{New House: Home Office Inspiration}

In my old house, which was considerably bigger than the new one, I had a spare bedroom that was a dedicated office. 

I now have a small desk and some shelving at the landing on my upper floor. Don't get me wrong, it's perfect for what I need... I just need to declutter it (some more!) and make it a bit more stylish.

Micke desk in white from Ikea, £40

Expedit shelving unit in white from Ikea, £55

Looking rather empty before the area was swamped with my belongings!

I've been scouring Pinterest for ideas. Here goes:

I love the idea of framing the space with fairy lights {image source}

Some more shelving to display some pretty things? {image source}

Add some inspiring prints {image source}

Polka dots on the wall {image source}

More fairy lights... {image source}

Do let me know if you have any suggestions for inspiring prints or accessories to pretty up the space :-)

{Reminder: Win a set of fairy lights with Blaze On}

A very quick reminder, that if you haven't done so already - please enter my competition to win a set of beautiful fairy lights, of your choice, from Blaze On. I've just also discovered that Blaze On are the creators of the lights for the Harrods Toy Kingdom's Enchanted Forest... absolutely stunning.

The winner will receive a £30 gift voucher to choose from approximately 200 models of beautifully handcrafted designs.

How to Enter:

Visit the Blaze On website here and pick your favourite set of fairy lights.

Head on over to this post and leave a comment with your selection.

There are other actions on the Rafflecopter form for additional points.

The competition ends on Friday 17th May.

Good luck :-)

{Competition: Win a set of Fairy Lights with Blaze On}

This competition has now closed but Blaze On are kindly offering a £3 discount for the first ten customers to buy lights at their website using the coupon code BLAZEONMUM. Happy shopping :-)

I discovered Blaze On fairy lights last year in my neighbour's gift shop, Velvet Moon. Brenda raved about the ethical company Blaze On and their ethos and I felt compelled to buy a set for my bedroom that I was redecorating at the time... you're never too old for fairy lights, right? I'm a major fan!

The purple & pink heart lights I bought :-)

There's just something magical about fairy lights...

So here's what I've learnt about Blaze On... The company sells ethically sourced fair trade goods that are hand-made by a small group of villagers in Thailand. They collaborate with around 20 home-run businesses which makes it possible for parents to support their families and educate their children. The company also has an admirable recycling policy - "Be kind, re-wind, pedal forward, recycle" - the packaging for the fairy lights is 100% recyclable and staff are even encouraged to use public transport and bicycles! In addition to the amazing range of fairy lights, they sell candles & tea lights, incense sets and beautiful paper mobiles.

One of the big selling points for me is that the warm-tone LED lights generate absolutely no heat so they are safe around children and soft furnishings and they also have 90% less energy consumption compared to alternative bulbs. Another bonus is that the bulbs are in a line rather than a loop and there is a decent cord length too which makes it easier to use them as a decoration for on a shelf, round a mirror (like in my bedroom) or over our antique pew!

Our fairy lights arrived the other day, much to the delight of my children...
"What's in the box mummy?" they shouted!
I said that it was a special surprise for them and we'd open the box and see...
Both of them were squealing with excitement and were desperate to plug in their fairy lights.
"They make me happy mummy, thank you" said the eldest.

I had picked a set of purple lights for my son, his favourite colour and after taking them upstairs to his bedroom, he then decided that he'd like to put them on the bench in the hallway (this is where we had our star fairy lights at Christmas you see!).

Here they are... aren't they gorgeous. He loved all the different shapes - circles, squares and triangles!

And for my daughter we selected a set of magical, multi-coloured bugs including butterflies, dragonflies, lady bugs, fireflies and bees. They are so pretty... the detail is rather wonderful.

*** Competition ***

Now here's your turn... Blaze On have given me a £30 gift voucher so that you can own a set of fabulous fairy lights. All you need to do is enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. 

Have a look at the Blaze On website, decide upon your favourite set of fairy lights (there's so much choice!) and leave a comment on this post. Easy! There are extra points for completing other actions on the Rafflecopter form.

Good luck :-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sorry, but this competition is open to UK entrants only. There is only one prize available.

We were gifted two sets of fairy lights for the purpose of this review. Opinions are as always my own.

{Fairy Lights}

I'm a major fan of fairy lights! Now that the days are getting darker, I think it's time to bring out my fairy lights in my kitchen again.

I bought both my kiddies matching fairy lights for their bedrooms. I've mentioned them previously in a post, but hadn't actually gotten around to doing anything with them.

Cable & Cotton handmade thread lamp string lighting

Now that the kids are settled in their own rooms, I've got their lights in place. Both of them have them sitting on top of their chest of drawers. Out of reach is key as they're still really young!

The lights are fab - you basically buy your string of lights and then you can pick which colours you would like from a massive selection. On their website you can preview your selection to see how it looks. Great fun to be had (or maybe that's just the geek in me!). I bought mine in a gift shop in Aberdeen called Cloudy Blue. I bought blues and greens for my son, and pinks and plums for my daughter.

Even my friend Becky over at The Olive Dragonfly has a string of these funky lights (although she got hers on Not on the High Street) which she bought for her Christmas table, but now has them in her home office!!

Wouldn't they make a fab Christmas gift?

I'm thinking I need some for my bedroom :-)