IDEAS - Chartreuse Hues

Cushion Cover - Zara Home - £9.99

Ben de Lisi Bed Linen Set - Debenhams - From £36

Hemnes Bedroom Furniture - IKEA

Bedside Rugs - J Hayden Carpets

Every couple of years I go through a new colour obsession. It's the colour that always springs to mind when I go out shopping for the home and right now that colour is chartreuse. I recently bought some velvet cushions for my bed at Zara Home (another current obsession of mine). The vibrant colour brightens up our monochrome bed linen a treat. If I had my way we'd be using this accent colour a lot more in our home but the boyfriend does need some persuading when it comes to my latest favourite hues.

Here are a few more places to find some inspiration...  

 Snooze Armchair - Graham & Green - £1395

 

Old Havana Bowl - Anthropologie - £10

Kensington Wallpaper - Graham & Brown - £20 per roll

Helsinki Seater Sofa - Dwell - £699

Shaggy Round Rug - Heal's - £595

GARDEN - Getting our Courtyard Summer-Ready

Bank holiday weekends are one of the busiest times for DIY and homeware stores because so many of us have an extra day to work on the projects that we've been putting off. For my boyfriend and I that project is our garden... or, should I say, courtyard. Our new flat backs onto some other buildings and we have a very private walled courtyard to call our own. Before we can really get it looking nice we have to tackle the re-painting of the wall which is a bit of a pain. The developers didn't do the best job so we're re-doing it's making a bit of a mess as we scrape off the flaky paint. However, my grand garden plans are in motion.

Somewhere to entertain...
Top of the list for our little garden was some garden furniture so we had a nice little spot to eat, drink and entertain guests. I was approached by Argos to see if I'd like to give some of their furniture a whirl and jumped at the idea, the timing couldn't have been better. There's a really wide range on the Argos website but in the end we opted for the Aluminum Cafe Patio Furniture Set, £199. (If you like the look of it, it was on offer at less than half price last time I checked!).

We wanted something that wasn't too big as the courtyard is quite compact, and we also wanted something that would tie in well with the contemporary but industrial feel of the apartment block where we live. Within the flat we have exposed metal wiring, silver light-fittings etc. so this worked well with the style of our home. What's really handy is that the chairs on this set stack easily, meaning they can be moved out of the way when not in use and the table is compact enough to be tucked away too... all perfect for when we have the ping pong table out. We're big kids at heart! Overall, the set is great quality, sturdy enough but lightweight too and it's really easy to wipe clean and keep looking good as new. If you manage to get it for under £100 it's an absolute bargain.

Storage solutions...
On the more practical side of our wishlist is some garden storage. I've just got a bike and we also invested in a bike rack for the car so we can get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine - when it does occasionally appear - but we don't have very much storage indoors. That means we need to be able to lock things away in the garden without having to have a big old shed which would take up too much room. Argos sell a great range of garden tools and a variety of garden storage which is good news as we've had to start from scratch with the gardening essentials. I'm still tying to work out whether wooden or plastic is the way to go on our storage solution, ideally we want something that doesn't look too out of place with the style of our building. Once the outside walls are painted we'll be going shopping.

A green-fingered touch...
Our approach to gardening has been tentative, we're testing the water to see what we can actually keep alive before we spend too much money on pots and plants. So far we have a couple of shade-loving plants out the back in some heavy black pots, both are perennials so we don't have to worry about replanting every year. At the front of the house we have the beginnings of a hedge to make our patio a little more private. We've had to get some canes for the small trees to keep the wind from blowing them right over but other than that the other shrubs seem to be doing OK, I just need to remember to water them. I think I'd like a bench out the front along with some more potted plants once we're closer to mastering the art of gardening.

Cooking up a storm...
We've yet to get a BBQ but have been keeping an eye out. We're keen on the Weber, kettle style BBQs for something simple and space-saving but don't want to spend a fortune when we might not use it all that often. Can't wait to get one and start having friends over for grub.


How are you getting your garden ready for summer? All sorted or lots more to do?

OUT AND ABOUT - Norwich and London

A couple of months ago I went to see one of my favourite people, the lovely Tor of Fab Frocks, in her new home of Norwich. I'd never actually been there before so it was a nice little treat. But, even more exciting was the fact I got to meet the latest addition to her family, baby Wilbur. After a lovely lunch and cuddles with the little one, it was off for some exploring. We headed to the cathedral and wandered round there. It's over 900 years old and makes a grand statement. Tor also took me to one of the oldest streets which has a quaint little teddy bear shop and some cool antiques shops. Then we ended up shopping... as we usually do. The destination - the River Island sale of course. I always buy when Tor is there to encourage me.

Last weekend, it was Tor's turn to come visit London and Wilbur's 1st trip on the train into the big city. We visited Hamleys and went out for afternoon tea at Sketch with Reena of Fashion Daydreams (a very stylish blogger indeed). The Sketch afternoon tea is pretty amazing and we couldn't quite manage it all. I was nice and brought the boyfriend home a couple of leftover cakes though. 

We also went to Zara home which is one of my favourite home shops to get lost in for an hour. The way they display things mean you really have to look at every single item to make sure you haven't missed that wonderful treasure. I bought two chartreuse cushions for my bed and some white cocktail glasses to sit alongside my black ones in a similar style.

  Velvet cushions from Zara Home

Check out Tor's new blog dedicated to all her fabulous home finds too, Fab Frocks at Home. She'll be moving house this week and I can't wait to see all her interiors-related posts.

FOOD - M&S Salted Caramel Sauce

I have discovered the one thing that can make any dessert delicious - M&S Salted Caramel Sauce. Oh my, this really is the stuff of dreams. In the last few years salted caramel has turned up on the menus of the coolest pubs and restaurants, so it was only a matter of time before M&S gave it a makeover so you could recreate these desserts at home.

The first thing I tried the sauce on was pancakes and it was delicious. My housemate even tried it with celery to see if there was anything the sauce could not make awesome. We both bravely tried it... and it was oddly good. I can also say it goes well with ice cream, over cheesecake and even with bread sticks. After I mentioned it my mum went out and bought some and I've decided that it's the sort of thing you should always have in the fridge.

To make it into a pourable sauce, you simply microwave it for a few seconds then pour. If you usually buy desserts in then this could be one way to make them a little more interesting and your guests will probably think you did all the hard work yourself.

Got a bit more time on your hands? Why not use the sauce to make these Chocolate and Salted Caramel Cupcakes - recipe over on M&S Stories. They look delicious!

IDEAS - Alternative Gift Wrapping

I am a big fan of being resourceful when it comes to wrapping gifts. I have a drawer filled with present-appropriate bits and bobs that I can use if I need to wrap a last-minute gift. It's also a great way to save a few pennies. Here are a few tips to help you be more thrifty when it comes to gift-wrapping...

• Keep and cut out parts of birthday cards which have a plain back, they can be used again for gift tags.
• I get a lot of lookbooks and the larger ones often have big pages with great prints or pictures on - save these for wrapping smaller presents (like the CD I wrapped for my mum, pictured above).
• Save any ribbons or bows from gifts that are given to you, they can easily be repurposed
• Brown paper from parcels can make great giftwrap - Topshop's parcels used to come in polka dot brown paper which was great for giftwrapping
• Even newspaper or magazine pages can look great with a little bit of ribbon
• Never throw away bottle gift bags - these are so handy for taking wine to friends or family who are hosting an event
• I always keep nice boxes that have a metallic or sparkly finish - the inside of perfume boxes for example - you can turn them inside out and reuse them
• If I do need to buy some, I buy plain wrapping papers which aren't gender or event-specific so that I don't end up with something I can't use next time 
• Shoe boxes can easily be covered in wrapping paper to make them look more special

How do you reuse and recycle when it comes to gift-wrapping? Any hot tips to share?

FOOD - M&S Curry Spice Kits and Slow Cooking

One of my latest culinary purchases was a slow cooker.The idea of dinner being ready when you come home from work is just too tempting a prospect for a couple who both work long hours in London. We've used it a fair few times and beginning to experiment. We've definitely put in too much liquid a few times so it can be a balancing act getting everything right. Pinterest is a big source of recipe inspiration, but I find a lot of the more complicated recipes involve lots of cooking at the start or end of the process which sort of defeats the purpose slightly. I want more of the one-pot-wonder dishes that save you time.

One of the nicest things we've had was using an M&S spice kit for a Rogan Josh curry with beef. Although the kits aren't specifically designed for slow cookers this one seemed to work quite well. All the flavours cooked into the meat and it was lovely and tender. You don't nee much else apart from the kits and some tomatoes so it does make things nice and easy. The whole house smelled delicious while it cooked away.

We've also tried the Shwartz mixes - the Chicken Provencal and Chicken Curry ones below were our very first attempts.We've got a beef and ale one to try soon too.

The slow cooker we chose was the Crock Pot 4.7L Slow Cooker (available on Amazon for around £45) and I opted for this one because the actual dish you cook food in can be used as serve-ware, used on the hob to cook with and you can put it in the fridge, freezer or oven as well - totally versatile. It looks quite smart too - less like an appliance than some of the others I have seen. Have you given slow cooking a go yet? Let me know if you've got any great recipes.