This post has been a long, long time coming. I can't believe we've been in our new home for over 6 months now, it still doesn't feel like we've got it together. Neither of us had Hampstead on the original list of locations to live, truth be told we'd assumed we couldn't afford it. But, on one rainy day I took a phone call from an estate agent who told us about this place. We saw it that day, fell in love with it's quirky-ness and two weeks later we were in.

The flat is in an old hospital smack in the middle of Hampstead Village. The compromise was space. Our bedroom is teeny and therefore when furnishing it we had to be super clever with what we chose. Like most people in our position, neither of us had anything decent to bring furniture wise so it meant starting from scratch - which was both brilliant and slightly scary financially. 

We spent ages trolling through shops and sites for the right furniture, we knew we didn't want Ikea but also couldn't afford the luxurious "bateau lit" I'd spotted in a boutique in Paris (totally unrealistic, but thats what spending so much time on Pinterest does to you). It wasn't until we looked at Habitat that we really felt a brand "got" us. Their stuff seemed to combine the quality and the requirements we needed from furniture = we can't have it fall apart after a year, we have a small space and we need  places to store things. So, here is what we got... (small spaces, it turns out, are a nightmare to photograph - so do check out my Instagram Stories for a live tour here).

We realised that we may as well go with a king size bed as the size difference was only going to make for an awkward space against the back wall (when we'd picked the shelves, see below). We wanted a bed frame that wasn't going to break the bank but also wouldn't go out of trend. So we chose the Tatsuma, here. We chose it in the oak colour as it matches the wardrobe rail I'd already picked out here which really makes no sense to have as it takes up way too much space on the landing, but it was just something I've wanted since seeing Lindsey have the same.

As an aside, one thing I am absolutely thrilled with is our mattress. We did a lot of research and had heard about the various companies that give you an decent mattress and you pay for it over time. I was a bit hesitant (I'm always cynical of new concepts) but we found one on Eve that looked really good, here. In truth we ended up being gifted ours but hand on heart with the difference it has made to our sleep and comfort I would happily pay ten times the amount for it. I look forward to coming home to it after a holiday, no matter how plush the hotel - because our mattress is better. I cannot recommend these guys enough (the mattress arrived in a day too, which should not go unnoticed given the common wait times for home stuff) - check them out here.

We knew we needed units next to the bed as we both have quite a lot of stuff, but taking advice from an editorial Lucy did we went against side tables as you can't store things above or below them. We didn't want to overwhelm the room with tonnes of furniture either. These "ladder shelves" are perfect. They're white so they don't stick out and make the room look cluttered, but they do make the most of the space. Find them here, for £75.

For the final touches we bought a white-edged mirror to both bring some light and create the illusion of space to put above the bed, here and some copper touch sensitive lights (saves faffing around for switches) here. I also decided it was time to invest in some decent linen so upgraded my sheets to Elizabeth Scarlett, here and bought some huge faux fur cushions from The White Company sale here to give the bed some extra "luxe." As a final treat we bought a little tray so I can work in bed without ruining the fan on my laptop (apparently 50% of laptops die because the fan at the base of them is blocked when people use them in bed) here. 

Hope you enjoyed that little insight into our home, the next project is deciding what to do with the double height wall in the living room. Shelves of pictures?! Help!

The major fun part of Christmas is the emotional blackmail you can bestow on friends you haven't seen for a while, when you throw a last minute party and force them to come over... I jest, sort of. After the burglary we decided we wanted to create some happier memories in the flat so threw together some food on our fancy new crockery and put the cheesy tunes on loud.

Hope you don't mind that I didn't do that many pictures of the party itself (thats what too many glasses of Chandon does to you) but I did manage to capture some of our latest La Redoute acquisitions. I have wanted to have a proper crockery set for ages, or at least more than 4 of the same plates and when I saw these I knew I had to have them.  I swiftly bought the large plates here, small plates here, small bowls (amazing for dips at parties as well as limiting the amount of ice cream you can eat), larger bowls (for no-limits Haagan Dazs sessions).

I also smuggled in a marble platter for the cheese (which we use as a candle stand when we've eaten all the forage), a fancy pants gold tray here which we keep permanently on the end of the sofa now as a bit of a feature, and some new pretty candle holders in a star shape and ones dipped in gold leaf here. Gus didn't even moan when they arrived, they're boy-friendly (I get told off when anything new arrives at home now, we're seriously running low on space).

La Redoute has been there interiors find of 2016 for us. When I was first told about it, I passed it off as just a mail order clothing catalogue for the French... Then I saw a few furniture pieces from them and completely changed my mind. When we moved into the flat we essentially got everything from there, from the wardrobe rail to the table... 

We were very stubborn about not wanting anything from Ikea in our new home; we wanted to feel like we were progressing. La Redoute's stuff is a cut above the Swede's offering, without spending a fortune (and there is usually an additional offer on, at the moment you can get an extra 30% off homeware with the code HOME30).

On top the more important stuff = our party. Considering we arranged it a week before and it was the weekend before Christmas, lots of our favourite people came to say hello. Some swiftly ate the mince pies, others stayed till the small hours playing Cards Against Humanity and letting Gus play mixologist (don't ever let him do this unless you want to be motionless for 48 hours afterwards).

Most importantly the plan worked, we're back to loving our home. 

John Lewis - site wide discounts up to 50% off

Selfridges - 20% off fashion and 10% beauty and fragrance
Shopbop - 25% off with the code GOBIG16
Matches - 50% off main site stock and sale
Marks and Spencer - site wide 50% off over Gifting Weekend
La Redoute - 40% off site wide with the code "BLACKFRIDAY"
Urban Outfitters - Buy one get one at 50% off
And Other Stories - 50% off selected stock, 25-27th November

La Redoute - 40% off site wide with the code BLACKFRIDAY
West Elm - 30% off with the code SAVENOW
The White Company = 20% off candles and fragrances
Urban Outfitters - Buy one get one at 50% off

As most of you know I've recently moved house, back to the north side of the river in Hampstead. We spent a long time looking for our new home and had this one not come up I think we might have given up after a couple of real disappointments. The flat isn't very big so we have to be incredibly creative with the space, and when La Redoute got in touch to ask how we'd furnish a dining/study room it came at the perfect time...

If you're anything like me the brand La Redoute reminds me of good old fashioned French catalogue shopping. I had absolutely no idea they did homeware, even if I have since discovered that friend's amazing interiors are made up of pieces from them. I am determined not to have any Ikea in the house (one sneaky shelving unit has made it's way in, but it's days are numbered) and wanted proper furniture without the mammoth price tag. For that, La Redoute is absolutely perfect.

We wanted to keep the room light and airy and have furniture that worked for me to use an office and for entertaining (ourselves and groups!). The table and bench combination work really well as the bench can be stored underneath for space, and also comfortably sits 2/3 people (or often in our case, 2 and a dog). I love the white metal legs, and whole thing has a really cool industrial vibe which perfectly fits our home...

We picked two extra "normal" chairs as benches don't work for everybody and they're handy to have around the home. I'd had my eye on these for ages, they're such a classic style. The floors are already a lovely natural wood but we wanted something soft to walk about on. The boy picked out this rug which initiatively I wasn't all that keen on, but when it arrived I fell in love with it - the simple pattern is a really nice addition.

But the big thing for us, like so many people, is storage. We needed cupboards to keep the surplus crockery from the kitchen and my necessarily large candle collection. Traditional cupboards can look bulky and take up a lot of room so we went with these wire mesh containers as you can see into them creating an illusion of space (I also snuck a copper one in, here).

Accessories wise, I've tried to keep it light with pops of colour - my Tom Ford perfumes look great in my (meant for a bathroom) ceramic holder and Percy the polar bear is loving his new life on the window sill. Lots of you ask about my laptop cover; it's from Etsy here and after a year is still going strong...

We snapped these photos early this morning, apologies for the lack of make up and wet hair. It sums up the start to our weekends quite nicely. As a blogger, weekends are the perfect time to organise ourselves and sort out some content, so I usually start going through emails and sorting my calendar before Lopez gets up for a cuddle. 

Lastly, my dress is from Millie Mackintosh, lots of you probably already know of it as everyone was trying to get their hands on one last month - it's just come out as a mini dress here and also as the same maxi in blue here. Hurry up if I were you....