An interior brand I love: Bohzaar

I'm on a mission to introduce you to some of the UK's cutest interior stockists. Whether you're an interior stylist, budding interior assistant or just love finding home decoration sites to spruce up your home, keep an eye on this feature.

I'm working hard to collect a little black book with a list of favourite shops, so that for ANY interior look you want to achieve, all that's needed is a glance through my little black book to know where you'll find the goods to create your dream rooms. 

Last time I shared with you a brand I've been leaning towards to source sentimental art for the home

This week, let me introduce a brand who is the sole reason behind my new found love for the  bohemian trend, and why I've changed my whole bedroom plans because of their  beautiful bedding and cushions. 

Hello, Bohzaar. I'll allow you to click on their site for two secs to fall in love with their stock too, but make sure you  come back here as soon as poss to see how I'm incorporating their gorgeous bedding in my room. There's plenty of time for shopping, umming and ahhing later ;)

Bohzaar KNOW how to rock the bohemian trend.  I think you'll agree. I initially wanted a minimalist look in our new bedroom (which is currently in the slow  process of decoration between blogging  + working) but after sharing my first phase before  + after look I realised  I needed more pattern and personality within the room. 

It was looking a bit 2 dimensional, flat and needed some pattern and texture to add depth. So I came up with a 'Minimalist Boho' theme to incorporate my love for simplicity with splashes of pattern. Totally trying to  trend set here  - there is no such thing as 'boho minimalism' obvs... but it will soon be a 'thing' ha.

It was looking through Bohzaar's site that gave me this realisation. Don't you just love it when an interior shop or website gives you that 'a-ha' moment and you finally have a shop that stocks everything you need?

What stood out to me, and really appealed to my personality, was Bohzaar's fabric ranges. I've spent a long long time trawling the internet for small but detailed print paisley-esque bedding for my previous place. It feels good have finally found the  home of boho bedding.

The blue paisley patterns would mix well with cool tones on your bedroom walls for a relaxing atmosphere, whereas the striking Ikat Kerela range in all different colours would sit beautifully in a scandi inspired bedroom. I sometimes dislike the scandinavian look for it's lack of colour, it can be a bit stark and limited to monochrome, so if you're after something a bit brighter to fit within a modern/scandi/ikea theme, check out the Ikat Kerela in Orange base. A nice warm fabric to cosy up what is usually quite a cold, minimal style. 

What did I end up opting for?

It was a real toss up between the ZigZag Grey Duvet cover as I'm going for a grey/white theme in our bedroom, and the Bohemian Sundara  duvet and pillowcases.  You can see exactly which ones I chose and they are by far my most favourite bed sheets I've ever owned (and that's a LOT of bed sheets). 

They wash really well and with a spray of my new best friend 

Crease Release when they're drying they don't wrinkle too much - perfect for photo shoots!

Do you like?  

Pay Bohzaar a visit ›› 

www.bohzaar.co.uk

Fi xoxo

My 'Minimalist Boho' bedroom mood board + John Lewis £50 giveaway!

I can't tell you how effective it is to have a mood board on the go when you're decorating a room. If you're decorating without one, you risk losing direction and throwing a paddy. I speak of experience :) 
In the beginning, I used my pinterest boards to reflect what I wanted to achieve in my bedroom, but really, all it helped with was defining the overall style I want - minimalist boho - it didn't help with fine tuning the exact things that would pull the look together in real life. 
I have a free downloadable interior class that helps people define their style, and pinterest plays a big part in it. But for the later stages, developing a product board like the one above is the next step to seeing the look come to life before you commit to buy.
Once I've got an idea of the look I'm going for, I always play around with these sort of product boards to see how things I want inside the room, furniture and accessories, look together on paper. The board above is a sneak peek of what I created for our bedroom makeover a short while ago - what do you think?

Let me talk you through all the elements. 

I'd already decided on a grey/white colour scheme for the minimalist vibe, so I began by considering the furniture I already have that I wanted to keep along that theme (the Hemnes ikea bedside table I knew was staying), and slotted in the bigger things I want to replace - like the bed (I want to eventually have an upholstered headboard as opposed to my metal frame you can see in this interior blog post, to bring warmth). One that's particularly caught my eye is the Capri Wolf Grey from Made, but I doubt it will have the storage space underneath for me to sign it off with the other half! I'll find something perfect soon, and plan to buy it when money is not as stretched.
I then looked around for accessories from my favourite interior brands to bring in that boho feel. Take this caged pendant light for the ceiling for example, I love the copper tones and the intricate detailing that looks fab paired with the subtle colours and boho pattern on the Bohzaar New Paisley linen cushion. We since bought and installed a very similar light fitting along this theme, and my bed is adorned with gorgeous Bohzaar boho bedding. So progress is being made on that front.
For the floors, I know I want more rugs and texture. We have wooden floors throughout our flat which I adore, but I've also felt like bedrooms should have carpets. I don't know why. Maybe it's a cosy thing. Rather than paying for new flooring, rugs make complete sense and this grey geometric rug from urban outfitters would be perfect, layered with my sheepskin rug for added texture. 
I saw this absolutely stunning blanket on Toast's website. In fact, it's pretty hard to not find a stunning blanket on there. The whole collection I'm amazed with. It's a Chirali Bedspread that costs the best part of £200 but it is PERFECT for bringing a boho vibe with its reversible patterns. If money was no object, it would be mine. Perhaps I can find a knock off somewhere? My new challenge. 
Finishing touches would see some copper ornamental things on my bedside table and this sweet little bedside lamp. I actually smashed my Next lamp you can see in my bedroom makeover post as I was rushing to work the other morning which I'm gutted about, so a new lamp is needed asap. 
There we have it. What do you think of the mood board? Do you think I should add anything else to our room for a more boho vibe? 

Oh before I go, I have a special giveaway for you c/o the wonderful bunch at Foundry. Foundry design and sell contemporary lighting for the home. If you're after a minimalist feel and similar lights to the ones I've mentioned above, you should definitely check them out.
Enter the Rafflecopter below to potentially win a £50 John Lewis voucher from them and get styling your room minimalist-boho too! All you have to do is follow my blog on bloglovin' for a chance to win. There's lots more bonus entries to be had too, so get stuck in.  The winner will be announced on   Monday 18th October, you'll get an email from me if you've been picked. Please note this is open to UK residents only. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Meet our mattress, Eve | Review

This post contains affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.

She has arrived. In September I spoke about my need for a new mattress. After a long google around (procrastination session) I realised the reason my sleep was a bit shoddy was because our mattress was so old and lumpy. I'd never really considered it before until it dawned on me, yep, we needed to shell out on a new mattress before my sleep will improve. I spotted Eve mattresses online and was intrigued, now I'm here to share my thoughts.

Why I opted for Eve

As I mentioned in my previous post, there were 5 core things that have led me to opt for an Eve mattress as opposed to a Dreams mattress - the brand we had before. I'll run through them again.

1. When I first hit up the website it quickly dawned on me that Eve sell only one mattress. The only one we will ever need, they say. It made me trust the design process fully. When crafting this mattress, their focus was on making every single part of it the best it can be, no shortcuts or things that were compromised because it had to cater for different materials or springs etc. It left me thinking, damn, this must be good if it's the only one they sell. 

2. Eve is delivered within 5 working days. Brilliant, I thought. Only 5 more days of crappy sleep, no waiting around a whole 10 weeks like those darn DFS sofas. Speed is everything when I buy online. I also loved how I didn't have to cart it home from a shop, imagine the hilarity putting a double mattress on a roof rack the size of a 2p?

3. The price was in the right range for me. I didn't want anything too cheap. A mattress is an investment you'll be glad you considered heavily rather than rushing and having to spend the same amount again 3 years down the line. Similarly, it wasn't too expensive either. I've seen some that reach the thousand mark - say WHAT. 

4. Eve mattresses are guaranteed for 10 years whereas we only had our Dreams mattress (the one before it) for 8. And even on reflection, I realise we should have replaced it a lot sooner. 

5. I loved the sunshine yellow around the base. What a lovely thing to wake up to (when not covered by a valance sheet)

So we took the plunge.

The setup

After we put our order in, I only had to wait about 2-3 days for the delivery confirmation and was called by a lovely Eve representative to arrange a window to deliver the mattress in. 

Fantastic. 

Really prompt delivery meant I had enough hours left in the day to potter around town to look around for bed sheets to adorn it!

The mattress arrived in a cardboard box that looked so small, I couldn't believe a double mattress fit inside it. It was SUPER heavy. I was sweating buckets just shifting it from our front door to the bedroom and unpacking it. Thankfully we have no stairs. I'd recommend getting the delivery men to bring it up stairs for you if you're planning on buying one. 

I unwrapped it all which took no time at all, popped it on the bed and rolled the memory foam mattress out which expanded before my eyes, to about triple the thickness it was rolled to. After a quick cuppa tea I popped out for a while, came back a few hours later and the Eve was looking full and beautiful on the bed.

Thoughts after 1 week's Eve sleep

I feel like it was the best investment of my time I've ever made getting this mattress. I once had really interrupted sleep, but from day 1 with Eve, I haven't woken up at all during the night (apart from when a fox started howling in our garden!)

The memory foam really works for me. I can feel it moulding to my sleeping position taking pressure off certain places that the previous mattress (a pocket sprung) didn't. I've discovered that if you share a bed with someone who moves a lot in their sleep, having a memory foam Eve mattress is a really good choice because you can't feel the bed moving. Well, not much anyway. It's sturdier than a pocket sprung mattress, but comfortable too. 

You can buy the Eve mattress on Amazon

My favourite thing about the mattress, aside from the colour obviously, is it's thickness. Our old mattress was pretty light and thin. We've kept the same bed frame and having the thicker Eve mattress has given a new height to the bed. I love it. It's about 2-3 inches higher than our old bed and I feel like it fits the frame in an all rounded way. 

My frame, by the way, is a standard UK double I purchased from Dunelm Mill about 4 years ago that's not selling there now. They sell the exact same for double the price in Dreams now. It's the Cadiz Bed Frame and I love it. 

Back to the mattress. See that polka sorta material on the top of it? It's a removable lining *hallelujah folks* the lining is machine washable! Genius idea. I haven't tried unzipping it all yet, but I think I'll wash it in a few weeks time as it has a very memory foam smell to it - as do all new mattresses. 

All in all though, I'm delighted with it and hope to have 10 more years worth of happy sleeps in it. Thank goodness this mattress exists! I've pimped out my whole bed since and got some really cushy things from Slumberdown to make it as cosy as it can be. A quilted mattress protector (which I'm yet to add to the bed to try out) and a new winter warm duvet and pillows for the cooler months coming in. I wanted the Goose down duvet as I've never had one and have heard people raving about them but alas it was a wee bit out of my price range. Absolutely dying to try Goose down though, how sad am I?

See my gorgeous bedding there by the way? It's from Bohzaar. A new bohemian brand I love which will be featured on my blog super soon so stay tuned if you're into boho interior looks, you'll LOVE their stock as much as I do. Oh yep, and in the background there you'll see my night time stash of Lindt chocolates on the bedside table. They've got limited edition orange chocolate truffles in for when I'm peckish around midnight. It happens.

What do you make of the new mattress then? Do you like the colour too?

Fi xoxo

Bedroom makeover update: we need a new bed, pronto!

You spend A WHOLE THIRD of your life in bed

Can you believe that?! Add on more if like me, you use your bed for watching telly, working from home in your pjs or reading magazines. Then we're talking at least 50% of your life in bed ;) For the past 6 months and actually since we started redecorating our bedroom (read more about our progress here and here), I've noticed my sleep has progressively worsened. It was only slight changes at first. I woke up feeling like I'd had 2 hours sleep instead of 8. But more recently, I've been waking up periodically throughout the night tossing and turning, finding it increasingly more difficult to turn off and drift off.  I live the least stressful life possible therefore I couldn't brush it off as just a stressful phase. So I did a little bit of digging around online and discovered my bad sleep could be down to this single factor that I thought I'd pass on to you guys in case you're having similar sleep disruption like I was.  Seriously, I'm 90% certain this is the reason my sleep has worsened.  And if I'm wrong? Well there's only one way to find out.

If your mattress is more than 7 years old, it could be seriously effecting your quality of sleep

I read somewhere that having your mattress for over 7 years and/or if your mattress shows signs of general wear and tear it's time to invest in a newbie. Cue alarm bells ringing. Our mattress we bought new in 2007. It's a pocket sprung dreams mattress which has served us well in terms of comfort, but more recently it's decided to make pinging noises every time I sit down on it and in places you can feel its age. I initially thought it had 2 more years in it at the very least, but it wasn't until I stopped to think about what my sleep was like this time last year, that I thought, yep, it could be down to my uncomfortable mattress that my sleep is worsening. 
So as of now folks, I'm on the market for a new, comfortable mattress, and given we spend a third of our lives in bed (or half our lives if you're anything like me!) I'm ready to make a significant investment in the mattress we choose to purchase. I stand by "buy cheap, buy twice".  
I've been googling around reading reviews to suss out which mattress is best for us. Whilst I'm tempted to opt for a pocket sprung Dreams mattress again, I just can't justify having a mattress with springs at the risk of them going all lumpy a few years in, when memory foam seems to be a much safer bet moulding to your body better than a sprung mattress - and you don't feel your other half turning around as much when you're asleep.
My googling around brought me to a lot of talk about the Eve mattress online, and even though it can only be bought from their website (you can't actually try it out before you buy) I'm really tempted to go for it for several reasons. Let me share:
1. The company only make one mattress. That means they've thrown everything they've got into making the best mattress it can be as opposed to creating variations. 
2. It comes delivered in a box. Therefore no awkwardness trying to squish a mattress into a tiny Peugeot 107.
3. It's a reasonable price. Not too expensive, but not too cheap either, and it's made with care in the UK, meaning if we were to own one, somewhere our custom has helped an independent business continue to do work they love.
4. It's guaranteed for 10 years. In your face 7.
5. It's got the happiest, sunshine yellow lining I've ever seen on a bed and simply need to wake up to this on a daily basis.
What's not to like? 
Side note: I totally love their branding. 
I'm hesitant at the fact I haven't been able to try it out first though, it's not like how I'd usually buy a mattress, to a certain extent I feel like I'm taking a punt but luckily Eve offer a 100 day guarantee so that if you don't like it, I can return it free of charge. 
So that's where I'm at on the bedroom redecoration front. I thought I'd share my thoughts on it all as buying a mattress can be a pretty big investment especially if the company you're buying from has no clear refund policy. 
I'll keep you posted on our new Eve mattress once it arrives :)
F x
Ps, how cute are my new bed sheets? They're from Bohzaar's collection which I am hooked on. I love their Moroccan / folk pattern vibes. I'll be talking about their brand more in future posts :)