We’d all like to save money on our energy bills, right? And aside from the cost benefits, there’s also the positive environmental impact that reducing our energy consumption delivers. You may not be aware that the UK has committed to achieving an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, which means we all need to think about our home energy consumption, and aim for more sustainable and lower carbon lifestyles. The Energy Saving Trust ...
Review & Giveaway: GardenSite Forest Toulouse Trellis Planter
Welcome to a new product review and giveaway, perfect for those of you who are looking to spruce up a patio or deck area. We've been trying out the Forest Toulouse trellis planter from online gardening supplier GardenSite, and I've also got one of these lovely planters worth £89.99 to give away to a lucky winner.The Forest Toulouse trellis planter has a generous container with an integral trellis for climbing plants, allowing you to ...
Using a soakaway to improve land drainage
Does your garden or outdoor space suffer from flooding or get waterlogged in some areas? If the answer is yes, today's guest post explains how a soakaway might be the answer to the problem. A soakaway is, in a nutshell, a hole that’s dug into the ground and filled with coarse stone and rubble. It’s there to enable surface water to seep back into the earth, and is usually part of a full drainage system; there’s almost always a land drainage pipe ...
Tips for decorating your child’s bedroom
Today's guest post is full of great tips for decorating your child's bedroom and achieving a fantastic look. Enjoy!For children, the bedroom is the most important room in their home. Their bedroom will be more than just the room where they sleep; it's their private space, where they keep their treasured possessions, where they spend time with their friends, and also where they learn and play. It can be the room where they spend a large ...
Tips for child-proofing your bathroom
The family bathroom is one of the most important rooms in the house, but it can also be the most dangerous where children are concerned. If you need tips on how to baby-proof and child-proof your bathroom, today's guest post has a few quick and easy ways to prevent accidents. Pick up some non-slip mats This might seem like the most obvious thing to do, but it’s also one of those little details that can easily be missed. These days, you can buy ...
5 family-friendly home improvements to consider this year
Looking for home inspiration? Today's guest post has lots of ideas for family-friendly home improvements that will make life easier - what's not to love?!The hectic pace of life with kids can make it hard to keep your home functioning really well for the whole family. And when moving to a bigger or more family-friendly property isn't an option, you need some clever tricks to make your existing space work harder. Here are some ideas for home ...
Holiday houseplant care: how to keep them alive!
With the end of the school term fast approaching, I bet lots of us are counting down the days to a long-awaited summer holiday. And with that comes the inevitable pre-holiday organising. Last-minute shopping, packing lists and pet care arrangements probably spring straight to mind, but if you’ve got any houseplants, you also need a plan for keeping them alive while you’re away. Most houseplants will be able to tolerate neglect for a few days, ...
Eco-friendly cleaning with Seventh Generation plus giveaway
Welcome to a new giveaway, in collaboration with Seventh Generation, a new eco-friendly household cleaning products brand that has recently launched in the UK. I’m offering two lucky winners the chance to try out the range, with a selection of products worth £35 up for grabs.Seventh Generation offer eco-friendly, plant-based, household cleaning products that really work. The brand already has a huge following in America, and has recently ...
Fun garden games to get kids active
The arrival of warmer weather and longer days means one thing in our house: everyone spends more time in the garden. This is a really busy time of year gardening-wise, so I’m always pottering about with plants, and the kids just love being able to play outside and blow off steam. I’m a huge fan of outdoor play. After being cooped-up indoors my kids’ mood visibly lifts when they head outside for some fresh air; it’s no surprise really, given ...
Review: Gtech ST20 Cordless Grass Trimmer
Do you have areas of grass in the garden that you find hard to keep under control? Even the most edge-friendly lawnmowers can struggle to reach every blade of grass, and there's nothing like straggly lawn edges to make your garden look untidy - not to mention the associated creep of grass into your borders. A grass trimmer is the perfect tool for tackling those hard-to-reach areas, and this spring I've been putting the Gtech ST20 Cordless Grass ...