Life lately, Coatigans, Early Black Friday Discounts, and Our Home Improvements.

England has, once again, been plunged into lockdown 2.0. An enforced slumber with people up and down the country facing tougher restrictions.

For a little while, we have been thinking of revamping some of the areas of our home. We thought we would start with the kitchen. So, for weeks, we have been sourcing floor tiles and wood for the kitchen area.

We have chosen a mixture of wood and porcelain floor tiles in a Victorian style for the kitchen. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished effect when our expert tiler has worked his magic! Luckily, the workmen we have booked to do their various jobs can enter our home to do their bit – as long as we all social distance, while wearing our masks.

I have started listening to podcasts and loved the interview with Michelle Ogundehin (Former Editor-in-Chief at “Elle Decoration” magazine) Michelle was being interviewed on Alyson Walsh’s podcast, “That’s not my age”. Michelle said,

“Spend as much as you can afford on the floor. Flooring underpins everything and is not easy to change.  Nothing will improve a cheap floor”. 

I am finding Michelle’s website so helpful for decorating advice and ideas – here’s the link if you want to check it out:  MichelleOgundehin.com

I will look forward to sharing the result once we are finished revamping the kitchen.

 

 

 

This is the Porcelain Floor Tiles in the “Brighton Blue” Pattern which we have chosen for our kitchen floor from “Tile Mountain”. Click here to check them out!

 

 

 

For our last trip out before “lockdown”, we decided to visit our local shopping centre to see what was on offer for Christmas, coinciding the trip with a Costa coffee – while we could!

While there, we were surprised to see some great discounts. I managed to get a huge 30% reduction on some Dior aftershaves in “House of Fraser”. My menfolk are very fussy about their signature scents! So, this was a big markdown on the original price and will keep them happy!

What I’ve Been Wearing Lately

The fashion industry seems to be all about reinvention and creating hybrids. This season, we have the “shacket”. But, for the past few seasons, we have had the “coatigan”.

As I am a coat addict, I was attracted to this quirky trend which has a flattering shape and comfortable style. You may well ask “What the heck is a coatigan”?

This is my attempt to describe it. Coatigans are lighter than a coat but warmer than a cardigan and have more of a finish than a cardigan, usually without any lining.

This garment suits the climate where we live in the North East of England as it can sometimes be warmish in the winter and cooler in the summer. It’s so unpredictable, here.

This is one of those items you don’t think you need until you have one.

I bought this grey wool coatigan from Zara around four years ago. I have had so much wear from it. I do like this concept of a lightweight coat. Hence, when I saw a cream woollen one in the sale, this year, reduced from £199 – £79.00 (Mint Velvet), I couldn’t help myself. They are both the best quality wool, as you can see in the photographs, and are super soft to wear – and not scratchy. I will have them both for a long, long time to come.

Black Friday

Usually “Black Friday”, the biggest shopping event of the year, takes place on the last weekend in November, because of coronavirus.  And, “Lockdown” companies are releasing discounts, earlier. With a range of retailers set to slash their prices on big-ticket items like TVs and coffee machines, it is the best time of the year to find a deal and, of course, get your Christmas presents sorted. Here are some ideas and what’s on offer, right now!

Sosandar

As well as 50% off certain items, Sosandar currently have  20% off your order when you sign up to their VIP Newsletter.

Marks & Spencer

Getting a head start, “Marks and Spencer” have up to 30% per cent off selected womenswear … Here are a few items, on offer.

John Lewis

Along with their Christmas advert Click here to watch🎄🎄“John Lewis” always have amazing offers, both on-line and in-store. Here is a selection of their discounts.   John Lewis & Partners currently have a saving of 20% off selected items.

Oarsum

It is fair to say that we all want our wardrobes to support sustainability and small independent brands.  Take a peek at this beautiful weekend bag from a UK family run business called, “Oarsum”.

Their products are all handmade using recycled “well used”, old sailcloth! These bags are part of their creative designs and are “best sellers”. They come in a variety of sizes along with several personalisation options. You can choose from initials, flags, or a simple shape (I picked a “pink star” with a mixture of colours). The design is then forever unique to you. What a brilliant idea!!! This is a perfect gift for either yourself, your family or someone you love for Christmas.

They will be offering a 20% discount for “Black Friday” weekend.  Click here to check their website.

Lumity

I am a huge fan of these supplements plus any help, health-wise, is welcome. I have noticed they have some great offers on, now, so I may drop a few hints, here and there, with my family. Click here to read my review about “Lumity”.

‘40% off their Ultimate Self Care Set’

Please note that the above are affiliate links – if you like the look of one of the items and click through to the website, there is no extra cost to you.

Thank you for reading my post. I hope you have enjoyed it.

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below. All products are my own, apart from the overnight bag from Oarsum, which was a gift.

Best wishes and thank you for stopping by.

Alison x

26 Comments

  1. Sorry you’re headed into lockdown again…stay healthy! I love the idea of the coatigan. So many great looks here. Thanks for sharing. I’m visiting from the Happy Now linkup today. Have a great week Alison!

    • Thank you, Marielle. We are halfway through Lockdown now. Hopefully, the situation will improve soon. xx

    • I must admit to having an addiction to coats!. Many thanks to you Mireille.

    • Many thanks to you Amber. We are halfway through “Lockdown”. Hopefully, things will improve and we will be able to get out and about again. xx

  2. Anything that says Brighton will do the thrick for me!. Love the baret on you. Good luck with the redecoration!

    • Thank you so much. We are making steady progress. It’s sometimes a waiting game regarding the workmen’s availability, but we’re getting there. Hope you’re having a good week so far. x

  3. /

    I love your grey wool coatigan utfit Alison and also your lightweight cream Zara coat. I resolved not to buy any coats this year (although I did buy a cream fur trimmed parka!) because I don’t have room for them, but I do love a coat or two. Thanks for the intro to Oarsum, sounds ingenious! And good to see you at #WowOnWednesday.

    • I have to break my addiction. I have some really old coats which I couldn’t part with but, as you say it’s the storage.x

  4. I love the look of the shacket and coatigans! They are fun mixes of outer garments. I’m hoping to get a cape this year since they are trending. I think they are so elegant! You look fabulous in your outfits!

    • Thank you so much Laura. They are so lightweight and, plus the wool is super soft. I do love capes too – there’s some gorgeous woollen ones on offer this season.

  5. I love this coatigan Hun. It’s a lovely example of this versatile style jacket. Jacqui x

    • Thank you, Jacque. It’s so lightweight which makes it comfortable and easy to wear. Lovely wool too. x

  6. Alison, I am loving your cozy outfits in this post! So cute. And that quote about cheap floors….oh I can relate to that! My husband and I were just discussing what to do with all of the floors in our house. The history of our home is like this…a hoarder lived here for 50 plus years. When he died, it was purchased by a house flipper and basically everything was done on the cheap. It was purchased from the flippers by the people whom we bought it from. They only lived here for a few years before we moved in. And yes, there is nothing you can do to improve cheap flooring! It is atrocious! I think we are going to wait a few more years though because the kids are still bringing all sorts of destruction with their rambunctious ways! Thanks for linking with me.

    Shelbee
    http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com

    • Thank you so much, Shelbee.
      I heard this quote on a podcast and it struck a chord with me. I so relate to you waiting a few years re your flooring – we did that too. We also lived with the original owner’s carpets for a long time. We live in a pre-war house and through the years we have slowly (when funds allowed) restored the wooden flooring – where it was possible. We also have two boys and when they were growing up the tough wooden flooring survived well!! Like yours, my boys were far from dainty and were forever running through the house with their friends in tow. xx

  7. /

    Those coatigans are so lovely on you! I don’t have any, it’s not something we need often here in Brisbane sadly. It’s a shame you are in lockdown again but it’s good you can still get some work done on your house like you have planned 🙂

    Hope you are having a great weekend 🙂 We went out and did more Christmas shopping yesterday which was fun 🙂

    • Thank you so much, Mica. It’s using the difficulty I suppose, and the end result is always worth it. Hopefully, when the “Lockdown” is
      lifted we will be able to Christmas shop too, otherwise, it’ll be onlineshopping I think. xx

  8. Hi Allison!
    What a beaiiful blue dress on you! I love those boots too! I have my eye on these Frye combats, but they are too much $$$ now. We are doing some home improvements as well, we got a new wood floor installed, and it took some months of doing. I love your tile for the kitchen! What a gorgeous pattern! I agree, the floor change makes a world of difference! Best of luck to you!
    jess xx
    thanks for linking!
    jess xx
    http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com

    • Thank you so much, Jess. The new flooring is making all the difference to our kitchen, Having home improvements carried out
      isn’t without its stresses though. xx

  9. /

    So many great looks with that coatigan!! I love the first one with that cute hat. Good luck with your home renovations!

    Miles of smiles,
    Grace

    gracefulrags.com

    • Many thanks to you Grace. We are just about finished with our updates for the time being. have a lovely weekend1 xx

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