Green Velvet Sofa of Dreams | My DFS Bailey Sofa

Let me start by saying, I’m incredibly grateful for all the awesome experiences and offers I get from writing about my family and home. But, if I’m completely honest, free stuff doesn’t pay the bills, put chicken fajitas on the table or clad my children in Adidas as they desire. There’s only so much stuff we can fit in our house along with the 7 of us – so, a lot of “gifts” end up being re-gifted or on Ebay. When I initially got the email from DFS asking me to “pop to Milan” for design week, then style one of their sofas for my blog, my first thought was “Eeeeeekkkkkkk YASSSS!” but my second – we really don’t need another sofa, I’m happy with the ones we bought 4 months ago (from Ebay), but I suppose I could sell it for a few hundred quid after I’ve snapped it for the blog!

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Great British Sofa – DFS Britannia

It’s now less than 100 days until the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics and as Team GB are putting all their energy into ensuring we get the best medal count ever, there’s been an exciting launch much closer to home… DFS just unveiled their very own Team GB collaboration collection, aptly named Britannia.

It’s fair to say, that in recent years DFS, whilst being a family friendly choice for stain guarded sofas, they have also become synonymous with colour jammed, fast paced TV ads offering eternal free credit and endless bank holiday sales. But this was a far cry from the DFS I got to see a week ago when I they whisked me off for a couple of days (yes, first night away from Casper – ahhhh, sleep!!) for a behind the scenes trip to their home in Derbyshire! I was given a glimpse into one of their factories where skilled craftsmen, upholsterers and sewing machinists busily hand make each sofa to order – yup, no stock just sitting on shelves here!

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The Monochrome Nursery

With only a couple of, what will no doubt feel endless, weeks until the bump pops I have increasingly found my Pinterest feed filling with idyllic imagery of the perfect nursery + boy there some lovely (needless to say untouched + still pristine) baby spaces to be had. Unfortunately, the harsh reality of this being our 5th boy (maiden joint-venture), with a home already filled to the brim with little angels (read grouchy, grunting gannets aged 7-12) + the fact that work is a pleasant escape – so will be continuing until the moment bubba makes his appearance, all means that until completely necessary, at around 4-6 months, little bundle will not be graced with his own private quarters! Instead, our little one will share a corner of his parents’ bedroom with a drawer or two to call his own. By this point you may considering sponsoring our poor 5th child, however, rest assured he is not only much anticipated + already loved, but has a whole loada of goodies to prove it – predominantly in monochrome tones, as that really seems to be the scheme du jour for little ones!

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