What to do with you spare room

If you’re lucky enough to have a spare room, it can still be difficult to make the most of it. Unless you have a clear idea and the drive to see it through, you risk your spare room filling up with boxes and clutter and being somewhere you’d never really want to go.

Today we’re inspiring you with some ideas for ways you can use a spare bedroom that’ll turn it into a useful and vital part of your home. Simply clear out your clutter with storage companies like bystored.com and get to work!

CogniToys Dino: The Interactive Learning Toy

Wouldn't any child love a dinosaur for Christmas? Well, now they can with the amazing CogniToys Dino educational toy, that is much more than just a regular toy.

The CogniToys Dino is a companion that learns and grows with children - they are friends who answer questions, tell stories, practice spelling, play games and even lead guided meditations -- all without the need for a screen. 

Win Pass the Pigs for Xmas

You’ll be snorting with laughter if you play with these piggy games for Christmas that are up for grabs on my blog today.  The original party animals, Pass the Pigs, use hilarious pigs for dice. Will you roll a sider or start makin' bacon? Having fun with friends, on the road entertainment, or just chilling out - the game is on for every pig in the parlour!

These games are fantastic fun for the whole family with Pass the Pigs being so easy to play. Simply throw the 2 piggies up in the air and see how they land. Compare the pigs landing positions with your scorecard and earn points, the first to 100 wins.

Choosing The Right Interior Design Style For You

When it comes to sprucing up your home, choosing between the styles can get confusing. There are many different interior design styles and there is a long list of different styles from which you can draw inspiration. 

For me, my absolute favourite interior design style is Scandinavian. Nordic countries are battered by the elements during the winter, and as a result, the decor of many Scandinavian homes places a greater emphasis on functionality than aesthetics - more commonly known as the hygge effect. 

How to Stay Warm This Winter

The winter weather is rapidly approaching, which means you must ensure you are ready for the cold season before it arrives. To help you do so, read the following top tips on how to stay warm this winter.

Keep Yourself Warm

The first thing you should remember is that it’s easier to change your body’s core temperature than a room temperature. So, if you feel more than a little chilly, add an extra layer of clothing before you turn up the heating.

5 Things To Buy In Bulk to Save Money & Reduce Household Waste

I'm sure that just about everyone is looking for ways to save money when shopping, and for me, I've found that one of the biggest ways to save money is if you buy in bulk. Not only does bulk buying cost less in the long run, but it is also a matter beyond cost-savings. 

Many of the products we buy contain packaging that costs money and natural resources to make. Some of this packaging is immediately thrown away once purchased which creates extra waste for landfills. and so if you can buy in bulk, you often eliminate the need for so much packaging.

Storage Solutions: Introducing My Hygge Inspired JYSK Room

As you know I recently partnered JYSK, the international chain of stores that sells everything for your home. Our partnership was part of JYSK’s celebrations around the opening of its 2,500th store globally and the results of the Feel the Happiness Survey that you contributed to, helped give us an insight into what makes you happiest at home – the Scandinavians call it Hygge!

As part of the campaign I was invited to select some Hygge inspired items from JYSK’s range of Scandinavian-style furniture. Hygge is all about that atmosphere that makes you feel at home, and it can be little things such as a cuddly throw or the warm glow of a softly flickering candle. 

Extension Planning and Making Space For Our Family

When we moved into our home 9 years ago, it already had approved planning on it. We unfortunately, didn't have enough funds at the time to go ahead with this and the permission lapsed a year or so later. It's always been something that has been on the agenda though and is what we're hoping will make our home the spacious place we need to make it our forever home. 

For us though, the planning wasn't quite what we wanted too. It would have seen us go up into the attic and one side of the roof come off to have dormer windows all down one side. This would mean that the whole of the attic would become accessible and had permission to have a bedroom, en-suite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe up there. This would have been a vast space and a great master bedroom. 

Christmas Gift Guide for Children Under 10

I adore Christmas and have done since I was a child. It's such an important day for children as they are on their best behaviour, waiting for the big man to come a deliver their presents. Opening presents to see what they've got and then spending the rest of the day waiting for parents to build the damn things!

Today I wanted to show what is on offer this year and so this is my 2016 Christmas Gift Guide For children under 10...

Win | A Braun Multi Grooming Kit

With my Christmas gift guide for men going live not long ago, I decided to run a giveaway in conjunction, so you can win one of the prizes from my list. And the lovely people at Braun have given me this Braun Multi Grooming Kit to give away to one lucky blog reader. 

The Braun Multi Grooming Kit is a 9-in-one trimmer for precision styling from head to toe. It is the ultimate all-in-one head-to-toe groomer. Thanks to its clever attachments, it performs 9 different jobs effortlessly.

Christmas Gift Guide for Men

I'm sure it's not just me who struggles when it comes to buying gifts for men. They're all so different and so when you could be buying smellies for one, the others might prefer quirky gifts. And there's so much on the market too that trying to work out what men like is so much hard work.

Today I am showcasing what is on offer for the men, and dads, in our lives this year and so, here is my 2017 Christmas Gift Guide For Men...

Win | A Braun FaceSpa

Since my Christmas gift guide for women went live just now, I thought it would be a great time to run a giveaway for my lovely readers. And the great people from Braun have given me a fab Braun FaceSpa to give away to one blog reader. 

The Braun FaceSpa is a 3in1 Facial Epilation, Cleansing, and Skin Vitalizing System including a normal brush, skin vitalising pad, beauty pouch and mirror. It is the world‘s first facial epilator & cleansing brush system - treat your face to flawless radiance.

Christmas Gift Guide for Women

Every year, the last few weeks before Christmas are a bit fraught with suspense and anguish as we all run out to the shops to find the perfect gifts for the loved ones in our lives. Searching high and low for those gifts that they'll love and that suit their personalities.

Today I thought I'd show what's on offer for the mums in your life and I like to always look for small gifts for loved ones. So here is my gift guide for women...

Halfords Black Friday Competition - Win 2K Worth of Goodies!

Halloween might have passed, and Christmas might be soon, however, the retail sector has its sights set on one of the most modern of festivals: Black Friday. If you are trying to bag a bargain and have you eye on something, then Black Friday is the date to highlight in your diary ready to see what all the bargains will be before Christmas. 

With deals up to half the price, you'll be able to bag a right bargain so make sure you have the pages bookmarked ready to pounce. And to celebrate, Halfords are throwing one of the UK’s best Black Friday competitions.

To celebrate the launch of Black Friday at Halfords they are giving away some amazing prizes, including a holiday, and a whole host of goodies to go with it. Here is a run down of all the amazing prizes that are available:

Kid Friendly Flooring: Which One Is Right For Us

Whether your little baby is just starting to crawl, your toddler is having far too much fun throwing their toys, or your little ones are running in and out with muddy shoes – your floors need to be ready to take on a lot of punishment!

Sound familiar? Or perhaps this is something you can see in your future – if that’s the case then investing in your floors now, can save you lots of scrubbing, fretting and shredded nerves in the future!

Christmas Advent Calendars For The Whole Family

That's it, less than one month and we'll all start being able to open our Advent calendars. You know what that means - Christmas is coming!

I adore Christmas and love to go all out for the big day, and the lead up to it. And so finding Advent calendars suitable for the whole family is paramount. Now, we all know that Advent calendars are usually chocolate based, but they don't have to be. 

So, I thought I'd show off my picks of the best Advent calendars for 2017, from alcoholic to chocolate to homely. 

What's In Your Ideal Bathroom?

For a lot of people, the ideal home is a home that has everything they need and even more. It’s a place of excesses and luxury. However, it’s important to understand that luxury is related to having more than you need. There’s no denying that luxury could also be part of your ideal home. But at the core of its definition, what is ideal is what fulfills its function perfectly, aka it’s a home that has everything you need in it. Luxury, if luxury there is, comes on top, as there’s no point having all the beautiful things that are not necessary to your wellbeing if you can’t perform basic functions. Who needs a pool full of gold when you’ve got no bathroom? Staying in the same room with this train of thoughts, here’s what you need to find in your ideal bathroom.

Floral Christmas Gifts From Amara

When it comes to receiving gifts for Christmas, or any other gift giving day, I always tell people that I don't care what they get me, but to make sure it's floral. I adore floral items as I love how they're always so brightly coloured, have bold patterns and stand out from the crowd.

So, when I had the chance to pick out some items from Amara, I knew that going for the floral look would be perfect. I mean, who doesn't love a bit of floral love in a gift. Over the past few years Amara have strived to bring you the very best in luxury home and fashion, now offering nearly 35,000 products on their website to ensure your interior style and fashion is always covered.

Giving Your Bedroom a Makeover the Easy Way

The time has come when you feel the need to change how your bedroom looks. You go to bed unhappy with how messy and unkempt it is and in the morning, you look around and know it needs a complete makeover. But where do you start?

Here are a few quick ideas to spruce up your bedroom without turning it into a major project that takes weeks to complete.

6 Money Saving Tips for Bridesmaids

A wedding day is not only expensive for the bride and groom, as it can also cost the bridesmaids a pretty penny, too. If you have the honour of being a bridesmaid for a friend or family member, check out the following money-saving tips.

Create Your Very Own Home Gym

As adults, we’re always busy. But when you throw kids into the mix, working, the pets, your partner and everything else, it can be difficult to find time for you. No matter what we do, it’s always important to keep our health high in our list of priorities and we can make simple changes to our diets that can help. But what about exercise?

It’s not always as simple as going to the gym. So, have you ever considered creating a space at home where you could exercise? Creating a home gym doesn’t always mean buying huge pieces of gym equipment and investing in a live-in personal trainer either! Here you’ll find a few tips and ideas to get started on your very own workout space.

Creating a Snug in Your Home

We all need somewhere we can go to get away from everything and really relax. It is a good idea for each member of the family to have a spot where they can curl up and read, watch a movie or play a game. Fortunately, as you will see, it does not take as much effort as you may think and you do not necessarily need a lot of space to do it.

Buying Swimwear When You're Not Body Confident

Finding the right clothing when you're not body confident is hard enough, trying to find the right swimwear is near on impossible. As someone who isn't body confident at all, I know just how hard it is to find swimwear that will be protective and still cover all those lumpy and bumpy parts that some of us don't want to show off.

I recently wrote about how I hate my post-baby body and how it's left me with scar and stretchmarks, not to mention that mum-tum that we all dread. Well, in a few months time we go on our first family holiday abroad and so I've been taking steps to make sure I can wear swimwear and still feel okay in my own skin at the same time.

Creating A Blog Logo In One Simple Step

With blogging, it's done on a huge trial and error basis. Which platform do you use, what layout, colours, fonts. What will you talk about. It's all about finding your own style and sticking with it. But designing a blog can be hard work. For years, I would design my own header logo in Paint and then resize it to fit my blog. 

But when I decided that it needed to be more professional, I started looking around for prices, and it can get pretty expensive. To be honest, I got sick of the constant back and forth having to pick every aspect separately and then see the final item before sending it back for changes. Not only did it get expensive, but it's time consuming too. 

Having A PJ Masks DVD Viewing Day

It's not often we have any free days lately, we always seem to be out somewhere or another. So when we do get the chance to be at home, it's great to sit back with a DVD and chill out with the kids.

Well this week we have been sent the fabulous new PJ Masks – Time to be a Hero DVD as well as a whole range of PJ Masks goodies so that we could have a TV day at home and cuddle up together in a blanket.

My 3 Tips For When There's Not Enough Light In The Day

It's that time of year again, the clocks have gone back and we're in darkness for what feels like most of the day. I literally hate this time of year. Not only for the main reasons of outdoor safety, not being able to let the kids play out and not getting enough Vitamin D, but also because as a blogger, trying to take photos in dullness is nigh on impossible. 

I mean, when you're picking out some new clothing from LOTD but know that it going to be impossible find get the perfect Insta shot because the sun just wont allow it. Or when you have to edit your photos to full brightness just to be able to see the colours in your new cushions. How is a blogger to live?!

Happy Home Office: Introducing My JYSK Hygge Happy Place

As you know I recently partnered JYSK, the international chain of stores that sells everything for your home.

Our partnership was part of JYSK’s celebrations around the opening of its 2,500th store globally and the results of the Feel the Happiness Survey you contributed to helped give us an insight into what makes you happiest at home – the Scandinavians call it Hygge!

As part of the campaign I was invited to select some Hygge inspired items from JYSK’s range of Scandinavian-style furniture and I couldn’t wait to get cracking on making my own little piece of Hygge heaven at home.

Bobux Footwear For Autumn and Winter

I've wrote many times in the past about how I think having the correct footwear for children is so important. Footwear can't just be about style when it comes to children's foot development, substance has to come over style in this aspect.

I think it's so important to research the footwear you purchase, especially for younger children and that' why I love Bobux so much. Bobux are a company who are constantly striving to learn more about healthy foot development and leveraging this knowledge to design shoes that are actually good for kids.