Emma Bridgewater at TKMaxx for Comic Relief

Hi guys,
I love Emma Bridgewater's chunky pottery: especially the mugs. So I was delighted to read about the Emma Bridgewater @ TKMaxx collection for Comic Relief. Now you can buy Emma Bridgewater pieces with great comedy slogans, guilt-free, because you're supporting charity as well:

Slogan mugs, £9.99 (at least £4 goes to Comic Relief)
Oven gloves, £7.99 (at least £4 goes to Comic Relief)
Bag for life, £9.99 (at leasy £4 goes to Comic Relief)
Aprons, £12.99 (at least £6.50 goes to Comic Relief)
Tea towels, £4.99 each (at least £2 goes to Comic Relief)

I always like the TKMaxx Comic Relief collaborations: I still wear the Vivienne Westwood Tshirt I got two years ago (Queenie from Black Adder wearing a red nose). And I think it's a very clever idea to focus on a kitchen/baking theme for this year, given we're a nation in the grip of a baking frenzy thanks to the success of the Great British Bakeoff. Which, for the record, is one of the best shows on TV!

I will definitely be getting a couple of the mugs, and the 'There are tarts in my kitchen' Tea towel. What do you think of the collaboration? Are there any pieces you've got your eyes on?

Love Tor x

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Lights: Chandeliers made of cutlery

Hi guys,
Back in November I fell in love with a chandelier made of cutlery from Next. Sadly however when I decided to buy it and went back to pick it up in late December it had sold out. Everywhere! Online and in every store within a 100 mile radius!
Here it is! And it was a massive bargain at just £60 too. Luckily thanks to the power of eBay I got my chandelier (I had to pay £65 but it was still a bargain at that!) and I think it's a great idea and a great design. Perfect for a quirky kitchen or dining room. So I looked for alternative that was still available that I could share with you guys:

'Hungy Suspension' by Ali Siahvoshi. £777 inc. VAT
Brocante three tier chandelier, POA (order from here)

My Next version was a bargain £60: Admittedly these cost considerably more than this but I just love how they look. What do you think? Do you like the idea of the cutlery chandelier? Or is it just too damn weird! I can't wait to hang mine: and I've even been looking at cutlery print wallpaper to match!

Love Tor x

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My picks from the Debenhams SS13 Home collections

Hi guys,
It's that time of the year when all of the high street stores are pumping out their new season look books, and the new season pieces are starting to appear in store. When it comes to home wares, that quite often means brighter colours, pastel colours, and florals on absolutely everything. For interiors, I tend to prefer the Autumn/Winter collections: I'm just not a floral kind of gal. But that doesn't mean there isn't something to love in the new Spring ranges.

I buy quite a lot of my homewares from Debenhams. All of the picture frames in my living room, both of our living room lamps, and several pieces in my kitchen are from there. So I'm always interested to see what new ideas and themes they have instore.

With that in mind, here are my picks from their new collections:
Ben De Lisi orange Rise and Shine cushion, £22
Sass and Belle wooden owl coasters, £15
Tea cup vase, £15
Matthew Williamson hand mirror, £10
Heirloom fabric covered chair, £175
Yukari stacking mugs, £18.50
Ben De Lisi worktop saver, £10
Comet painted teak coffee table, £625
Comet painted teak side cabinet, £375

I am massively impressed with their furniture this season. I did know Debenhams did furniture, but before now it has always been very generic and overpriced in my opinion. Now though, there are several pieces I love and I want to immediately add to my house! And given it's made of solid wood, the prices aren't bad either!

What do you think of my picks? Has anything taken your fancy? And do you find you prefer the spring/summer or autumn/winter interiors collections from the highstreet?

Love Tor x

Save v. Splurge: Charles Eames Eiffel Chair

Hi guys,
Like most people, when Mike and I first moved in together we bought a lot of cheap furniture. Ikea was our best friend. Car boot sales were our second best friend: jealousy meant that they and Ikea didn't get on. So my current home mission is to slowly but surely replace the cheaper/shabbier/most uncomfortable of our old furniture with statement pieces that will last forever: The next piece of furniture on my list to replace is our dining table and chairs. But with all things, the question is this: are dining chairs something you could splurge or save on?

Splurge
What I would really like is these Eames Eiffel chairs which are available from the Conrad shop for £256.80: they were originally £321 but are currently in the sale. However I just don't have that kind of money! To buy six of these chairs would cost a whopping £1,540.80: and I'd still have a dining table to buy soon. Not affordable for me. Which leads to our save option:

Save
These almost exact replicas of the chair are available from Lakeland Furniture at a tiny fraction of the cost : they were originally £47 each but are now in the sale for £39. Of course you don't have the kudos of owning an iconic piece of furniture history. But if it's the style you want (and you don't have a huge budget to do up your house) I think you could do a lot worse.

Can you tell the difference? I'm not sure I can! So for £234 (that's less than the price of one of the genuine chairs) I will be getting myself a set of six of these.

Love Tor x

Website lust: Folly Home

Hi guys,
I'm always getting a stack of press releases for new websites and new products. Some are good, some are bad, and some are frankly bizarre! But the one site I'm always happy to get press releases from is Folly. I love everything they send, and I would go as far as to say there isn't anything on their site I wouldn't love to have in my house!
Cityscape bookends, £39.95 (Clicky link)

Knitted lambswool London bus cushion, £39.95 (Clicky link)

Eye chart tea towel, £9.95 (Clicky link)

You're the best screen print, £14.95 (Clicky link)

Everything on the site is super-affordable (nothing costs more than around £50) and it would all make amazing gifts: I'm a big fan of homewares as gifts. So much more preferable than socks you don't need, clothes that won't fit, or food that will make you bust out of the clothes that do!!

There's something for everyone: the bookends are slick and modern, the tea towel is a little more quirky ans the super soft pillow would be great for a little boy. My favourite from my selection? I really do love this print! I'm a big fan of quirky prints and think they look great teamed together in an array of mismatched frames. And let's face it, who wouldn't be cheered up my a vibrant green marching band telling them how fabulous they are!

Our house: The compromise living room

Hi guys,
Well, you've already seen the dressing room and the nursery. Next up on the tour of our new house is the living room. Because the house has a living room and dining room, the room is much smaller than the living/dining combo room we had in the old flat. The affect is that it feels nice and cosy, full of all my favourite things.

I call our living room a compromise room because Mike and I have such different tastes. He likes things minimalist, and is a huge fan of slick black furniture. Me? Well I'm the complete opposite! I like vintage, colour, and clutter! So our living room is an odd combination of both. Here's how it looks:




The trunk looks vintage but isn't, it's actually from Homesense. The phone and lamp are both from Debenhams and the little brass bird was a bootsale acquired gift from a friend. We brought the furry stags head back from Berlin (I promise you stuffing this into Mike's rucksack because we were travelling hand-luggage-only was not a highlight of the trip!) The fireguard screen is the newest addition to this room: I got it from a carboot sale for just £1, where it needed some serious work. We scrubbed it clean, replaced the fabric inside the body of the screen and new jewelled knobs for the top (these are just ordinary doorknobs from B&Q, but they serve exactly the same purpose!)

We're renting this place (we're hoping to buy early next year) so we're reluctant to paint or do any extensive refurbishment to the living room: renting and injecting personality is hard! But I do like this room: it's so cozy and just perfect for snuggling up warm in when it's cold outside.

Do you have to compromise in your house? Do you have different tastes from your partner/housemates and how do you make it work?

Love Tor xx