Poolside at John Lewis with Sunnylife

Remember that hot spell, the one that some are referring to as our summer? Yes, well I hope it's not our summer, but that one - in the midst of the heat I popped along to a pool party at John Lewis at Oxford Street and the weather couldn't have been better for it. 

The Poolside I'm talking about though was indoors on the third floor - and is open to the public until 12 May - so it really doesn't matter what the weather's like outside.  Although wouldn't it be good for it to be warmer than the six degrees that's forecast for tomorrow, the last day of April, surely the zaniest of months for weather so far this year.  (By the way 2018, that's not a challenge!)

Arriving on the third floor at John Lewis' Oxford Street store I immediately spotted a riot of colour and headed in that direction. It wasn't long before I held the pretty cocktail above in my hand and entered the zone that was pretty much a one stop holiday shop, complete with plenty of inflatables by Sunnylife.

Image courtesy of John Lewis

The inflatables were great fun, and for this one I'd go as far to say it was FAB (sorry!), but you know what I mean...

By the Poolside there were plenty more inflatables: toucans, doughnuts, pineapples, flamingos and unicorns to name just a few, not forgetting the watermelon ring and the clever 'virtual' pool.  It looks real doesn't it, but it's not - it's a place where you can paddle without getting wet, but you have to mind your head on the mirrors as you leave the pool!

There's plenty more too - summer hat anyone?  I hope it won't be too long before these will be needed again.

And it seems that pom-poms and pineapples that we've seen as interiors trends aren't just for interiors - yay! - as this straw bag and sarong show.

I was quite taken with these lemon wedge pouches, and not just because they matched my shoes (but that could have been part of the reason, I'll admit).  I think they'd be useful for all kinds of things, on the beach to keep things sand-free, or to prevent your suntan lotion covering everything it shouldn't, or maybe just a fun bag as an accessory or for your lunch.  

You can see I've given this some thought can't you?

I mentioned a riot of colour at the start of this post and I stopped to take a closer look as I left the pool - it really was my kind of colourful place, complete with zingy colours and fun touches too, like the parrot on the jar with lemons and limes.

But even if colour - or so much colour - isn't your thing, there are still more subtle ways to add some zing to your summer. Whether that's the cute beaded cactus table linen, the colourful bowls, or the cushions. 

And yes, it's another of 'those' chairs - I've had to look up their name, it's an Acapulco Chair, I thought it only right as this is the third picture I've shared of this style on my blog so far this year.  Had you noticed I might be slightly smitten?!

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.  Thanks to John Lewis for inviting me along to immerse myself in the colour and for wowing me with the Poolside mirrors and inflatables.

A family room, with a lot going on

I'm in two minds about this room set at this year's Ideal Home Show. I like stuff and things around me so it should be my thing, but I'm not sure if it is, and I'm not really sure why.  There's nothing in here that really offends me, but other than it having a real lived in feel, there's not much in here that really grabs me either.  

Perhaps it's fallen into that betwixt and between, and is neither one or the other - I'd be interested to know what you think after you've seen the photos. So, onto the room set.

Perhaps it's because too much of it is neutral in my opinion. But I do know that the standout item is the wall hung bureau or writing station - it reminds me of the bureau we had when growing up. The idea of closing the flap (writing table) and shutting away the office for the evening is almost completely alien to us now, now that we've developed the 'always on' mentality.  Somehow just the flap of that piece of furniture harks back to a time less frantic, peculiar hey?

It does make good use of the wall space though, there's the corner fireplace above and the wall mounted drawers below.  There's plenty of shelf space too.

As I've said in previous Ideal Home posts from this year, there was often a brightly coloured armchair bringing a pop of colour, and this room set was no different.  This time orange. 

And there was another pompom trimmed cushion.  I tell you, they're everywhere.

So what do you think, are you smitten or a bit take it or leave it, like me?

Spring bedding, of the bedlinen sort

Yes I'm talking about bedding again, it seems it was the weekend for both refreshing an existing set and trying out a brand new one too.  Handy really as the one I dyed has now been earmarked for another bedroom, so the new set's arrival was well timed, and while I need to start thinking about bedding of the garden type, for now I'm happy to share these.  It's lovely and Spring-like don't you think?

I think you'll be surprised about where they're from.  I know I was pleasantly surprised when browsing the website when choosing and I'll admit their products challenged my memories and preconceptions of this shop. It's a retailer that's well known for its thermals, and when they got in touch to discuss working together, given my over active thyroid I was hoping it wasn't for the thermals.

No doubt by now you've worked out this pretty bedding is just one of the bedding sets available from Damart.

It's the Jardin set, in teal and I love its fresh look and how it tones with our existing decor, the headboard and coloured sheets and pillowcases.  I don't know if you were surprised as I was, but I know that this has made me realise that it's well worth keeping an open mind.

And it's not just their bedding that turned my head, there's some great looking dresses on the site too.  As I said before Damart are well known for their thermals, but with my overactive thyroid thermals are the last thing I need, whereas MOH is the 'icebox' - funny how often, couples can be at different ends of the body warmth scale isn't it?

But enough musing, back to the duvet set. I think it goes pretty well with my caravan quilt too.  I don't sign up to the school of thought that everything has to match, it's nice to have something that isn't quite what's expected, but nothing too wacky or out there. Like many things it's a balance and what you're comfortable with, isn't it?

There's nothing better than new bedding, well... apart from freshly ironed new bedding!  It's starting to be a bit of a habit as once again I found myself wielding the iron. That's twice in a month, but don't worry it's not one I'm hoping to keep up!