pib industrial look stool

The lovely folks at PIB have just sent us this fabulous Shoemaker stool to test drive.

We really like the vintage industrial look of the piece. It has a functional and quite sculptural matt black steel base, combined with a padded, aged tan real leather seat. Helpfully, it comes ready assembled and is built to last – feeling strong and sturdy.

It’s very flexible in terms of potential uses. First and foremost, it makes a great stool for sitting on. It’s padded with high density foam, so it’s very comfortable. We’re thinking kitchen/breakfast bar, rustic dining table, work desk or bench.

And, whilst the seat is indeed comfortable enough to sit on, it’s also rigid enough to allow further uses along the lines of a small side table beside a chair or at the end of a sofa. The perfect resting place for a book, cuppa, lamp or candle.

We love its style & versatility. It works well as part of a matching set or stand alone industrial look stool – and is priced at £90 which we think is very reasonable too. It certainly gets our nod of approval.

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Adding a luxurious touch with a silk pillowcase

We were sent a silk pillowcase to review by Calidad Home; it’s made of 100% A Grade, long-strand, 22 momme mulberry silk. Apparently, 22 momme (pronounced ‘moe-me’) is the perfect weight for the job; not too flimsy for 8 hours of continuous use and not so stiff as to feel rough against the face. A silk pillowcase is something I’ve always wanted to try as it’s meant to have so many benefits.

Mulberry silk is meant to be good for the skin – especially if it’s sensitive. It’s claimed to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles as the material doesn’t dehydrate the skin. In addition, there’s less friction between skin and pillowcase if it’s made of silk rather than cotton or linen. Recently, silk has begun being used for underclothing for people who suffer from skin conditions such as eczema – go figure.

If you have hair like mine that tangles at the slightest touch, a silk pillowcase is a godsend! Also, if you’re prone to night sweats, silk draws heat and moisture away from your skin without the fibre getting damp and clammy. Conversely, on cold nights, it helps maintain body heat; as its low conductivity properties keep warm air close to the skin.

The pillowcase has a practical zip rather than the usual flap to keep your pillow nice and secure inside. Mulberry silk is surprisingly easy to launder – a cool wash (30ºC or below) on a delicates cycle followed by a gentle tumble dry is all that’s needed.

After experiencing the feeling of silk against my cheek, cotton, linen or – God forbid – polyester just aren’t satisfactory materials any longer.

If I’ve convinced you to make the switch to silk, Calidad Home offer customers a 30-day money back guarantee; so if you don’t love your silk pillowcase, simply return it and they’ll give you a complete refund.

www.silkpillowcase.co.uk

For the Love of Colour

You’ve all heard of Movember and Dry January – but this month we’re celebrating Double December. That’s right, we have two competitions running this month! Yesterday, we launched our £100 gift voucher comp; today, we’re giving away a copy of Love Colour by Anna Starmer, published by Quarto in October. We do spoil you!

Followers of our blog will know that colour is often at the centre of what we write about. We published a long-running series entitled, ‘Tuesday Huesday‘ and we have a ‘Colour Combos‘ board on Pinterest that gives us interior inspiration.

Love Colour is a beautifully illustrated book that offers guidance and inspiration on how to effectively use colour indoors and out. It’s an especially useful source of information if you lack experience in interior decoration. Additionally, if your previous decorating activity consisted of painting everything magnolia or off-white, but you yearn to be more adventurous, this book will give you the confidence to take the plunge.

Starmer includes colour charts showing ranges of hues and shades available; I don’t think I ever just refer to something as ‘yellow’ or ‘orange’; that’s never descriptive enough! It’s always ‘saffron’, ‘buttermilk’ or ‘tangerine’. My favourite colour is purple, but that’s too simple a statement. I favour the bold ‘violet’ and ‘royal’ end of the spectrum rather than the softer ‘mauve’ or ‘lavender’, and I’m not too keen on the dark, reddish ‘claret’ or ‘plum’.

If you’re interested in décor, you’re probably aware of the current huge popularity of using grey and black in interiors. Farrow & Ball’s ‘Railings‘ and ‘Downpipe‘ are bestsellers; but what accent colours and objects do you team them with? Love Colour lets you know.

Even if you want to stick to simple neutrals and naturals, there are so many options and ideas. Starmer offers this tip:

Layer upon layer of surface and texture happily blend within this gentle set of colours… They serve as strong foundations on which to build… Keep your highlight colours within the natural spectrum, using autumnal yellows and oranges, or orange-hued reds and terracottas, to complement the natural browns within a scheme.

To win a copy of Love Colour, comment below saying what some of your current favourite matching/clashing colour combos in interiors are. Me? I love splashes of hot pink with lime green and tangerine orange in a living room but prefer more calming shades in a bedroom!

This comp is open to UK, EU and US residents. Good luck!

Love Colour – Choosing colours to live with

Silk king size duvets – luxury bedding to experience & enjoy

As winter approaches, thoughts turn to hunkering down and snuggling in. So, it was timely for us to receive these luxury mulberry silk king size duvets to review.

Silk Bedding Direct specialises in supplying mulberry silk-filled bedding in a variety of prices to suit all budgets. Their affordable premium range is made using a silk/polyester mix. The luxury range is 100% mulberry silk filled with a hand stitched finish which, unlike machine-made versions, improves the insulation quality of the duvet.

Mulberry silk is hypo-allergenic and, unlike other bedding materials, it doesn’t support the growth of dust mites, bed bugs or other microscopic beasties. It’s also contains the amino acid, sericin, which has been proven to improve skin elasticity and has anti-wrinkle properties… it gives new meaning to beauty sleep!

All Silk Bedding Direct silk products (as well as duvets they produce mattress toppers, pillows and eye masks) are OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Certified and have been awarded the ‘Confidence in Textiles’ OEKO label.

Each has a number of ‘Easy Clip’ clips around its edge that allow you to fasten together the summer and spring/autumn weight duvets to form a cosy winter version – 3 for the price of two!

Silk is a wonderful insulator and regulator of temperature. If you feel too warm in bed, it allows excess moisture and heat to escape, it also retains heat to keep you warm and snug if conditions get colder.

We’ve been testing the duvet for a week or so now – an unusual trial that involves lots of sleeping! We’ve certainly enjoyed the experience… and have been very impressed by the product. The duvets feel comfortable and luxurious – you can actually feel the smooth, silky nature of the product even through a duvet cover. They’re not too heavy, yet warm and cosy.

We think that our top floor bedroom is now ready for anything that winter can hurl at it! The luxury silk duvet, combined with our wood burning stove and ‘chinchilla’ bedspread, will provide all the warmth required during the chilly nights ahead.

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H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: review

pib industrial look stool

Adding a luxurious touch with a silk pillowcase

For the Love of Colour

Silk king size duvets – luxury bedding to experience & enjoy