It happens to me every Spring and Autumn. I get this urge to shake up my home and get it ready for a new season. I do the same with my wardrobe – I put away the summer sandals and light weight maxi dresses and get out my knee high boots and warm cardigans – you do that too, right? Well, my home isn’t much different. Once Autumn arrives, the urge is strong to surround myself with a bit of cosiness – some darker colours, faux furs and thick throws all come out and the light weight duvet gets replaced by something that practically smothers me in my sleep (I love it).
So I thought I’d give you a little look at some of the new vignettes I created in my dining room using a lot of existing items as well as some new purchases.
Ya see, on Wednesday, I was invited to a sneak preview event of the opening of a new HomeSense store in Cheadle Hulme in the Stanley Green retail park. Being a mere 10 minutes away from home, I jumped at the chance to have a look at the new store before it officially opened to the public and do a little shopping.
I adore HomeSense – it’s a virtual treasure trove and every time you go in, you’ll find something a little different, all at ridiculously great prices. That amazing gold cobra? Yep, £7.99. I mean SERIOUSLY – talk about a statement piece. I couldn’t not take it home with me. Before I share what else I bought, I thought I’d share a few snaps I took of the store itself. I have to admit, shopping can’t be beat with a glass of bubbly in one hand and a camera in the other!
If you are in the US or Canada, you probably know HomeSense as well – the ‘homewares’ sister of TK Maxx (or TJ Maxx as it’s known in the US) where you can find bargains on loads of designer clothing. However, I admit that every time I step into a TK Maxx, I head upstairs where the housey stuff is! With HomeSense stores, the entire store is dedicated to this home element and so I’m pretty much in heaven.
I joked with Homesense’s PR team that when I walked in, it had that ‘new stock smell’ – like ‘new car smell’ only for us interior obsessed! Ha! How cute are they?
And the store itself looked great – well lit, loads of aisles of everything you could possibly need in a big open space.
Of course, I couldn’t just visit the store – I had to spend a little cash as well! So here’s a few snaps of my dining room with the new purchases in place!
The bar cart got a little refresh with a gorgeous wood tray with a pearl effect inlay around the edges – a mere £12.99 and honestly, I can never have enough trays.
On my sideboard, I’ve always had two stacks of books on either side and quite frankly, I was tired of looking at those. So the books are now gone and in their place, a few pretty bits and pieces including my Space Bunny and this lovely little Moroccan print box I picked up for £7.99.
On the mantle, I swapped out some of the pieces and decided to just go with a white and gold theme here. I had to find somewhere to display my recent award (!) and I had picked up a couple bunches of cranberry red dried eucalyptus (£4.99 per bunch) which smells absolutely divine and adds some seasonal colour to this wall.
And finally – on the console table, that amazing gold cobra, some more eucalyptus and a stunning bowl that I was dying over… there were SO many of these in stock, each full of the most beautiful colours and so ridiculously priced (this one was £7.99!), I had to get one.
I need to show you the detail on that plate so I took a couple of shots in better light (it was so dark when I was taking pictures!)… It’s just beautiful.
Even the bottom is intricately detailed and brassy gold in colour – HOW IS THIS ONLY £7.99?!
So anyway, that’s what the little Autumn refresh (so far) in my dining room is looking like! I know the changes are only subtle but when you are looking at the same things day in and day out, swapping a few things around makes everything feel fresh and different and I love the bits and pieces I picked up on my visit to HomeSense. (Again, sorry for the grainy pics – it was REALLY overcast when I was taking these – yep, Autumn is here!)
And just because you know I like to keep it real around these parts, while I am loving the new look of the dining room, I’m not as enamoured with the dog crate we’ve got going on in here right now.
He’s lucky he’s so cute, that’s all I’m saying.
If you are in the Manchester area, go and pop into the new HomeSense store – it’s all lovely and fresh with loads of great bargains to be had.
So… have you done any refreshes of your home yet for Autumn? Are you a fan of HomeSense? What do you think of the little changes – any favourites of the things I chose? Talk to me.
This is not a sponsored post. I was invited as a guest of HomeSense to preview their store and allowed to take pictures but I wasn’t under any obligation to either buy or blog about my visit. I just thought I’d share it with you today!
Love Homesense! And your dog is beautiful, my parents have always had the larger “version”, rough collies. Re: the dog crate, have you thought of getting a cover for it? A company called Hugo and Hennie make bespoke covers which are beautiful, I have one as my dog loves his crate even though he’s now fully grown up he still treats it as his bedroom. Unfortunately the only place it fits is under our stairs (he’s a huge dog and we have a XL crate) which made my hallway look ugly but with the crate cover it looks much better, they design them to go with your decor. Might be an idea if you plan on keeping your puppy’s crate for a while!
I’ve always loved Rough Collies – they are just gorgeous dogs! Shelties have *some* rough collie in them but apparently they are considered a totally different breed but still have that same look which I like – only smaller! :D Can’t wait for Quito’s long adult hair to come in – he looks like a little lion at the minute! Ha! As for a cover, I’m not sure just yet what we’ll do with the crate. He does like it and it’s great for when he’s napping or if we have to leave him alone for a few hours etc. Whether it’ll be a permanent fixture or not though I still don’t know and I don’t know if it’ll actually stay in the dining room or not! I might consider a cover however if it does! :-/ xxx
I LOVE HomeSense! Always have. I’ve not been to this particular branch, but I do try and go regularly. I took a friend recently who had poo-pooed it before… aaaand we could hardly fit everything she bought into her car! Do you think that they have got even better recently? I think they have. I just feels like the merchandise is more put together, and higher quality. The thing I love is that it feels a bit like a treasure trove, so you never know what you will find and it will be a bit more unusual, so not EVERYONE you know will have it!
Those cobras though…amazing. Nice post Kimberly!
It’s a great store, I’ve always loved it for that reason too – you know that if you buy something, not everyone else will have it because their stock changes so frequently :) Totally agree!! Ahh thank you, I have a feeling it’s going to be dangerous living so close to one now! Hahaha! xxx
I just squeeled out loud – we have the same bowl! Actually the pattern on mine is just a tad different to yours, mine is the same as the one in your last photo of the shop.
There is a HomeSense near my Brother and the last couple of times I’ve visited him I may have been caught on CCTV emerging from the store laden down with goods! x
Oh how cool – we’re bowl besties!! Hahaha! They had SO many that it was really difficult to choose one but the colours in this were just so pretty, I couldn’t resist! Yeah, I’m a little worried that living so close to one could be dangerous ;) xxx
That plate took my breath away. Hard to believe it was so affordable!
I know!! I couldn’t believe the price – that would easily go for like £40 somewhere like Anthropologie! :D xxx
That plate is gorgeous, i bought 2 very similar to that out of TKMaxx, one was red and gold the other was purple and gold, i just love them. I’m going to York tomorrow so i will be just visiting Homesense ( yeah ok) i hear from keith, i don’t know what he means I will only go in and have a look promise ?(she says with her fingers crossed ) lol. I also liked the box you bought, they can help hide a multitude of sin, it looks really pretty.
I’ve started to move things around now you can feel a change in the air, but this is my favourite time of year. Xxx
I wanted to buy about 10 of them myself Pauline but I resisted! Ha! Oooh yes on the visit to Homesense in York – don’t worry I won’t tell Keith your fingers are crossed behind your back!! lol I love this time of year as well but I just wished it didn’t lead to winter which is my least favourite season ;) xxx
Aww man, another great store we don’t have here! I do love a root around the homewares section in TK Maxx though, I’ve gotten some amazing bargains there! LOVE the cobra :)
There are still a lot of empty walls and thrown together spaces in this house (we’re here less than a year) so I haven’t gotten to the stage of refreshing things yet, but I do really love how, when I finish something, like a gallery wall or a vignette, for a few days after it will keep drawing my attention with its “freshness”. I imagine refreshing things has the same effect :)
Ahh if you have TK Maxx, maybe they’ll start to do HomeSense stores there in time! It’s pretty much the same thing, just bigger ;) And yes, that’s exactly how a refresh starts to work, your eye is just drawn to the ‘newness’ of whatever you’ve changed – it doesn’t look like much in pictures but it feels totally different to me which I love! xxx
The changes I made for Fall are minimal. It is so blasted hot here in Florida that it’s kinda hard to get into the Fall mood. I am working on it. Love your Home Sense Store. Have a SUPER FANTASTIC weekend!
Oh I wish we had that heat here!! Ha! It’s already getting quite cold in the evenings and we’re already having “discussions” about whether to turn the heating on! ;) But it does make it easier to get into ‘Fall Mode’ at least! xxx
OMG it’s finally open is it? I’m just down the road from Cheadle and gave been trying to find an opening date for weeks! Can’t wait to visit. I have a bowl very similar to your that I got from the traffird centre branch a few years back; it’s dirt of nude and hold. They had other sized/shaped in the same colours but contrasting patterns. I bought the lot but they are sitting in a box as I have no idea where to put them? The colours on your are perfect for this time of year; not quite autumn but definately not summer.
Yes, officially opened to the public on Thursday! I normally head to the Trafford branch as well but this one is so much closer – could be dangerous for my wallet! ;) They have a number of different colours of these bowls and honestly I wanted to buy them all but didn’t know what I’d do with them so resisted the urge! Thanks so much and happy shopping! xxx
Is the Homesense store in place of or as well as TKMaxx at Stanley Green?
As well as! So there’s a TK Maxx AND a HomeSense – shopping heaven ;) xxx
Amazing. Can’t wait to get my frippery perv on!
“Frippery perv” is probably the best expression I’ve EVER HEARD. Hahaha! xxx
amazing! love all the color and your sunburst mirror mixed with the plates! looks great!
Ahh thanks darling! xxx
I absolutely love the paintings on both sides of the tv. Where are they from? I’ve been searching for the source all thru your blog, dying to know….I love them!!
Hi Kelly! I painted them myself! :D (that’s probably not what you wanted to hear, sorry!!) xxx
I adore that gold snake!!! Seriously, the prices are so good. So, homesense is pretty much our TJ maxx and I adore it all. So fun! xo
Very recently stumbled on your blog and I’m loving it already. I’ve been toying with the idea of painting a wall in dark blue wall and your photos have convinced me it’s the right thing to do! Where did you get that fabulous Space Bunny from though? WANT!
Found it (gotta love Google)! Sootcookie ;-)
Ha! The one I got was from here: http://shopatva.com/ and I can see they are still carrying Sootcookie but not these particular bunnies! (They are so cool, though, aren’t they? Hopefully they get them back in stock) Glad to hear you found them! xx