Favourite home bits

 About 7 months ago, I moved in with my boyfriend and his family.  We are very lucky in that we have our own ‘mini house’ as his parents have given us the annex which over the summer was completely re-done with bathroom, bedroom, lounge and small walk-in wardrobe.

I haven’t spoken much about moving and bits as during these crazy times it has been a huge change and I wanted to get settled before sharing more.  However, I plan to write about this process in more detail soon. 

For now, I wanted to show you some of my favourite home bits we have gathered over the past few months.

1. Vase

The first item is this adorable vase from Next which my best friend bought me for my birthday.  I don’t know why but I feel this is an item you forget about buying for yourself when you get a new home, so is a perfect gift idea.  We both love penguins and he look super cute both filled with flowers and without, so I love him!  He is the perfect size and fits in so well with our colour scheme with his little yellow beak and feet. 

2. Wax Burner 

I have always loved candles and how the scent can fill a room, so when I opened a wax burner for Christmas, I was very excited to try it.  Wow, they are amazing!  They last for ages and the smell really does take over the whole room. You can buy so many different scents in all sorts of adorable shapes and I love that there are so many small businesses you can support that make wax melts too so definitely going to try some of them. I love them so much I actually have one in the lounge and another in the bedroom!

3. Reed Defuser 

Sticking with theme of making your home smell nice, I thought I would share this.  Going from a bathroom I shared with my sister to going to a bathroom I share with a boy comes with… different smells we shall say haha!  I have always used the classic bathroom sprays or fabreeze however I find when mixing with other smells they just doesn’t work and often smells worse!  My boyfriend’s sister (who works with pure perfume - @diamondfragranceswithem) told me about a reed defuser she has in her bathroom and said it is just like a candle but you don’t have to worry about having a flame on in a room that isn’t constantly being watched. So, I decided to give it a go and bought one from her.  I went for the scent Channel CoCo and it is a true game changer!  The smell instantly filled the air with minutes of me setting it up and it takes over any other smells which is great.  I think it is also a nice decorative piece in your bathroom that looks really pretty with the reeds poking out.

3. Bathroom Shelves 

Our toilet is quite thin so I did a lot of research on bathroom storage for things like cleaning products, skin care, monthly products etc. I saw this idea on pintrest and thought it looked so cute as a feature wall.  We got these shelves from IKEA and I got the little baskets from home bargins which are perfect for neatly storing all the little bits and bobs and keeping it tidy.

3. Lounge area

Okay, I know this isn’t one item but I love several things in this area so thought I would share one picture and chat you through my favourite items:

• Rug - Before having this, the room looks so plain and didn’t feel homey.  So, I knew I needed something to bring warmth and colour to the room. I saw this one in home bargins for about £40 and knew it was the one.  There were actually two options, pink or yellow but

 

• Cushions – I have always said cushions are a great way to add subtle colour to a space.  When we were looking at colour scheme I wanted to add a brighter colour as majority of our furniture is grey or black. So, after finding the rug above, I knew yellow would be the pop of colour.  It took a while to find the right shade of yellow as I didn’t want it super bright and I didn’t want a dark mustard.  Eventually, I found these cushions in tesco and at £4 I couldn’t resist!

As with any new place, we are constantly adding bits or changing bits but I am so happy with the final look and will be sure to update you if I find any other great home bits!

Tips for working from home

For the past month I (along with many people in the country) have been working from home, which has been the first time doing work at home since studying at university!  At first I thought it was going to fine as I used to study/do homework after school and uni for years and was quite good at setting down and doing it.  But when I think of it, that was only for maybe 3 hours and now I am having to do full on 8 hour days 5 days a week at home, which is a bit different.  It took a while to find out what works best for me and getting into a routine.  So, since we are going to be working from for a few more weeks, I thought I would share with you my tips for how to work from home.  These can also be handy for students studying at home too! 

1) Have a set working space:  For me, this is so key to concentration.  When you think working from home, you think yes I don't have to get up and out of bed.  But, for me I found I just don't concentrate the same in bed and get distracted by how comfy it is and find myself more likely to nap haha! I prefer to create a space that really feels like work, so using a desk or table as I concentrate better.  If you can try and find a space that is separate from everyday life so it still feels as if you are 'going to work' even is it just on one side of the room or in a different room.  By doing this I find you can distance yourself and walk away from work when the day is over and give yourself the space away you need to relax in the evening. You may have seen on my Instagram, @sweetpea97.blog that I actually didn't have a desk for the first few days of working form home, so I set up the coffee table on the other side of the room instead haha! 

2) Get up and wake up: My working day starts at 7:30 so I would normally be up at 5:45, however working from home meant I could have a lyin!  For the first week I would get up at about 7:00 and sluggishly slump to my chair still in my pjs and begin working which was not good as I was still half asleep and concentration was not great.  After realising this was not working, I decided it was better to act as if this was a normal day and I would definitely recommend it!  I still have a bit of a lyin as I no longer have the 30 minute drive to work, so I wake up at 6:15 and head to the lounge where I can take my time eating my breakfast, watching the news, having a scroll and just waking myself up for the day.  It has really helped my concentration as I feel more awake and ready for the day. 

3) Get dressed: I don't know if I cam crazy as I thought I would love working in my pjs, but again I found creating an environment that was as much like work as possible was so much better for my mood.  I have found by doing my hair, makeup and actually putting on clothes make me feel more productive and ready to take on the day.  This doesn't mean you ave to out on a dress and heels, as there are so many cute lougewear outfits out there now, I simply mean get out of your pjs and dressing gown and hopefully you will feel much more motivated. 

4) Have a to do list: I love a good to do list because it sets out what I need to get done that day (so I don't forget!) and makes me feel good as I tick off each thing.  By writing everything out on paper and having it in front of you is like a brain dump and gets it all out of your head which for me, helps me concentrate and makes me feel less anxious as I can see what needs to be done. 

5) Have a good playlist: Working from home people think, yes I can watch the TV and catch up on netflix.  But this is a very bad idea as you will loose concentration and not get work done.  So, I suggest having a great playlist or podcast on to boost your mood or have the radio on so you still feel as though you are surrounded by people.  Or, face your back to the TV so you can still hear the noise in the background but aren't able to be glued to it (just don't put on something exciting that is likely to make you turn around haha). 

6) Plenty of tea and biscuits: The beauty of being at home is that you have all your home snacks right on hand as you need.  I love a good cuppa and biscuits to keep me fuelled and topped up throughout the day! 

I hope you found this helpful.  They may seem like such easy tips, but they really do work for me and I hope they work for you too! I would love to know in the comments if you have any tips on how to work from home!