Creating A Home with Flexibility | Samsung QLED

If you were to visit our house regularly you'd soon notice that we're constantly moving things around. Our current partnership with Samsung has given us the perfect opportunity to create each space with its own purpose.

This post is brought to you in partnership with Samsung.

The role which design plays within our daily lives is of a huge importance. It affects our buying habits, how we choose to lead our lifestyle, the way we use of technology, and how we go about spending our downtime. We each hold the values of design differently, and in my opinion there really can't be a right or wrong way. Everything has been created to fit a brief; a solution to a problem, an enhancement to a solution, or something purely aesthetic.

How design can impact the individual is something that interests me greatly. A simple tweak of material on a swimming cap, the narrowing of frame on a bicycle, or the shape of a fork in a dinner set - each changes the user experience in the aim of being memorable or useful. Buying into "design with a purpose" generally leads to a lesser chance of us falling out of love with it a few months down the road.

Samsung is at the forefront of home design technology, and as longstanding advocates of the brand it has been a pleasure to welcome the QLED collection into our home for the past few months. I wouldn't call myself a tech-obsessed person, but the items that I do use throughout my day hold a high level of importance. My laptop, camera + phone each play invaluable roles within my freelance life, so it may sound silly to call a television "important", but hear me out.

I've battled with switching off from my working life since I began as a full-time freelancer around three years ago, but over last few months I've started to feel more at ease with disconnecting. Television plays a huge role in that feeling. Turn the clocks back two years, and the idea of me sitting down watching back-to-back episode of shows on Netflix would have been an alien concept, but the escapism that it brings me has become invaluable to my well-being. Add this to the experience that Samsung's QLED technology offers, and we're on to a winning combination - its unrivalled picture quality makes it tower above anything else I've ever experienced.

 The Samsung QLED, styled with furniture by IKEA, HAY + vintage finds

A Fresh Routine in a New Neighbourhood

 Wearing - Jaeger x Lou Dalton Bomber Jacket | NN07 Jumper | Dickies Chinos | Cap c/o Percival | Form&Thread Socks | Converse Sneakers | Universal Works Tote Bag | Timex Watch

Over the past five years I've become accustomed to long, tiring travel days. This isn't me moaning – it's the lifestyle I have chosen. I've previously spoken about making the decision to stay in the North of England, rather than moving to London to pursue a career in the creative industry, and even though it has restricted my opportunities – inevitably missing out on stuff because I'm not constantly on "the scene" – I've put every effort in to making things work.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you need a pretty high level of commitment to your passions, and a decent grasp on time management (those never-ending to-do lists...) to make things happen for yourself. My routine far from perfect, and I do have organisational issues, but I'm getting there.

Our house is a five minute walk to the gym, seven minutes walk to the local shops and a stone's throw away from a lovely park. There's nowhere you can't get to in our town within a 20 minute car ride, but since last Summer decided to try a new mode of transport for those shorter deals – cue the 30+ guy trying to look cool on a Penny Board.

Moving to new neighbourhood has given my a fresh perspective

 on my daily routine. A new structure

is what I needed.

In fact, this is actually my second skateboard by Penny, so after a bit of basic Tony Hawk training I've found myself using it frequently if I'm needing to pick up a few bits from the shops. But I'm not going to lie, I had to practice for a few months at the darker end the day before I had the confidence to rip up the mean streets of our new neighbourhood.

Share Scandinavia by Juniqe

And confidence is something that is definitely tested in the world of self-employment; extreme highs, exciting projects + big smiles can easily be followed by sheer disappointment, self-doubt + contracts falling through. It's something you become accustom to, but it never really gets any easier, does it?

Those moments I find myself training at the gym, wandering to the shops, or just sitting down with a coffee and a new magazine are the point where I'm recharging and freeing my mind from the uncertainty of what might happen next. It ain't perfect, but then, what is?

Have you switched up your routine recently, or sticking to a tried-and-tested method?

This post is in partnership with Penny Skateboards. Thank you for taking the time to support the brands + businesses that make this blog happen.

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A Look Around Our New House, Part One

Our homeware + furniture is a mixture of old + new; bar stools + chair by IKEA, coffee mugs by Lane + Slow Brew Club, copper coffee set via Not-Another-Bill + cushions by COSxHAY. The living space + kitchen has been renovated into one large room, with an exposed wall at one end (could be a great area for a dining room table) and an open space which overlooks the garden at the other.

Read on more below!

The antique Drop Leaf table was a gift from Hollie's parents + we inherited the wooden sewing machine table (used as a record player stand) from an elderly neighbour. 
 

adidas Track Pants + Stan Smiths c/o Scotts

We bought a house! We've been in our new place for a couple of weeks, and while we're starting to put our own stamp on the place, it oddly still feels a little bit like we're on holiday. It's a weird feeling but I guess it's because we just don't have that much of our own stuff in there yet. 

It's been a stressful experience - filled with many late nights and super early morning (why do IKEA insist on delivering at 7am on a Sunday!?) sure, but in terms of the buying the process it wasn't too crazy. The whole mortgage situation with me working as a full time freelance was a tricky situation, but I'll leave that for another post! 

The past two weeks have been filled with early morning DIY routines, builders tramping through the house on a daily basis, and getting on first-name-terms with the dogs in our new neighbourhood. All fuelled by endless pours.

So, let's take a nose around!

 The Christmas tree was up before the bed was in...

Leather key wrap by Campbell Cole

 Most things in our living room are borrowed, including the IKEA sofa + tables

Between us we both have quite a lot of antiques, oddments and collectables so we decided to by a display cabinet. Hollie choose this bright yellow and glass one! Most of the antiques - like the ceramic dog collection - has been passed down through the family.

I'm sure with my collection of Bearbricks, wrestling figures, vintage toy cars + Americana bits it will be full in no time.

  

The bedroom literally has nothing in it other than a bed frame and mattress at the moment. Due to the lack of blinds / curtains we've improvised by tacking up A4 paper to the windows. It look us a while to decide on a bed frame, torn between wooden and metal, but in the end we bought this copper frame by MADE.

The mattress was very kindly gifted to us by British brand SleepBear. We've been using their King Size mattress since we moved it - it was my first time sleeping on memory foam - but it's totally changed my sleeping habits, for the better. As we've haven't been using it for very long I feel I need to give it another couple of weeks before I can do full review, but so far so good!

The "SleepBear" name piqued by curiosity too; the brand is an official supporter of Polar Bears International, with a percentage of the proceeds going directly towards the conservation of these beautiful animals. SleepBear's mattress range starts at £399.

The bathroom and office are both a work-in-progress, so there's not much to see as yet. But up to now my Dan Marc Study Desk + Anglepoise x Paul Smith lamp are working great together! Leather accessories c/o Bellroy and morning routines with Aesop skincare.

And that's your lot for now. We've still got a few rooms to cover - mainly the spare room, bathroom, office, garage and the garden - but I'm going to leave that for Part Two. The office is going to be something I want to concentrate on, as I plan to spend a lot of time in there, so I might even find a way to document that separately.

So what do you think so far? I'd love to hear your thoughts and if you have an interior design recommendations or favourite interior blogs / websites!

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We Bought a House + Visiting the DFS Design Studio in Derbyshire

We bought a house! That's right, me + Hollie finally did it. Over the next few months expect to see a lot more home-related stuff on Buckets & Spades! It's mad actually, everything happened so quickly. I have loads to share about the whole buying-a-house process; being accepted for a mortgage as a freelancer, all that legal business, obstacles we've came up against, and a bunch more positive stuff too!

We'll be moving any day now and I plan to document the whole move, so make sure to follow along with my Stories on Instagram at @mat_buckets!

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In a happy coincidence, British furniture company DFS invited me down to their Derbyshire factory + design studio to learn more about their history, design processes and see first-hand how their products are made.

Did you know that DFS produce over 50% of their furniture products here in the UK, made-to-order? My preconceptions of the brand definitely led me to assume everything was made "on the cheap" in Asia, cutting corners on quality to offer constant "sales" prices. Over the course of two days my opinions of the brand were flipped on their head.

On day one we were treated to a guided tour of their main factory, just outside Nottingham (see our guide to independent Nottingham here). Along with a small group of lifestyle blogger I was given a look into the fast-paced DFS production line; taking in elements from pattern cutting, upholstery, woodwork, metalwork, hand-stitching and even had a peak into where the young apprentices practice honing their craft.

As we wandered around the factory floor I could see there was a genuine sense of pride and an all-in-it-together mentality. Day one done.

Colourful Office Accessories by Block Design

We took a trip down to Design Junction at London Design Festival last week, with Lucie, and it's fair to say we return back to Lancashire feeling inspired and buzzing with homeware ideas. Block's playful office and desk accessories sure made me look.

The freestanding Perpectual Calender is my favourite piece of design by them! We'll share more of our thoughts and findings from London Design Festival over the coming weeks.

Did you attend London Design Festival?

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