A Cosy Home Reset | Cleaning Motivation, Autumn Homeware & Christmas Plans

It's funny to think that this time last year, this part of the house was practically a building site. There was dust everywhere, jobs half finished and I remember wondering if I'd ever get to the stage where I could just enjoy the space rather than constantly working on it. And here we are a whole year later and I'm cleaning windows instead of worrying about getting them installed. I have to say I absolutely love how this space has turned out. The extra light has made such a difference to the kitchen and it's probably one of the best changes I've made to the house. But something I've been thinking about lately is how much time it actually takes to maintain a home, especially when you're somebody who always seems to have another project on the go. I'm generally good at keeping on top of the everyday things. The kitchen gets cleaned, the floors get done, the washing gets put away most of the time. All those little jobs that are part of the daily routine, it's the bigger jobs that seem to get away from me. Cleaning windows properly, washing down skirting boards, getting into all those awkward corners, sorting cupboards. They're the sort of things I keep telling myself I'll get around to when I have a bit more time. And of course, the magical spare day never seems to arrive. I think part of my problem is that when I start a project I become completely engrossed in it. I'll happily spend days painting, decorating or trying to figure out how to make something work and everything else just becomes background noise. I'm so focused on finishing whatever I'm working on that I don't really notice the other little jobs piling up in the background. And then when I finally finish the project and look around the house, I realise I've created an entirely new list of things that need doing. Sometimes I feel like I need a few days just to reset the house after spending a few days improving it. And I do find that overwhelming at times, not because the house is particularly messy, but because there are so many little things competing for my attention. I think there's a big difference between keeping a house tidy and actually keeping on top of all the maintenance that comes with it. And when you live in a house that's constantly evolving, I suppose there's always going to be something that needs doing. But looking around the kitchen today, I'm also I'm also reminded of how much has changed in such a short space of time. Last year I was dreaming about what this room might eventually look like and now I'm standing here enjoying the light coming through the windows, cleaning a space that finally feels the way I imagined it. And I think that's worth appreciating too. It's very easy to finish one job and immediately start thinking about the next without really stopping to enjoy what you've So today, I'm giving myself A bit of time to catch up on those jobs I've been putting off, get the house feeling fresh again and hopefully enjoy the results of all the hard work over the past year because as much as I love a good makeover there's something equally satisfying about having absolutely nothing left to do in a room even if that feeling only lasts for about five minutes and I really want to have a little deep clean and almost like an autumn reset in the house. Try and tackle some of those larger jobs that I just don't want to do. This year I've been trying to hack my brain and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I will just give myself 20 minutes on a job and then I'll stop and I'll try and get as much as I can done in those 20 minutes. But then there's other days like today where my brain doesn't want a timer. The timer just feels like unnecessary noise and strain. So I will just do this. The job at hand, whether it's cleaning a window inside and out or just wiping down skirting boards or hoovering the stairs, because let's be honest, how often are we doing that? Me, probably once a month, maybe on this channel, we listen and we don't judge. So please do make me feel better about myself in the comment section. When was the last time you hoovered your stairs? Now, as promised, I will give you a little update on that window robot. Now, you're probably noticing, girl, you're cleaning down windows yourself. The robot isn't doing much of the work. So I haven't cleaned these windows probably since early summer. I kind of wiped them down, but a proper clean was needed. And one of the downsides to that robot cleaner. Now, initially, I did purchase this for the greenhouse. So to clean the awkward angles of the greenhouse. And I think with that, it does, you know, a decent job. But when it comes to the other windows, so in the kitchen and the living room. It does leave some streaks, it's quite noisy and it's quicker to just do the job yourself and another downside is you'll notice when I'm cleaning the windows I'm having to clean the surround so the little bars and I don't know if anyone else is you know the same on the back of summertime because you know the doors are open but there just be these little brown dots and I believe that that is insect poop. I just know this from being a beekeeper that you can notice some of that on the outside of the hive. You notice the little dots. That is actually insect poop. It's probably fly poop. How many times have I said poop? I do apologize but I have noticed that since getting the new windows like I would have had this before anyway but my older windows they didn't have these little bars so that is one thing that I do when it comes to maintenance. That's one thing I have to do is make sure I clean down the little bar surrounds. I'm just using dish soap so I just have a cloth with some warm water And a little bit of dish soap and that gets it off. I don't have to do any, you know, harsh scrubbing or use a harsh cleaner because the bars on the inside are wood and they're painted. I don't want to use, you know, a cleaner that's too harsh because I don't want to strip or lift or damage the paint. So that's one of the downsides to the window robot is it doesn't I suppose clean the frames as well. Listen in an ideal world if the robot is going to clean the window I want it to properly clean the whole thing but I don't think they have invented one for that. I will also put it to the test upstairs in the bedroom because I have a very filthy Velux window that is at an awkward This is an awkward angle for me to clean, so I'm going to use it on that. So is it gimmicky? I'm going to say yes. Is it worth the money? I spent 200 euro on it. I know that you can get similar models on Amazon by a different brand and they range from anywhere from I'm going to say maybe 80 to 100 for the cheaper ones. I'm not sure how they work in comparison. I think it's good for awkward to reach areas, but it is not going to replace a window cleaner or yourself having to do things like clean the surrounds. So is it gimmicky? Yes. Will you do the job quicker yourself? Yes. Is it handy for It's never awkward to reach areas. Yes. Is it worth the money? I don't know. I don't know. Let me know what you think anyway. Now, can someone explain why my stairs get filthy when it is me and paws that go up? I notice it is quite cute and it's funny. For some reason, when the cats go up the stairs, they walk on the white wooden part, the painted part, and I do see like little paw marks, like the greasy paw marks. But when they come down the stairs, they walk on the carpet, the sisal carpet. So I don't know, it's just one of those little quirks that they have. When I'm hoovering the downstairs I will usually hoover the first you know couple of steps and then when I'm hoovering upstairs I will hoover the other ones but I'm not gonna lie I probably hoover my stairs maybe if I'm lucky once a week maybe every second week but when it comes to cleaning The white part. I think that I think it was early summer when I cleaned the side parts so I think I don't mind the maintenance of it but someone did ask me about you know the maintenance of a stair runner if you don't want to have that maintenance where you just want to be able to hoover the whole thing you can get you know a piece of carpet with the strip at the side but instead of doing a runner You can do the whole stair. And that is going to be more, you know, easier to maintain because you will get dust. Now I did see these little brass, they're, I think they're old vintage brass. corners they're like little feet that go in the corner decorative ones and I think they're supposed to help with dust gathering but I think they're more decorative than anything else. One of my least favorite jobs is tackling the stairs but it literally takes me 20 minutes and I don't know why I put it off because it's done in 20 minutes and I love the detail on the stairs so if anyone If anyone remembers. When I did this area, I think we're going back maybe two years now because I did it before I did the kitchen renovation. I had removed the old carpet. I had like an Ikea hacked runner that didn't really last long. And then I painted the stairs, the landing, the awkward space on top that I had to paint. And then I had this new sisal carpet or sisal, sisal, sisal, I still don't know. Tomato, tomato. And this is really hard wearing. A lot of people said don't get that if you had cats but I was saying in a previous video about the wool carpet that I had. Do not get a wool carpet if you have you know cats who are prone to picky picky. But I have to say this is even though Bon doesn't bother with it but Byul does. She does like to try and scratchy scratchy but it's really good I'm not good at hiding any of the imperfections. It's quite hard wearing, so. I still love it and I love how it's settling in and I think it's wearing well on the stairs but I do have to police it from Miss Byul from time to time. Now, I have to be honest, but I am not vibing or there's something a bit off about like the upstairs bedroom. Maybe it could just be simply I'm a little bit more cluttered up here because it's not the downstairs where, you know, you see everything. And if there's people over in the house, you're more conscious about keeping it clean. But the upstairs bedroom, I love the The decor that I have done, but I think. Maybe it's the storage is not practical or working for me. The writing desk, I do, that's my favourite because I have my make-up there and it gets a tiny bit cluttered but I have space to put everything away. I find I always have, you know, a basket of washing, then the pile of clean clothes and it's almost like I'm waiting for space to free up in the drawers that then go to the washing pile. And I have this bit of rotation, so I think I either need to do a bit of a declutter when it comes to maybe some pieces of clothing that I don't wear anymore and that will give me more space, or maybe I just need to be better at staying on top of the bedroom because when it's all decluttered and de-dusty, de-dusted, I once or twice a year will clean the skirting boards in here but because of the cats And they do share the bed with me and the upstairs. I do find I do have more dusting that I need to do. Maybe I don't notice it as much downstairs or I keep on top of it downstairs? But I definitely have more dust bunnies upstairs because I'm going to blame the cats. Because, I mean, I've got fluffy legs, but I'm not as fluffy as Byul and Bon is. But yeah, there's something a bit off. I don't know. I have been thinking about possibly changing my bed frame. And anytime I'm looking at any of the antique auctions, I have been keeping an eye out for old brass bed frames, you know, the solid ones. Now, I am just looking. I am not actively, you know, planning. It's just a, oh, if the right one came across, I could be turned because the bed frame is, I got that when I first moved into the house in 2013. It was a pine, orange pine. Bed frame and I got it for 50 euros so it has served me well but I just find it's starting to make some funny noises when I'm turning over in the middle of the night. It's getting some squeaks and I'm almost afraid to check the slats underneath to see if any of them are under stress but yeah there's something not quite working about upstairs. I think I need to do maybe a declutter because it has been a while since I've gone through my wardrobe. And, you know, gotten rid of a few things and passed them on. So maybe I need to do something like that. Now another great tip that someone left in the comment section to help keep on top of the bathroom and I did do this a couple of months ago. So they said to get one of those dish scrubbies, but you can get these in any of the pound shops or the supermarkets and you fill the tube, the handle with dish soap and then you can change the sponge on it whenever, you know, the sponges go a little bit scald-y and this is great. So I have this in the shower and if I'm like in a hurry or if the glass is really bad or even around the sink, because I love using oil based cleansers, they're great for cleaning your skin, but they do leave this kind of mucky residue in the sink, like if you don't keep on top of it. So whoever gave me that tip, that is great at keeping on top of the glass and keeping on top of any of the grime. So I do like to use one of those and I I have seen people and someone also said in the comments about having a little squeegee in the shower to hand. So I feel like those little tiny, tiny wins can make keep on top of, you know, keeping on top of the cleaning a bit easier, especially when all of the cleaning and the jobs in the house fall upon you. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way, but still, it does get a bit tiring doing all of the jobs yourself. Now, you will see in a minute the... Robot cleaner is getting put to the test on the Velux window and I have to be totally honest it did struggle which is surprising because I feel like it's marketed towards those awkward hard to reach places. So I did flip the Velux to clean the outside and I had to kind of be careful and angle it because I noticed that when it went to the top it would get a little bit stuck and just spin so I would have to make the window not as you know Hi if that makes any sense and then it would move and then it did a decent job considering that this window is absolutely filthy. The window has a hole. A whole, I'm going to say definitely since before summer worth of grime. I don't even think, I think I cleaned it after Christmas when we had storms and then we had some more storms and 40 days of rain and I didn't clean the window then. So it does say now, I have to, you know, disclaimer, the robot does say you should first remove any heavy grime yourself and then put the robot. No, I didn't do that. I just put the robot on and I set it to go around three times because I was like hey it will do a pre-clean and then a clean and then a buff. So it did get a clean but it's not perfectly spotless than if you were to scrub this yourself and put in that elbow grease before an awkward to reach area. You know what it's not that bad. I'm not sure if you can see So it does claim that it leaves your window streak free. Now, this window was filthy to begin with. It hasn't been cleaned all summer. It's hard to tell on camera, but there is streaks in the corners. I mean I think it's fine for like Velux windows, greenhouses. I think if this was in my living room or the kitchen where you spend time and a streak on a window would annoy me in those places. It doesn't bother me too much on this window because it's in the bedroom and yeah but there is there is buff marks from the little buffer pad so I don't know I think it's good for keeping on top of these awkward hard to reach upstairs windows but I don't think it does not save you time. Doesn't save time because you have to spend most of your time minding it. So listen that window I think it's much cleaner than what it was. But I wouldn't be firing. I think if you had like a window cleaner once every like six months maybe to do a big deep scrub and then you could use it as maintenance then because honestly that window has not been cleaned in months. So that's how I fare it out. One thing that I am loving about the log burner this year is how much easier it is to clean versus the open fire. Now, don't get me wrong. The open fire, you just had more components to kind of take apart and sweep out. But with the log burner, there is this handy little drawer at the bottom. And because I burn the willow worms, so you can use that in the garden. So I put a pile of the ashes down the back where I have this kind of tiny compost area and you can use that then to mix it together and pop into the soil. And it's actually quite good for the soil. So I have to say I am loving, first of all, how the extra heat and warmth that I get from the log burner. Also, the cleanup is so easy too. I did get a little tip in the comment section for cleaning the glass. Someone had said if you dampen some ashes and then use the damp ash to wipe down the glass, it will get any of that soot off. Now, I actually am using a HG stove cleaner. I think it's a stove glass cleaner. And I just picked it up one of the days when I was in Woody's, actually. And I'm just using a bit of newspaper. And that, and that actually gets the glass spotless, but I'm not sure what's actually in it, if it's, you know, a harsh chemical, but someone did say if you dampen ashes and then use that, I don't know, maybe damp it like on a cloth, if you rub them on the glass, you will get the glass door nice and clean once again. Shock horror. Owner needs to go to the pet shop for the umpteenth time to get creamies. Now I, I'm going to have a chat about actually being excited this year for, but I'm going to go to the pet shop and there's a homeware shop that I want to have a look around for some ideas and it is very budget friendly. Now it's a little bit niche because I think you can only get it in Ireland And maybe the UK, I don't think they're in, I know they're up north, but I don't know if they're in UK, UK, but the prices are really good. So I'm going to get a coffee as well and we can have a little peruse and then let me know what you think. Let me know what you think, because I'm kind of looking for ideas for, I'm going to call it winter decorating. Winter decorating. I thought we could have a little ramble around Dunnes Stores today and see what they've got in for the new season. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but I always enjoy having a browse when the seasonal collections start arriving. Even if I come home empty-handed I usually leave with a few ideas for my own home. Now, for those of you watching from outside of Ireland, Dunnes Stores is an Irish retailer that's been around since the 40s. They're probably best known for their supermarkets and their clothing, but they have also a really lovely homeware department. You can pick up everything from your weekly groceries to bedding, kitchenware, furniture. Little decorative pieces and knickknacks all under the one roof. Now, one of the things that I like about the Dunnes Stores homeware section is they have several different homeware collections, each with its own distinct style, and then the prices will vary between them. So they have their own homeware range, but then they also have ranges from designers. So we've got Helen James and Carolyn Donnelly, and I think that's what makes having a browse so interesting. You can move from something quite simple and understated to pieces with lots of colour, pattern and personality. I personally really like the Carolyn Donnelly range. It's just really floral. There's lots of different patterns and colour and there's like really pretty teacups and plates. In terms of their pricing, I'm going to say that their own homeware range is on par with Penny's or Primark. Some of the stuff might be one or two euro cheaper, but I actually think the quality in Dunnes is better. And then some of the other ranges are slightly more expensive. So the likes of the Carolyn Donnelly or the Frances Brennan. And I would say that those prices are kind of on par with the likes of Next. So there is different price ranges. Now something I've noticed as well, actually, which I was really happy to see when I was looking at the candles, I think I got a shot of one of the candles when I was browsing. They said made in Ireland and I was like oh I've never seen like that before especially when it's like quite budget friendly. Usually they will be made elsewhere but I did notice on some of the candles that they did say made in Ireland which we love to see. Now I just got a lot of footage there of the Paul Costello range and when I first moved into my house I actually still have I was obsessed with the sketches. or drawings that he has of the ladies and I do have I think I have two cups of those ladies and I have some of the plates and something I actually like about that Paul Costello range and actually a lot of the ranges in Dunnes when it comes to obviously you know fast fashion and fast interiors I feel like the interiors yes they get new stuff but it's I feel like there's always a nice range if that makes sense like there's not constant newness and things sell out. I feel like they have a nice steady flow and the likes of the Carolyn Donnelly stuff I feel like that's quite you know consistent. I think I've one or two Carolyn Donnelly pieces like that from absolutely years ago and I feel like you could go in and you could get something Now I did see a bed set, the one that is on the bed that they've styled on the bed and I wanted to just see what the quality was like. Now I didn't buy it, I was thinking of getting it for the room downstairs but I just wanted to see what the quality was like. Now I think A double bedspread was 60 euros and the king may have been 80 euros so that is more on the pricier end because if you go into the Dunnes store's own brand homeware where their duvet sets are around the 20 euro mark, 30 euro upwards so These collections are a little bit more expensive but I felt like their teacups I did try and get a couple more prices because I felt like the mugs and the cups were good value they were like five and six euro there was really nice tea towels like there was a tea towel really nice fringe detail on it and that was only five euros so I think of all the collections that I show from Dunnes today I think you guys will really like the Carolyn Donnelly one and also if you're ever Ever visiting Dublin, there is literally... Dunnes stores everywhere they're kind of like you know a Tesco and most of the Dunnes will also have homeware in it sometimes they will have a small homeware section in the supermarket and they will have a couple of pieces so if you're visiting Dublin you'll find these everywhere but I do there is big ones there is a large Dunnes store on Mary Street and then there's also ones over the south side as well towards St Stephen's Green so you will find this stuff Now another thing about Dunn's is it's always busy. It is always busy and the checkouts always have queues at them. No matter what time you go into Dunnes, it does be busy So I was trying to be quite stealthy going around filming and not filming people. So I apologise if I have any shaky footage. I was just trying to not Draw attention with my tiny camera trying to see, you know, what pretty decor that they had. So as well as all of the individual ranges, they have their own own brand range and the own brand range of Dunnes Homeware will be quite cheap. It will be similar to Penneys, but I personally think the quality is better. So if you're wondering why I'm always touching things and scratching plates, it's because I want to see are things actually embroidered versus printed on? And is the porcelain, does it feel nice or does it feel thin? I think I'm just quite fussy when it comes to texture and I want to get like the best value you can. Now something that I think is a bit underrated when it comes to the own brand Dunnes Dunnes Homeware is I think their bathroom towels are quite good. So if you keep going past all the pretty stuff they do have like a kitchen and a bathroom section and that's where you can get glassware, tableware, spoons, forks, things like that and I feel like everybody goes to Ikea for for those things but the towels feel nice here and I think their prices would probably be on par with Ikea for the own brand range anyway. I know the other ranges can be more expensive, but I feel like the own brand range is on par price wise with Ikea and I do think the quality for certain things is better. Now, coming up in a few seconds, I did get a shot of some Irish phrased cups that I actually think would be really nice as presents. They just have some popular common like Irish phrases on them and they weren't that expensive and I think if you're looking for a gift or actually I think they'd be a really nice souvenir so if you are in the city and you want to get something like Irish themed because I know the likes of the Irish gift shops I think Carroll's is one of them in town. Everyone goes there for a souvenir but these mugs have been in stock for a good while in Dunnes and I actually think that they would be a really nice gift or souvenir if you're visiting. Does anyone else who has cats feel like they should have shares in creamies? And Björg is fussy with creamies. I got another flavour. Hang on. I got the... These are the ones from Maxi Zoo but there's another pet shop and another brand that Biog prefers but they don't do big packs and I tried to buy in bulk because it's cheaper when it comes to the creamies but these creamy snacks, oh the attitude. I had no creamies yesterday and also that bell noise is Cleo has just come in the door there. So she's having the leftovers, she better not look for a creamy. But yeah, the creamy snacks, whatever they put in the creamies. My two take them in these little shot bowls. So see these tiny bowls? They don't, maybe because as kittens I didn't train them, but usually with like a churro or a creamy, they would lick from here. But my two, they take it out of a little bowl, which is very chic. Um, yeah, I don't know why they just prefer to have it that way, but Björg will be like nudging at the bowl because she knows creamies go in bowls. So it's a habit I started, but listen, here we are. Now I only purchased one thing because the goal was just to get some inspiration and I'm going to talk to you about my winter plants. Um, so I did pick up one of the Robin Now this is supposed to be a hand towel but so this was five euros and it's embroidered it's not printed on it's embroidered detail so the quality is quite good. Now the quality of the toweling is not like you know fluffy fluffy but I love the embroidery detail and I love the trim on the end and it's perfect with my color scheme. Now I would love so I would have this all year I'll show you around with the Robin on it. I would love if they didn't have the present and the thing on it because I use it all year round. I suppose you can use it all year round. Who's going to come into your house and say why is there a Christmas thing? But I'm going to use this as a tea towel. Don't come at me! It is very pretty for a hand towel but... I'm going to throw this in the wash and the reason why I want to use it as a tea towel is because I've said it before on the channel when it comes to tea towels because I don't have a dishwasher, I am a tea towel connoisseur, this has lovely absorbing qualities and so I was like that's actually a lovely tea towel and I'm going to use it as a tea towel because I do like having pretty fabrics but I also like using them as well. Now, when it comes to what I'm thinking. For winter decorating, basically one of the things that I don't like about Christmas decorating is it's only up for a short amount of time. Like, a lot of people in Ireland, well, actually, a lot of people do now decorate earlier. You're kind of looking at November time, like middle of November. Once the tree is up for, like, the toy show, which is a popular late-night show in Ireland, which is usually the last Friday in November, is usually the toy show. So people would have their Christmas tree up for that, especially if they have little ones at home. And personally, I, well, for the past, this is the first year I have actually had an interest in decorating for Christmas. So long story long, my mom passed away two years ago. And then the year before that, Björg and Bonn were kittens. So when I tried to decorate, so three years ago, three Christmases ago, they tore down the Christmas tree, but they were teeny tiny babies. And, like, oh, when I look back, I'll see if I can find an old photo on my phone. But I came home one day, and the tree was literally... So that was that year. And then, yeah, my mom, the first year my mom had passed away, I had absolutely... No interest because it was only a couple of months after. Anybody who's been in that situation just knows that you were going through the motion, you were ticking the boxes and I had no interest. Any decorating that I did was very minimal and it was, to be honest. to put out a video on YouTube and if I was working with any brand sponsors on Instagram at the time I was going through the motions and I didn't have any interest and to be honest I could have easily not have decorated and not have cared. So then last year I did have well no last year was renovations and so last year Again, there was, I think, I had no tree. Sorry, flies, I have to get in, I have the door open. Thank Last year, I had no tree. I did think I tried possibly a tree, and I just tested it out with Bug. Bon is, oh, the two of them have calmed down. They've gone out of that cat dinosaur. So cats are kittens, and then they go through a dinosaur stage, you. which is like year one to three, kind of. And they still have their fun now, but they're not as chaotic as they were. So this year, this is how you know you're healing. Because I was like, oh, hang on a minute, I'm actually looking forward. And I feel motivated and I find myself. Scrolling to see, you know, what tablecloths there I could use. So last year I always had renovations. I think the floor went down the month of December. um It was still very dusty and like there was still lots of jobs I needed to do like I was going to change the floor in the living room and I've done the floor so it all matches and I just feel like the house is more put together for this winter and I'm not having to worry about you know you. paying contractors and yeah dust and paint like I was tiling backsplashes and painting kitchen Switching cabinets and making window sills and... I didn't even have the cozy little you know fireplace corner over there so like when you don't have all of those things in place you it's very hard to get excited to you know decorate for a week or two because once I got to December I was kind of just like ah so I think I had the mantelpiece inside. I'm all done with lovely foliage and that was lovely and it was lovely and fresh and I was able to keep that foliage up until the end of January. I didn't do a tree and again it was more kind of minimal Christmas decorating. So what I'm leaning towards this year is obviously I love the you know little women Christmas, the little women with Florence Pugh, is that her name? And Saoirse Ronan is in it. If you look at the mantle and their little cottage, the farmhouse that they live in, the decor with orange slices. There's been... I just think that is beautiful and a lot of it could be foraged. But what I'm thinking for from possibly November is, and I feel like this could be winter decor, like I can keep this in January into February, is like I'm leaning to kind of burgundy. I feel like it's a nice contrast with the kind of cream and all of the other things. That's the thing I hate about Christmas is you put out all these decorations and then they're taken away. They feel quite cluttered. And so I think what I'm going to do is like winter decorating and then you can add on a few of your Christmassy bits. So that way, like in January, I'm just really taking down a tree and one or two Christmas things, but the rest is still, you know, winter decorating and foliage and flowers. And yeah, I don't know if that makes sense. So I am thinking of doing a pencil tree. I have to be careful with the trees. I'm going to have a look. So the thing with the charity shops, I find in November, you get an influx of Christmas decor from people who go up to the attic. decorate and then with what they have left over they're not arsed putting it back in the attic so they give it to the charity shop so I notice around about the middle of November is when the charity shop now some of them will have it now but again also just if you're overseas so in Ireland we wouldn't have these large charity shops and I do have a playlist if you want to see what is out there and I have a thrifting and secondhand playlist but I also have a compilation video I have a couple of spots like car boot sales, some charity shops and salvage yards and furniture places but when I watch videos of overseas and they have these large Goodwill shops that they literally look like TK Maxx, we don't have anything that big here and a lot of our charity shops in villages would have a lot of clothing items and the homeware that they would have would be on the smaller side so it could be like one or two cases and it could be, you know. Old china um or like trinkets and plates it wouldn't always be you know home decor things and if they are they're quite small. So in terms of Christmas items they do take some and they do have some but it's not as amazing as you know other other shops. So I'm keeping an eye out I've been looking on adverts for a pencil Christmas tree to possibly Put it behind the chair to give it a bit of protection if it falls. Um So doing a small tree in that cozy nook to test it out to see if the cats are going to bother with it this year. I don't know. I don't think they will. They seem to be calming down. you But sometimes, especially Bug, they just get zoomies and they get activated. so So I think what I'm going to do is possibly change up much. the table to like maybe a burgundy table runner or tablecloth and maybe just switching out some of the tea towels and then styling the mantel over there with a Christmas tree in the corner and then when it comes to the living room I will see how I get on. I obviously do have, I have a Christmas tree from the one that Pio Gumbon tore down that is still in my attic. It's slightly bent. It is slightly bent because they demolished it. But I'm thinking maybe I could see how I get on with that and I could possibly do that tree. Also, when it comes to the tree, if I do one in here, I'm thinking of just really, really simple and just little bows to match the table runner. So very simple, maybe some dried orange slices and maybe the little popcorn strings and then some of the little bows on it and then that's it. Not low, not no maximalist, just quite simple. That's kind of what I'm leaning towards in here anyway. And then as for the living room, I will see how I get on with. the cats first and because I changed, obviously I went for a log burner stove with the accident I had earlier this year in the living room so that has even changed so that heats up a lot so I think if I was to put a fresh foliage garland on that it would dry out very very quick because the log burn stove is much hotter than the open fire was. So I may do something a bit more minimal in there. I mean, I could do some maybe dried orange slices or something, but I might just do something quite minimal because I don't want to put stuff around the stove because it gets really hot around the stove in comparison to the open fire. With the open fires, a lot of the heat notoriously goes up the chimney, whereas the log burner... Puts the heat out into the room. So if I was to do a real tree in the living room, the thing with the real tree as well, Miss Bug behind me, the real tree, when I bring some nature in, Bug will pee on that, which is why I don't have potted plants in the house. So I have to be careful with that. So the living room might be quite minimal. So I'm kind of thinking of having the kitchen area quite Christmassy because when people come over that is like the first place. This is like the hangout place and the living room not as much. So that is kind of my thinking but I was only thinking to myself on the way and just the past week I was like that is a sign my therapist will be proud because I think sometimes when it comes to healing from things, I'm not going to say get over because there's certain things in life you just don't get over, you move with it. But yeah, I was like, that is a sign because I think sometimes when it comes to healing from something, you think, oh, one day I'm just going to wake up and I'm going to be... Feeling a million times better, like a light switch. But actually, it doesn't happen that way. And then one day, you'll just be like, oh, hang on a minute. I've noticed the past couple of weeks, I do feel motivated for certain things. And I do have energy and enthusiasm. More than what I had before. You're not like back at 110%. Maybe you've gone from like 10% to 50%. So, yeah, it's just having that little note. You're like, oh, hang on a minute. I actually do want to put out some decorations this year. Granted, I won't be hosting. You know, I'm not a... I mean, you saw my pasta. You saw my pasta portions. I won't be cooking a Christmas dinner. I do like being the guest at Christmas. I don't like doing the hosting. But I do like making things look pretty. And I feel like I do have a bit more kind of motivation this year. So it's nice to go out and have a look and see what's in the shop. I don't feel like the shops, and maybe it'll be different depending on, you know, the shops. And I haven't obviously been to loads, but I don't think the Christmas decorations are too much. And obviously they're there and I was kind of you know looking for some ideas but I feel like there's also neutral decor as well so there's like the Christmas section whereas in previous years I feel like that was everywhere whereas I feel like in some of the shops now they have all their other collections and the Christmas it's not like loads if that makes any sense. I don't know just an observation I've seen from some of the shops that we have visited in the past kind of couple of weeks. I don't think it's been too in your face but others may disagree uh because I'm not I'm not always in the shops. Anyway I'm gonna hide thanks for the chats there's my chat um yeah basically I feel a bit more motivated for Christmas this year and I'm gonna hide these lock and key before Miss Peelby, should be behind me? No she's not, my washing is hanging in the corner as well and I will see you In the next video.