Filling our First Home | #1

As you know (I go on about it enough) Daniel and I are currently on the exciting search for our first home. Whilst it’s bloomin’ brilliant and so much fun it’s also a little stressful. There are so many factors to consider and even though the house may be perfect, the area might not be ideal and vice versa. There’s already been a few tears (on my part may I add), but I do promise there’s lots of smiles involved too!

I thought I would take a break from finding the ideal home and find some beautiful things to fill it. I’m going to be writing a series of posts dedicated to my ‘bottom drawer’ as my nan likes to call it :) showing you all the weird and wonderful bits and bobs I pick up. These posts will be a bit higgledy piggledy and will feature anything from pots and pans to bed sheets. I hope you enjoy reading them and fingers crossed you find some niceties for your house too!

I’m sure you also remember my love for Not on the HighStreet – this website is a homebuyers idea of heaven. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw an email pop up in my inbox asking me if I’d like to review something, absolute perfect timing and from one of my favourite shops too.

Daniel and I have quite different tastes, where he’s quite contemporary and clean-cut I am most definitely not. I enjoy clutter and vintage randomness. Do you think we might have a bit of a problem?! Regardless, we sat down together and sifted (through thousands) of items available. We managed to narrow it down and surprisingly loved so many of the same things (phew). The winner was this beautiful toilet roll holder. Excited is not a word I would usually use for such a contraption but this excites me far too much to not share with you guys...

How amazing?  Each shoe last has been recovered from a disused mill in Herefordshire and have been reclaimed and polished by hand. If you're not familiar with what a shoe last is I shall briefly explain - shoemakers and cordwainers use these to manufacture and repair shoes and are shaped similarly to a human foot - whether it be simply for the repair of a heel or a custom made boot, they're a little bit clever! 
I absolutely love this idea, the finish of the solid wood is so warm and authentic and I actually cant wait to have it in my bathroom! If you fancied you could use it as a kitchen roll holder, but I've already found one I like for that :)

For only £35 you're getting something completely original (no two are the same) and every person I've shown it too has been lusting after it, but for now, it's going back in the bottom drawer to wait until we've found it's perfect home!

What do you think? Is this something you'd like in your bathroom? 
P.S. if you like the toilet roll, it's Andrex limited edition haha and I picked it up in Sainsbury's!

Not on the High Street | The Perfect Valentine's Card

Valentine’s Day – for some it’s a time to celebrate your relationship with your partner, for others it’s a time to moan about the fact there shouldn't need to be a specific day to celebrate & for the singletons it’s a time to get merry with your best single friend and love one another!

Whether you like Valentine’s Day or not, it’s quite nice finding a little shop that does the perfect card for any occasion eh? I’m not going to lie – this post is 100% dedicated to the ‘Valentine’s’ section, but I promise, even if you hate this particular day of the year you’ll find some fantastic things on this site.

I’m a little bit done with Moonpig – I mean yeah it’s great to be able to add photo’s to a card and make it a touch more personal, but to be honest I don’t find that their cards have much pizzazz or personality. Not on the High Street has been one of my go-to shops for a long time. Not just for cards, their little quirky personalised gifts are right up my street (get it?) from Birthday’s to Wedding's they have everything you could need under one roof.
I thought you might quite like to see my favourite picks from their Valentine's Section... 

(Images from Not on the High Street, edited by me) L-R: You’ll Do Nicely, I only have eyes for you, I love your face, It all began, Kissing couple, Perfect together, Days I've loved you, Couple card, A true love story.

They're all quite simplistic and similar in design, but I much prefer subtlety over gushing love poems - just personal preference :) - of course if you wan't smooshy love stuff they have that too! I usually alternate each year - either making a card myself or purchasing one. This year is the turn for purchasing! Can you guess which one I chose from the above?

So what do you think of NOTHS - have you heard of them before? And what does Valentine's mean to you?