Category: Home interiors

Valley Mill candle review…

On By louiseIn Home interiors, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Valley Mill are a company that I am quite familiar with so when they got in touch to tell me about the launch of their new tin candles, I was very excited.

Based in Wales, Valley Mill offer beautiful homeware items (including lush slate pieces), as well as gorgeous hand made soaps and even wedding favours! They really are a one stop shop for gifts.

What I particularly like about Valley Mill is the quality and pride. Their products are reasonably priced but are of fantastic quality. I love that they are made in the UK too and their products feel quite personal.

I absolutely adore lighting candles once the cooler, darker months draw in. I love making our house cosy so blankets, lighting, and candles are a must.

I have tried a variety of candles in my time, expensive candles and cheap ones. In my experience, cheaper candles don’t offer such an aroma which is my favourite part about lighting a candle. I like the room to fill with the sumptuous scent that I have chosen. I know that for some people burning expensive candles can seem to be a waste of money, but for me I need its presence to be felt. It needs to look nice on the shelf and fill the room with a nice smell therefore good quality is a must.

Valley Mill kindly sent me five festive scented candles to try –

Amaretto

Chestnuts

Cuban Cognac

Holly Berry

and Spiced Apple

I wanted to really test them out before posting my review because I like to be completely honest.

The candles are presented in a cute tapestry tin print which are nice and colourful. They are of a good size and will burn for around 30 hours. The burn time is great because it will last for quite a while. My only slight criticism is that I think that they would look nicer if the design was printed directly onto the tin as opposed to the printed label which is stuck on to the tins. I think that this would give a more luxurious feel. I do think that they look lovely though.

The candles are made using soy wax which is something that the company has been doing for over five years. They retail at just £10.95, which in my opinion is very reasonable. It’s a good price to pay for a Christmas gift and with such a variety of scents (there’s 13!), there really is one for each individual taste.

But are they actually any good?!

Yes! They burn really nicely, look good and smell amazing. I could still detect the scent hours after I had stopped burning them. I would definitely recommend these candles and feel that they are quite on par with much more expensive alternatives. I can’t wait to try out some of the other scents and explore the other home items that Vally Mill offer.

You could also be in with a chance of winning five Valley Mill tapestry tin candles, check out my Instagram page soon for details.

What’s your favourite candle brand?

L x

*I was kindly gifted these candles in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions are my own.

Valley Mill wax melts and soap review…

On By louiseIn Home interiors, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I was so excited when the lovely folks over at Valley Mill sent me some of their products to review. Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore scented candles and wax melts, not to mention gorgeous smelling bath products, so the treats that they sent me were right up my street.


Valley Mill are a company based in Wales who specialise in natural, handmade products. They have an extensive range of items from Welsh slate to candles as well as many great gift ideas!


I loved perusing all of the different wax melts on their site. They have so many to choose from including both fruity and floral scents. They all sound absolutely divine. Being such a huge fan of all things sweet, I was rather pleased to receive the Chocolate Truffle melts. They are made from natural soy wax and are hand poured into cute little cog moulds. The burn time is around sixty minutes per melt, which I think is a good length of time for a wax melt as little tea lights don’t burn for very long anyway. The packaging is in line with the natural theme and feels very modern. They come in a sweet box of five, which would make an ideal gift. I have been using them during the cooler evenings that we have been having recently and have found that they tick all of the boxes. The only thing that left me a little disappointed is that the aroma created isn’t very strong. I love a scent to fill the room, but unfortunately this didn’t happen with these melts. It may have just been that the chocolate scented melts aren’t as strong as the other scents, but I’m not sure. They are priced at £6.25 for a box of five, which I think is in line with other brands. 


I was also sent a Grapefruit and Fennel natural soap which smelt lovely. It lavered up a treat and felt great on my skin. Made with sweet almond oil and shea butter, it’s brilliant to know that I’m using natural products rather than harsh, processed chemicals too. They have quite a few soaps and bath salts, which all sound delightful. The soap costs £4, which I think is very reasonable given the size and quality of the product.


I really enjoyed using these products and I think that Valley Mill have a lot to offer too. I love the concept of the brand and that their products are all local and hand produced. We are swept up in a life of mass production, so it’s nice to have hand made creations too. Things that have natural ingredients and are made using thought and creativity. We actually need a new number sign for our house and I’m contemplating ordering a slate one from their site because they look great!

What do you think of natural products? 

Do you have a favourite shop for wax melts?

L x 

*Disclaimer – I was sent the wax melts and soap in exchange for an honest review.

Visiting the Ideal Home Show 2016…

On By louiseIn Home interiors, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

  
Aaah, the Ideal Home Show. This is the only exhibition that I’m really committed to. I was won over when I was younger and they had a giant Direct Line car insurance telephone as well as a huge door. I felt like I was an extra in Jack and the Beanstalk and that was it, a forever fan. 

Since we bought our first home four years ago, we’ve made an effort to go every year. My husband normally takes notes and we geek out a little over all sorts of hopes for our dream home. I love having a good old nosey, grabbing a free goodie bag and looking at the latest gadgets. We are quite good, but usually end up buying something, pillows, candles… This year we have ordered a seated planter for the garden. We are now quite excited about its arrival in a couple of weeks!

  
I’ve also had my heart stolen by a Smeg kettle, toaster and mixer. My life currently now feels incomplete and I genuinely believe that it can be rectified by these red kitchen appliances. 

Usually I try and get free tickets online. Martin Lewis normally has an offer code on his site, but this year I was too slow and they had all gone. Just when I was thinking that I probably won’t go, up popped British Gas with some free tickets – hurrah! It’s usually around £20 entry, which can work out to be quite an expensive day if there’s a few of you going and you land up buying stuff. 

The show is on until the 3rd of April at London’s Olympia (it moved from Earl’s Court a couple years back), and I think it is well worth a visit. If you do get to go, look out for the special guest talks and pick up a goodie bag – they are quite good this year!

  
Seeing as we just moved house and are looking forward to putting our own stamp on this place, it was rather fitting that we went to the show and collected some ideas. We all had a lovely day and I’m already looking forward to next year!

Have you visited the Ideal Home Show this year?
L X

Our Big Build…

On By louiseIn Home interiors, Lifestyle, Uncategorized1 Comment

  So last month we finally moved house after five months of chasing solicitors  (honestly, it’s such a drawn out process!!), and are now well and truly in our new home. It’s so exciting as this place is in a lovely location and has many things that our last home didn’t. We really feel like this is a home that we will stay in for quite a while and really want to make it our own. We are planning on changing every room in the house in some way, with the exception of the upstairs bathroom and this week the builders started. They quickly demolished our little 1970’s porch and have laid the foundations for our new one. I’m super excited about our new porch as I’ve thought quite a bit about it and can’t wait to utilise it for coat and shoe storage. I also want to create a welcoming environment as you enter the house.

  
We have a toilet downstairs that was a wonderful sight – coloured suite with blue tiles and pink walls! The rest of the house is quite contemporary and it really stuck out. The builders removed the suite and tiles on the first day and Pete the Plasterer came on the second day. He’s done such a wonderful job, I can’t wait for it to finish drying so that we can decorate it ready for our white suite to go in. We have chosen a woodland theme for it and I think it might turn out to be quite special.

The final part of our mini project is to put in patio doors off of the dining room so that you can access the garden easier. We were spoilt in our last home with huge sliding doors onto the back garden. I used to love throwing them open and letting the outdoors in. We currently have a side door off of the kitchen, which is great until it’s 6am, pouring with rain and you have to escort the dog into the garden because there is a gate between the side door and the garden. The plumber is going to move the radiator to the other wall and the builders will put in the new patio doors. They are also building us a three metre squared decked area so that we can step straight out with our din dins in the summer evenings. 

So that’s our big plan, I plan on putting together a post after each room has been renovated and am quite enjoying exploring various home interior ideas.

I can’t wait until it’s all finished, I’ll keep you posted on how it pans out!
Have you renovated your home?
L x