Day: January 16, 2025

6 Ways to Improve Your Garden this New Year

Josie

Give your garden a new look this year with these 6 great garden tips!

A garden is mostly overlooked when you think about the main factors of getting your house exactly how you want it, but in actual fact, gardens can really make a house stand out far more than you’d expect.

Take a look at these 6 great tips to improve your garden this new year.

Photos via: Houzz

1. Clean Up

The first, most important step is to clean up all the junk you have in your back garden/yard! Get rid of those broken plant pots, wilting plants, that ornament you dread to look at every time you enter your garden!

The sooner you get rid of all these things, the quicker you can start re-decorating your new garden! Also, give the full garden a hose down. Get the patio, and all the concrete as clean as you can before taking any further steps to making your garden perfect.

2. Turn your Patio into a Dining Area

One way to start transforming your garden, is to turn your patio into an outdoor dining area. This will be great for summer, hosting barbecues and social events, having friends over for a glass of wine in the sun etc.

There are multiple different ways you can decorate and transform your patio; maybe you would like to get a large glass table with dining chairs? Or what about building a stone barbecue with a small circle table, the possibilities are endless!

3. Rattan!

If you are considering getting some sort of outdoor furniture, I highly recommend you go for rattan! This type of garden furniture is completely versatile and goes with pretty much any style you choose. There are a range of different colours, and styles of rattan to go for. Wayfair offer a huge range of rattan furniture for you to browse at a reasonable price.

4. Consider investing in a Greenhouse

This is a game changer… invest in a Greenhouse! Not only will this create a new hobby for you to do in your spare time, it also looks incredible in your garden. Also, this can really help you save money on purchasing vegetables and fruits etc. in the long run.

Greenhouses are a great way to completely change the feel of your garden, whilst also allowing you to discover a new hobby. Two Wests offer an extensive range of all different types of greenhouses for you to purchase, look at what they can offer to suit the needs of your garden.

5. Start an Outdoor Kitchen

This links in very well with the last point about investing in a greenhouse, start an outdoor kitchen! What I mean by this is start growing your own herbs, vegetable, fruits and whatever else you like. This way, like the last point, you can save money in the long run, plus you will gain a hobby from it!

6. Add some Light in your Life

Lights really change the way a garden looks and feels. By adding lighting to your garden, you can create a lovely setting in your garden, as well as looking incredibly nice during those summer nights when you sneak into the garden for a gin with your friends… (shh I won’t tell if you don’t).

Two Wests also offer a fantastic range of lighting for you to pick from at a very good

How to Organise Your Living Room for a Neater Home

Josie

Give your living room an organized and relaxing atmosphere with some our expert tips!

In many homes, the living room is a space that is used for a number of different things. From relaxing and watching the TV, to playing with the children and entertaining guests, the living room is often a hub of activity, so it’s important to have a space that is organised and welcoming.

Keeping on top of the organisation within your home can be difficult with such a busy schedule, so starting with a neat layout and clear organisation from the get-go will be extremely helpful in the long run.


Photos via: Living Etc.

Everything Needs a Place

Start off with the mindset that everything needs its own place. If you have designated areas for specific items, you’ll find it much easier to keep them neat and tidy. Ensure your living room has plenty of storage space to begin with, such as a stylish oak sideboard or a bold bookcase, as this will help you provide a home for specific items. Once you’ve got the storage sorted, you can start to figure out where you want things to go.

Having a clear system will make it easier to tidy your living areas when they become messy, as well as making the room feel welcoming. Having a place for everything is crucial, even when it comes to the remote controls or your favourite weekly magazines, you should always have somewhere to keep them, even if its pride of place on the coffee table.

Identify the Lost Items

Its always a bit of a mystery when you find a random sock on the coffee table shelf, or when you discover the calculator on the bookcase, as it’s clear they aren’t supposed to be there.

Over time, random items make their way into the living room and they’re never going to look right there, so it’s always worth having a good tidy up and identifying which items are out of place.

Find all of the items that don’t belong in the living room and put them back where they should be, as this will instantly help to declutter the room and make it feel tidier.

Make Sure It’s Functional

With the living room being such a busy room within the home, with constant activity throughout the day, you need to ensure the space is functional. Whether you’re entertaining guests, or you want to work out to your latest fitness DVD, the space needs to work for you and your family. Take a look at the layout of your furniture, does it work? Are you able to enjoy your living room with this setup?

If you feel like there’s room for improvement, then now is the perfect time to reshuffle the furniture and try to find a layout that works. You often find that the more floorspace available between items such as the sofa and the coffee table, the better. You don’t want your television to be too close to the sofa either, so have a play around with the layout and find the perfect setup.

Throw Things Away

Everyone is guilty of hoarding in some way or another. Whether it’s the latest issue of your favourite magazine, or you want to keep hold of a selection of DVDs even though they’re scratched, and you have them on Amazon Prime, there’s always something cluttering up your home that doesn’t really need to be there.

Take a look at the items within your living room and figure out what you could throw away. By doing this, you’ll instantly feel as though the room is tidier and fresher, with no rubbish cluttering up the space.