my self to spend so much money on a candle but this has a unique woody fragrance of firewood perfect for the colder months.

The White Company Fireside - A dupe of Feu De Bois but a lot less expensive again gives off a cosy open fire fragrance.

Yankee Candle Home Fall Glory - Everything you would associate with Autumn, a mixture of berries, spices, Autumn leaves and fruits. You can find this more affordable Yankee Candle range in supermarkets.

Yankee Candle Cranberry Pear - Described as the best union of sweet and tart fragrances, cranberry scents are always a winner leading up to Christmas.

Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt - This is by far my favourite fragrance right now, some how Jo Malone have managed to some up the scent of the British seaside. A light salty slightly woody fragrance which is totally refreshing....like being hit by a wave.  

The White Company Wild Mint - A fresh and vibrant mint fragrance with notes of white tea, a more unusual scent choice.

The White Company Winter -  A spicy scent with notes of cinnamon, clove and orange a great Winter warmer which looks every bit as beautiful as it smells.

Homeware Collective Haul.

With just 3 weeks until our big move, it seems like forever that I've been collecting bits and bobs for the new house and it will be lovely to finally see them all in use. So here is a collective haul of lots of bits of homeware I have been stashing away for the past few months, some of which I have had sent to my mums so some of these images have been taken from the website instead.

So lets start with bedding. As both boys will have new beds I needed to stock up on a ton of new bedding, I found it very difficult to decide on bedding especially for Eli as I didn't want anything to babyish. In the end I bought this this lovely retro car patterned bedding set from John Lewis which I absolutely love and as a spare this yellow and grey geometric bedding set which was a bargain in Wilkinsons for only £9! For Wesley I had already purchased a set from Vertbaudet but also picked up this spare truck print set from Asda again for only £9. I needed some curtains for Eli's room and I found it really difficult to find reasonably priced curtains that were big enough, in the end I settled for this bright blue pair from Ebay they are thermal and light reducing making them great for a child's bedroom. 

These tin signs were an Aldi special buy and were only £3 a set the retro signs will most probably go in my kitchen and the Paris ones possibly in the bathroom. I managed to get some more of my favourite vintage bunting from thedotcomgiftshop it was on sale and i'm saving it for Eli's birthday. Lastly I have a brand new dinning room table and chairs that have been in storage for over 7 months, it is an absolutely stunning shabby chic restored country kitchen table and to make sure that the top does not get damaged I bought these pretty heart shaped place matts from Ebay.

This is my beautiful table and again to prevent damage to the top especially from my fruit bowl, I have also bought a couple of table runners from H&M in these two fabric prints both of which were only £6.99 each. 

From Next I have a wipable table cloth to use when we are eating dinner because my boys do like to make a mess!! We also got a little storage box in the shape of a house, this will be going in our porch to keep out keys, any change and doggie bags in to keep it nice and organised. Lastly we decided to treat ourselves to a brand new kettle, in fact the prettiest kettle I think I have ever seen. It is actually ceramic like a tea pot which means we have to be extra careful with it but it does make the most fabulous tasting cup of tea!  

I also already have a shoe cabinet and mirror for the porch and also two new curtain polls and two new baby gates. Everything may look a bit higgldy piggldy at the moment I cant wait until it all comes together and can share with you what our new house looks like. 

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.   

Nail Varnish Haul & Reviews.

What with a trip to TK Max and the lure of Boots 3 for 2 deals I seemed to have picked up several new nail varnishes recently so I thought Id do a few mini reviews. Now I am not the best at applying nail varnish especially with two children running round so you will have to excuse me and also ignore hangnails and bad cuticles with really could do with some TLC....theres just not enough time in the day at the minute. 

Models Own in Lemon Meringue - This I picked up in TK Max for only £2.99 and is my first ever nail polish by models own. I love the pastel yellow colour but wasn't sure how such a pale colour would apply, I had a feeling it could be tricky and boy was I right. This took 3 coats to become anywhere near opaque which is very time consuming and a lot of effort. After each coat it was taking longer and longer to dry and I ended up with a lot of smudges and marks because I just don't have time to sit there and do nothing for half hour. Im sure other colours by this brand might be better but I was not impressed with this one. 

Barry M Gelee Hi Shine in Almond - By far my favourite of them all and possibly my favourite colour ever this mushroomy grey with a hint of lilac is just such a stunning neutral colour I have seen nothing else like it. The formula of these nail varnishes are just amazing, they are thick but easy to apply and are very opaque....you could even get away with only applying a single coat. They are quick to dry, extremely glossy and lasted 3 full days without chips which is very very hard to come by.   

In Blueberry - Again the same amazing formula yet even more opaque then the colour Almond. This is a bright muted blue which to be honest is a little 80's for me I was it has been a little more pastel but still a lovely eye catching vibrant colour. 

In Greenberry - Wow isn't this colour just stunning?? I've read that it is a great dupe for China Glaze in 'Too Yacht To Handle' it is the most vibrant slightly turquoise green. This would give the most amazing pop of colour to a really simple outfit and again is so eye catching and so fool proof to apply! 

I would most definitely recommend the Barry M Gelee Hi Shine nail polishes they are by far the best I have tried and after seeing a sneak preview of their Autumn colour releases due on the 27th of September I cant wait to snap up a few more for my collection.   

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.       

Homeware Shopping List.

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine. 

As we will definitely be moving by the end of the month I have scraped together a list of the last bits and bobs we need to get ready for the big M day. 

Firstly I need a table runner for my new dining table to protect it from getting scratched. I already have a table cloth from Next to use for when we eat but the table runner will be left on all the time and I have found it very difficult to find one I like. Luckily in H&M's new winter stock are these two table runners which are the best I have seen so far and at only £6.99 each they don't break the bank! 

I love mirrors and on a recent trip to The Range I found a large ornate framed mirror that matches the picture frames I already have for the living room and at a bargain price of only £22.99! Talking of my trip to The Range I also spotted a lamp similar to one I have had my eye on for a long time, it has been on my Ebay watch list for months but this one is half the price! It also goes beautifully with the colour scheme of my living rooms so I've got to get it right?

Asda have some great reasonably priced crookery and dinner wear and I am in desperate need of another set of plates since Wesley went greek and smashed a few the other day. I really like this 'Riviera' set and also these cute scallop design mugs, I think the mugs were only £1 each! They also have some really lovely tea towel sets and mine are looking grim and are longing to be replaced.

The last thing has been the bane of my existence for the past few months......the mission to find a large rug that matches our decor thats not a good few hundred pounds! In the new house we have brand new wooden floods which we cant to protect from our dogs claws so a large rug is essential! I have spent months searching every conceivable website and finally found one that doesn't break the bank in Wilkinsons. I like the simple pattern and they grey again matches quite well with our living room decor and the great thing is that it is less then £100 for 5ft x 7ft which is plenty big enough! 

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.   

Ikea Shopping List.

Firstly apologies for the few days absence from posting I have had so much going on!! Firstly my poor Mr has put his back out which has meant I've had to pick up the slack and take on all his manly duties like walking the dog and carrying all the food shopping up the stairs which has resulted in me hurting my arm.....arnt we a pair! Eli has started pre-school two days a week and because we haven't moved yet it means a 20 minute drive there and back twice a day which is tiring, he is also having a bit of potty training regression as he is very shy about telling other people when he needs to go.

On a more positive note we are getting extremely close to exchanging contracts on our house which means we will hopefully get a moving date next week which I am extremely excited about. I have a few bits left to get including a rug, table runner and two curtain polls but what I am most looking forward to is our rather large Ikea shop we have been saving for!

Since the start of the moving process we have been putting money aside to buy a few new bits of furniture from Ikea, I have been selling old toys, clothes, and house hold items we no longer need and adding that to our fund as well as any tips Greig has received from customers. The biggest contributions were from selling the boys pram and also selling a lot of broken gold jewellery and we now have a substantial amount to buy all the things we wanted to to make our home really look and feel like ours.  

A few things that are on our shopping list include new bedroom furniture and a new bed for Eli as well as a TV unit and other bits and bobs like mirrors and light fittings. I cant wait to be able to do some room tour posts once we are finally in and settled and I will have a home ware haul coming soon with everything I have purchased so far.  

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.

A Little Eli Update!

At 2 years 10 months old tomorrow is Eli's first day of Pre-School and will be the first time I have every left him with people that are not family....It is a huge step but one we are ready for. He will be attending the village preschool where we will be moving to in a few weeks time, the preschool is attached to an excellent primary school and he will be going two mornings a week and then full time in January when he gets his free nursery places.

Eli is so ready for pre-school, he loves to learn and will greatly appreciate the social interaction with children his own age and the independence it will give him. We have packed his little rucksack ready for the morning of his first session where we will meet his key worker and settle him in.

Like every parent I am nervous and have my concerns, I don't doubt that he will run in happily without looking back he is quite confident and independent and I'm sure wont be worried about me leaving him.....I will probably worry more then him!! My concerns mainly revolve around his recent potty training as he is still a little shy over telling people when he needs to go to the toilet, Im sure there are bound to be accidents and he will soon learn and become more comfortable in vocalising his needs. My second concern is him following instructions, Eli can easily become attached to things god forbid if the nursery have any sort of toy train they will not be able to get him to put it down! There is always the obvious concerns about him being kind to the other children and making friends and although Eli can be a little over enthusiastic he is never intentionally nasty.

Although I try and teach Eli as much as possible from home I know he will learn so much more in the pre-school environment. I think he is on track with most of his 3 year old milestones and I am proud at how clever my little man is so I will speak a little about his development so far:

• He may be a little behind in his speech for his age he will voice what he wants and chatter away but doesn't always speak in sentences but he can string 3-4 words together, I think pre-school will hopefully really help his speech as he will have to communicate more. 
• He knows his ABC's he can label each letter and tell me words that start with each letter, he can also say the alphabet in order and identify the letters in written words.
• He knows his numbers 1-20 and can identify the numbers 1-10 and can count objects up to 20. 
• He knows almost all his basic colours and can identify them correctly. 
• He knows all the basic shapes and can identify them correctly.
• Eli doesn't enjoy drawing much which is something that we are trying to work on but recently we have been practicing drawing circles, faces and other shapes helping him learn to control a pencil in preparation for teaching him how to write.
• Eli can eat with a fork and a spoon but needs to learn how to use a knife to cut his food....I am planning to get him to help me in the kitchen more with simple tasks like preparing fruit. 
• Eli is toilet trained but is a little shy when asking others to use the toilet and needs help when pulling down his trousers but we are practicing this as well as him getting himself dressed, hopefully soon he will be doing it himself.

I will do a little update soon on how Eli's first week at pre-school goes so wish us luck!

LouLou.          

H&M Autumn Haul

As you may have seen on my previous post here, H&M are doing 25% off of one item and I had a whole basket full of things that I really wanted to get! I was very unsure of what size I was in H&M and as the code was available to use in store also I took a trip to my nearest H&M to try a few things on and came back with some lovely Autumn goodies.

Lets start by talking about this skirt, the skirt I had been lusting over since it popped up on the H&M website! Now to be honest I didn't really need another skirt but this print was so perfect for Autumn/Winter I knew I would get so much wear out of it. This was the item that I was unsure what size I would be as it came in a Small/Medium/Large but it turns out a size small fits me perfectly so I would say that a small is roughly a size 10. The skirt is a midi pencil skirt that wears high on the waist and comes just below the knee, I find this kind of fit very flattering but may not work if you are on the short side....for reference I am 5ft5. It is made of a lovely thick, soft almost sweatshirt material, its very good quality and will keep you a tad warmer then your skirt. Here I've shown how I like to style this piece in an outfit with a simple black vest tucked into it, wearing chunky brown boots a leather jacket and classic fedora hat.    

Next I purchased the most perfect winter dress, this was an item I had on my list of what was missing from my wardrobe and I am so glad that this has filled that gap. This dress is a size 10 which again fits me like a glove, it has longish short sleeves almost to the elbow and the dress fares out at the waist and is a midi length. The hem of the skirt hitches up slightly at both sides giving it a lovely ruffly finish and the dark blue floral print will look amazing with back tights and chunky winter boots. Again to give the floral an edgier look I love wearing a leather jacket over the top as it goes really well.

Talking of leather jackets that is another hole in my wardrobe that is now filled! I used the 25% off code against this beautiful faux leather jacket, something I have been meaning to buy for a long long time now. Again a size 10 fits me perfectly and I am very impressed with how consistent the sizing as been amongst all my purchases. The leather jacket is a biker style with lapels and zip detailing, I really like how the zip does up diagonally and how the leather doesn't look too plasticy. I cant wait to pair this jacket with dresses or jeans and I love how my tartan scarf looks with it, its such a versatile piece that will last me though all seasons.

Overal I am so pleased with my Autumn purchases I really think H&M are really bringing it this season!

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.