Candle re-purposing

After having lunch with my mother-in-law the other day, she ordered another of our gorgeous Fired Earth  Black Tea & Jasmine candle as she'd just finished her last one. I asked her what she'd done with her empty glass jar and she replied she'd thrown it in the bin! My sister-in-law and I were horrified, but I'm guessing lots of people throw them straight into the recycling. I can't even remember the last time I threw a candle jar into the bin. When your spending £20 or more on a candle and it comes in a beautiful glass vessel I find it such a waste to throw them. A good wash and they come up sparkling ready to be reused in so many ways. Here's how I use mine.

Kitchen storage.....

Heavy glass bottomed ones like these make perfect whiskey or Baileys glasses, 

Storage in the bathroom, who wants cheap plastic packaging on display?

Keep your desk tidy and looking stylish,

Make it cosy reusing them for tealights,

This Tom Dixon candle is on my Christmas list and I'm already dreaming about what I'll use it for afterwards!

So what do you do? If you throw them, hopefully next time you'll think twice before you drop them into the recycling bin, or if you have an inventive way of re-purposing them, let us know what it is.
And if your inspired, we've got some beautiful candles in the shop for you to enjoy long after they're burnt out.

Stylish Storage

Storage..... Oh how I love stylish storage, looks good and hides a multitude of sins, well in this house anyway!

Having clever storage has saved my sanity countless times since I became a mother, and not just when it comes to toys either. As soon as a baby enters your life they bring with them a truckful of 'baby stuff'. Nappies, dummies, wipes, creams, bibs..... the list is literally endless, and it all has to be stored somewhere thats to hand! And this is usually when you start buying boxes, wood, plastic, wicker, cotton and if your anything like me you'll still be buying them years after the nappy stage too!  

My nappy box was great, easy to move from room to room and being wooden looked good even if got left out! After nappies it held all those little toys that get everwhere, and then we needed another with an onslaught of toys that come with a toddler. They went under the coffee table, neat and tidy. We then got a unit with doors for the living room when our daughter arrived, and at the end of every night everything was put behind those doors and I had my lovely adult living room back! I'll be the first to admit to OCD tendencies and so being able to do this helped me enormously.... if the house is untidy I somehow feel like I'm failing, ridiculous, but true.

Once the children where old enough to play in their rooms unsupervised, that was it, all toys stored in their bedrooms only. Again, boxes were and still are used, that way they can bring things downstairs easily if they want. 

There are some amazing storage options out there, here are a few that I'm loving at the moment.... I love ones that have doors to hide things you don't want the world to see, but also have some open shelves to showcase gorgeous objects!

How beautiful..... bit bright for my house, but still.....     from Furniture Mind

Now this would be perfect.... again Furniture Mind

For something a bit more budget friendly you just cannot beat Ikea...... Would love the burst of yellow in a white room from this brand new Stockholm display cabinet

We have this TV unit, it holds so much and is glossy, so obviously I love it...

Love this from here

And to corral all those bits and bobs.....

Who doesn't love a bit of Pantone.... get these here

My son has these and we love them...

I want these..... I have a gray felt storage bag that they'll look perfect with....

What do you think? Are you a little OCD with mess? Do you have a place for everything? How do you manage all your bits and pieces? 

I'm off now to dream about a time when I won't be scared of a little lego on the floor, it really hurts, and the way my boy loves it it's going to be a while off yet!

A 'growing up' room...

If you've ever wondered what idiot would set up a business and decorate their sons room at the same time, well, Tada, here I am!
Yes I wasn't content with just trying to get Monohomes up and running, I wanted a new room for my boy too!
Although on a regular basis I moan about how my children are growing up so fast, from an interior point of view I get really excited. I love planning how their spaces will change, the new functions the rooms will need and the little touches that really finish them off. I think its great that as they get older they no longer need 'themed' rooms, Whoo hoo for no more Cars, Dinosaurs, Princesses or the like that I've put up with in the past all in the name of being a good mum and wanting to put a smile on their faces.
I've been wanting to create a new layout and get rid of his mid sleeper for ages, it gets pretty tiring bumping my head whenever I tidy up! And although the rooms walls looked really white, as soon as we slapped the first brush of fresh paint on there, the difference made me feel a bit of dirty old bird for not doing it sooner!
So old bed took apart, new one in place, curtains down, replaced with blind for a less fussy look, all sorts of things moved around, one MASSIVE clear out and a bit of styling later here is his new room!!

I can't call it a grown up space, cause he's not and it isn't, so I'm naming it his 'growing up' space, but it is much more funky and older than what was there previously, I can see him for the next couple of years coming up here to 'chill' and hang out, in fact we've hardly been able to remove him from here since he saw it, which, when you consider he has the smallest room in the house, is quite a feat!
I'd love to know what interior adventures you've been up to lately?

Love, Nat x