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

How to make your home smell fresh

There is something about a good smelling home; whether it be the smell of your family’s favourite food cooking, a wonderful new candle or just the smell of home. Here are a few of our favourite ideas to create an uplifting and homely smell throughout your home and incorporate some cool dining accessories.

Candles are always an easy option for making your home smell amazing and they give you the freedom to change the scent of a room depending on your mood or the time of the year.

When it comes to scents, you may wish to tailor the candle to the room. For example, floral smells like eucalyptus and jasmine or foody scents like basil, lemon or rhubarb would be fantastically in your kitchen whereas a warmer or a subtle, coastal scent would be perfect for your living room, dining room or bedroom. Candles are also great left un-lit in places like linen cupboards so you get a lovely smell when you open the door or get out new bedding.

If you prefer to use tea lights so you can switch up the smell of your room more often, the Bella Ball Tea Light Holders are great. The clear curved glass holders with curved stainless steel framing offer simple, contemporary style which would look great in any room or on a rustic coffee table. Place three together on a solid oak sideboard or above your fireplace or spread around your room.

Alternatively, the Contemporary Anthracite Lanterns make a fantastic statement decor piece in your living room, crafted out of aluminium. Place a tall pillar candle in the centre, or on an oak display unit to create a warming glow and a wonderful smell.

Also in your kitchen, make the most of fruits. Keep fresh fruits like oranges, limes and lemons in fruit bowls which are not enclosed. Not only will they smell lovely and fresh, but they also look great and add a bit of colour!

The unique design of the Encore Stainless Steel Basket Bowl is perfect for any kitchen. With its elegant curve and contemporary caged style, the colour of fresh fruits will pop right through and look great in the centre of your kitchen sideboard, table or on a worktop.

For a slightly different alternative to fruit, you could always add oranges and cinnamon to a bowl of water which will create a lovely warming smell. Or you could add a couple of drops of your favourite essential oil, like mint, lavender or vanilla and put these in a bowl.

The Pearl Wrap Bowls are a statement in themselves but are perfect for placing your pinecones. With their beautiful curved design and inside coated with pearl coloured enamel, their Scandinavian inspired design will work beautifully in any room for a touch of glamour.

Use the largest in the set of three in your living room, or in an open plan house, somewhere where it will reach the largest amount of space. You could place one of the smaller ones in your hallway, on a small console table, so you get a lovely smell when you walk through the door.

The Four Corner Bowls are another great option. The tops of the bowls are elegantly curved and have a dark interior for a little drama.

There are also plenty of other ways to keep your house smelling amazingly fresh day-to-day.

When it comes to cleaning, citrus-scented products are great for creating an uplifting smell. Products for cleaning your worktop or your floors will leave a lovely smell once you’ve finished cleaning. You can also clean your bins with citrus to keep it smelling fresh and hide any food smells you don’t want to hang around!

In your kitchen, growing herbs is a great option. Herbs like basil and mint have a wonderful scent, and you can use them in your cooking too! Alternatively, fresh flowers always add a welcoming feel, look beautiful and can smell amazing. A bunch of flowers in the hallway on a reclaimed wood console table; or bedroom, on a bedroom chest of drawers, is always a lovely touch.

For more inspiration, have a look at the full collection of home decor at Modish Living, get in touch with one of our team members for any enquiries.

Spend one hour in the garden and see what it does to your body

Expert gardeners will tell you how therapeutic gardening is. Fantastic for mind, body and soul, Garden Exercise Day on June 6^th serves to remind us of the many benefits of spending an hour or two in the garden. Whether it’s varnishing your teak garden furniture, jet washing your outdoor seating or planting shrubs, the mix of vitamin D and endorphins can be hard to resist.

Whether your garden is a jungle of weeds or a vista of manicured borders and well-chosen plants, Garden Exercise Day is ideal for upping you and your family’s activity levels.

NB Whilst we want to encourage as many people to pursue an active lifestyle, you need to be careful. If you haven’t exercised for some time, check with your GP whether turning the compost is the right form of exercise for you. And don’t forget the make sure you wear sunscreen and stay hydrated too. Most of all, start small and build up your daily gardening regime over time.

Get Fit Whilst Gardening

Getting fit in the garden you will be pleased to know is mainly free – apart from investing in tools etc. – and requires no special equipment or clothing, other than a floppy hat for shade and a decent pair of shoes if digging – oh, and an outdoor bench to sit down on afterwards of course!

No matter how big or small your garden, there are plenty of ways to get exercising…

Mow the lawn – rather than taking your time, get a hoof on the next time you get the lawn mower out. The best exercise is when it leaves you slightly breathless and on the verge of a sweat. And no stopping half way through!

Mowing the lawn with a push mower expends 243 calories. Great for keeping your weight in check and save on electricity or petrol too.

Digging and tilling – if you’ve always wanted to get rid of a shrub, plant new ones or get to grips with a border, now is the time to do it. Sharpen the spade and get digging, using a fork to turn over the soil. Use a hoe to cut weeds off at their base and sit back on a deck chair to admire your handy work.

Heavy digging and tilling can expend more than 200 calories and, is great for strengthening back muscles and toning the arms.

Bagging leaves – in late summer, some shrubs and trees will start to drop their leaves in readiness for winter. Deciduous plants and trees shed their leaves to conserve energy so they make it through winter unscathed. Leaf mulch – rotted leaves – makes a great fertiliser the following spring so when the leaves drop, get raking, bagging the leaves in bin bags to hasten decay.

Burning 162 calories, bagging leaves is a fantastic way to tidy the garden. Sit back and enjoy a small gin with slimline tonic, with only 64 calories in the evening sun, cooled to perfection in the garden bar.

Chopping wood – wood for the winter months for the log burner or for the fire pit in the garden is a great way of building up a sweat and shedding calories. However, chopping wood can be tough on the back and the arms.

Shedding around 250 calories, several sessions of wood chopping will soon add up.

General gardening – from tidying and storing equipment away to ‘pottering’ about, plant seeds and nurturing tender seedlings, there are many smaller gardening jobs that help to shift the calories.

Spending an hour doing general gardening jobs can see us expend more than 200 calories.

But enjoy your garden too!

The whole point of outdoor space is to extend the interior of your home to the outside, whether you choose an outdoor table and outdoor chairs or a hammock for relaxation. When the sun shines and the temperature is warmer, as well as completing essential gardening jobs, don’t forget to relax amidst nature on comfortable garden chairs or rattan outdoor furniture with a drink of choice and the latest novel on hand.

How wood shelving can help your children keep their room clean

Children’s Day is on June 1st this year, and with the occasion fast approaching it may be useful to consider ways to keep playrooms and bedrooms as tidy as possible when playtime comes to an end. The majority of parents will always expect some degree of upheaval, of course, but it’s good to know that a certain level of order can be restored when the toys and games are put away.

The key for many homes is to make the most of the space that’s available. Plenty of storage options need to be incorporated into such rooms, and the excellent Chedworth Wooden Shoe Storage Unit is a prime example of what you can achieve. Everything from bricks and balls to books and bears can hide away at night in the sumptuous Fenshaw Mango Wood Storage Bench, a perfect furniture asset.

Of course, high quality storage means more than finding space for toys. A wooden blanket box offers a chance to store all those necessities without having to search high and low for them at a later date.

Make it fun for the kids to tidy up

Another great space-saver would be a tall chest of drawers, and to make it fun for the little ones you could encourage them to use each drawer for a different day of the week. Making tidying up more enjoyable is a must if the children are to be encouraged to get involved. Bringing in a few ‘rules’, such as rewarding good behaviour is always a good idea. If the child doesn’t get involved, it might be useful to put some items away and not allow them out again until after a small act of kindness has occurred.

The eye-catching Onslow Reclaimed Wooden Blanket Box is a welcome sight in any child’s bedroom, because it combines practicality with some much-needed attractiveness, and of course it can double up as a wooden toy box. Rustic furniture always adds a touch of elegance to any environment, even one that’s often festooned with toys and games!

Another superb option which offers more than just a piece of furniture is the Standford Industrial Wooden Coffee Table, an eye-catching item which can store toys on the bottom shelf and act as a play table on top. It’s a solid and dependable table which will offer robustness in even the most boisterous room. Sometimes a coffee table with shelf is more than just a coffee table with shelf.

The sophisticated Elton Oak Coffee Table is another option which features wooden shelving underneath for storage. In keeping with the need for saving space, the beautiful Winchester Rustic Wooden Tall Chest Of Drawers may just be perfect for your needs.

Get the most out of a small bedroom for kids

English Beam Reclaimed Wood Bed in Bedroom with sheepskin rug

Not every bedroom in every home is gifted with acres of space and that means planning the space available carefully. By doing so, you ensure that all space is used efficiently, making the perfect bedroom and play space for your children.

But what are the secrets to getting the most from a small bedroom?

Step 1 – Measure it and Draw it

To optimise the space available, you need an accurate floor plan. And that means measuring the space, creating an accurate plan that has the positions of the windows and any other features accurately marked on the plan. You also need to note the position of the door and the direction in which it opens. That way, before you purchase your rustic bedroom furniture or gorgeous rugs, you’ll know they’ll fit just fine.

STEP 2 – The Bed

Clearly, in a bedroom, the most important piece of furniture is the bed and a reclaimed wood bed can look super stylish, even in a child’s room. As well as deciding on the best location for it, you also need to ensure it ‘fits’ the space though.

Single beds come in pre-determined sizes which is great, except when it leaves either a small gap at the foot of the bed that gathers dust or, worse still, does not fit neatly into a cove etc.

The solution lay in a bespoke furniture, such as a made-to-measure bed.

Step 3 – Position Other Furniture Items

There are other items that are essential in a bedroom. The amount of space dictates how many of these pieces you can fit in. The key is not to be over ambitious as too much furniture means a cluttered space.

Another secret is not to create a ‘box within a box’. This means avoiding positioning furniture around the edges of the room assuming this gives ample play space on the floor.

Consider reclaimed furniture that can be moved too, possibly used in other areas of the home. This means choosing stylish pieces, such as a reclaimed wood bedside table that could be used elsewhere in the home at some point.

Step 4 – Storage

Storage is critical in a small room and that means two choices:

The wardrobe – choose a stylish reclaimed wood wardrobe for an appealing chunkiness and sturdiness that offer flexible solutions for storing clothes.
The toy box – consider a bespoke blanket box as a toy box using wood that matches the frame of the customised bed. This brings cohesion to the room without being too matchy-matchy. Size is essential too – don’t allow toy box dimensions to dwarf the bed.

Step 5 – The Floor

Pull it all together with a rug.

But choose the correct size rug for the space. Even in a small space, a rug can look super-small and too big a rug will simply swamp it. You want a rug that adds both colour and texture to a space but also provides the lynchpin to pull the whole small bedroom design together.

Our top tip for a small bedroom space is…

Lighting

Table lamps and other accessories clutter the space but a state-of-the-art hanging pendant light makes a statement without ‘getting in the way’. It serves a practical purpose too, provides ample light without being stark and overly clinical.

Working down the list above will allow you to properly plan for the space you have, and avoid leaving things looking cramped.

Easily organise an affordable at home outdoor wedding

Wedding celebrations seem to be getting ever more elaborate these days, but anyone can create a joyous yet affordable ceremony and reception without paying a small fortune in the process. If you, or a generous parent, or an even more generous friend, have a large enough home and garden, you can personalise the event and save venue money as well.

Creating the ultimate home wedding without breaking the bank

The key to successful home-based weddings is the personal touch. You’re celebrating the day in a totally unique way, so why not put your own stamp on the whole event? The more you add your own style, the more memorable it will be for every guest, so feel free to get creative right from the start. Using contemporary garden furniture, for example, will add elegance and style, and party games can help to start the fun off.

Preparing for the big day takes time and hard work, of course, so you will need to be organised. It will help if you have friends and relatives who can assist with jobs such as cleaning the house and garden in advance and decorating rattan garden chairs and every rustic dining table so they look utterly perfect. Incorporating stylish candles, personalised party favours and a wide range of fresh flowers is a must.

If there is someone who can take care of the food on the big day so much the better, but if not it’s a good idea to brainstorm options with a select group of individuals. You may wish to give the whole wedding an overall theme, and the food can reflect this. If you have an expansive reclaimed wood dining table, you can adorn it with a tempting selection of finger foods based on your personal concept. Popular food choices include hog roasts and huge pans of curry, all washed down with beer straight from the barrel and a wide selection of wines.

Make sure everyone’s dancing the night away

Great music can enhance any occasion, and at a wedding the choice is crucial. You’ll want the guests to relax while eating, but of course, you’ll want them dancing when party time comes around. Whether you hire a local band of professional musicians or you choose a playlist from a streaming platform, you need to be specific about which songs work and which ones don’t. When you clear the rattan furniture to make room for a dance-floor, make sure it gets filled.

If the garden usually consists of little more than a garden table and chairs, you’ll need to find additional seating to make the occasion comfortable for everyone. An outdoor sofa or two is an excellent idea, and a dining table and bench laden with goodies will prove immensely popular. If you are able to provide a selection of Scandinavian chairs and reclaimed wood chairs then so much the better. Mixing styles is not a problem with a home-based wedding, because it just adds to the personalised feel.

The garden itself can become something of a focal point for the whole occasion. As the evening starts to draw in, the sense of festivity can be enhanced with row after row of twinkling outdoor lights in trees and bushes and draped along fences. Candles in jars and strategically placed tea-lights will also add to the atmosphere. A rattan sofa provides a convenient area for relaxation, and if you have a wood dining table inside the home, don’t be afraid to bring it outside. Finally, you’ll be able to continue the festivities later than usual because you don’t have to empty a hired hall by a set time. Always let the neighbours know in advance, of course, but remember the best advice is to invite them along anyway!

Selecting the perfect industrial living room furniture

louis de poortere mad men rug in living room

More and more homes are incorporating modern design inspirations these days, and the aesthetic beauty of industrial living room furniture has been at the forefront of this trend. Industrial can refer to everything from the smallest accessories to the largest tables and all stops in between, so if you’ve been looking to become increasingly creative you’ll have plenty of options to choose from.

Reclaimed industrial living room furniture has the eye-catching looks you’d expect to find, of course, but it also has a story to tell along the way. Each piece can be full of character, whether it’s the exquisite Maddox Pendant Light with its distinctive frosted glass finish or perhaps the stunning Luxe Elm Industrial Reclaimed Wood Square Coffee Table with its weathered top and cage design legs.

A living room that features industrial decor and furniture throughout will showcase your persona, so you should feel free to express yourself throughout. This means adding in your own ideas in both the small things and the large. Try to remember that you can incorporate your favourite clocks, wall hangings, light fittings and bookcases, as well as larger pieces such as the gorgeous Barkby Leather Sofa and perhaps a Barkby Leather Armchair or two.

The only rule for selecting industrial living room furniture is your own personal style

In many ways, the main rule about industrial living room design is that there are no rules. If a certain item catches your fancy, go ahead and use it. This can include a brown leather sofa and a leather armchair that don’t necessarily match, perhaps, or a solid wood coffee table such as the spectacular Standford Industrial Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table and a host of other pieces created from completely different materials.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in a home with high ceilings, you can create an industrial living room that pay homage to the urban loft spaces that were once used as warehouses and factories. Your custom wood coffee table – the Oldman Coffee Table would be an ideal example – can be complemented by suitable floor coverings which have all the character your new design will ever need.

Selecting industrial living room furniture

If you incorporate an industrial coffee table with steel legs, grey rugs will look particularly wonderful. For a somewhat softer look, it may be worth considering the sublime Large White Icelandic Sheepskin Rug instead.

As you recline in style on your comfy 2-seater leather sofa or perhaps on your luxurious Easton Vintage Brown Armchair – a true industrial classic – you can reflect on the perfection of the industrial living room furniture that you’ve selected. Don’t forget to include space for all your home comforts, however.

How to measure your living room for a farmhouse coffee table

If you love the farmhouse style, you are in good company. Popular as an interior design style, it is warm and homely, but with tweaks of finesse that makes it a firm favourite.

Farmhouse furniture is chunky and wholesome, but modern. It has a level of detail that adds a certain panache. It is functional and practical, stylish and suitable for every home, from a busy family house to a bachelor apartment.

What Makes a Farmhouse Coffee Table?

An essential component of a successful farmhouse living room design, the coffee table is the platform for refreshments, as well as magazines, newspapers and other essential accessories.

It has a clearly defined purpose, and in the farmhouse style, it is just as important as the industrial modern look.

So, what sets a farmhouse coffee table from any other?

Chunky.

Solid.

Wood.

If there are three words that sum up the farmhouse coffee table, it is those above.

A solid wood coffee table pulls together the farmhouse style in the living room. Not only does the platform – the top of the table – have a sturdy satisfying chunkiness, it comes complete with a drawer or a handy lower level shelf, perfect for hiding things away.

Scaling, Size, Dimension – Getting the Measurements Right

Have you noticed how in the glossy pages of magazines, everything looks together, united and scaled? So why doesn’t your farmhouse living room furniture have the same scaling?

The answer lay in following the golden interior design rules of measuring, scaling, dimension and size.

The distance between the reclaimed wood coffee table and your sofa should fall within the 14 to 18 inch of space rule. Close enough to reach a magazine, but without cramping leg room.

The height of the coffee table would match the height of the sofa, with not more than 4 inches’ difference in height in either direction. This ensures easy access too but also helps the coffee table fit in the space, not looking too big nor too small.

The final scaling factor is the coffee-table-to-sofa size ratio. In terms of visual appeal. The coffee table should be ½ to ⅔ the size of your sofa. Too big and your handpicked chunky wood coffee table will simply look enormous. Too small, and the carefully chosen, handcrafted reclaimed wood furniture will look pitifully minute.

What Happens When the Size of Your Living Room Doesn’t Fit the Equation?

These measurements imply that there is a ‘right’ sized living room. But there isn’t. Some farmhouse styled living rooms have acres of space, others are delightfully bijou and compact.

What this presents is not finding a coffee table big enough nor one small enough to complement the space perfectly.

There is a solution in the shape and curvaceous form of the made to measure and resplendent Mayfair Coffee Table. Made from reclaimed wood, its dimensions and scale will fit your room perfectly, in width, length and height.

For extra functionality, team your farmhouse coffee table with a taller in height reclaimed wood side table.

The farmhouse style is ideal for any home, but which coffee table catches your eye?

How to choose a bespoke children’s desk

Oldman Reclaimed Wood White Bespoke Desk

A small wooden desk is a common sight in homes across the country. A desk and chair is an important addition in a child’s bedroom, play space or anywhere in the home. But, how do you create a bespoke children’s desk that will last the test of time? And can you really find one that goes with your other industrial reclaimed furniture?

Ergonomics

You will have heard about ergonomics. Ergonomic design is about creating a space that flows and one that fits with those people that are using it.

Creating and choosing a bespoke children’s desk for your child is no different. In fact, in terms of ergonomics, it is vitally important you get it right for a child’s desk. Your child will grow, meaning that the desk that ‘fitted’ them perfectly last year could be too small for them now.

Style

Children like to be involved in exciting projects, especially one that benefits them! A bespoke design for a child’s desk should be stylish and versatile, such as a reclaimed wood desk or one with a contemporary design.

Colour is important in your child’s development, so choosing the right colour is essential. Red for example, is associated with passion and strong feeling with yellow being the sunshine colour, and is ideal for use in a study space.

Green helps children to relax, and pink is known to lower heart rate. Purple is a popular, attention-grabbing colour, and orange has been known to enhance critical thinking skills.

Choose the colour of the study space, children’s desk and chair so that it enhances your child’s study experience.

The Correct Size

We have referred to ergonomics, the science that impacts on the flow of work in a space but size is everything.

When the desk and chair is the right size, it is comfortable to sit at. When a child is focussing on a creative or developmental task, having to constantly change position to get comfortable will intrude across their study and work.

Our team can help you determine the right height for your children’s desk, and match it with the right height chair too from our Oldman desk range.

Function, Function, Function

Remember, this is not an office desk, where the child will be shuffling paper and stapling – it is a platform on which they will create and study, play as well as work.

Storage is key in any children’s desk. Storage solutions need to be instantly accessible – too much effort means important things don’t get put away.

Accessible, simple storage solutions also help children to learn about keeping work areas tidy, essential if you want to innovate and create at a desk. An industrial reclaimed desk could have in-built cubed shelving and pen pots, for example.

Other Practical Considerations for children’s desks

Material – desk material needs to be robust and sturdy, and easy to keep clean. There are many materials that offer these qualities, as well as being uber-stylish, important for any child’s bedroom or teenage study space. Steel and wood desk designs go with almost any décor.
Position – a child’s desk should be bathed in light, therefore positioning it near or close to a window is a great position. If natural light is in short supply, focussed light, not too bright as to make the desk area ‘startling’ is a welcome addition.

There are many styles of children’s desk, from contemporary to the industrial furniture look. It is important to get the right desk that fits your child, as well as looking great in your home.

The myths and marvels of reclaimed wood

Luxe Kensington reclaimed wood dining table with glass

Luxe Kensington reclaimed wood dining table close up sleeper

Reclaimed wood has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. Here at Modish Living we supply some truly exquisite examples; we feel privileged to be working with such an exceptional material and we’re always happy to discuss the merits of reclaimed furniture.

There are a few well-held myths about reclaimed wood, and we feel it’s important to refute many of them, but first it may be useful to clarify the meaning of reclaimed wood in the furniture industry. If you’re buying a reclaimed wood dining table, for example, you’re not buying an original dining table that has simply been restored. Instead, you’re purchasing a brand new piece that’s using reclaimed wood that has then been turned into your table.

Myth number one: Furniture using reclaimed wood is more expensive

This isn’t necessarily true at all, and in fact some pieces may be cheaper. Reclaimed wood contemporary furniture can take a great deal of work, because the wood has to be de-nailed, cleaned and specially treated, so it’s not an easy process. The overall cost of many items, such as a reclaimed wood desk, may be cheaper than you would think.

Myth number two: Reclaimed wood is dirty

All our reclaimed contemporary furniture pieces are thoroughly cleaned by our craftsmen using tried and trusted techniques, and only after they have been deemed suitable does the major work begin. Reclaimed wood is often taken from old houses, so the environment may not be clean, but once the wood has been treated it is more than usable.

Myth number three: Reclaimed wood is not pretty

One look through our website will convince anyone of the sheer beauty of our reclaimed wood items, including our superb choice of living room furniture pieces. The wood that’s been used has a story to tell, and each piece has its own unique character. It may not feature the clean lines and sterile feel of brand new wood, but of course it’s not supposed to. Reclaimed wood is, in our opinion, utterly beautiful.

Myth number four: Reclaimed wood doesn’t need maintenance

Clearly this isn’t true at all. Every item of wooden furniture, including brand new wooden pieces, needs to be maintained. Wood, by its very nature, is strong, robust and can last for a lifetime and beyond, but only if it’s well looked after. Our rustic furniture will always look impressive if it’s maintained properly. If you purchase an English beam table, for example, from Modish Living you will receive information about proper care for the wood.

Myth number five: Reclaimed wood is poor quality

Our craftsmen select only top quality wood before creating heavenly pieces of furniture. Reclaimed wood is more dense than new wood because it has been allowed to grow naturally, and of course using reclaimed wood is better for the environment. It’s solid, dependable and extremely attractive.

Myth number six: Reclaimed wood makes a room look old

Reclaimed wood can be used to create many different styles, so it depends on how it is used. We supply many examples of iconic industrial furniture, for example, which use reclaimed wood to showcase modern styling. Of course, other themes such as rustic and contemporary can be created using reclaimed wood, so it’s worth remembering that it can be used to make rooms look old or new.