Friday, September 29, 2017

Home Style || Family Room Autumn Additions



I'm a huge fan of Autumn and with an ongoing home improvement project here, I recently got stuck into making a few changes for Autumn by replacing non functional furniture and generally making things cosier for the coming months. Living in a Victorian home certainly has it's perks, but it does get extremely cold and has some awkward shapes and spaces.

With Soph starting nursery three days a week now and having a little more time to myself to work, I thought that for the days where I want to be further from my desk and work in a little more comfort, I would spruce up our living room with a much needed declutter, as well as adding practical storage and a few extras to warm up the room. We spend a huge amount of time here, so when I was asked to take part in an Autumn challenge from Wayfair, I decided this would be the space to target.

I chose four items from Wayfair as part of the Autumn challenge which were as follows;

Breakwater Bay Waples Compact Sideboard 


In this space previously was a beautiful solid wood cabinet with a wine rack one side and drawers the other. It sounds great, but we rarely drink wine let alone have the necessity of a wine rack (reminds me of the gun rack scenario in Waynes World) but also the drawers didn't actually open as they had swollen from being damp at some point and ceased up. What was essentially a pretty pointless bit of furniture for us has now been replaced with this gorgeous compact functional sideboard.




I now have somewhere to keep my laptop, notebooks, as well as all my art papers, paints and stationary. The best part though is having somewhere to stash away the blankets when they're not in use. I love a cosy blanket in the evening, but they take up so much room and end up being constantly thrown around by the kids or taking up much needed space elsewhere. One drawer I have my makeup in as I sit here every morning to get ready before the school run and used to just keep my makeup bag (I say bag but it's more of a small suitcase!) on the floor next to the sofa.

Having storage just for me, to keep my work things safely tucked away and organised is a huge relief and much needed. I feel instantly more professional just knowing that the kids can't meddle with my art bits and I can sit down, get to work with everything I need in one place without taking up space that could be of use to the rest of the family.

Creative Tops Cactus Mug


Fuelled by coffee most days, though usually made with ice cold skimmed milk, a beautiful new mug was a must have, especially when I saw this cactus wonder. It had to be mine!




Not that your mugs need to match your decor (ha!), but I am a little obsessed with cacti and this mug looks perfect on my sideboard among the other decorations. It's really nice quality, beautifully decorated and has a good weight to it. This would be a great little extra for any other cactus fans this Christmas.

Hanse Home Rug


The floors in our house are concrete, so in the colder months it can be pretty cold despite having a pretty thick carpet and underlay. We always have a rug down but our old one after 6 years of babies and toddlers playing, eating, learning and basically destroying it, meant it had long seen better days and was in dire need of a replacement.

When I saw this rug on Wayfair, the colours looked just like our feature wall, so I thought although it's another pattern in the room, it could bring the room together, as well as adding much needed warmth and freshness.




The photo isn't quite true to life as it looks a little brighter than it truly is, but it was still slightly brighter than we had anticipated. In actual fact though, I think it works really well in the room and brightens up the grey and muted tones. As well as looking surprisingly good, it's really nice to walk on and covers most the floor, preserving our carpet and preventing the cold from sneaking upwards.




No explanation needed with wanting a new fluffy blanket, but I'm someone that even though I hate the heat of Summer, come Autumn I love nothing more than boiling myself alive in PJ's, slippers and a blanket cocoon. Just me?




This Snuggie blanket/throw is huge! It can easily cover the sofa on a cosy film afternoon or keep me warm while I work. I get a new blanket every year and this is a very welcome addition to my collection, it's the toastiest and softest by far.






I'm so pleased with our choices from Wayfair and for me they have made the perfect transformation for cooler days and work from home life. I even got my paints out this week and did a big bright sunflower painting to go on another wall to brighten the room and balance out the splashes of colour.





I'm so pleased with our living room now and I'm feeling like finally, maybe with the exception of some new curtains, that it's finally finished, decluttered and practical for both our family and my work. It's crazy just how much difference just replacing one useless piece of furniture can make to the look and function of an entire room. 

I've loved taking part in the Autumn challenge from Wayfair and had great fun browsing through their wonderful home wares making my choices.



What changes will you be making at home this Autumn?









Disclosure: I was given credit for the items purchased in exchange for an honest review. All words, thoughts and images are my own.