As someone who loves to shop, I'm always looking for an excuse to go out and purchase beautiful things, which is why I'm delighted that we have decided to do a little redecorating. The only thing I'm not too keen on is that my husband is insisting that we don't change too much while still trying to make an impact. As you can imagine, this suggestion was greeted with the disdain but after a while, the idea actually grew on me. Besides we don't really want to throw money at fads and décor when we intend to move in the next few years. The challenge of enhancing our home in simple, yet effective ways really appealed to me. I've already started my research and thought it would be handy to share some of my ideas with you, and maybe even get your opinion.

Give Your Rooms a Light Touch

Modifying the lights in a room can lead to a noticeable impact, whether its the installing a chandelier or a dropped light, or merely changing the lampshades on strategically placed lights. Dropped lighting over dining tables are exquisite as well as being practical. However, if you have small children, you may want to consider how low the lights can feasibly be without being pulled from the ceiling!



Dreamy Beds

Changing a single piece of furniture can change the look of a room and if you're fed up of the current decor, invest in the most spectacular bed you can afford. If its the children's rooms that are getting a make over, make a fun change and get bunk beds. When it comes to children, room decorating ideas need to be forward thinking. Even if you only have the one child, a bunk bed means that when they are ready to have sleepovers, your child's friend will have a comfortable place to sleep.

Go Door to Door

Replacing door handles throughout your home can add a touch of glamour without you needing to replace perfectly satisfactory doors. Again, you will need to consider the design to suit your family's needs, and if your eye has been caught by a beautiful, yet abstract and pointy handle, think about how impractical that would be in your home.

Switch it Up!

Have you ever looked at the switch plates surrounding the light switches? No? me neither! Imagine turning your switch plates into stand alone pieces of art. I was delighted to discover that there are all sorts of designs out there, to suit all tastes – even mine!

Tap into Design

Reclaimed taps, or modern designs are a beautiful addition to bathrooms and kitchens, so consider simply switching the taps to alter the theme of these rooms. Copper and nickel toned taps add a traditional touch to baths and sinks, while modern materials such as Chrome or stainless steel appeal to contemporary tastes.

Have you any more tips for styling your home without changing too much? It would be great to hear your ideas!

 When I was growing up, my mother used to measure my sister and I against a door frame to record our heights. As a London mum, my home feels quite transient, I know that our current home isn't forever so I've never been able to follow this tradition, until now. Memories of Growing Up, a local London brand founded by mum of three, Camilla Warren has just the solution. They have come up with Tall Tape- a roll-up height chart that is portable and can be passed on as a keep sake through generations. It's much easier to write on than a wooden door frame and it comes with it's own sharpie pen. Quite cleverly, Tall Tape could also be used flat on the floor to measure your baby, before they are able to stand up!



I'm all about creating and preserving memories for the children, they grow so fast and I try so hard to treasure every moment.  Memories of Growing Up also stock some gorgeous trinkets and keepsakes that would make amazing gifts to help us mamas preserve precious moments. One of my top picks has to be the beautifully designed memories USB stick and my absolute favourites - the bee design memories capsule necklace and charm bracelet. Both come with a teeny capsule that you could use to keep a lock of hair or a message close to you wherever you go.

www.memoriesofgrowingup.com

Today I've woken up inspired to make some changes. Since having children, I've never been able to loose the baby weight. The youngest baby is now three so I'm not sure I'm allowed to even call it baby weight any more. Either way, I feel like I'm deformed and I'd really like to do something about it so that I can wear the clothes that I want and be healthy role model for my children, especially my daughter. We have a big family event coming up in February, so i'm making it my goal to have lost weight by then and I feel that if I make things public on my blog then I have to follow through, right?



I've had enough false starts to be well aware that there is no easy way to loose weight. If I skip meals I find myself short tempered with the kids and often end up with a migraine which always makes me crave carbs afterwards so that definitely doesn't work. So for me I think that the some of the best ways to lose weight, through, cutting down the carbs, healthy eating, generally eating 'clean' i.e. reduce overall sugar intake. We don't really eat much in the way of processed foods anymore so that's not really an issue. Now that Rufio is in nursery in the mornings, the plan is to step up the gym sessions and then there's nothing like a yoga class for some indulgent 'me' time.

I've been reading The Louise Parker Method but honestly I haven't been following the plan meticulously so maybe now is the time to give this a proper go. The recipes are simply delicious and many of them actually feel quite decadent so you never really have the feeling that you're missing out on anything. I also love to follow Mel Wells on social media, she's all about inspiring us women to love and nourish our bodies rather than dieting. Finally I have my eye on the new cookbook from ' The Goodlife Eatery' which is packed full of healthy and clean recipes from my favourite local cafe, hopefully this will inspire delicious and nourishing meals for my whole family.

Finally, I promise to keep everyone posted on my progress....

There are two different temperature settings, 150 degrees and 185 degrees that you can choose. Ceramic hair straightens usually heat up to around 220 degrees so I like to think that this is slightly better for my hair. I also like how the ceramic bristles are protected at the front and sides by plastic parts, so there's less chance of burns. I love that it has an auto shut-off safety feature because I always  worry I've forgotten to switch mine off.


To style my hair, all I do is run the brush through, just as I would a regular hair brush.  If I want a more sleek look, I section off my hair, I hold on to the ends to create tension and pull the brush through slowly. The result is similar to that of straightening irons but I find it much quicker to use. What I love best though is that I still have plenty of volume at the roots instead of that flat atomic kitten look, circa 2003!


So the answer is yes, they absolutely do work a treat! If we're friends on Instagram then you're probably sick of hearing about how much I love my Simply Straight brush. I've been raving on about it on Instastories for weeks! It's so easy and quick too use and it's cut my hair styling time in to less than 5 minutes which is a godsend on school run mornings when literally Every.  Second. Counts!! If like me,  you're finding styling your hair a full time job then you NEED to check this out:
www.jmldirect.com