At Home: Christmas, Home and Port

Can you believe it’s almost a week till Christmas? Seriously, let’s all stop and think about that for a second. I know, right?!

The week before Christmas is always my favourite part of the festive season as it’s full of gatherings with friends and family, and nights in front of the fire wrapping gifts and eating mince pies. I’m a little bit behind with my to do list but seeing everyone with a festive skip in their step is enough to keep me going with a smile on my face. Here’s lots of lovely things that are making me happy right now!

Firstly, the presents under the Christmas tree. I’ve made a start wrapping gifts for the OH (before he finds them!) but I’m going to do the rest this week with mulled wine and The Muppet Christmas Carol for company. Ah, there’s no finer sight than presents under a tree.

If you ignore all the empty cardboard boxes behind me in this photograph, the spare room is almost complete!

This room has been a dumping ground for the past three months so when Mattress Next Day contacted me to see if I wanted to review a mattress it felt like the right time to begin sorting the room out. I was sent a Silentnight Memory 3 Zone mattress and at the same time I bought a bed frame from them as they had a great selection of affordable frames. As the title of the brand suggests, they provide next day delivery too, plus we managed to get free delivery.

The mattress is really comfy (jealous it doesn’t fit our king size bed upstairs!) so I’m hoping our first guest will get a decent night’s kip, a big step up from the couch we used to offer in our last home!

A new diary! I love shopping for a new diary, and this year I kept it simple and neutral with this beauty from Paperchase. I may have added a new polka dot pen to my shopping basket too. Oops.

Now we have a drinks cupboard (I’m officially a grown up) we’ve decided to use the a proper decanter that the OH was left from his grandad. Its contents? Porty port port, of course. Paired with a good cd or record and I’m in heaven.

Hurrah for festive bakes! I’m not going to lie, last week was one of the hardest week’s I’ve had in a very long time. So when Sunday came around, I chose to make some Christmassy treats to help me relax. Mince pies, ginger shortbread and a batch of limoncello did wonders for my sanity!

Pauline’s Pretty Throw and Ombre Quilted Cushion c/o The French Bedroom Company

Another Sunday activity was watching Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson’s final scene gets me every time!) with my new my mink throw and ombre cushion. The throw and cushion are from The French Bedroom Company, and they’ve been living on our sofa ever since; they’re a cosy and comfy pair!

The neutral colours are pretty calming too, exactly what our lounge needs to distract from all the Christmas decorations! Yes, that’s more port. Hiccup.

Fire! We’ve had lots of problems with our chimney, but finely we have lift-off! Our open fire is one of my favourite things about the house and I’m so, so happy we can now use it. Just in time for Christmas – joy!

Are you counting the days till Christmas and having a break?

♥