I think I was a bit naive when we bought our house almost 2 years ago.

I thought that buying a house would be all about smelly candles, funky wall art, quirky pillows and painting in dungarees like they do in the movies – I don’t even own dungarees!

I massively underestimated the renovation that needed doing and as such have jumped at every chance possible to indulge in what I can only describe as ‘homey things’ – You know the sort. The decorative items that make girls squeal with glee and families to rush for a bargain on New Year’s Day (I haven’t quite reached this stage yet. But soon…)

And so, after Not On The High Street contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I wanted to review a few items from their site, I jumped at the chance. It’s a website I’ve loved for a long time and every Christmas I long to order some of their customisable decorations, but alas, Joe and I have a massive family to buy for and I’ve never quite got around to splurging.

Anywho, I picked three items in the end. And (spoiler alert) I bloody love them all. Take a look at my 3 picks below:

The Moustache Doormat

I know, I know, I’ve gone a bit moustache mad over the past year, but I just couldn’t resist this adorable doormat. As our hallway isn’t likely to be decorated until all construction is done and dusted, I was immediately drawn to this in the hope of sprucing up the room a little (just look at that floor! There’s more paint on there than the walls!)

The packaging was so quirky (“Real gentleman wipe their feet”) and it’s a lot heavier and dense than I expected, making it worthy of it’s £25 price tag. It also comes in black although from a different seller on the site, and hey, maybe I’ll get that version for when we get a back door out of the kitchen!

The Cologne Glass Bottles

For so very long I’ve dreamed of having jars scattered around the house just filled with M&Ms – I know, dream big right? I realise that this must portray me to be an absolute fatty but:
1. They’re my favourite munchies
2. They add colour to the room
3. Okay, yeah I suppose I am a bit of a chubster deep down.

With this in mind I’ve been on the hunt for some nice jars for blummin’ ages and although I’ve seen plenty of cheaper plastic ones from the bargain stores that I normally adore, I have really not liked any of their styles. However, coming in at £19.95, they may not be the cheapest I’ve seen, this set of 2 cologne glass bottles as they’re called on the website, really stood out to me. They’re made from sturdy, heavy glass, come with a bottle stopper, and this cute pattern on the side helps me to fool myself into thinking it’s actually an antique. For record, I’ve got regular M&Ms on the left and the Crispy version on the right – living the dream!

Chalkboard vinyl labels

I think this choice was mostly inspired by Etsy. As I’ve been looking for kitchen ideas online in preparation for us actually getting one soon (yippee!) I’ve noticed lots of jars full of herbs, sweets, sugar, tea, whatever! Just jars of stuff. And something which is everywhere right now is labels. I’ve mentioned in the past how much I love chalkboard items in the kitchen, and these labels just fitted that ideology in my head down to a T.

Being vinyl they’re not at all flimsy like traditional stickers, even though that’s how they first appear. They’re glossy in the light and come in loads of shapes and sizes. After testing the labels with the provided chalk (Joe calls all his stuff Bits and Bobs if you’re wondering why I’ve chosen those words) the writing stayed put, until wiped off with a damp cloth. I love that they’re re-usable and at only a fiver I think they’re a steal. I’m keeping these to one side for now because I’m determined to use them in our finished kitchen later on this year. Excited.