katie.lacy@letsgetcoffee.co.uk, Author at Modish Living

Checklist! Get your spare room ready for last minute guests

White bedroom with metal bedframe and hanging Christmas wreaths on window and small Christmas tree beside bed

It’s been hard to be organised this Christmas! If you’re having a last-minute dash to get the guest room ready for Christmas or New Year guests, we have put together a quick checklist to help get the basics sorted.

Start off with….

This is the perfect excuse to declutter the room – get rid of any old books, clothes and other things that may have accumulated in there over the past few months. You might want to turn the mattress over on the bed or buy a new mattress protector. This is the basics covered to add a bit of extra comfort for your guests.

Photo featuring: Standford High Reclaimed Wood Bed & Standford Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table

Add new pieces of furniture

You might want to move some furniture around to try a different or more practical layout or you may need to add some new reclaimed wood furniture pieces. If you don’t have one already, a bedside table and lamp is a great addition. A small bedside table will give your guest somewhere to put their book on, charge their phone. With some small table lamps, they can enjoy subtle lighting as they read a little or wind down for sleep. If you need a bit more storage then a wooden blanket box is great to put spare bedding, pillows and bathroom towels in for your guests.

Photo featuring: Beam Slim Reclaimed Wood Blanket Box

Warm up and brighten up

For cosiness, get a new “winter” throw and scatter cushions for the bed or dressing table chair – get something in a colour scheme that either blends with or contrasts with the other colours in the room. A couple of bedroom rugs, even if you already have a good carpet, can cosy up a room in a tick.

A few extra special touches….If you have the time of course

You can add a bunch of fresh-cut Christmas flowers in a glass vase on the dressing table – this will delight any guest as they walk into the room. A few Christmas decorations will also provide a warm seasonal welcome for your guests, just a small natural wreath will do the trick and looks great with rustic furniture. It’s also nice to leave a few toiletries out for your guests to use. You could also put some snacks, fruit and drinks in a basket in the room for them so they won’t feel like they are bothering you while you are busy getting food and drinks ready for your seasonal celebrations!

How to fit a Christmas tree in a small living room

Small Christmas tree in living room with green wooden armchair

If you have a small and cosy room you probably don’t have lots of spare space to put a big bulging Christmas tree. Here we have a few suggestions to help fit it all in, ready for the festive season.

Stand a small tree on a table

A 1.2m tree can be stood on a large sideboard or a reclaimed wood coffee table it would pretty much reach the ceiling in most rooms – this works great for a small room and does not take up any additional floor space. You can also do this if you want to add a second tree in your dining room while minimising the chance of people brushing into it as they take their seat at the table.

If you only have a mantlepiece, a narrow console table or just a rustic TV stand available to place your tree on then you can get some pretty cute and quite small trees, you could put one each side and tie it all together using fairy lights and garlands – this is a great way to get lovely decorations into a room if you are limited for space.

Choose a tall narrow tree

This would be the ideal solution – there are many available in different styles and colours available. This will save hugely on space, just make sure you stack the presents underneath it carefully, so they are not in walkways for people to trip over! A tall narrow tree will also look good as it will make your room look taller.

Put the tree in the corner

This is another popular choice and a logical solution. A corner is a perfect place, neatly tucked out of the way. If you have an artificial Christmas tree chances are you can bend and rearrange some of the branches towards the back of the tree to allow you to push it further into the corner, presents can be tidily stacked underneath. You can put a small armchair in front of all or part of the tree so you still have plenty of seating in your room.

Move out a piece of furniture to make room

If there is a piece of furniture you can manage without then move it to another room to make some space for your tree. Think a fabric armchair, an oak side table, a floor standing plant pot or a floor lamp – you could move one of these items out the way, into a corner of the room to temporarily to make space for your tree. It could even be a house plant – and reuse the plant pot to put a tree in over the festive season.

Get creative and consider a wall tree

This is quite a new way to get a Christmas tree into a small room and can look pretty good. Instead of having a big round tree taking up room you can now get wall-mounted trees, half trees to stand against a wall or ones made from twigs that hang completely flat on the wall. We love this idea of using boxed presents to make the shape of a tree on the wall!

Ideas for a fun and alternative Christmas dining table

Pineapple with Christmas baubles hanging off leaves next to two starfish with Christmas hats

One of the main events of Christmas day is the feast we sit down to eat with our nearest and dearest. It’s never too early to start thinking about table decorations!

Long gone are the days of limited options – just a candle in the middle and a Christmas cracker each! So in this blog we look at slightly alternative ways and put a few ideas out there to decorate the table!

….It no longer has to be just candles, tinsel and baubles!

If you don’t have a wooden sideboard or a handy big extendable table to place dishes of food on you will need to consider how you are going to dish up food – you don’t want a large dining table that is so full of decorations that you have nowhere to put the serving dishes, nor do you want your decorations too high and not be able to see and engage with those on the other side of the table.

A reclaimed wood dining table already gives you a superb base to start with – the tabletop will have gorgeous natural undulations in the wood, start with a table runner in your chosen colour, perfect for along the middle. Then you can decide what mood you want to set for your Christmas dinner – modern, rustic, alternative…..

A rustic dining table lends itself perfectly to rustic style decorations – dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cones, a twig wreath and some candles would be a simple, stylish and eco-friendly way to style your table. If you have other items of reclaimed wood furniture, such as a reclaimed wood sideboard, then again you can decorate these items by making or buying small arrangements and also hanging fairy lights on them.

Plants in pots and small hints of Christmas may be all you want to see on your dining table!

Less is more – just a simple festive Santa cutlery holder for your cutlery and a cleverly folded napkin is fun yet elegant, add a natural fir wreath as a centrepiece and your table can be good to go.

A pendant ceiling light is great hanging over your dining table but a candle or two give the table some atmosphere and create a more magical and dreamy setting. However, candles are not always a great idea if little hands might be reaching over to pull crackers or to get more food. This is where you can add fairy lights to your table decor. These can stay here throughout the festive period to give your table a child-friendly cosy and warm glow during every meal.

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas dining table?

Bright white Christmas dining table with white plates

We are now into December (at last!) and you would be forgiven if you wanted to start decorating your home much earlier than usual to bring in some Christmas cheer!

This is a time of year when a more cluttered look is completely acceptable. We thought we would look at a happy medium – get your decorations up in the kitchen or dining room but in a more subtle and sophisticated way with a white dining table giving the base colour.

White and gold

The classic Christmas combination – sophisticated and luxurious. It’s always a winner to decorate a dining room with a touch of gold for a celebratory sit-down feast but bringing in white just brightens it up some more. This scheme is perfect if you have a white dining table with a natural reclaimed wood tabletop like our stunning Hoxton oak farmhouse table. You can bring in just a little gold to warm up and blend with the white, you can use an antique gold for a more rustic / farmhouse feel.

White and silver

Set a sleek frosty scene in your dining room by combining white and silver. The Dorset white extending dining table is the perfect rustic dining table if you entertain many, keep your room light and airy by adding white dining chairs and possibly a bench with a furry throw so you can get your guests to squeeze up a little when needed!

White and pastels

We just love how this mantlepiece has been dressed in white and pastel pink. This idea would transfer beautifully to rustic furniture or even a kitchen display unit, with a coordinating centerpiece on a Worcester white round dining table or a kitchen breakfast table. Baby blue and teal are also more modern colours to consider if you are looking for a more modern Christmas vibe.

White and red

Red is the ultimate Christmas colour, warm, bold, positive and energetic red is definitely a firm favourite. With a white reclaimed wood dining table, like the Worcester, and a crisp white table cloth, the red will really pop and give your dining space a warm traditional feel without being too dark and cluttered. You can bring in some of the more modern or rustic table decorations available now if you want to move away from the standard baubles and tinsel.

Why opt for a spider leg dining table for Christmas?

Close up of Christmas dining table with small pine wreath and decanter and glass of red wine

This Christmas is shaping up to be a little different for most of us but here we look at why a spider leg table is a great longer-term investment for your home.

Wooden dining table decorated with christmas decorations and wooden sign spelling family

The main bonus of course of a spider leg table is that the legs are not at the corners of the dining table, making it perfect if you entertain a lot and like to get a few extra around the table….without people banging their knees into the table legs. It’s also easier to slide onto a dining bench or sit down into the end dining chairs without the table legs in the way, there’s also more space to slot in an extra chair or two when needed, ideal for future large family celebrations.

A big bonus is of course, that they just look so superbly stylish! The three we are featuring in this blog have eye-catching industrial style spider legs.

An industrial dining table is an incredibly popular choice right now – they lend themselves to many interior styles – you can reinforce the industrial look by coordinating with an industrial sideboard, pair your spider leg table with other reclaimed wood furniture items, soften the industrial lines with a rustic cottage interior theme or elevate to luxury with rich and sumptuously padded fabric dining chairs.

Close up of wooden dining table with thick black metal spider leg, tan leather dining chairs and grey faux leather bench with back

Photo featuring: Rocco Industrial Rustic Oak Spider Leg Dining Table

The Rocco

This gorgeous oak dining table is definitely for the style and quality conscious. The sustainably sourced solid oak used for the tabletop is finished with a light / natural oil lacquered finish. This rustic dining table top showcases the natural beauty of solid oak and is chamfered in to give it a streamlined profile. Style this rectangular table with wooden chairs and an upholstered bench – using a bench again will allow you to make the most of the additional seating space…. you can get more people onto a dining bench as opposed to chairs.

Oval industrial oak dining table with black spider leg and grey velvet dining chairs

Photo featuring: Sussex Oak Parquet Industrial Oval Dining Table

The Sussex Parquet

This table is definitely in a class of its own. Not only does it feature the stylish and practical spider leg but the tabletop has been crafted in an eye-catching parquet design. An oval table makes a family meal or a Christmas dinner party a more intimate event as you can look across to other diners more easily. Without corners, it will also give the impression of taking up less space in the room. This classy table is sure to be a talking point among your dinner guests, especially if you pair it with sophisticated and exquisitely comfortable velvet chairs. Here we have paired it with the soft grey Bladon chair to soften the elevate the industrial look and add a touch of luxury.

The Mitcham

This is another rectangular table with a spider leg – the finish on this is a little darker than on the Rocco and the tabletop has a straight edge. The gorgeous natural wood finish is still there though, the same as on the Rocco. As you can see in the image we have paired it up with chairs and a dining bench from the industrially influenced Cleo faux leather range.

Photo featuring: Mitcham Industrial Oak Spider Leg Dining Table

So, when you are purchasing a new dining table and want something that is as practical as it is stylish you really should think about the benefits of choosing a spider leg table. These oak tables are beautifully made and will give you many years of comfortable dining pleasure.

Really easy ways to create a more eco-friendly home

Beige and taupe coloured cushion with wicker plant pot with green plant

This really is a hot topic right now and there are so many small steps we can all take right now to give our planet a helping hand.

Dining room with reclaimed wood industrial dining table, wooden chairs and rustic glass display cabinet

Use eco-friendly and sustainable materials when decorating and maintaining your property

Next time you embark on a home makeover project try to look for eco-friendly products. The Little Greene Paint Company has a vast range of water-based and vegetable oil-based paints in a gorgeous array of colours.

Hallway with dark green painted wood panelling and wooden console table

Photo credit: Little Greene Paint Company – Hopper No 297

Buy sustainable and reclaimed wood furniture

Try to buy investment pieces of furniture that will last for years to come, although the initial outlay may be a little more this will most likely save you money in the long run. An FSC certified reclaimed wood dining table will last you for years, they are incredibly easy to maintain with a thin coat of wax or oil needed every now and then. Small marks and dents will not be noticed and if more specialist help is needed you can easily find a furniture technician to come out to your property to help with any more serious repairs.

Close up of reclaimed wood furniture with green plants on top

Repurpose furniture in your home

Use old wooden sideboards, a bedroom chest of drawers or cupboard in a storeroom or garage rather than just disposing of it. This will not only help reduce landfill, but will also help save on the huge amount of energy that’s needed during the production of furniture.

Introduce a few meat-free meals every week

Get into the habit of having two or three meat-free meals every week – if we all did this we would make a real dent in the climate crisis. There are some wonderful and hearty recipes available online just waiting to become your new family mid-week favourites! Another great way is to support local farm shops these will have the best and freshest locally grown seasonal fruit and veg.

Close up of selection of pulses, beans, nuts, fruits and vegetables

Eco-friendly cleaning products

We have all stepped up our home cleaning regimes over the last few months, this has caused sales of chemical-heavy cleaning products to skyrocket. Consider switching (even just a few) to eco-friendly cleaning products…these will also most likely be in recycled packaging as an added bonus. There are also many, many completely natural, family and pet-friendly cleaning tips to be found online.

Switch to low-voltage lighting

Switch to low-voltage light bulbs for your table lamps. Yes, there is an initial outlay but on average you will make that money back by saving on electric bills in around two months. This is a great move if you will be working from home more during the darker winter months. You could change your main form of lighting. Instead of having the big lights on in your living room or dining room all day place a recycled glass table lamp on a side table or sideboard near where you sit.

Photo featuring: Vance Neutral Lamp

Magical dried flowers with floral artist Bex Partridge

Women looking down and holding dried honesty pod flowers

We speak with the lovely Bex Partridge, dried floral artist, author, Instagram favourite and founder of Botanical Tales, to find out more about the craft of drying flowers and how to display them in your home.

Dried flowers and grasses have been one of the biggest interior hits for 2020 and it’s easy to see why. Everlasting, low maintenance and sustainable, dried bouquets and wreaths are more muted, calmer and homely than fresh blooms, bringing with them a sense of comfort and lasting beauty in what has been an uncertain year.

Hi Bex! Tell us where your love of dried flowers came from?

My love for dried flowers comes from a sustainability perspective as well as one of beauty. Whilst I adore fresh flowers, I truly believe dried flowers can offer just as much, if not more, and have the ability to take us through the dark months of winter with one eye on the wonder that is nature.

Brown vase with bouquet of dried flowers in front of window

I’ve always been a gardener and lover of the natural world for as long as I can remember, hugely inspired by my Oma and mum who are both avid gardeners. My move into the artistic world came about very organically as I spent more and more time working with dried flowers and found I wanted to spend less and less time working in an office on things that didn’t excite me. I took the plunge to start my business two years ago and haven’t looked back since.

My work focusses on the full life cycle of flowers, which sees me growing drying and creating with blooms and foliage. I am passionate about growing for the whole of nature rather than just for our pleasure and take a holistic approach to my gardening.

What are the best flowers for creating a dried display?

I like to use more traditional everlastings such as statice, acrolinium and helichrysum. These flowers have petals that are almost papery to the touch before they are dried and tend to dry the best and retain the most colour. These are perfect flowers to start with when it comes to working with dried flowers.

How easy is it to dry flowers?

The easiest way by far is to simply hang them upside down in a dry, cool place. A cupboard under the stairs or even an airing cupboard work well, or if your space is limited then you can create a floral mobile by hanging a few bunches or heads of flowers from a forage stick, it will make a beautiful textural addition to a room.

What dried flowers go well together?

This is really dependent on what you are wanting to create. I always try to ensure I have a good mix of textures and tones when I’m making a display of any kind. You want to ensure you have dried material that has flow, so lots of grasses mixed with more structural flowers for example.

How do we care for dried flowers so they keep that faded, rustic beauty, rather than looking dusty?

The main things to ensure are that they are kept out of direct sunlight, that they are not allowed to get damp and if kept on display that they may need a clean occasionally. A hairdryer works well for this, simply set the hairdryer to the lowest, coolest setting and gently blow the flowers clean of any dust.

Large dried flower art installation against exposed brick wall

What is your favourite flower and why?

This is an impossible question to answer! It changes greatly depending on the seasons and to be honest, my mood sometimes. Right now I am loving all the autumn colours and so foliage is stealing my heart, but come spring, it will be the crinkly petals of a dried tulip!

What type of centrepiece would you use to decorate a reclaimed wood dining table this Christmas?

I would focus on filling a rustic dining table or reclaimed sideboard with seasonal foliage that will last a few weeks. The greens of the evergreen trees will contrast beautifully with the natural grain of the wood and lends itself to the Christmas period. Honesty seedpods in all their silvery glory will add a touch of sophistication to the display and to take it a step further, rosehips and old mans beard (clematis) would all work beautifully.

What other ways can we use dried flowers to decorate our homes this Christmas?

In the past I have used left over heads of strawflowers in reds and whites to decorate my foraged Christmas tree. Just wrap wire or twine around the short stems and loop around branches. A gnarly branch coated in lichen can be hung from the wall and decorations hung from it as an alternative to a Christmas tree. I love a pared down Christmas when it comes to styling, lots of foliage and velvet ribbons.

For more dried flower inspiration, see @botanical_tales or Bex’s book, Everlastings, now available on Amazon. If you’re interested in learning about dried flowers, Botanical Tales run online tutorials. Visit its website to find out more.

All images by Bex Partridge

How to go green this Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving in wooden blogs on rustic wood with scattering of acorns

Traditionally an all American celebration but we, across the pond, are now starting to see it as the start of the final countdown to Christmas. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Thursday, is generally the day when our American cousins start their Christmas shopping and when all the high street and online stores start their Christmas gift promotion sales. The origins of Thanksgiving are thought to date back to 1621 when it started as a 3-day festival to celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the past year.

As with many celebrations, it has all become a bit over-commercialised and “disposable”. If you’re having a Thanksgiving celebration, discover here how to give it a more environmentally conscious meaning – with some principles that you can carry over to your Christmas dining table and maybe even some good, long-lasting habits.

Industrial reclaimed wood dining table with velvet dining chairs

Photo featuring: Kingsbridge Industrial Reclaimed Oak Dining Table

A reclaimed wood dining table is a great start, this will give you a great foundation for your sustainable Thanksgiving celebration, consider an extendable table if you like to entertain a lot. Although celebrations may be a bit more subdued than normal this year, a wooden bench is a great way to fit more people around your table for years to come. Not only that but they are also right on trend and look gorgeous dressed with cushions to sit on or a small throw. Start a sustainable theme in your home now and beyond, and invest in reclaimed wood furniture next time you need to replace a piece of furniture.

Close up on various squash and pumpkins on rustic dining table

Keep the look rustic with your table decorations – use gourds rather than plastic or throwaway decorations – these will give your rustic table an earthy look and will be completely in keeping with the time of year and the harvest origins of the celebration. Think also about decorating other pieces in your dining space, such as a reclaimed wood sideboard.

Napkin with bunch of dried berries tied with string and tag saying Thankful

There are many ways to incorporate nature into your table setting – autumnal leaves and twigs in a vase look great. The beauty of natural decorations is that they can be easily sourced outside and are fully compostable when finished with.

Even for large gatherings, you don’t need tonnes of different serving dishes. This is another area that you can purchase a few good quality versatile dishes that will work as well for your autumnal Thanksgiving table setting as they will for a summer barbecue. Table linen is another area where you can embrace sustainability, use a crisp white linen table cloth and add a runner and linen napkins in one or two coordinating earthy colours – this will give your table a much more polished feel than cheap throwaway serviettes.

Fruit and vegetables displayed on rustic table and baskets in a farm shop

Try to purchase locally grown organic food from farm shops – this will help support local small businesses and have less impact on the environment as very few chemicals are used in growing organic crops. This is, after all, a celebration of the local harvest! You can also extend this to the drinks you serve by purchasing local or organic wine in recycled glass bottles and avoiding soft drinks in plastic bottles. Try to reduce food waste. Many of us hugely overestimate how much food we need to put on the table so make a little less food. You can also ask your dinner guests if they want to take any leftover food home with them…. to save it just ending up in the bin. Any biodegradable food waste and vegetable pairings can be composted.

Learn about interior lighting from Scandinavian design

Open plan living/dining room with wrap around floor to ceiling window

Scandinavian design can teach us a lot when we are looking at how to brighten our homes. It’s an integral part of home design in the Nordic countries where the days are short and the nights are long throughout the winter months.

Go natural

Scandinavian interior design and natural materials go hand in hand. This is why reclaimed wood furniture is the perfect way to furnish your room if you’re seeking Scandinavian furniture. Choose furniture with a light and natural finish – the natural colour of the wood and its homely feel will bring plenty of warmth into your room. Think pale wood or white dining table for your dining space, put it in a bright spot in your dining area to give plenty of natural daylight when you sit at it. Above, you can see how the Chelwood Medium Reclaimed Wood Dining Table almost blends into the white walls.

Light and bright

Scandi design is all about white walls, minimal, clutter-free and windows that allow plenty of natural light in. Get your lighting right – you don’t want glaring white lights on all day and all night – warm, cosy lighting and layered lighting is what you want to achieve. Ideally, you should have the option to have bright lights when needed and dimmer lighting for cosy nights in front of the wood burner. An accent colour is also a great way to add a bit of brightness and warmth to a space, a bold coloured velvet armchair can bring a real pop of colour to the room.

Photo featuring: Chelwood Reclaimed Wood Bookcase

Clean lines

During the winter months, the Scandinavians spend a lot of time inside – this is why uncluttered and functional spaces are preferred…rather than feeling hemmed in with too many things lying around. Furniture should not be fussy, instead, clean lines and strikingly elegant design is what is called for. Open shelving or a ladder bookcase would work well in a Scandi design – the openness does not break up the space the same way as a closed-in wood bookcase would – but of course, it’s not to be cluttered!

Eco-friendly

Scandinavian furniture was born out of a need to use the materials that were readily available with an emphasis on nothing goes to waste, this is where the eco-friendly and sustainable element originates from. This mindset still exists today in home building and interior decor. Where possible go for bamboo or jute lampshades, reclaimed wood furniture, such as a rustic coffee table, or a wooden floor with rugs made from natural fibres. Bring some nature into the room in the shape of houseplants, which will also help to brighten the room during winter months.

An outside room

To really embrace the Nordic culture in your home design you should have an outdoor seating area that you can continue to use during the colder months. Warm-up weatherproof seating with faux fur throws, cushions and some blankets to wrap around you. A wood fire pit will turn a cold and dark outside space into a warm spot with a flickering natural flame to watch as well as illuminating the space….it will be a place you will want to spend as much time as possible.