A Little Room Refresh

I had been thinking for some time about repainting the wall in our porch/lobby area. The room holds a couple of pieces of furniture; a white shoe rack and a stool, both IKEA, but mainly it's a room we pass through before going into the entrance hall.  It was a bright green before, sometimes called Kelly green I believe, and you can see a photo of what it was like before and after at the bottom of this post. I did like the green but it's easy to tire of such a strong colour and, since there is only one plastered wall in the porch (the other three being glass windows and doors) it's quick to repaint. I used the same dark grey* we already have in our dining room, partly because I love it, and - ever thrifty - we have a lot of it left over in the garage. This little redecoration gave me an opportunity to play around with pictures and lights, and make the room a little more practical. 

At around the same time, Sainsbury's got in touch with me and asked if I'd like to review some items from their new Home ranges for Autumn/Winter. I had a look and decided straight away that their Nordic Skies range was very much my cup of tea and contained some really lovely pieces that I knew would work really well in our home, and so I chose some items.

Something that was going to be very useful was a set of these wooden peg hooks which will hold Ziggy's lead and other dog walking paraphernalia. We are all of us - dog and humans - counting down the days until he's twelve weeks old and can go out for walks and burn off some of his energy, and perhaps sleep a little better at night.

A basket sits under the rack, ready to hold things like poo bags, old tea towels to wipe muddy paws, treats, a coat. I also crocheted a new cover for the stool, in some gorgeous chunky mustard yarn, as the old one had seen better days.

These tealight houses look lovely perched on top of the shoe rack. Bella has her eye on them and I don't think it'll be long before I find them up in her bedroom.

I think this lidded storage basket is brilliant. It holds my yarn and it has a lid, which makes a perfect little table and somewhere to put my cup of tea. Usually I put my cup of tea on the floor, where I inevitably knock it over. Honestly, I tell the children off for doing things like that...

I absolutely adore this small geometric cushion - the colours and pattern are so soothing, and the crewel work texture is nicely done. 

This larger, cotton cushion is squishy and comfortable, perfect for reading in bed. Both cushions have removable, washable covers, which is important, especially in a house with children and a dog. (And adults who always knock over their cups of tea.)

I have dotted these tree ormanents here and there around the house; on the mantel in the living room, and in Angus's bedroom. They fit well with the other pieces in his room and he likes using them as props when he plays. They would also look great dotted along a table as part of a winter or Christmas dinner setting. 

For the kitchen, I was very practical. Another sieve is always useful, and I like the smaller size of this one and the silicone handle.

And a cake tin, because you can never have too many. Especially when they are filled with cake.

While the ranges are available in the stores, it doesn't seem that the full Nordic Skies range is on the Sainsbury's website yet. I've included links where I can find them, but for those items without links I've just included as much information as I have. I hope Sainsbury's sort this out soon and sell their full range online. Not everyone has a Sainsbury's near them, or can get to one, so it would make sense for them to make it easier for customers to shop their Home ranges from their website. Especially when the products are so good and well priced.

Wooden peg hooks £6

LED Houses, set of three £12

Metal storage basket £16

Crewel Geo Cushion £12

Tree objet £9

Silicone sieve £7

And finally, the porch before and after:

This is a sponsored post. All products were gifted to me by Sainsbury's. All opinions are my own, and I hope you all know that I wouldn't write about something here if I didn't genuinely like it or think it was worth having in our home. 

* Empirical Grey by Valspar, from B&Q.