A pretty speedy Poppet post

Oh helloes, hoomans.

It is I, Poppet-cat. It has bin proper long since I did type a message fur you all, but I have managed to sneak up to the pooter while Clur is messing around wiv some wrapping paper and I thoughted I would write you all a quick hello.

So helloes, from the house of cats. We have been here for over five years now, so we is well and truly in charge. A politician would purr pretty darn hard to have a mandate (or, if you will, a paw of approve) as strong as ours.

I are still in charge and am enjoying the new season of the warms coming on. I are also growing fond of invading the hoomans raum at night time and tucking up for a nap wiv them.

Leela is still her usual scraggly self. She did hate all the fireworks noisehs and bangs but those seem to have calmed down now.

Her favourite spots to be are at the very top of the stairs, curled up in a box, or having a sits on Maffoo when he is trying to work. She continoos to make some proper silly kittun noises, from chirrups to miaooooows to her high pitched purr.

Smudge, the noo kitten, is settling in okays. When he first arrived Leela-paws did NOT like him, but now they get on okay. He and I are friends, except when he challenges me for chikun or tries to sit on me. I ARE NOT FOR SITS!

Clur and Maffoo do like Smudge manehs and have done a okay job of teaching him the ways of the Poppet. And when he does forget I do employ my paw of disapprove, for I are boss. Smoodge has also made good frens with other families around here and likes to go there for snuggles and noms when our hoomans are buseh.

Fry are the same as ever, sweet and shy and not a fan of cameras (unlike me, I do looooooove them). He has been doing some guard-catting recently and loves to check everyone is safe safe safe.

Fry and Smoodge are great frens and I think Fry does love having another boy cat to hang out with. That does meen he can get pretty sad when Smudge goes off on bimbles, but he's getting used to it.

So that are our kittun news. All is well, there should be more chikun, and we are looking forward to Christmas when there will be many snuggles, many presents, and many hooman times. How are oo, hooman frens?

Right, I need a naps after all this work.

Purrs and paws,
Poppet-cat (BOSS)

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A Tipsy Afternoon Tea with Amara

One of the things I love about blogging is the community I get to be a part of. Like any group, there can be infighting, catty moments and jealousy, but in the main I find myself small enough and old enough (eleven years and counting writing my thoughts here!) to be able to trundle along quite happily in a little Claire-bubble. Like everyone I have good days and bad days, lists I make and lists I fail to make, but in the main I cannot complain about my lot. There have been a lot of good things, but I'm most grateful for the kickass women and men I've got to meet along the way, and the cool brands I get to work with and the fun events I get to attend.

One such event happened last week, when I was one of the lovely Erica's plus ones (she's so fly she got two plus ones - bow down :)) to an event hosted by the lovely folks at Amara. Amara is already a site I spending far too much time browsing (homewares are my homeboys) so I was delighted to be able to make the event and meet the team! 

Amara have a site just full to the gunnels with beautiful, stylish homewares, so it was no suprise that they chose one of the city's chicest hotels, the Sanderson, for their event. Once there we had a little time to recover from the rainstorm outside before taking our seats for the Alice in Wonderland themed tea; The Mad Hatter's Tipsy Evening Tea, to be precise. 

Trays were brought, beladen with miniature cocktails. The cherry liqueur, orange marmalade mini espresso martini and the dark chocolate and raspberry liqueur mini martini were flavoursome, creamy delights, but I especially adored the teacup cocktails comprising spicy mango syrup and Falernum rum infused with hot Mad Hatter tea and pear and rhubarb liqueur infused with hot Mad Hatter tea. The delicate fruit and floral flavours were exquisite! As well as these we sipped Perrier-Jouet bubbles aplenty as we chatted and giggled the night away.

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A little Anthropologie wishlist

There are a few stores which I visit which simply make me happy. Beautiful clothes, pretty homewares, lovely gifts, fabulous scents and pampering items, interesting books - all of these are the things I love to see, and purchase. And Anthropologie is always a place I like to visit to pick up some or all of the above. I popped into the beautiful Regents Street store the other day and just had to do a little wishlist post on a few things that caught my eye!

I couldn't find this exact set on the website, but I love the range of blues Anthro always stock.  Matthew's very good about the sheer range of plates I have in our house.

Speaking of, don't you just love these gorgeous melamine plates for picnicking or outdoor dining?

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Getting ready for Christmas

We are well and truly into the Christmas rush now. The last few cards and gifts need to be sent, the social whirl is in frenetic mode, and Mariah Carey is everywhere, like some kind of golden-voiced, glittery diva angel.

I approve.

As we head towards the celebrations proper, I am all about getting ready for Christmas. There are so many little things to do to ensure the festive period goes smoothly.

I like to check that our Christmas food orders are sorted and doublechecked (thank heavens for online shopping too, I must say). We're getting most of our stuff delivered by Ocado on the 23rd, and we have some delicious options on the list (Poppet is most interested in the large free range turkey crown of course!).

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Home etc: Sitting Room Plans

It's been a while since I've linked up with Home Etc, which is a shame because I always enjoy writing about our home. Right now it's a swirl of chaos as we get ready for Christmas visits, are putting up trees and wrapping dozens of gifts for friends and family, as well as trying to get everything spick and span and organised before I return to full-time work in the New Year! In between packing and sorting and wrapping, however, I'm having a very jolly time planning for how we are going to rearrange our sitting room in the early part of next year.

Our sitting room is currently made up of two parts - a front section with sofas, shelves, TV and a back section with a 'home gym' we rather optimistically installed when we first moved in. Four years on and the use it gets is so minimal we've decided to donate or sell the equipment in order to make one big sitting room with space for TV watching, book reading, and light work.

Matthew and I both have our own offices/studies too (both our careers require a healthy amount of take-home work, and it's lovely to have space to do this without impacting the others space) but I'm looking forward to having a little space in the sitting room where we can work alongside each other too. When I first moved down to London we both shared the cutest little study (it was less than 6 foot by 7 foot), and while we had to take turns moving our chairs out (we sat back to back, meaning negotiations if you wanted to stand up and get to the door), I loved have a little hub together. Having workspace downstairs also means that if we decide we'd like to repurpose a study at any point as a spare room / nursery / extra bathroom, we'd have that option. I'm also super excited to have more space for books!

We'll be planning in depth over the Christmas break (yep, this is our idea of fun - a notebook and a tape measure!), then saving up towards the project in the first few months of 2017, but in the meantime I'm enjoying browsing online and thinking up ideas. Now we've lived here four and a half years we know the house, we know what gets cluttered (him: shoes left in the middle of floors. Me: magazines and catalogues) and I'm having great fun thinking up methods for storing things and making it a space we can enjoy!

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Food: Cooking up a storm with KitchenAid

 

We all have the brands we love.

It could be a car brand. A shoe brand. A...pen brand (I don't know, you do you).

For me, the pages I keep bookmarked are invariably home and kitchen brands. I love our home and buying things to make it even more cosier and lovelier is something I really enjoy saving for and looking forward to. I've got out of the habit about writing about home stuff on the blog in recent months but I will be sharing more and more going into 2017 - I have me some projects planned.

But I digress. All the above to say, there are several brands whose sites I know well and whose products are very much on my wishlist. One such brand is KitchenAid. Ever since I first saw Ina Garten (who by the way, is goals) use one of their stand mixers, I knew they were a brand I'd love to use and have in my own home.

Imagine my delight, then, when a PR from KitchenAid emailed to see if I'd like to join the brand for a cookery lesson at their showroom in Wigmore Street, a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street.

I had a wee look at the classes available and when I noted that there was a steak option, so the deal was done. I was so impressed with the class format - for £25 you get a great kitchen to work in (full to the brim with KitchenAid appliances, of course), a chef tutoring you, and all your ingredients. We were a merry group and had great time cooking chips, making rocket pesto and bearnaise sauce, and of course, learning all about steak and the various ways to get the most from it!

I kept on getting distracted by the beautiful stand mixers. I mean...

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Gift Guide: For the Happy, Hygge-filled Home

I'm going to be doing my gift guides a little differently this year. By nature a planner, I really enjoy having a good think about what to gift and for me the months of October and November are a fun season of thinking about presents and planning what to give. Add in all the fun that I had at various 'Christmas in July' events earlier in the year and I am just full to bursting with inspiration!

Rather than doing gifts guides for him, or gifts guides for her, this year I'm arranging my guides around themes, so the lists will address a certain interest, area or passion. Each post has an accompanying Pinterest board too, so I can keep adding great finds as I come to them! I hope these prove useful and that you might find an item or two that works for you.

Today's gift guide is for the happy, hygge-filled home. Hygge, long a tradition in Denmark, has really had a moment here in the last eighteen months, and the nation seems more than ready to curl up and hibernate! My board is full of gifts for those who like a cosy, welcoming home each winter. From beautiful homewares to guides to hygge living; sweet treats to bath-time delights, this is a group of gifts for the hibernators amongst us.

My pinterest board is at fifty items and growing, but I also wanted to share a few of my favourite items here on the blog.

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #15

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, and I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week. Let's go!

1. A cosy weekend

Lovely, tasty meals, good wine and chats

Poppet loves using me as a cushion/vantage point

Really enjoyed catching 'Addams Family Values' yesterday on Channel 4. I'm a total wuss so horror movies are off the table for me, so spooky family/kids films like The Addams Family ones or Hocus Pocus are as scary as it gets!

Around this point of the year, when the fireworks for Diwali and Guy Fawkes' Night are having their usual fortnight of loud bangs and flashes, we always book a couple of home weekends so we can be around for the katzen. As fun as travelling and socialising are, it's also nice to hibernate a little too. Good, wholesome food, lashings of red wine, napping and kitty cuddles...I feel replenished and ready for a busy week!

2. Side Show

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #11

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, and I'm joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week. Let's go!

1. Holidays right on the horizon!

From months to weeks to days, our holiday has finally come right into view. I can't wait to explore New York and Boston, revisit Toronto, and go back to the play-area-for-grown-ups that is Vegas! Beautiful hotels, so much to see, catching up with friends and amazing food are all on the menu, and I can't wait. Our dear friend Shona is kitty- and house-sittign for us too, so there are no worries on that front (the trio love Aunty Shona!).

There's a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Rosé in the fridge chilling all ready for Friday evening!

2. Theatrical fun

Between Pride and Prejudice and Vanities last week, I'm in a very theatrical spot right now! I must get some tickets arranges for the last few months of the year. We'll definitely try to catch some theatre in New York too. Hamilton's a non-starter (resale tickets only, and they are all about £1000 for a pair), so we've gone for the next best thing and are preparing to laugh our socks off at Spamilton instead. We'll definitely try the ticket lottery while we are in town too, although with odds of 10,000/1 it will be the most foolhardy gambling of the whole trip!

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Book Review: Hygge

Denmark is definitely having a moment in the publishing world.

Whereas a couple of years ago we were all seemingly trying to emulate the French (with all those titles telling us French women don't get fat, their offspring are charming, their sex lives sizzling and their homes highly covetable), now all things Scandi/Nordic are having a bit of a moment.

According to the World Happiness report, Denmark is the happiest nation on earth, and has been for some time. The top ten in this chart each year always seems to feature the Scandi/Nordic set, plus Australia, NZ, Canada and a couple of other nations (at the moment, Switzerland and the Netherlands). Other countries may have other titles locked down, but when it comes to being happy, the Danes seemingly have it sewn up! There are several reasons people cite for that, and one of those is the importance of hygge.
 
I first came across the idea of hygge (a Danish term which has no direct English translation, but which means a kind of cosiness, comfort, sort of creating a cocooned, safe space) last year, when reading Helen Russell's wonderful book The Year of Living Danishly.* I loved the whole idea of creating a warm and welcoming nest during the colder months - as someone who has spent many winters in Scotland and Germany, where cold weather means that cosy home time is the way to go it really appealed. I'm also a big fan of living seasonally anyway - as I type this I am heartily tired of the hot temperatures and more than ready for autumn to sweep in, bringing with it so many delights that I am oh-so-ready for!

In his book, Hygge* (pronounced HUE-gah, fact fans), Meik Wiking (who is the CEO of the awesomely named Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, a place I clearly want to visit) talks you through the many and various aspects of Hygge and offers hints, tips and ideas for bringing a little hygge into your world.

First things first, this is a beautiful book. The scandi-style cover in gentle creams and blues with metallic accents is delightful, a real treat for the eyes, and it has fit onto our coffee table very happily - it adds a lovely little lift to the room. Once you are within the covers, the book continues to be a beauty, with small, easy to read chapters, beautiful photographs, and easy to understand diagrams and tables.

Wiking covers every element of hygge, from decor to cooking, and offers so many ways to embrace this idea in your own life - whether it's by cooking a hearty meal, sharing time with loved ones, dressing for comfort and cosiness, or bringing a little hygge to your festive celebrations. From cosy blankets to candles and lamps, he explains how adding a few little touches can make your home a little more hygge.

As I read through the book I realised that hygge is certainly something I already do - indeed my propensity to hibernate in the winter is pretty darn hygge in and of itself. Whehn I looked down the list of things which Danes feel contribute to hygge, I found some many of my own autumnal and winter favourites - hot drinks, baking, candles, Christmas, books and board games and blankets. How hygge might change my behaviour a little will be that this year I think I'd like to share the cosiness a little more.

Usually, my winter habits involve spending more time at home, with Matthew and the cats. But hygge is all about sharing the comfort, and I'll certainly be trying to do more of this - having friends around for supper, or a board game night, or just to have tea and cake while reading books and relaxing.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it gave me all kinds of ideas for making our home a little cosier, and a lot more hyggelig, this year. It was the perfect thing to read in my current mood, and I can't wait to bring some of the ideas into my life as we head into the cooler weather. There is a chapter on hygge in the summer but in the current weather my mind is more on ice lollies and chilled cocktails - I'll be going full hygge once the mercury starts to drop. Bring on the knitwear, low lighting, and stews!





Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by Penguin Living in return for an honest review. Thank you, lovelies!

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Home Etc: Our New Cleaning Rota

For the last little while I've been trying to get a handle on how I approach keeping our house neat and tidy. We are very lucky to have the space we do, but recently I've been a bit worried and stressed by the clutter, and wanted to put a new rota in place so I could keep up with everything. I also wanted to create a system that meant we had less to do on weekends so we could relax, or work on any bigger house projects then.

I should probably add that Matthew is an absolute housework marvel - he's such a great gardener, sorts laundry like a boss, washes dishes every day and is better than I am when it comes to hoovering! In this season, however, when he's out at work for so much of the day during the week while I work from home I wanted to create a rota where I could clear most of the stuff during the weekdays. With no commuting and fewer pulls on my time of the same urgency, I wanted to take up more of the work so that when we do get time together we can have more fun, with fewer chores to do!

I've experimented with rotas for keeping the house tidy, both monthly ones and weekly ones, but I've never quite hit a rhythm. So this time I thought I'd pitch myself something between the two, with a fortnightly rota. With all the shopping, cleaning and little tasks like popping to pick up parcels or get the dry cleaning, this works out at a very sensible five tasks a day, plus one each on weekend. With a few 'daily dos' as well, this should cover everything, with more time available on weekends when bigger jobs or tasks like spring cleaning, charity shop runs, or getting the Christmas decorations up emerge. I'll keep you posted!

How do you organise your cleaning and tidying?

Linking up as ever with the Home Etc lovelies.

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Home Etc: A Glimpse at Neptune's A/W collection

Last month, in amongst all the Christmas in July fun (posts on all those events to follow once we're heading towards to festive season), I was lucky enough to go to Neptune's preview of their Autumn/Winter collection. As a huge fan of their beautiful products and always up for some home product perusal and styling delights, I was thrilled to be able to head over to check out the range. Here are a few (well, slightly over a dozen!) of my favourite shots from the day. 

I loved the smooth, clean lines of this tablescape. There were terrariums and succulents aplenty on display throughout the three floors of the showroom (a gallery in Bloomsbury had been transformed into a Neptune beladen haven for the day!).

These beautiful art deco style martini glasses caught my eye, perfect for pre- or post-dinner drinks, don't you think.

I really enjoyed the clean lines of this drinks trolley. It felt pretty, but industrial and masculine at the same time.

St Germain is fast becoming a key cocktail ingredient for me when devising cocktails - I love the sweetness and brightness it can bring to proceedings, so I was delighted to spot it while touring the showroom.

Gorgeous, squishy, inviting sofas, in the gorgeous mustard shade and the grey 'Smoke' they've added to their roster for the new season. I adored 'Smoke' - much of our home is kitted out in blues, greys and neutrals, so it was very much in my taste!

This beautiful desk worked with the same chrome and glass of the drinks cart. Perhaps a budding Don Draper could combine both in his study?

A nest of tables repurposed into inventive shelving. Throughout the space furniture was being used in so many different, interesting ways.

So very pretty, no?

I loved these bold, artful mirrors - we are looking for one for our dining room at the moment - as it's the centre room of a dark terrace some more light is needed - and these are firmly on my list as an option. Those painted frames really add a certain something.

These goblets are fabulous, aren't they? Very Game of Thrones!

This cool blue dresser is so charming. I loved this piece, it was so solid and well made. I also loved how the shelves were supported on notches in the wood, rather than with pegs or nails which can go missing, or be tricky to adjust. An idea which manages to be both simple and very clever!

This enormous vase would be so pretty for lilies or branches in a hallway or on a sideboard.

I loved this huge lamp - perfect for a reading spot on chilly evenings (a.k.a. exactly where you'll find me most winter nights!).

Coffee tables repurposed again in the kitchen space! Loved the cabinets here, which were really top-of-the-range and utilised space so well. I'd love to have a custom built kitchen where you can have spaces for all the things you like to have around when cooking and baking.

Stacked tables as an unusual and utilarian island.

And last but not least, some beautiful kitchen accoutrements - I think one of the gigantic mugs will have to be purchased soon for morning coffees.

The space chosen really showcased the brand and the products beautifully. I loved the styling and mood of the whole space; the combination of comfort and ease coupled with clean lines and mixed textures is very much within my aesthetic. I'm excited to return to Neptune soon to pick up a few pieces from the collection for our home.

Linking up with the lovelies at Home Etc:

Thank you very much to Neptune for inviting me to this event.

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #4

Linking up (as is becoming traditional) with Katy and Jasmin's round up of weekly fun! As someone who skews positive naturally, I love the chance to share some of the happy moments. Shall we?

1. Last Wednesday I was invited along to a lovely event at Be At One Wimpole Street to celebrate the publication in paperback of Candace Bushnell's Killing Monica. Having enjoyed the book and meeting Candace when she was over promoting the hardback I was delighted to pop along to toast the occasion! I loved learning how to make the perfect mojito, mingling with some fellow book fans, and picking up some brow tips from the Benefit experts.

2. The lovely folks at Sofa Sofa sent me some fab cushions to try out - I opted for a nautical stripe. I love how they look in our sitting room, they are so squishy and comfortable. Poppet also highly approves of the roomy box they came in - it's her new favourite thing!

3. On Monday I attended the first meeting of pizza club. A few of us had got chatting on twitter about our love for dough and the many places that do epic pizza here in London. Before you knew it dates were being thrown around and Vicky, Emma and I were off for amazing pizza at Homeslice. Sharing a giant pie and some chilly margaritas was a brilliant way to upgrade our Mondays!

A photo posted by Claire Roper (@cmclaire) on Jul 18, 2016 at 3:59pm PDT

A photo posted by Claire Roper (@cmclaire) on Jul 16, 2016 at 1:14am PDT

4. I'm reading Emma Gannon's debut memoir, Ctrl Alt Delete. It's a good read so far, with plenty of food for thought. Some chapters have me nodding along, others remind me that I grew up in a more innocent time, internet wise. Thank heavens.

5. On Saturday I met up with an old, dear friend, the gorgeous Lou (she introduced me to Matthew, trivia fans). Lou and I have been to the Fringe festival in Edinburgh together twice, and share a mutual love of silly, funny, sweary comedy. When we spotted that Sammy J and Randy were playing a gig in London, we had to be there. It was so wonderful to catch up and to crack up at the gig. Sammy's so talented and such a nice guy, too (yeah, we did the photo request thing afterwards....).

Sammy J and Randy are playing some gigs in the UK and Ireland before Randy takes his show to the Fringe next month. I love that little purple guy. Speaking of the Fringe, beeteedubs, if you're in Edinburgh next month and are a fan of laughter, music, gin and/or boobs, I'd urge you to cehck out the divine Katie Brennan in her Quarter-Life Crisis show. Katie is such a talented and generous performer (as well as a cherished friend) and I love her performances whenever I'm lucky enough to attend. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to hug her (10/10 hugs too, would recommend).

Photo taken by Pablo on KB's phone. Totally snaffled, thanks guyz.

6. Speaking opf the divine Miss B, on Friday I got to go have pizza and gossip with her and a bunch of the Bangarang beauties. I am so, so grateful to have bloggy friends like them and laugh like a madwoman whenever we get together. One thing that always worried me about working from home was not having colleagues to chat to, learn with, and grow alongside - I'm thankful for these girls and all the other great friends I've made through this little space. Blog colleagues, yay!

A photo posted by Claire Roper (@cmclaire) on Jul 24, 2016 at 2:05pm PDT

7. Salads, sandwiches and sushi. Hurrah for meals that require little or no cooing in this heat. Yuki Gomi's cookbook is proving a godsend!

Fry loves the fan!

8. Cats! My little buddies have been getting lots of attention and fusses as we try to keep cool in the heat wave.

Nap goals

A photo posted by Claire Roper (@cmclaire) on Jul 21, 2016 at 3:55am PDT

9. A new haircut came at just the right time, leaving my mop feeling fresh and kempy. My hairstylist (shoutout to Keiran at Headmasters Soho) has been doing my hair for three years now and is so great at given me a stylish, versatile 'do. He's also got the best chat.

10. Yesterday I got to go play on a boat (sorry, ship) with Katy and Charlie, thanks to Royal Caribbean. We had so much fun exploring the facilities, looking around, getting mildly lost and getting properly into our mini-golf. Full report to follow, but I adored a day in the sun exploring a kind of holiday I've never done before.


How was your week, lovelies? Hope your Monday has started well!

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The great study project, part 2

I wrote last month about our house project, to change two rooms. making what was my study into a spare room, and the spare room into a new study for me. This project is a definite labour of love, and getting it done around everything else is a challenge! However, progress is being made and I'd say we are well over 50% of the way. Of course, this now means that we are in the 'eek!' phase, where it looks worse before it gets better!

This is the former study, with the piles of stuff ready to be stored away, thrown away or recycled/donated. It's times like this I really wish we had a car!

Probably the most together of my spaces - love this long desk (actually two Ikea dining tables) with plenty of roomfor writing, taking notes, and creating. The skylight is wonderful - loads of light spilling in!

The pile is receding a little more every day, but when you're a stationery fiend like me there's always a lot of sorting through to do.

So. Much. Stuff. I may have to get Kondo on it!

Please excuse my slightly-burned ironing board - the high heat needed for cotton shirts is a little punishing!

Now there's a little shelf space created, there's more room for things, so I can definitely peek at the light at the end of the tunnel. I better get back to it now - looking forward to cracking and a getting it donw, and showing the finished rooms here before too long. Wish me luck, please!

Linking up with the Home Etc. team - such a great linky for tips, tricks, and swoonworthy rooms. And then  posts like mine, haha!

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