Revamp Your Home for Autumn*

Photo by Kaylee Garrett on Unsplash

When it comes to cleaning and organising your home you often think about spring being the ideal season to get to work. Of course, spring cleaning is always going to be a thing, but we believe that autumn could be the time for revamping.

In this post, to help inspire you to redesign your home and make it look better than ever we have put together some of our top tips on how to revamp your home for autumn.

Add some autumn colours

Want to bring a touch of autumn to your home? If you do then you can always add in some autumn colours. Cushions, rugs and throws- not only are these all great ways to add colour but they can also add warmth, texture and style too. Something that you will be more than grateful for when you are spending the longer evenings cuddled up at home.

Use it as a chance to declutter

Making over and decorating a room is the ideal time to actually declutter and organise the space too. After all, if you are in a room trying to paint it or moving furniture around, then chances are that you are going to change up the entire space too which means that it might be the ideal time to think about some of the mess.

Also, don’t forget, if you’re likely to make a mess whilst you are decorating, to book a junk collection from a reputable company like www.samedayrubbishremoval.com.au/. They’ll help you to clean up and dispose of your unwanted stuff in a reputable way.

You’ll also need to consider other boring but essential jobs such as prepping the exterior of your house for the colder months and inclement weather. This includes making sure your gutters are clear ahead of winter storms. Again, a reputable company such as Gutter Cleaning Kansas City will ensure the job gets done swiftly and safely.

Create a cosy and intimate feel

Following on from the above, if you are looking at adding warmth to a spot in your home then why not take this one step further and make it a cosy, intimate and inviting place to be? This works really well with a small armchair or reading chair, which will allow you to create a spot that you will want to curl up with a good book and let the world outside pass you by.

Work with lighting

The nights get darker the further into autumn we get, which means that we need to think about our lighting choices at home. Table lamps are great additions during autumn as they bring extra light when you need it most and, best of all, they can also be used to add colour to the room too. You could, if you really like to change things up, invest in a new lamp shade when the autumn comes around, replacing brighter summer colours with more neutral, deeper, autumn shades.

It can be hard work redesigning and making over your home, but we can promise you that it is worth it. There is no better feeling than being able to relax and unwind in your beautifully decorated home. Especially as the weather starts to change and the autumn months really take a hold. Before we know it, we will find ourselves deep in winter and we will need to be able to hide away in our beautifully decorated and made over homes.


How To Keep Your Sanity When Stuck Indoors*

Thankfully, many lockdown rules are being relaxed; This means that gyms are back open, pools can be used, and you can meet up with other people. However, these rules could easily change and there are parts of the country still in full-lockdown due to a spike in cases. You might also be in a situation where you don’t want to go out because you’re either at risk or live with people who have a higher risk of catching Covid-19 and suffering serious consequences.

Consequently, many of you are still stuck inside trying to find things to do. It’s been this way since March, and it’s hard to cling to your sanity for that long. Here are some suggestions that can help you remain positive and keep your mind in one piece when stuck indoors:

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash

Make your own alcoholic drink from scratch

You have to get creative if you want to survive the year 2020! Pubs are starting to re-open, but you might hate the idea of being in a confined space with loads of others. So, why don’t you bring some of the same fun to your home by brewing your own alcohol? So many beer-brewing kits and gin-making kits exist nowadays for your pleasure. You can stay at home and come up with your own alcoholic creation. It’s a double-whammy in that you have fun making the drink, then have even more fun drinking it! These things take time so it should also keep you occupied for a few days at least. Think about your favourite alcoholic drinks, then go online and see if you can find a brewing kit for them. 

Photo by Bruna Soares on Unsplash

Play around with your car

If you have a car then you’ve got your very own boredom-freeing machine. You can do so many things to a car when you’re stuck at home if you’re brave enough! On a base level, give it a proper clean from inside to out; it may have been years since you cleaned your car like this and it’s a great little passion project to undertake. Then you can start to think about making some other adjustments – like an alloy refurb on the wheels, a new paint job, some different lights etc. Basically you can turn your life into an episode of Pimp My Ride every single day. You’ll be amazed at how many things you can do to a car, and at how fun this can be with a little help from YouTube!

Photo by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

Renovate your home

On the topic of pimping things up, why don’t you renovate your home with a bit of DIY? Most people think home renovations are costly and involve lots of construction work. Truthfully, they don’t have to be like this if you don’t want them to. There are so many DIY renovations you can do on your own with a handful of tools. DIY is always a winner when you’re stuck at home, and you get the benefit of improving your living space at the same time.

You see, keeping your sanity is not as difficult as it seems. Essentially you have to keep yourself occupied and find things to do that last for a long time. Even when life gets back to normal, these are great little projects to undertake when you’re bored on a rainy day inside!





3 Tips For Living Healthy Lifestyle *

To most people a healthy lifestyle encompasses being physically and mentally balanced. While it’s easy enough to talk about healthy lifestyles, living by the principles can be difficult, but if you want to enjoy the things in life longer following healthy habits should be in your mind no matter your lifestyle, so here are the top ways to achieve that.

  1. Follow a Healthy Diet
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

For proper growth and development your body needs to feed on a balanced diet. From adults to infants, humans have different nutritional requirements, for instance an infant needs to be fed every four hours each day until they reach an age that permits them to eat solid food. As time goes on they will adapt to the normal three-square meal plan. Teenagers and young adults on the other hand often take their snacks in between their meals to fuel activity and growth. If you want to stay healthy, stick to the following diet guidelines: Eat three times a day- that’s to say take your lunch, breakfast, and supper (dinner). Your dinner doesn’t have to be too heavy. In the evening eating a lot of food will stress your digestive system since you are about to go to bed. A huge chunk of your meals should contain healthy foods such as beans, fruits, veggies, grains, and milk products with low saturated fat, eggs, and fish. You may also want to avoid sugary drinks because they contain excessive amounts of calories. Three square meals won’t suit everyone so you could try six half sized meals/snacks to keep things more regulated throughout the day

2. Stay physically active (exercise)

Healthy living is deeply connected with physical activity. In evolutionary biology the theory of use and disuse of body parts suggests that if you exercise part of your body, it develops better, but if you don’t effectively use a body part, it atrophies (wastes). Physical exercises build your muscle mass, improve your balance and coordination, make you more flexible, and also enhance your endurance. Health wise, exercise also helps decrease your risk of cardiac diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Fitness freaks who love to hit the gym to do weightlifting routines build their bone density, this means they also decrease their risks of osteoporosis. Even for older people in their 60s and 70s, there is no excuse to be left out of workout activities. Regular exercises also boost your self-confidence, lowers your stress, and gives you a good mood. If you are someone who has weight issues, that can be a threat to healthy living. Consider doing physical activities such as walking, running, weightlifting, yoga, and swimming, to keep fit and maintain a healthy weight.

Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash

3. Say no to negative lifestyles

Excess alcohol, drug abuse and tobacco-smoking are examples of negative lifestyles that can decrease your lifespan. In 2010, tobacco-smoking led to the death of over 443,000 Americans the National Cancer Institute reported. About 90% of male lung cancer-related deaths are caused by smoking, and female deaths account for 80% for the same condition.

Healthy living also means you have to take care of yourself physically and mentally, even in your workplace. For example, if you are a taxi driver you may want to drive carefully and also put measures in place that will not put you in a stressful situation. You can, for example, get a taxi insurance quote for your vehicle for those unforeseen moments. 

Healthy living is a broad subject comprising diet, exercise, and other safe practices. The tips above can be of great help if you try them.




The July Degustabox- it’s Summer time!*

Box gifted by Degustabox
This is a PR box, this means there will sometimes be additional flavours or products than you’d get as a subscriber, I will highlight this within my post.

It’s Summer! As I write this, it’s the most glorious July day and I’m enjoying a relaxing day (yay week off!) before going camping in Dorset for the weekend. It’s the perfect day to be writing my review of the July Degustabox as this month it had a Summer theme to it. There were some awesome products inside so let’s crack on.

Inside this month’s box was a surprise bag containing these sachets of sauces from The Skinny Food Co. I’ve seen this brand all over social media so I was curious to try their products. I don’t think I want to know how they make these zero calorie products but I admit they are pretty good- the white chocolate was a fab addition to breakfast and the others were all good too, oddly sweet, but fine. Perfect for anyone watching their weight but missing condiments- personally I’ll stick to the real deal but they were fun to try. Available from SkinnyFoodCo.com, Morrisons, Spar and COOP.

I’ve reviewed these ManiLife peanut butters before and my opinion still stands- these are great and I urge any peanut butter fan to give these a go. My favourite is the deep roast crunchy peanut butter for it’s awesome flavour. These retail at 60p and you’ll find the brand stocked in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Ocado and ManiLife.com.

I love protein bars for on the go snacks and I’m always looking for new brands to try. Premier Protein packed their Chocolate Brownie Bar with 20g protein and only 1.3g of sugar. It tastes great and I’m excited to try their other flavours; White Chocolate Vanilla and Chocolate Peanut Butter. £1.49 each from Ocado and WHSmith Travel.

This Golden Creek Maple Syrup Blended with Sugar Syrup was the perfect excuse for a fluffy American Pancake breakfast. Whilst our preference is for pure Maple Syrup, it’s expensive and at £2.49 this is the best tasting and most reasonably priced alternative we’ve tried. Nice one Golden Creek! Available from Ocado and Home Bargains.

These Plant Pops popped lotus seeds were my product of the month. I had no idea what to expect from these and they are impossible to describe, but so delicious and addictive. The peanut butter flavour was subtle but there and worked perfectly. I think there are other flavours available too which I am desperate to try- my only grumble is that they are £1.50 per bag which means I can’t afford to make them a regular snack. They are also not yet widely available but you can find them on Amazon, plantpopsnacks.com, TheVeganKind Supermarket, Harvey Nichols, Londis and Budgens.
I’m not a big fan of Stevia so I haven’t yet used the Natvia Natural Sweetener from this month’s box, however I have used the brand before in baking with great results so it’s definitely a winner if you’re a Stevia fan or trying to cut down on your sugar. £5 a tub from Tesco, Ocado, Tree of Life and Health Food Stores.
Nesquik is much more up my alley. Bob pounced on this all natural milkshake powder immediately. Made from just 5 natural ingredients this has the taste of Nesquik that we know and love with nothing nasty added. Bonus points for the fully recyclable packaging! £1.89 from Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
I didn’t get a look in with the Bebeto party mix! Bob took these on a car journey with him and came back full of praise for the fizzy gummies. I’ve started to see this brand more and more in the UK lately and I’m excited to try them for myself. At £2 for the tub this is great for summer picnics and parties. Available at Morrisons, selected Spar stores and Bestways- I’ve also spied the brand in some of the discount stores near me so keep your eyes peeled!
The Minor Figures Nitro Cold Brew coffee scared the life out of me when I opened it! When you open it the nitrogen is released to create a silky microfoam- quite the shock if you don’t know what to expect. This is a light, dairy free drink with no added sugar. It wasn’t something I’d buy again personally but I know people love this brand so it’s down to me having a quite basic palette when it comes to drinks I think! £1.95 each from Wholefoods, Planet Organic, Sourced Markets, As Nature Intended, Ocado, WHSmiths Travel, Holland & Barrett and nationwide independents.
Next up on the drinks front we have Pravha lighter tasting pilsner. I’m not a lager fan but this went down well served chilled- more so with Bob than myself but I would drink again. £2 from major supermarket chains.
Finally we have the curiously named Wunda milk alternative. I regularly use non-dairy milk in porridge as I prefer the taste so I was quite excited, if a little apprehensive about trying this after reading it’s made from peas. This doesn’t launch until 2021 but I am very much going to be buying this when it does. It tastes great and is fabulous in porridge, on cereal and in hot drinks. It’s high protein, low sugar, low fat and fortified with vitamins A, D, B2 and B12. A real superhero product, worth it’s £1.99 RRP.

Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and what you thought in the comments, it’s always great to get other people’s thoughts.

If you’re new to Degustabox, it’s a monthly food subscription box that gives you the chance to try new and exciting products on the market whilst providing amazing value for money.
On a month by month basis the box costs £12.99 (with a discount for longer subscriptions) but the contents are generally worth far more than this as you can see if you do the maths.

If you’re persuaded to give Degustabox a go (and really, you should) you can claim £3.00 off of your first box (making it just £9.99!) by entering the code XOQGC at the checkout. It’s been a pleasure to work with the brand regularly over the last couple of years and it’s without a doubt something that I will continue to purchase long after our partnership ends. I love the monthly surprise and excitement as well as the chance to discover products I’d otherwise pass up on the supermarket shelves.

Let’s talk about dental health*

Guys, let’s talk teeth; not the most thrilling subject I admit, but after yet another toothache saga and an ongoing war with my teeth I figure it’s an important issue and one that is often skipped over.
I totally took my teeth and dental health for granted, up until my late twenties, despite years of abuse and general self-neglect I had no trouble with my teeth at all and just assumed things would carry on that way.
I was wrong, so very wrong!
Turns out that over a decade of eating disordered behaviours had stripped my teeth of enamel leaving them super sensitive and prone to breaking and getting infected. I’m now a frequent flyer at the dentist (outside of my 6 monthly check-ups) and if I had my way I’d have the whole lot taken out and dentures fitted just to get rid of the problem.
It’s not hard to take care of your teeth, and here are some simple steps you can take to maintain good dental health.

  1. Brush at LEAST twice a day; yeah it’s a ball-ache, but you’ll regret it in years to come.
  2. Pick your products; I always use this Colgate sensitive pro-relief as it works wonders for me. Long before this blog post this was my go-to toothpaste and I won’t stray. I also use an anti-septic mouthwash as I have a long-term infection in my front teeth and this combination means I can eat and drink without fear of major pain or yet more antibiotics.
  3. Floss; I hate flossing, I really do, but short term pain for long term gain, trust me.
  4. Limit acidic foods and drinks; acid is what destroyed my teeth so now I am really careful to limit how much I consume to protect any enamel I have left.
  5. Befriend your dentist; my six monthly check-ups often reveal problems before they’ve become a problem meaning less invasive treatments and good advice for keep things stable.

What are your top dental health tips and go-to products?