Monsoon Home Collection at B&Q March 28, 2008

With the Easter bank holiday being another washout (or in our case, a snow-out!) I decided that a trawl round the local retail park was in order. One of the stops was B&Q, where I wanted to buy new taps for our bath. I was interested to discover that my local store stocks a range of Monsoon Home lighting and accessories. To be fair, the prices seem a bit on the high side but if you’re looking for a statement piece to brighten up your home, then one of the lamps might very well fit the bill. I particularly liked the deco print on the Esha table lamp, shown right. To find out whether your local B&Q stocks the Monsoon Home collection, check the store finder here

The Trouble with Tradesmen March 17, 2008

I have decided to re-style our tiny bathroom. It measures approx 8ft x 5ft so we don’t have a lot of space to play with! Currently, we have a half-size bath with the shower going over it, and some rather dreary dark blue mosaic-look tiles from floor to ceiling which make the room look even smaller.

Stage one – I got someone from Wickes to come and draft up some ideas for us. Things didn’t bode well when she laughed out loud at the size of the room. 2 weeks later, we got the plans through and they were disappointing. We could squeeze in a full sized bathtub but would have to compromise with a cloakroom sized toilet and sink. Rather than buying a new (inferior) suite unnecessarily, I decided to scrap the plans for a new layout and and spend money on new tiles and a professional fitter instead.

Stage two – I started phoning local tradesmen to get quotes. This, I discovered, is one of the hardest things in the world! The first tiler, who lives very locally, stood me up not once but twice. When I phoned to see where he had got to, he was rude, dismissive and totally unapologetic for wasting my time. I put the phone down in a huff, and immediately called 4 other local businesses. The first one “didn’t do tiling any more” despite having a current advert in the Yellow Pages, and the 2nd one was fully booked until July. The others didn’t pick up the phone at all. Arrgghh!

So that brings me to stage three – wondering if the whole project is worth the hassle, or whether I can actually put up with those dark blue, badly fitted mosaic tiles after all. I like to think that there is a lovely reliable man/woman out there who will come tile my walls in a clean and tidy manner and not charge the earth, but does anyone know where I can track down these knights in shining armour? Answers on a postcard please!

Objects of Desire for March March 5, 2008

I’ve booked my tickets for the Ideal Home Show at the end of this month, and hope that I will return from London with armfuls of shopping bags, full of homeware goodies!
In the meantime, my thoughts are focused on the following potential purchases….I wonder whether I will give in to temptation and buy the lot?!

• The Newgate Quad Clock in chrome – this little 1930’s inspired beauty appeals to my love of Art Deco style shiny things, but £80 is a lot of money for a clock!
• A new picnic set – I am the proud owner of an empty but rather grand Fortnum & Mason ‘Weekender’ wicker hamper, and need some funky melamine plates and glasses
  to put in it. Picnic sets haven’t really hit the shops yet, however, so I will have to be patient.
• These gorgeous fairy lights from The White Company - They’re part of the new 2008 Spring/Summer collection (the kids’ collection, to be precise, but they are surely far too pretty and glamorous to be restricted to children’s bedrooms!) 
• A small sofa/ottoman for the bay window in our living room – I could do with some extra storage so an ottoman or wooden chest would be the sensible option here,
  but I’m also tempted to buy a small sofa to fill the gap. I’ve seen one I like from an online company called SofaSofa which comes in a chenille fabric for just £259. But I don’t know whether I’m prepared to make the leap of buying large furniture online without seeing it up close.

Decisions, decisions!