Interiors

Design: Christmas table setting

I’m storming ahead with Christmas organisation in the hope that everything will be done by the time that Mike is on holiday. That way we can just chill out and enjoy time with the kids together rather than having to get things organised or worse still – brave the shops!

I have a few things left-over from my table setting last time I hosted Christmas in 2012. Keen not to waste those things (I still like them) – they form the basis for this year.Read More »Design: Christmas table setting

The 5 Best Wooden Toys for Toddlers

It is so easy to amass a huge number of toys – with them being so readily available in supermarkets for low prices, I often found myself caving into demands and buying something thinking ‘it’s only a couple of quid.’ But the problem with this approach is that those toys slowly built up. They were quickly forgotten about and shoved into boxes in an effort to tidy, but over time those boxes began to spill over.

I found trying to do a tidy-up with the kids impossible, both Ben and Katie would claim the long forgotten tat as ‘the best toy ever’and play with it for 5 minutes before it was abandoned, usually broken or with bits missing.Read More »The 5 Best Wooden Toys for Toddlers

Design: Happy Retro Furniture

Ocean Terminal is an asset on a rainy day as somewhere for the kids to run around. There’s so many of those ride on machines that usually I don’t even have to venture into soft play to entertain Katie! I generally just enjoy grabbing a coffee and then wondering round looking at the shops, so I was happy to see the Scottish Design Exchange appear and have since really enjoyed snooping round from time to time.

The Scottish Design Exchange is a concept store, bringing artists and designers together in one retail space. No commission is added so you pay a fair price and whatever you pay goes directly to the artist or designer. My husband Mike, is a sculptor and in an ideal world would spend all his time producing new work. The thought, time and soul that goes into producing art can be vast and I think it’s rare that artists really get back the true value of their art. Commission particularly can be astronomical so I am hugely impressed with this venture.
Read More »Design: Happy Retro Furniture