As I get older I have found that I appreciate the classic style of the mid-century more and more. I have always loved the curves, angles, and general look of that era, but now I simply want to fill my home with it! When I was younger I was often pressured into having a more […]
If there’s one thing that people tend to complain about when it comes to their home, it’s storage. No matter how much stuff we throw out or donate to charity it just seems to continue accumulating.
The worst room is usually the main living room as this is where the whole family gather and leave their stuff behind but that can make it really difficult to kick back and relax.
Whether your home is littered with shoes, DVDs, books, magazines, newspapers, school work, remote controls, photo frames or even fireplace accessories here are some top tips to help you get organised.
Newspaper and magazine rack
If there are more magazines in your living room than in the local doctor’s surgery, it’s about time you had a clear out. You don’t have to bin all of your favourites but throw away anything more than a month old. Store the ones you’re keeping in a tidy magazine rack next to the sofa instead of letting them clutter the coffee table.
Invest in adjustable shelving
How annoying it is that shelves tend to be the same height? Our stuff is all different sizes with books tall and pocket-sized, folders can be A4 or A5, photo frames are landscape or portrait and so on. If you’ve got adjustable shelves, you’ll find that you can finally fit all your belongings without difficulty.
Tidy up that hearth
An old traditional fireplace can add a bit of character to your home but you’ll need all sorts of stuff to maintain it, such as the logs and coal but also the poker and other accessories. If you’ve got inset gas fires in the house, you might still have bits and bobs lying around the hearth. Use some wicker baskets or boxes to keep your belongings tidy and use your fireplace as a feature of your living room rather than seeing it as a nuisance.
Make the most of your walls
If you’ve got a smaller floorspace to work with, you’ll need to really utilise your walls. Rather than spreading your furniture around the living, work your way up towards the ceiling to create a feeling of openness.
Think carefully about your furniture
It’s easy for the living room to become full of furniture, so the fewer pieces you have, the more space that is available. Obviously, you will need most of it, such as sofas, bookcases and television units but some will be solely for displaying other items that are also cluttering the room. Think twice about your furniture choices, literally. If a TV stand or ottoman can also be used for storage then that’s all the better!
It is there to remind me I need to switch off the electronics and join in. It also echo’s things that we find important as a family, such as speaking out and being honorable. But even better, it says it is OK to stay wonky and this is something I have and always will be!
It looks perfect next to my family carving from South Africa and the brilliant drawing of Maxi and Mini baking, which Suzie drew.
As I have said I have a love of mid century and Orla Kiely has a great interpretation of it. I love her tins and fell hard for her melamine range. The tray is a great size and the handles makes it perfect for the boys to carry. The containers are going to get a lot of use from storing baking to summer picnics.
I adore Camila Prada’s designs, they are clearly the love children of Tove Jansson and Orla Kiely. We use a Koko storage jar as a sugar dish and it makes me smile everytime I use it. I love functional peices that look good and work for us and rather than having the same things as everyone else I am happy to save up for the item I want or ask for it for Christmas!
Most of you will know by know that I am a tea monster too and when Not on the High Street offered me a gift I decided to get a Linda Bloomfield tea pot. I choose the handmade 2 cup size and it is reassuringly heavy and pours beautifully. It is a delight to use and makes drinking tea even more enjoyable. MadDad things is looks rather breast like and it is delightfully tactile
After losing yet another lamp shade and cup to a ball in the house, we decided we needed some family rules and Find me a gift were happy to help and sent me a personalised family rules print. My rules are: no balls in the house, try new things, use kind words, mind your manners, do your best, laugh out loud, be happy, share, enjoy the little things and keep your promises. What would yours be?
I am planning a video of my updated kitchen as soon as a few last things are finished and in place.
We love our home. We moved here six years ago from Berkshire and this house was totally supposed to be a temporary stop gap until we built our own home on the farm. But……… we really love the house we bought and are very happy in it to have parked our other plans for sometime in the future. The only thing we would really love to change is our garden. As a family it really doesn’t suit our lifestyle.
So before I tell you what we would love to have from a garden let me show you our current garden. Please bear in mind it was a mud pit when we moved in!
When the chaps over at Morphy Richards Home Innovators asked me if I would like to review one of their products which they had launched in partnership with Age UK, I knew immediately who I would offer the review to. My Brother has fantastic in laws and his mother and farther in law are in their eighties, so would be the perfect people to give any product a test run. So I am going to hand you over to my Brother (who can be found tweeting @Boroyouths).
It isn’t uncommon these days for people to move in and out of houses and to buy, sell, relocate and leave home. So it is pretty unusual that we have a family home.
So let me tell you the wonderful story behind 132.
When my Dad was a young lad he was an apprentice at British Shipbuilders and was sent on secondment to Shell, at their Milford Haven site in Wales. Back then my Grandad and Grandma lived in a council house and my dad would travel on his motorbike to Wales every Monday Morning and come back one weekend a month, but he always sent his wages home to his Mum for her to put in his account.
One month he returned home, only to find out that he didn’t live there anymore! Yes it seems that my Grandad and Grandma had moved whilst he was away and he hadn’t received their letter in time. So the people who had moved in to the council house gave him the address of the new house that his parents were living in.
One of the hardest things for me about clearing out mums house if that I have had the urge to keep everything. Even the things that I used to think were tat and rubbish. My heart associates all these things with my mum. Finally we are getting to the end of the long journey of
Home, the house I grew up in. The house that belonged to my paternal grandparents before it was my mum and dads. Home, still today it is home and it will long be in the future. No longer my home, but my brothers families home. There is something very comforting in knowing that our family
