Secret Corner - Dibor

This week's secret corner is a lovely French style homeware store called Dibor.  This family run business has recently relaunched and you'll find tonnes of beautiful things.  As well as the french flair there is also a touch of vintage which I absolutely love! They do a wide range of gifts so make sure you check it out if you want to get a head start on your Christmas shopping!

I have actually held back a bit on my favourites, there is some real cute stuff but I thought I would keep it short and sweet today.  First up is this downright lovely Amelia Lamp which I am seriously considering buying for our bedroom.. so obviously I would need two! I'm not entirely sure yet if I am prepared to spend that much on two bedside lamps but I have struggled so much trying to find some simple, plain white lamps for the bedroom - who knew it would be so difficult!

Next up is what I would call a "grown up" item haha.  We get terrible draughts through our house in winter and it drives me mad so this draught excluder is on my "must buy" list.  And the red fits in with my living room, must be fate.

In keeping with chills of winter I just bloody love this faux fur throw.  Look how snuggly it looks! It would be utterly stunning draped across my bed... or any bed for that matter! I would not let anyone touch it for fear of dirtying it but it just looks amazing and COSY.

So, what do you think? Is French style your thing?

Secret Corner - Country Cream

Country Cream is a beautiful, 10 year old family run business.  They have some exclusive items that are handmade and handpainted by various people.  I love this companies ethics - they aim to use mums at home, retired, elderly, disadvantaged and disabled people to help make some of their items.  The bonus being that for some of the items you can actually choose what colour you would like it painted in.  I wish more companies were able to offer this service!

Country Cream offer a wide range of items from ribbon to furniture and it's all beautiful!

I absolutely love this cute little card/photo holder.  I always wish I had somewhere to put my cards! I have a fireplace but it it fills up pretty quickly and I don't really like putting them in the window so this is perfect and when we don't have an "occasion" happening in our lives we can just pop some photos in but there are thinks like thank you cards or whatever that I would probably just keep in it forever.  I quite frankly think it's superb!

Check out these cute little cat shaped peg blackboards - what a genius invention this is! Not entirely sure how practical they are because they seem quite small but I still think they're cute and I'd still probably buy them.

Lastly, I just adore these beautiful heart boxes.  I can think of all sorts of things to do with them and places to put them but I have Christmas at the forefront of my mind right now and I think they'd be fab filled with some decadent chocolates or I'm actually considering filling one with some make-up bits and giving it to my bestie. There is a whole tonne of uses for them and they would look gorgeous on the dressing table.

Have you spotted anything you like? Share them with me!

Secret Corner - Rockett St George

I have an absolute BEAUTY of a homeware store for you today.  If you haven't already heard of Rockett St George then check them out.  PRONTO.  I am so so excited to be doing a feature on this store.

They've been running for 6 fabulous years and decided to set up Rockett St George because of their shared love of shopping.  They know that not everyone has time to be rushing around the shops so they choose to set up an online store with the knowledge that it would be easy and accessible for people.  I've had a tough time trying to narrow down my favourites! This place really does have something for everyone - with things as cheap as chips to items running right into the thousands, there's something to suit every budget and every style.  From gift wrap to wallpaper, you'd be bloody mad not to take a peek.

So, my favourites.  This is just a small portion of my picks! First up, I love this simple feather print. I love feathers, I do. I've always said if I was ever to get a tattoo (I wont, I'm far too fickle) I'd get a feather down my ribs.  I like seeing feathers just floating about in the wind and landing at someone's feet and I feel like I could place this print in either my bedroom or my living room and it'd look perfectly in place.

Another piece of wall art.  I really want this 'what is love' natural limestone wall art (click and read, it's wonderful) .  In complete contrast to the feather print, I actually really like having things on the wall that people can stop and take the time to read and then leave my house full of thoughts and questions and answers.  There are various different options and to be honest I'm not 100% sure if I would necessarily choose the 'what is love' one... they all give me a bit of food for thought.  Hmm.

I'm not entirely selfish when it comes to my shopping habits... I think this adorable shaving mirror might just be going in the husband's Christmas stocking.  You can actually write whatever you want on it but I love the wording they hsve chosen... aw.

Next is another print.  I just blummin' love all that arty wall stuff don't I? I would just sit this pretty little lipstick print on my dressing table though, propped up against the wall, unframed.  I also think it would be the perfect gift for any beauty queens in the family... plus it's ONLY £10, wowza!

Now I know this Secret Corner series is all about homeware, but this homeware site have only gone and included a sneaky bonus of jewellery items and they are all lovely.  My favourites are the angel wing bangles and this gorgeous spike necklace which would look perfect under a blouse or a nice structured collar.  I think I'm going to have to put these on my Christmas list actually!

And finally... check THIS out.  A caravan.  A caravan! Rockett St George, I salute you.

Secret Corner - Mocha

Mocha is another online store that's run by a husband and wife team, Samuel and Sarah. It's jam packed with quirky, useful and unique bits and bobs! If you want a fun wedding gift or new home prezzie then this is definitely the right place to go.  They especially love working with up and coming designers and small businesses so it's no wonder that there's so many things here that you'll never have seen before... how cool!

I especially love this eco cup with it's classic print and it's cute little teapot button to hold your teabag in place.  I think I might just have to pop this on my Christmas list, although not sure I can last that long without it! I also adore this AWESOME vase! It's out of stock at the moment but I just think it's amazing! I'm not sure I can justify the price at the moment but I keep thinking about how amazing it would look in one of my windows.

Right.  There's a lotta love out there for stationary, isn't there? Well check these cute rainbow highlighters out.  I think they would be the perfect gift for any teacher friends or stationary lovers in your life!

Lastly, I love love love these tea towels.  I don't even think I'd use them as tea towels, I'd probably just frame them instead because they are far too nice to get dirty!

Tell me your favourites pieces.  I hope you'll be adding this to the list of places to do your Christmas shopping!!

Secret Corner - The Calm Gallery

If you love filling your home with prints and typography then you will love this little place!

The Calm Gallery.  Run by young husband and wife team, Lucas and Hayley, they have sourced a variety of fantastic artists to bring you unique, handmade prints, tea towels and postcards. I really need to narrow down my 'to buy' list but I've been trying to source some nice simple, neutral coloured prints for the kitchen for quite a while now but could never find quite what I was looking for.... until now! The prices are very reasonable too, AND there is of course the added bonus that you know you are supporting independent artists.

These guys don't offer a framing service but they do give you a few recommendations on what frames would suit your print if you don't have an eye for that sort of thing which I think is pretty perfect of them.  They have also gone to the trouble of including a little profile about each artist - how lovely of them! I seriously think these guys have done a great job, you can tell that they genuinely had the customer at the forefront of their mind whilst they were developing this site and as a result of this I don't think I'll be buying my prints from anywhere else! My only negative is that they don't offer any sort of custom printing which is a bit of a shame as it would be nice to change the colour to fit in with my rooms but that's just a minor and I can imagine that offering any sort of customisation would turn things a bit manic!

Now on to my favourites! I am most definitely buying this 'complete and utter bollocks' one for our games room.  It's a phrase my husband uses regularly and the games room is somewhere that him and his mates spend a lot of time so I feel it's pretty apt, ha.  I also like this one about beauty because it's true and I wonder why it's not a more well known phrase?! Unfortunately the colours mean it won't really fit into any of my rooms.

I am in love with these eye chart prints which are actually designed by the founders - at the moment I can't really decide which is my favourite and I'm having a bit of a debate with myself about whether to buy one for the stairway or not.... which would you choose?

So that's it.  A completely and utterly fantastico website.  I hope you guys like it as much as I do, I was so excited about writing this post and sharing this little place with you all! I actually had to stop looking because my favourites list was getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.....

Secret Corner - Live Laugh Love

I'm back with another lovely lovely homeware site! This is another shabby chic one with a hint of vintage and "coutry kitchen" thrown in too.  You will be spoilt for choice.

Live Laugh Love are run by husband and wife team, Claire and Ricky and has been going since 2007.  Some of their stuff has been designed and hand finished by themselves so if you're after something a little more unique then have a browse and you might spot something! The images on the website are beautiful and it makes me want to have a snoop around their own home - I can only imagine how wonderful it is as they clearly have an eye for all thing great!

I love this cute little antique dressing table pot.  I haven't even started on decorating our bedroom but as it's next on the list I am constantly keeping my eye out for things that would fit in with what I have in mind for it! This mirror is another thing that I spotted and thought would be pretty damn great in the boudoir - it's out of my price range but I shall lust after rather than buy! I've also picked out this photo frame for the bedroom which I love.  I find it quite hard to find photo frames that I like (don't know why, I mean it's a pretty basic thing) but this one is gorgeous and I love the idea of popping black and white photos in it rather than coloured ones.

I also found a couple of things for my bathroom - this hilarious sign and this cute little glass storage jar, isn't it adorable?? I'm always looking for various shaped jars so I can keep them on my floating shelves and store cotton buds, cotton pads etc in them. I also spotted this ADORABLE little bird.  I had an idea ages ago that as a sort of "finishing touch" I wanted to have a few things like this hung on door handles/window handles/curtain poles... just 3 or 4 of them with inspirational words dotted about the house and this little chap is exactly the kind of thing that I'm looking for.

Not only is Live Laugh Love for the homemakers amongst us, it's also a fantastic place for Bride's to be. They even have a wedding section and a whole host of hanging hearts.  I wish I had discovered this place before I got married!

Let me know what your favourite pieces are and if you're going to be making any purchases - I feel like every bathroom needs that cheeky little sign, right?

Dan Baldwin Art

I am not an arty person.  Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a nice looking picture and I can also appreciate the amount of work and talent that is required to create a masterpiece but you won't catch me heading to any art galleries or engaging in any "arty" converstions anytime soon.

We recently painted our staircase.  Three of the walls are a nice pale creamy sort of colour that I think goes by the name of "Almond Cream" and the wall that you look at as you walk down the stairs? Well.  I am in love.  We painted this wall in Dulux's Teal Tension.  I had decided I wanted teal long before we started painting and as much as I love it, I've already decided that when I get bored of it I'm changing it to navy blue.  Anyway... we are far from finished the staircase.  At the moment there is an awful dark green carpet down and I assure you that paired with my beautiful teal wall it causes somewhat of an offence to my eyes.  Needless to say I have picked out a gorgeous, textured minky coloured carpet (awful description, sorry!) that shall be purchased whenever I get round to it... probably after Christmas.

I have a problem though.  I went on a little trip to Ikea and found the most perfect framed print with a teal coloured background peeking through, to go on one of the cream walls and I DIDN'T BUY IT.  I live miles and miles and miles away from Ikea.  Before this whole fiasco I had come across Dan Baldwin and his splendid art and after discovering that it was way out of my price range I let it go.  This ikea print was like a nice £28 Dan Baldwin rip off though.  And I stupidly let that go too.

He's not everyone's cup of tea, I know.  I just love that everytime you look you're bound to see something new, that it is something people will talk about and comment on and I feel like this is the only place in our house that we can have something modern and funky without it looking like it's in the wrong place.  Let me know what you think and if you've seen something similar but at an affordable price then hook me up!

Secret Corner - Serene Hearts

I love homeware.  Like really really really love homeware.  I wonder what will happen when I finally finish decorating and redoing every room of our house.  I hate clutter, so I guess me and my love of shopping will need to cut ties with homeware shops and websites.  Or maybe I'll just go back to the beginning and change all my accessories and soft furnishings....

Every week I'll be blogging the "Secret Corner" - a spotlight on a little gem of a homeware website, perhaps one that you have never heard of, maybe something that you will fall in love with, or maybe it will bring you just what you've been looking for.  I am going to thoroughly enjoy this but my bank balance will probably want to do a runner from me in return.  Yikes.

My very first homeware site is Serene Hearts.  If you like shabby chic and affordable gifts then this is the place for you.

Serene Hearts are fairly new to the world wide web and are actually just about to turn 6 months old! It was set up through a love of homeware and a belief that the accessories are what give the room a personality and I must say, I wholeheartedly agree.  Serene Hearts sell a lot of things from other brands, but they sell them cheaper than most other  places and have fantastic customer service to go alongside it, something that they focused on from the very start.  They love to intereact with their customers and build up an enjoyable, trustworthy relationship with them so join them on twitter, facebook, pinterest and instagram.

Some of my personal favourites include these gorgeous Gisela Graham ceramic door knobs.  When it comes to decorating the bedroom (next on the list!) I will probably purchase some of these for my wardrobes - I'm planning on tackling some horrid 70's veneer ones with some primer and white paint and think these would add the perfect finishing touch.  I also LOVE this cushion, I don't think it would fit in with any of my decor but I have a friend in mind that I think would love it so I might just have to go on my Christmas shopping list! And lastly... this! Which I think is just wonderful.  I will definitely be purchasing this at some point and I think it's bound to make people smile as they walk past it.  I am a bit obsessed with framed quotes and I'm constantly looking for ones that aren't super common... I think this ticks the box.

See anything that takes your fancy? Spend over £45.95 and you'll get free shipping when you use the code 'free shipping'.  Happy shopping!!