Lockdown: Tips & Tricks

Tip 1: #Table covers

Plastic PVC table covers, the words plastic and PVC make me feel very uncomfortable but times have changed and this tip is really worth taking on board because we are now using our dining table for all sorts as I’m sure many of you are whether it's a home office, the arts and crafts station or just the very, very, regular mealtimes, so you can get these nowadays in pretty much any colour and design but if you want to go one step further there are even the clear PVC table covers, I bought three from amazon and what I’ve done to make mine even more workable is to tape them at the bottom of the tables with some masking tape and it feels like you have your dining table just as it was before. I didn’t really want to change the look of mine, so this worked really well.

On the kitchen island I’ve actually wrapped another PVC table cover and on here rather than using the clear one I’ve bought a marble effect table cover and it looks very much like what’s underneath so that works brilliantly and has kept the same look intact to some degree.

Tip 2: #Bring on the baskets

My next tip is large rattan baskets, you can dress these as I’ve done in lots of different areas with a throw and a cushion inside but having these around the house is basically saving the house from looking like a toy shop has exploded, there’s only so many times in a day I can ask my kids to tidy up all their toys but having one of these in pretty much every room means I can ask them to all dump their toys in following playtime and they can get properly packed away at the end of the day. There are so many different types of baskets and I will definitely be recommending some companies that are still delivering these on my stories later on. I'm sure many of you have already created your hygiene stations by the door and adding in one of these rattan baskets to hide away your wipes, sprays, gloves and masks might almost make you feel that life might be semi-normal again!

Tip 3: #Reducing our carbon footprint

We would previously have used our supermarket shopping bags to line some of our bins at home but we are now too concerned with keeping these so we've started to buy compostable trash can liners, if you buy a bio-based set you will even be helping the environment because these are not made from fossil fuels and you can also line the bins with recycled plastic bin liners, these are obviously still plastic but given that only 10% of plastic is ever recycled there's definitely going to be a lower environmental burden.

Tip 4: #Improving storage quality

A lot of us are storing larger quantities of food whether or not that's the right thing to do is obviously, very personal, but I just wanted to point out that really organizing any food storage is so important because you'll end up just buying more and more of the same product if you can't see what you’ve got. I can recommend a decluttering specialist who would give online advice and support with this if anyone is interested and again that will be on my stories.

Tip 5: #Home offices

I’m just going to very briefly touch on the area of desks and work space because I will do a more in depth video on this but I’m getting a lot of messages about creating the perfect desk space and I feel actually we all need to be less caught up in creating our perfect office and more focussed on what makes us individually comfortable. I will for example have to be overseeing all my kids online lessons from the end of this week onwards and that will mean I need to ideally be near then and so my new work space isn't even going to be a fancy desk in an optimum area but it's the most comfortable space for me on the dining table knowing I can oversee them so that really is the most important creating a desk space isn't just going to be about the perfect lamp and table design but actually its now much more about your individual requirements and home circumstances.

Tip 6: #Dining table

It used to be that the dining area was for dining or afternoon tea with the kids when they had come home from school and maybe even breakfast if you weren't using your kitchen table or island but times have changed and if like me your beautiful dining table is now being used for every meal as well as a crafts station and art class backdrop as well as the toddlers performance stage then you might be wondering whether or not your home should be slightly rearranged to accommodate our new way of living.

Tip 7: #Guest bedrooms

Guest bedrooms are the perfect new spots for home offices if anyone in the home needs a locked off area from the rest of the house and hopefully a quieter space at the moment the guest area is probably dead space so now is a good time to get the most out of it.

Bring in plants and flowers, there are still florists delivering and garden centres and nurseries doing the same and with spring upon us and the sun shining we can actually bring a little sunshine in and brighten up our homes. It makes such a huge difference to see a beautiful bunch of flowers or plant indoors and it doesn’t have to be any special occasion, it lifts your spirits and its spring, that's occasion enough.

Grouping lots of accessories into trays and creating a little story with each cluster is a great way of making everything look a little more chic and much less messy. You can get some great trays at Lux Deco and at Amara and Artedona.