Earlier in the week I found myself in central London with some time to explore, and as luck would have it I was close to Tottenham Court Road so there were two places on my list to visit. One of those was West Elm, I'd seen brochures and browsed heavily online but had never quite made it to their flagship store in the UK, that is until now.

The large cardboard Christmas decorations went well with the "neutrals" colour scheme on the ground floor, and I was particularly taken with the stag!

This felt wreath would look great almost anywhere and it's "handcrafted of 100% wool by skilled artisans in Nepal" - I love those birds just nestling in there.

As you'd expect there were many Christmas decorations out - I particularly liked the bottle brush animal ornaments and there's a llama, snow leopard, swan, duckling, artic fox and I'm sure that's a seal I've photographed below.

And to complement all the white decorations, there was glitter - it just works - in fact that's especially true at Christmas, glitter always works. The glitter burst ornament below looked good hung on the tree, but would look equally good hung in a window or from a shelf.

I'd seen West Elm's flameless candles online and wasn't really sure about them. Now having seen them in person I think they'd be a great alternative for real candles and don't look overly plasticky and fake as they have a wax exterior. They're battery-operated with LED lights and what's more there's an automated shut-off timer. What candle has that, hey?

I liked the little vignettes around the store and moving downstairs it was clear that this had a blue, grey and yellow scheme - which was pleasing (and useful) as I'm still looking out for some new bedding for our new black-grey-yellow bedroom and I discovered some possibles.

Throughout the store I was aware of the use of textures, something it's all too easy to forget in our own homes. I'm a typical magpie and am drawn to the bright, shiny, glittery things... But adding softer textures can add warmth and interest, and if your house is anything like ours they can help absorb some of the echoes, or what MOH would call boom...

I may be making a return visit for one of these...

Back upstairs and I ventured into the kitchen area and immediately realised it was another place I should give a very wide berth! These Jimbobart bone china mug sets look great fun.

And I was in bowl heaven. Next time I'm in the market for bowls I'm definitely coming back - I've no idea which colours and patterns I'd go for and would no doubt spend too much time deliberating, then realise I could only have ten or so and so try and negotiate that number upwards by at least double! What do you mean, what would I need twenty bowls for? ...I'm sure I'd find a use for each and every one of them, and it's a good point, I'll work on my case...

OK I've moved away from the bowls. But I've made a mental note of these cube tissue box covers, I like their simplicity and because you never know when you might need this kind of information...

So before I left there was just a final opportunity to admire these boxes again, and - hint, hint - one of these would make a great gift and it may just be going straight to the top of my Christmas list (...ok it's already there!)

This is definitely on my Christmas list!

So while I didn't make any purchases on this visit, I've a feeling it's only a matter of time and I know I'll be back! And next up was Paperchase just down the road, where I knew I was unlikely to leave empty handed (and I was right!)