How to make your home, your sanctuary

Tags

allergies, Barbie, bask, bathroom, bright colours, bubbles, calm, clean, colours, cool, curtains, cuter, diffusers, DIY, dust, elements, essential oils, fems, fix, flowers, front door, green, greenery outside, grey, happy, haven, herbs, home, hyacinth, items, kitchen, lavender, life, mats, mind, minimalist look, mirrors, natural fragrances, nature, need, paint, pale, person, photos, plant, potted plants, power, recycle, Relax, reminder, room, samples, Scandi, scented candles, serene, shades, space, splash, Sponge Bob, spring, stresses, stripes, stuff, summer, sweet scents, system, toys, vases, vibrancy, wall, wallpaper, want, warm earth-based pigments, wash, window box

When you close your front door, you want to make sure your home is a sanctuary that helps you to relax and get away from the stresses of the day.

We have had a look at some changes you can make, to bring a little calm to your life.

Clear away the clutter
Clutter not only attracts dust, which can irritate allergies, but it plays on your mind as it is a constant reminder of what you need to do, fix or finish. Piles of ‘stuff’ won’t help create calm, so have a declutter. Whether you go room by room, or person by person, find a system that works for you and either find a home for items, give them away or recycle them, but don’t hold onto what you don’t need, or want, anymore.

What colours work for you?
Don’t underestimate the power of colour in your home as this can help create a haven. Maybe you love cool, calm Scandi grey tones, warm earth-based pigments are the preference for some people while others love to bask in bright colours that make them feel happy. Get some samples from your local DIY shop and add stripes of colour to one wall, and you will see how different shades could work in your home and give it a whole new feel.

Bring the outside, inside
There is nothing quite like a little greenery in your home to make it feel serene. Bringing the elements into your home puts you in touch with nature and adds a little more colour and vibrancy. Whether you have potted plants and ferns, herbs growing in the kitchen, or flowers in vases, having them in your home can help change the feeling of that space. If you are short on outside areas, why not plant up a window box with lavender and hyacinth which will offer sweet scents during spring and summer as well as a splash of colour.

Think about the walls
Do you go for paint or wallpaper? Are you big on mirrors? Paintings and photographs – do you have lots of them hidden away? Work out whether you want a minimalist look, or is it a busier background you are going for? Think about what makes you happy and create a canvas you love.

What’s that smell?
Scents can really help shift our mood – just think about how you feel when you walk into a spa. Adding natural fragrances with flowers, herbs, and essential oils are a great way to bring a sense of serenity to your home and make it feel like a sanctuary. Try using naturally scented candles, but keep an eye on them, and diffusers are a fantastic way to ensure your home smells lovely and welcoming.

Think about your bathroom
Far from being a place to simply wash and go, your bathroom really can be a place where you can relax and leave the world behind. Go for pale walls and tiles and accessorise with pretty pots and curtains, as well as matching towels. Have a box for children’s toys and mats, so that when you want to relax in the bath, Barbie and SpongeBob don’t spoil the moment. Candles add a soft, glow and playing music can really set the tone and don’t forget to add bubbles.

Play around with some ideas and we think you will find something that is perfect just for you.

Team Pure Beauty

Getting your first home in shape

Tags

abode, achievement, bathroom, blank canvas, boring, box, brand-new property, budget, bugs, charity shop, colour, Congratulations, conservatory, costly, decorations, dirt, disinfecting, donated, dust and cobwebs, Dusting, embrace, essential furniture, family and friends, garage, glamorous edge, gold, gold frame, High Street, home, home owner., hoovering, house, instant life, keys, light, list, marathon, mirror, mortgage, moved, mustard, new, new kitchen, paint, pale grey, pink, polishing, pop of colour, pots and pans, property, property shows, replace, rooms, save, simple steps, small fortune, social media, soft white, sold, sprint, striking statement wall, strong blue, TV, unpacked, walls

Congratulations, you are a home owner.

There is something special about taking possession of the keys to your first home and it is certainly a huge achievement.

Turning a house into a home however, can be a costly exercise, but fret not, we are here with some simple steps that will allow you to make your abode your own without doubling the mortgage.

Clean out the dirt
Even if you have bought a brand-new property, we would suggest you go in and give your new place a thorough clean before you do anything else. Dusting, hoovering, polishing and disinfecting will rid your home of any dirt and bugs and give you a totally blank canvas for the next step of your life.

Don’t blow the budget on day one
Heading straight to the High Street the moment the last box is unpacked, isn’t the best plan. It might be boring but making a list of exactly what you already have, costs nothing and could save you a small fortune. Ask yourself whether you need everything you have already got, what can be moved into other rooms and anything you don’t need can be sold, given away or donated to the charity shop.

Paint the walls
A quick lick of paint is a super easy, pretty inexpensive way to give your home an instant lift and to give it your own stamp. We would suggest going for a soft white or pale grey that can run through the entire property. If you want to make a splash in one or two rooms, go for a striking statement wall in a strong blue, mustard or pink which will offer not only a pop of colour but a glamorous edge too.

Add light with mirrors
If you want to add bursts of light to your rooms and shimmer to your walls, mirrors are the perfect solution. Strategically placing mirrors on walls will add depth and light and also give an air of sophistication if you choose ones with a gold or wooden frame.

Call in favours
If this is the first home of your own, call in the favours when it comes to essential furniture, decorations and even pots and pans. Make a list of what you need and while it might not be perfect, you will be amazed at what family and friends have in their garages and shed gathering dust and cobwebs. Start asking around, put posts on social media and go to garage sales and boot fairs and you’ll have all you need in no time and can replace with new when the time is right.

Take it one room at a time
When you are ready to do some work, take it one room at a time. As you will have seen from the TV property shows, renovation projects can be costly, stressful and often take far longer than expected. Whether you need a new kitchen, the bathroom need replacing as the current one is a ‘70s shade of avocado or the conservatory needs taking down, start at the beginning and don’t take on more than you can achieve – this is a marathon not a sprint.

Relax
Last but by no means least, please relax. You only buy your first home once, so make sure you enjoy it and realise what a massive milestone this is. One of the best parts of buying a new house is the freedom to do what you like with it, when you want, so embrace it and have fun.

Team Pure Beauty

Get Your Toes Sandal Ready

Tags

attention, back to basics, bare feet, beautician, bed, bubble bath, candles, chill, clean, coloured toes, cool coral, cooling, corners, cup of coffee, curve, cut straight across the nail, decent scissors, dry, exfoliation product, extra, feel, feet, flip flips, focus, foot cream, foot crystals, fun, get out of bed, good, goodness, hand, hard, heat, ingrowing nails, jagged sides, job, look, love, melt, paint, pamper night, peppermint, phone, playlist, pop of pink, problematic, protect, pumice stone, rich red, rinse, running for the bus, salon, sharp corners, skin, slick finish, smooth, smudges, soften muscles, stairs, stubborn areas, summer, Sunday, sweat, temperatures, tempted, ticklish, tissues, toe nails, tough, Vitamin E, walking to work, warm water, work

Let’s face it.

Your feet work really hard for you.

From the moment you get out of bed and make that first cup of coffee, to walking to work, running for the bus and then climbing the stairs back to bed, it’s all go for your toes.

The thing is, if you take care of your feet in-between salon pedicures, you can look sandal smart all summer long and we are going to show you how.

Soak Away
Why not set Sunday aside as a pamper night? Once you have switched off your phone and lit some candles and turned on your play list, fill a bowl with warm water and get ready to chill. Add a little of your favourite bubble bath or foot crystals (available in chemists and supermarkets) then let your feet soak for around 10 minutes and use this time to focus on you and your breathing. As your feet sit in the water, the skin will soften and your muscles will relax.

Exfoliate
With your skin nice and soft, rinse and dry them and then use an exfoliation product to get rid of the dead cells that can build up as a result of wearing flip-flops and padding around in bare feet when the temperatures rise.

Buff Up
For this step, we suggest you go back to basics and use a pumice stone as these can make a big difference to the way your feet look and feel. Very gently rub the stone over those stubborn areas where the skin is tough and problematic. If you do need an extra hand with this, then speak to your beautician the next time you are in the salon.

Tidy Up
There is no point in making sure your feet look good if your toenails leave a lot to be desired. As they will also be softer than usual after a warm water soak, this is the time to pay them some attention and we would suggest you buy some decent scissors just for the job. You need to cut straight across the nail, do not be tempted to go for a curve or to tidy up the corners, as you could cut too much away or end up with ingrowing nails – neither of which you want. Toes are ticklish, but needs must when it comes to beauty, so next take a clean file and make sure they are smooth and tidy with no sharp corners or jagged sides.

Moisturise
Just like other parts of the body, your feet need to be moisturised if you want them to be happy and healthy. Go for a foot cream which is rich in Vitamin E and contains peppermint, which is super cooling as this is a winning combination. Work the cream into the problem areas and let the goodness melt in.

Paint
Yes, this is the really fun bit. We love coloured toes but the key to a clean, slick finish is to either use separators or place a twisted tissue between each toe and this will protect against smudges. Whether you opt for rich red, a pop of pink or maybe a cool coral, add a clear finish and you will have happy feet and a smile.

Team Pure-Beauty

Give your bathroom a summer makeover

Tags

accessory, additions, amazing, baskets, calm, coat of paint, cost-effective, damp environment, daylight, dull, Dulux Bathroom+ Soft Sheen, electrician, environment, expert advice, Ferns, fresh, frosted film, greenery, grout, haven, health and safety regulations, layer, LED lighting, lick, lilies, look and feel, love, mirrors, mould, natural, neighbours, new look, old, paint, palms, pictures, plant, pretty pots, room, saves money, shabby, stain remover, steady hand, steam, summer, thrive, tired, towels, transform, transformed, walls, wooden shutters, YouTube

If you are feeling down and out about your bathroom, why not give it a little bit of a makeover this summer and create the haven you have been looking for.

A lick of paint
Your bathroom, just like any other room in the house, can be totally transformed with a fresh coat of pain. Of course, white is clean and fresh and will add an air of calm to your bathroom, but if you like colour then blue can give a nautical feel, yellow is cheery and green is coming back into style. There are many makes out there, but for your bathroom look for a specially formulated on like Dulux Bathroom+ Soft Sheen which is a moisture and steam resistant paint that comes in some fantastic shades that will transform dull into amazing.

Go for the grout
If you can’t retile your entire bathroom, you can still deal with the grouting which often ages and makes the whole room look old and tired. First things first, if there is any mould on the grout, either take this away by washing with a stain remover, or try a grout rake and use this to take away around 2mm of the old material before adding a new layer. You may also want to replace the old sealant which isn’t hard but you will need a steady hand and maybe watch the odd YouTube clip for expert advice.

Windows
It is amazing at how old curtains or a badly fitting blind can make a room look really shabby. Take the old fittings down, give the window and surrounding area a clean and add new paint if needed. To complete the look hang fresh curtains, wooden shutters or just use a frosted film to create a whole new look and feel.

Think about the lights
Long gone are the days when a bare bulb was all a bathroom needed if you needed to spend a penny! Natural daylight is great whenever possible, but do think about your neighbours with this option! You can change the light shades to make a difference or have LED lighting fitted by an electrician. Not only does this add ambience but it also saves money and the environment, but make sure anything that is fitted is certified for bathroom use and complies with health and safety regulations.

Accessories
This is the bit we really love. Just as with an outfit, accessories can really help bring a bathroom together. Whether you go for a theme or base your bathroom on a colour, it is easy to make it look and feel fabulous with a few accessory additions. From towels and pictures on the walls to baskets and mirrors, you can create a whole new look that will make you fall in love with your bathroom all over again.

A touch of green
One last touch that can really bring your bathroom to life, is a plant or two. Nothing says fresh like a little bit of greenery and it is a pretty cost-effective way to bring the outside, in. Ferns, lilies and some palms are perfect as they thrive in a damp environment, so all you need are so pretty pots and you are ready to go.

Team Pure-Beauty