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I just upgraded this one section of my pantry in five minutes flat thanks to this clever stacking spice kit – here’s how it instantly tied up this chaotic zone

I just upgraded this one section of my pantry in five minutes flat thanks to this clever stacking spice kit – here’s how it instantly tied up this chaotic zone

by | Sep 18, 2026 | Design Inspiration

I’ve recently had the task of having a mini pantry to organise for the first time and I have really been enjoying trying to make it more efficient on a granular level. After all, if each section isn’t properly taken care of, my pantry won’t be as usuable as a whole.

As I wrote about in my piece on my vision for organising my new pantry, my spice selection was one area particularly ripe for fixing. So when I was offered a chance to try out Spice Dept’s build-your-own kit (available via Spice Dept or Selfridges) for sorting this problem area, I was sold.

I’ve recently installed the 9-piece set in my pantry and I’ve been super impressed by how instantly it transformed my small space, which was previously crammed with probably out of date spices. Here’s why I like this system.

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The first thing that I loved when I unboxed this set was the explosion of colour. My pantry is hidden behind a set of doors in my kitchen but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in how it looks which is where this box of spices has really livened things up.

The 9-piece essentials set comes in a small, neat box and each spice is clearly identifiable from the large labels. In the 9-piece set you’ll receive commonly used spices so that you can start using this system straight away. Those spices are whole black peppercorns, cumin seeds, ground cinnamon, ground turmeric, green cardamom, fennel seeds, whole cloves, whole nutmeg and Kanthari chilli.

Using the Spice Dept kit to reorganise my pantry

(Image credit: Future)

As well as being labelled on the sides, the jars are also labelled on the top which means you can employ whichever spice rack idea you like – whether that’s on display or tucked into a drawer.

The ease of identification is also improved by the fact that each of these has a use by date stamped onto the bottom of the tin. That means that you won’t be guessing whether a spice is still good or not as you pull it out to use in your cooking. Spice Dept’s commitment to freshness is a core pillar of their brand, which should also make a big difference to the taste of your food, too.

After a quick change around, I’ve found this part of my pantry now looks much less visually cluttered than it did before. These tins stack so neatly on top of eachother and as there’s no decanting required it’s an ultra-quick process.

Each tin is 5.4cm square, which is such a pleasing size to display and stack and still allows me plenty of other space within my chosen organiser for less neat spices to be stored alongside these ones.

There are 12 different spices you can choose from in total as you create your sets. As well as being an efficient way to organise your spice collection (or begin one!), these smart stackable sets would make a wonderful gift for the foodie in your life too.

How does your current spice storage system stack up compared to this one?

Marks & Spencer’s XL Christmas bows sell out early every year – they just dropped and this is the exact one I predict will be gone by October

Marks & Spencer’s XL Christmas bows sell out early every year – they just dropped and this is the exact one I predict will be gone by October

by | Sep 18, 2026 | Design Inspiration

A couple of Christmases ago, Marks & Spencer first introduced its supersized velvet bow decorations at the height of the Christmas bow trend – unsurprisingly, they went viral and sold out within days. And this has happened every year since – as soon as the M&S velvet hanging bows go live on the brand’s site, they fly off the virtual shelves. M&S just brought them back, along with new colours, patterns and finishes, and they’re bound to be gone by October.

I know I probably sound like a broken record when it comes to the bow Christmas decor trend – but Christmas bows are not going anywhere anytime soon; they’re here to stay for at least another festive season. And just like previous years, the bigger the bow, the better.

But while previous festive periods really championed the solid-coloured velvet bows, this year, I’m seeing a lot more patterned bows – especially gingham and checks. And it’s in fact the newcoming £20 M&S gingham bow, which I spotted at the retailer’s press preview earlier this month, that I predict is going to sell out first. It looks so good that I want one.

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Marks & Spencer's large gingham Christmas bow used as a tree topper at the brand's autumn/winter 2026 press preview

(Image credit: Future/Sara Hesikova)

But M&S is not the only retailer where you can get a big gingham or checked Christmas bow – John Lewis is selling a red gingham bow for £15, while Anthropologie gave its XXL bow tree topper (which enjoyed much popularity last year) a plaid makeover among others.

Marks & Spencer's large red velvet Christmas bow used as a tree topper at the brand's autumn/winter 2026 press preview

(Image credit: Future/Sara Hesikova)

But if the more traditional and equally as beautiful velvet bows are more your thing then there’s plenty for you to choose from. For starters, there are two different sizes.

There are 65-centimetre long velvet bows (which are the same size as the gingham bow) available in three colourways, all selling for £20 each – there’s the classic deep red, as well as dark green and (my personal favourite) chocolate brown.

But things – or bows, rather – get even bigger from here. M&S is also selling velvet Christmas bows that are 95-centimetre long, each retailing for £30. And this size is available either in the timeless dark red or in a new finish which is black velvet embellished with white pearl beads.

Which M&S XL Christmas bow is your favourite? I might have to get one of those gingham numbers before they’re gone.

The highly sought-after £99 John Lewis scented candle advent calendar is back – it’s already selling fast, so don’t wait to get yours

The highly sought-after £99 John Lewis scented candle advent calendar is back – it’s already selling fast, so don’t wait to get yours

by | Sep 18, 2026 | Design Inspiration

Even though autumn is only just starting, this is the time of year when all the Christmas-related buys launch and become available to shop. And while you can get away with waiting with some, there are others that you have to snap up as soon as they’re released or regret it later – and the John Lewis scented candle advent calendar falls into the latter category. It just dropped – so run, don’t walk!

This 12-day design is one of the best advent calendars for home fragrance I’ve come across – and it’s certainly the best one for value for money. Selling for £99, the calendar is filled with 12 mini candles from eight of the best scented candle brands, from The White Company to Osmology, among others – all of which are stocked at John Lewis, of course.

John Lewis first introduced this advent calendar two years ago – and it sold out within two weeks. Understanding how sought-after an advent calendar like this can be, the John Lewis team had learnt their lesson and last year, the retailer had much more stock to go around than the Christmas before. The calendar was still hugely popular, it remained one of the retailer’s bestsellers and it once again sold out, although it took a little longer than two weeks.

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This is the third consecutive year that John Lewis is offering the scented candle advent calendar – and it’s already flying off the virtual shelves on the website, becoming one of the bestselling products, despite only launching earlier this week.

John Lewis scented candle advent calendar

(Image credit: John Lewis)

This year, I managed to get my hands on the calendar early before its launch and I was really impressed with its look featuring a new outer space-inspired design, the premium, weighty feel and the contents – especially considering the £99 price tag.

Within the little numbered drawers, it includes some of my favourite scented candles like Osmology’s Happy Space – a soothing scent blending amber, geranium and rose – and SKANDINAVISK’s Hygge candle, celebrating the Danish ‘hygge’ concept of cosiness with notes of tea leaves, mint, cinnamon and dried apples.

Open John Lewis scented candle advent calendar on a dark wood table with a brown wallpaper behind with two of the scented candles taken out

(Image credit: Future/Sara Hesikova)

Alternative advent calendars to invest in

An advent calendar like this one makes for the perfect gift or a treat for yourself to make the cold and busy month of December a little more enjoyable. But if you like the look and sound of it, I really recommend to act fast.

Dunelm’s £30 tabletop heater is perfect for heating the human not the home – it’s so stylish, you’ll actually want it on show

Dunelm’s £30 tabletop heater is perfect for heating the human not the home – it’s so stylish, you’ll actually want it on show

by | Sep 18, 2026 | Design Inspiration

As much as we’d like to cling to the warm memories of summer, the reality is that we should start preparing for the cooler months ahead. If you’re following the principle of ‘heating the human’ this winter, Dunelm’s Small Olive Square Heater (£30) is a solid and surprisingly stylish choice.

When temperatures plummet, one of the best electric heaters can help keep you warm without turning to your thermostat. With energy prices set to rise from October, one way to curb rising costs is to follow Martin Lewis’ advice of ‘heating the human,’ not the home. This means instead of turning your thermostat up and heating your whole home, make changes that heat you, the human, such as a small heater when working from home.

Not only is Dunem’s Small Olive Square Heater well reviewed for its heating power, but its retro design is possibly the most stylish portable heating option I’ve ever seen. Here’s why I think it’s a solid, affordable choice for your home this winter.

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Before I get into the nitty-gritty specifications of this heater, I want to start by saying that Dunelm has really nailed the design. Olive green has been a huge colour trend this year as we seek to introduce grounding, earthy tones to our homes. Unlike a standard white or black gloss heater, which can look glaringly obvious in a space, the olive green colourway has a more subtle look, so it is more likely to blend into or complement a room.

An electric heater will complement your existing central heating system rather than replacing it. It’s great for when you want to heat one room, rather than crank up the thermostat and heat the whole house. Dunelm’s square heater doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the leading heaters on the market (our best rated is the Morphy Richards HeatFlux, Tower Fan Heater, £89.99, B&Q), but this is to be expected at its £30 price point.

What it does offer is an adjustable thermostat, fan-assisted heating and 1500w of heating power. Don’t expect it to heat large rooms; it is a tabletop heater after all, but it is perfect for warming up home offices, small bedrooms and, of course, you. It’s cheap to run, too, costing around 39p per hour, according to Ideal Home’s Energy Calculator.

Dunelm small olive green heater.

(Image credit: Dunelm)

Some reviews do mention that the heater comes with a safety leaflet that warns you should never place the heater on carpet. In its product description, Dunelm does say this heater is suitable for placement on desks, so ensure you avoid carpeted areas upon purchasing. What the reviews do say is that this heater offers impressive heating power.

‘Its great powerful mini heater. Warms up room very quickly and design is very adorable. The only reason why one star missing its because of “Caution leaflet”. Says “it must stand on solid, non flammable surface. DO NOT stand the heater on carpet”… This is UK, every single room has carpets, everywhere, where else I am supose to put it then?’ says one.

‘I needed a small heater that I could move from room to room to take the chill off. This was ideal and it throws out a great heat too. It was very welcome at work recently, when the office heating broke down…’ said another.

At £30, the Dunelm Small Olive Square Heater is a great affordable choice for those of us looking to reduce our heating costs. However, if it’s not the right model for you, here are three more options Ideal Home’s reviewers have tested and rave about.

Dunelm’s little heater is both stylish and affordale. And with good reviews to boot, it is definitely worth a try.

The 5pm Test: Designing a Home Office That Knows When to Clock Off

The 5pm Test: Designing a Home Office That Knows When to Clock Off

by | Sep 17, 2026 | Design Inspiration

A workspace earns its place twice: during the working day and in the hours that follow.

At 8.59am, an open laptop, a glowing task light and a notebook full of arrows look purposeful. Return to the same scene at 5.17pm and it reads differently. The laptop resembles an unanswered request. The notebook has become a list of loose ends. Work has finished, yet the room has not received the message.

That awkward changeover is the basis of the 5pm test. Close the computer and ask three questions. How many movements does it take to put work away? What remains visible from the sofa, bed or dining table? Does the space feel available for anything else?

Expensive joinery and a separate study are optional. The room needs a convincing closed state: a version in which cables, paperwork and equipment stop commanding attention. Plan that version first and the choices around furniture, storage and lighting begin to organise themselves.

Table of Contents

Begin with the room’s second shift

Give the room an evening job before giving it a desk. Perhaps the spare room should become a place to read. Perhaps the dining-room corner needs to retreat before supper. In a bedroom, the priority may be visual quiet during the hour before sleep. Even a dedicated study can change shift, making room for music, drawing or the sort of household paperwork that does not feel like office work.

Write the second job down in one sentence. That sentence becomes a useful filter. In a reading room, the comfortable chair and warm lamp should hold their own after the desk light goes off. 

A calmer home office returning to family life needs a clear surface and enough floor area to be useful without a miniature furniture-removal exercise. Each function gets its turn, and the change between them feels deliberate.

Choose furniture for its closed state

Furniture catalogues photograph desks at their busiest: laptop open, notebook positioned just so, coffee close at hand. When comparing home office furniture, mentally close the laptop and remove the styling. Inspect the silhouette left behind. Where does the chair sit? Do the cables dangle? Does the empty desk look composed, or as though somebody has stepped away mid-task?

Less glamorous details now earn their place. A shallow drawer takes a keyboard, notebook and charger in seconds. A pedestal fitted beneath the worktop keeps the outline neat. A chair that slides in fully shrinks the visual footprint of the setup. Where the office occupies a living area, a bureau, cabinet desk or fold-away surface marks the end of the day with one decisive action.

Leave some objects visible or the room may feel oddly anonymous. Art, a favourite ceramic pot, handsome reference books and a plant can belong to both shifts. Reserve closed storage for anything carrying the emotional charge of an unfinished task.

Design a three-minute closing route

Motivation is unreliable at the end of a long day, so let the layout carry the routine. Rehearse the sequence with your hands. The laptop closes and moves onto a shelf. Its charger drops into the drawer below. Loose notes enter one in-tray, without being sorted on the spot. The task light clicks off. Four movements, no rummaging and no fresh decisions.

Storage should follow the same route. Give the final objects you touch the nearest parking places; archives and spare supplies can live higher up or farther away. A beautiful cupboard on the opposite wall may contribute less than a modest drawer within arm’s reach. Convenient storage turns the sequence into habit.

Three minutes is plenty. This brief reset leaves a clear signal that today’s work has finished, without turning every evening into a filing session.

Give unfinished work a proper parking space

Some jobs will still be half-done at dinner. Give that incompleteness an address. Skip the elaborate filing system and use one lidded document box, a single drawer or a vertical file divided between active projects.

A pile on the desk feels like a demand. Place the same papers in their designated drawer and they feel paused. Their status has not changed, but their presence in the room has. Give this parking space a fixed capacity, too. Once it fills, finish, file or discard something before another project joins the queue.

Let the lighting clock off as well

Lighting can perform the handover from one shift to the next. During working hours, a focused task lamp gives the desk visual priority. Switch it off at the end of the day and let a floor or table lamp take over with softer lighting elsewhere in the room.

Keep the change modest. A shift in brightness and direction moves attention away from the keyboard and towards the room’s domestic features. The desk recedes because the light has found somewhere else to land.

Protect one work-free view

Take the seat you use after work and look back towards the office. Perhaps the monitor, printer and paperwork form the main view from the sofa. Perhaps the desk is the first thing visible from the bed. Rotating it, or moving one tall storage piece, may transform how the whole room is read.

Concentrate on the sightline that affects the evening. A plant, open shelving or a slim screen can soften that view without making the room cramped. In tighter quarters, turn the working face of the desk away from the rest of the room. Once the chair is tucked in, the office presents its quieter side.

Leave one breadcrumb for tomorrow

Before closing the drawer, leave a small cue for the morning: the next task written on a card, the required document at the top of the in-tray, or the correct tab bookmarked before the laptop closes.

That breadcrumb preserves momentum without leaving the whole project on display. It places a bookmark in the working day. Tomorrow receives a clear starting point; tonight gets a room that no longer appears to be waiting for one more email.

Run the room through the test

Designing for 5pm changes the shopping list. Closed silhouettes become as important as open work surfaces. Nearby storage beats distant storage. Lighting gains a second role. One protected sightline can outrank a room full of decorative accessories.

Picture the room after the final call. Close the laptop, switch off the task light and look again. When the space feels ready for the rest of your life, the office has done enough for one day.

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These M&S light-up candles sell out every year – they’re finally back in three stunning new scents

These M&S light-up candles sell out every year – they’re finally back in three stunning new scents

by | Sep 17, 2026 | Design Inspiration

This is not a drill! M&S’s light-up candles have returned to stores, and they’re already listed as bestsellers on the website. As we’ve learned from the previous two years, these candles sell fast, so don’t hang around if you want to pick one up for yourself.

Over the past few years, M&S have dropped their light-up Christmas candles in September, and they quickly sell out. While I hate to beat the Christmas drum before we’ve even had Halloween, these candles are worth picking up now to avoid disappointment nearer to the best day – trust me, I’ve seen one in action.

And this year, the M&S light-up candles have had an update compared to their typical snowy cityscapes. Here’s everything you need to know before they sell out again.

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So far, three new candles have dropped on the M&S website: Mandarin, Clove and Cinnamon; Frankincense and Myrrh; and Yultide Pine and Spice.

This year the candles have been named by scent rather than the scene they’re depicting. In previous years we’ve seen snowy London, Paris, Edinburgh and even Cardiff skylines, each illuminated by twinkling LED’s when lit. This year, three new scents take the forefront of the brand’s bestselling Christmas candles.

First, let’s talk about Mandarin, Clove and Cinnamon. This sweet, yet spicy fragrance is held in a red vessel, depicting a snowy townscape. It has citrus notes of lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, orange and mandarin, as well as peppery clove and cinnamon.

M&amp;amp;S Mandarin, Clove &amp;amp; Cinnamon Refillable Light Up Candle.

(Image credit: M&S)

As you would probably guess, the Frankincense and Myrrh candle smells of Frankincense and Myrrh. However, M&S explains that Frankincense is part of the amber family of fragrance, which is rich and warming, and means you may smell notes of vanilla, pepper, tonka bean and amber. The vessel itself is a beautiful gold sky of stars.

Lastly, the Yultide Pine and Spice candle comes in a green vessel depicting a wintry forest scene. It combines earthy fir, spices and sweet clementine for a truly festive scent. You can expect woody notes of sandalwood, cinnamon leaf, amber and musk.

Frankincense &amp;amp; Myrrh Refillable Light Up Candle

(Image credit: M&S)

All three candles are refillable (which also happens to be a big candle trend this year) and are held in glass vessels for a weighty, luxe feel. Built into the glass are twinkling LED lights which light up when the candle is lit. What this does is create an even more beautiful, festive glow to your candlelight. Having purchased the Townhouse candle in 2024 as a gift for my partner’s mum, I can promise that these candles really take a Christmas tablescape to the next level.

These three scents are new to the light-up candle range, and I haven’t had a chance to smell them yet. I have smelt the Neroli, Lime & Bergamot scent, which M&S has used for previous light-up candles, and can vouch that it has a gorgeous, rich and festive scent. Based on this, I trust the new candles will be of equal quality – although I do plan on testing them out for myself as soon as possible.

So far, these are the only three light-up candles available on the M&S website. However, I will be checking the website regularly to check for new designs if and when they come in. In the meantime, here are a few more M&S Christmas scents that have caught my eye.

These light-up candles always sell fast, so if you like what you see, I recommend purchasing now to avoid disappoinment later.